Halfway There (oh OH...)

Well, the 15th has come and gone faster than I expected. Before I get my lazy carcass up off the couch to measure, I'll add a few notes:

I feel great. I have a little indigestion today, but that's because I had a stomach bug yesterday. It only lasted about 12 hours, but they weren't fun hours. This is here because it may also affect my size a little. Maybe not, but it's worth noting. 

People who know me well have noted that I look slimmer. This may be due to reduction in midsection bloat, but my MIL even said I look like I did when David and I were dating. I don't think I'm quite there yet, but it's nice to hear the compliment. 

The one difference I've noticed is a stark drop in appetite. I've gone from grazing a lot to eating small, snack-sized meals 4-5 times a day. Half a bowl of soup here, piece of fruit there, that kind of thing. I'm quite satisfied with the food I'm eating and am loving some of the GF bread mixes I've found and what they accomplish for me. Read: I ate pizza for dinner last night! Also, Chik-fil-a has a GF menu. This was a source of delight for me.

This brings me to the point I have reached. Really, if you have the time and resources to make it happen, there's really not much you can't eat. Cakes, pies, pizza, hamburgers, cookies--you may have to modify your favorite recipes, but if it exists, there is probably a GF version. In these 2 weeks, I really don't feel that I've given much up at all. I've made different choices, but I haven't gone hungry nor wanting. Though, I will say, I'd give the $5 I was unwilling to drop earlier for a box of GF mac and cheese right now. I'm kinda kicking myself for not buying rice pasta when I had the chance. 

Hip: 39 inches

Waist: 32 inches

Bicep: 13 inches

Sweet! I've gone down about an inch in the hip (the measurement I hated most, and about 1/2 inch elsewhere! For anyone's reference, I'm about 5 foot 7 in height and weighed 155 last week. 

We'll see if anything changes in the next two weeks. I'm pretty stoked to keep up exercising and eating healthy, wheat-free foods. I don't think this is a miracle diet or anything like that, but I am liking what I'm seeing and the choices I'm making with this new boundary. 

ONE WEEK DOWN, 3 to go!

Day 7                     Sunny Saturday, Chattanooga trip and chilling with my husband

Today was a great day to be gluten free! We went to Earth Fare and got some tasty GF foods—some cookies to dip in my tea (which were ok, but far too sweet) and some crackers, which were delicious! I can have my cheese and cracker platter for breakfast now!

Breakfast: Slept through…hooray!

Lunch: Chicken salad and California roll sushi

Dinner: More chicken salad, a plum, some crackers and cheese

Snacks/beverages: Hot tea, Moroccan mint green iced tea, water

Day 6 and We're Almost to One Week!

Day 6                     Sunny Friday, Groceries and evening at Ama’s!

Quiet day and almost one week into it! Though I’m still not eating much (really hot weather lately), I’m enjoying everything I’m eating. There are so many great foods out there that don’t involve gluten that it would take a long time for me to exhaust the list. In other news, my salad gave me a cold, miffed stare when I opened the fridge. I wasn’t there for it, anyway. So there.

Brunch: Leftover Banh pho with lots of avocado, green onions, and a fried egg in it. MMmmm

Dinner: Stir fry with kale, spinach, rice, and tatziki sauce

Snacks/beverages: Hot tea, dried figs, a chocolate, a couple of chips, a few bites of watermelon

Day 5 of Gluten Free and the Salads are Getting Antsy

Sorry this one's a few hours late! Forgot to post before bed last night.

Day 5                     Sunny Thursday, house cleaning, funeral

Today was encouraging—My MIL and SIL both noticed that the puffiness that they thought was weight had almost completely gone away.  Hooray! I’m losing that 40!!!

And the salad in my fridge had words to say to me when I finally decided to give it a try. My base was a 50/50 spring mix/spinach medley, and I didn’t realize that it included aromatic herbs. Yuck. I’m all for herbs in cooking, but fresh is waaay too overpowering for me. So, my salad returns to the fridge, feeling spurned and rejected. It may organize a revolt among the greens.

Breakfast: Um…I shared an orange with Raiden…

Lunch: Dismal failure of an herbed salad

Dinner: EarthFare! I got some California Roll sushi (no soy sauce, that has gluten) and shared a smoothie with Raiden and David.

Snacks/beverages: Hot tea, water, dried figs, banh pho with parmesan and garlic and avocado

Day 4 and the Tough Get Going!

Today was super busy. I was out of the house from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM, then went for walks with Raiden and did active garden work until 8:30, when I put Raiden in bed early and began chilling. I'm seriously considering hitting the hay at 10 tonight and leaving the dish washing until the morning. I hate that it puts me under stress to get everything together in time tomorrow, but I've about spent the last of my energy.

Day 4                     Sunny Wednesday, Going to Chattanooga for an errand excursion!

This morning began with my first foray into GF baking, and it wasn’t a disaster! Hooray! My MIL is also mostly GF because of a sensitivity to wheat…and yesterday was her birthday. Since I was seeing her today, I decided to fix a GF version of her favorite breakfast: biscuits, gravy, and chicken. I used this recipe and added an extra splash of milk:

http://www.glutenfreegigi.com/gluten-free-drop-biscuits/

They turned out a little dry still, but very good overall. The chicken and gravy covered up most of the ricey flavor and I’m sure they’d be delicious with butter and jam on them as well.

I will say, overall today I was a bad girl. Going out, I did eat GF and easily—the menu item I wanted happened to be GF. It also happened to be really fattening, which makes the whole toning up aspect of this whole scenario a little more elusive.  I’m sure I’ll get a salad in sometime this week.

Breakfast: Biscuits, a little gravy, and chicken (all GF and all delicious!)

Lunch: Asiago and crab dip with tortilla chips from Big River Grