Gluten Gone

I have been meaning to update this blog for ages. And so it begins.

I went to the doctor a little over 2 weeks ago for recurring stomach pain that I've been dealing with. The doctor suggested I try a gluten-free diet and in just two short weeks it has made a world of difference. It's a big lifestyle change and it's not without difficulties. I'm trying to approach it as an adventure. Some of the major differences (important and silly alike) are:

1. No more stomach pain. Very important, for obvious reasons.

2. Guilt-free shopping at Whole Foods.

3. All wheat products and any product that uses gluten as a stabilizer are out. That means the majority of all processed foods.

I find myself craving fruit now on a daily basis, which was never the case before. My diet has become even healthier, which I honestly did not think was possible. Here is my new typical daily nutrition:

Breakfast: Apples w/ Peanut Butter

Snack: Dried Cranberries, Almonds, Dark Chocolate

Lunch: Chickpea Salad (carrots, cucumbers, cranberries) or Black Bean Salad (red peppers, onions, green peppers, corn)

Snack: Carrots with Hummus & Watermelon or a Banana

We have two favorite dinners that we make each week.

The first is chicken tacos. They are really easy to make and very delicious. We make them with ground chicken that we cook in lime salsa (available at all grocers). The fixings included fat free re fried beans (canned and microwaveable), whole grain brown rice (you can get the 90 second kind if you are lazy), guacamole, and pineapple/mango salsa (from whole foods). I've also tried them with a three pepper salsa and with a papaya/cucumber salsa from Whole Foods and all are magical. We always have leftovers for the next night when we make this.

The second is homemade pizza. We dice a red pepper, a green pepper, and an onion and saute them in olive oil with garlic powder and oregano. Then we put tomato sauce (canned or fresh from Trader Joes) on a gluten-free pizza crust and we load them up with the pepper/onion mixture. We throw a small amount of soy cheese on top.

The other nights of the week we typically do chicken burgers with potatoes, or gluten-free pasta, or sometimes we'll do a nice cut of steak with green beans. Nothing fancy.

As for sweets, Whole Foods carries a good gluten-free chocolate chip cookie and a gluten-free cheese cake for holidays. And they have mixes for things like pancakes, cookies, corn bread, brownies, etc. etc. And Trader Joe's has an extremely decadent flourless chocolate cake. And a complete list of which of their candies are gluten-free. Most grocery store boxed brands of cookies so far taste like absolute crap, so anything sweet I will be spending a bit more money on.

At work I'm pretty limited for now to what I bring with me from home. Thankfully there is a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods within 10 minute walking distance, so if I'm ever dealing with serious cravings I can make a quick run to the store. There is an Argo Tea at the hospital too and they make a gluten-free (DELICIOUS) cookie and a gluten-free chickpea salad. The trouble with Argo Tea is that all the best tasting drinks are expensive.

In other news, I am on track with all of my New Years resolutions, with one exception. Now that I am going gluten-free, I am allowing aged cheeses back into my diet.

Anyway. This blog will probably become more about my adventures in gluten-free living than my diet. Mostly because the gluten-free living now takes priority over my diet. I'm still counting points and trying to follow the weight watcher guidelines, because it's what I know. But I'm allowing for flexibility. This is a big change and it will take a lot of time to make it work for me and my current lifestyle.

Happy Realiziations

I realized today that I make many more good choices than I realize. For example....

When I do have oatmeal for breakfast, it's cranberry oatmeal. So there is another source of fruit besides the banana I have w/ breakfast. And if I have reduced fat peanut butter on whole wheat toast, I am getting a serving of nuts. I never consider it that way, but it counts!

AND when I have soup for lunch, it is always a soup that is loaded with veggies. And if I decide to make a sandwich instead, I always use soy cheese (which comes from a nut too).

Anyway. It's not that I was thinking that I had reverted back to making bad choices. I've been doing reasonably well. Sometimes I think when you do create good habits you sometimes forget that even though it's become a habit, you are still making the healthy choice every day.

I need to come up with a good reward for when I hit 15 pounds.

Updating a blog is hard...

Hello again.

Apparently I am getting bored with blogging about what I eat ecah day. Probably because I also write it down in a journal that I carry everywhere. So.

My resolutions are going okay. I've eaten cheese three times. Two of those times were in moderation and two times were in excess. I'm still making an effort to choose soy over milk and for the most part I'm avoiding cheese completely. But slip ups are bound to happen.

I've also had a little bit of splenda. One time because I was thirsty and the only drink available was a diet coke. I had a huge headache afterwards. And I sent Dan to the grocery store to pick up yogurt and he accidentally bought the sweetened with splenda stuff. You can't return perishables and I don't like to throw food away, so I'm eating them this week. Can't really be helped. The only thing I'll say is that it must be a tiny amount, because no headaches.

I've been getting in two servings of fruit of day - typically a banana for breakfast and then a combo of pinapple, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries with my yogurt. I also get in at least one serving of vegetables with dinner. When I buy my lunch at work I always get a side salad loaded with veggies, but I don't like doing that very often (it's expensive). I've also purchased some carrots to bring with my lunch, so if I ever get around to chopping them up I'll bring them with me to work. I get my fiber in with either oatmeal or whole grain bread for breakfast and either beans, brown rice, or whole wheat pasta for dinner. So I am doing really well with the variety goal.

I've been drinking a lot of water during the week and a decent amount on the weekends. I've been exercising about 4 times per week. I still want to push up to 5 times per week, but I can't seem to make it happen. I should probably just be happy that I'm getting in 4 times per week, but maybe it's good to never be completely satisfied.

I've lost about 11.3 pounds so far. I need to lose 14 by the end of February to keep up with my goal of 7 pounds per month.

My motivation is strong in the morning and all day at work, but it is very fragile by the time I get home at night. I think it's a combination of the shitty weather, wanting to feel comforted after a long day, and to be honest, a bit of depression. "The Anniversary" is coming up. I can't decide if I'll ask for the day off work. Plus it's hard not to be a homebody when it's cold outside and I miss being busy.

Anyhow. That's where I am. Think good thoughts for me!

Whoopsie Daisies

Last week got busy and I forgot to update my blogger with everything I put into my mouth. It's interesting that out of every week so far, last weekend (Friday and Saturday) were my worst days in terms of controlling my eating. I was able to straighten out and fly right on Sunday and have been doing fine since. But of course I am nervous that I am going to see some negative results on the scale and that is always a bit scary.

To get myself properly motivated, I've started thinking about what I want to get for myself once I hit the 10 pound marker. I need to lose only 2.7 pounds in order to hit that goal and I think it would help if I had something looming out in the distance for me to buy. I would really like a new pair of jeans, but I don't want to buy anything at Lane Bryant, as it's too expensive and typically the fit is a bit off. I am hesitant to order jeans online from old navy, as pants are the worst thing to buy before you try on. But I just need to keep in mind that I can always send whatever I purchase back to the store if it doesn't fit.

My exercise has also been lacking quite a bit. I did some stretching&strength training on Sunday and Tuesday, and I also did just stretching on Monday morning. But I need to get the cardio back in. I am just feeling unmotivated to do it after work. I can't wait until we start going back to the gym. As much as I hate the gym sometimes, it's easier to work out there than it is to work out at home (when you can see the couch from the "gym").

I am doing well with some of my resolutions though.

• I have successfully avoided lactose and splenda for three full weeks.
• I have been cooking at least one new recipe per week.
• I have been drinking an excessive amount of water.

Things I have not been doing as well.

• Exercising 5 times per week (obviously).
• Walking more often just for fun (this died with the lack of gym visits and the bad weather, sadly).
• Eating a variety of 7 healthy foods.

Don't get me wrong, I have been eating mostly healthy foods. It just seems to me that a whole lot of them are whole wheat related. Or one day I will get in my vegetables and beans, but no fruit. Or I'll eat my fruits, but no vegetables. I don't know how to steadily add them all into my diet. The fruit and yogurt are easy, as I can have them with my lunch. And I like the addition of a banana with my breakfast, as I can have it with whatever I'm eating. But raw vegetables are expensive and I don't always feel like eating them for lunch unless they are in a salad. But I guess that is one place where I could make a good change - I could have carrot sticks w/ hummus more often.

I have a love/hate relationship with vegetables for dinner. Again, raw vegetables are a bit expensive, but I don't like how some vegetables taste if they came from a frozen bag. I like canned green beans okay, but everything else from the can (other than nutrition-less corn) makes me feel gross. So. I guess carrots w/ lunch it is! And maybe a can of green beans with every dinner.

Weekends

I slept in until 9am today, which is much later than I normally do on the weekends. I got up and immediately started straightening up the apartment. Dan suggested I make breakfast before we get to cleaning, so I tried out a new recipe, a spinach and broccoli quiche. It turned out really well and there was enough for tomorrow morning as well. Dan took care of the bathroom while I cleaned the kitchen. Then I disassembled Christmas while Dan mopped the floors. We finished up around 1pm and then remembered we still had the drawers for our bed to put together. Dan got to work on them while I practiced my crochet and entertained him (in my opinion I am pretty damn entertaining). He finished up the drawers around 3:30pm.

We are very productive around the house on the weekends and it is the main reason why we can't find time for the gym. We clean all morning and work on projects in the afternoon and then we're both ready for a good nap or a little bit of relaxation. I suppose if we were to clean more during the week we would have more time on the weekend - but after work and the gym and making dinner we only really have an hour and a half or so to enjoy ourselves before we go to sleep. So. We still need to figure out how to fit in a workout before the gym closes (5pm).

To make sure I still work out today I am going to do the wii fit in a bit and I'm going to walk to the movie theatre tonight to meet Bernadette. All we have to do tomorrow is grocery shop and laundry, so hopefully the gym visit will be more feasible.

I'm sure everyone deals with this on the weekends. The answer is to probably go immediately to the gym in the morning and then to do the housework afterwards. It makes sense... but will we actually do it? No idea.

Quick One.

Just a little exercise update. Last night I did 20 minutes of aerobics (hula hoop and step) and then I did 10 minutes of yoga. I have hit my three days/week goal! Now to work out on the weekends... I still need to figure out how to get the motivation to go tomorrow morning. sigh.

Also, I lost 4.2 pounds this week! Being back in the habit feels good.

Work party today. I successfully avoided cake. It didn't even look good. That feels nice.

resolutions, etc.

As of this Sunday, I have done the following:

Had three bottles (or 9 glasses) of water each day.

Eaten from at least 5 of my healthy categories per day.

Made one new recipe (chicken strogonoff). One of my non-weight loss resolutions is to make a new recipe every week, so that I'm cooking more in general and also trying new things.

Picked up some yarn, a hook, and a book and started teaching myself to crochet. This is another non-weight loss related resolution. So far I find it very relaxing and it has taken my mind off night time snacking, which is the goal.

Avoided dairy and splenda.

Done some form of exercise every day. My resolution was to go to the gym five times a week, but our dear friend and dog walker is not available to help us for the next three weeks. The good news is that she'll be working in my department for the next three weeks, so I imagine I'll be able to have lunch with her daily! Woo hoo! But I digress... We don't want to leave the dogs home for 12+ hours a day (seems cruel) so we are being creative and exercising at home three days a week. So we'll be pushing to go to the gym twice on the weekends for now.

Last night Dan and I were both exhausted from our rather epic gym workout on Tuesday. His back hurt, my knees hurt - we are both babies, but getting back into cardio takes time. Instead of exercising, we watched this horribly created (therefore amazing) show called "Ghost Adventures." If you can find this show, watch it. The ghost hunters names are "Zack, Nick and Aaron," and they use intimidation and goading to get the ghosts to appear. The narration is ridiculously stupid and they are constantly yelling at each other for making too much noise or "running away from ghosts." Anyway, that kept us pretty busy last night.

Dan got up this morning and did wii boxing. I stretched for 5 minutes and did 10 minutes of strength training. I will be doing wii yoga tonight before bed. With wii yoga on Monday and a gym visit on Tuesday, that will put me at my three days per week goal.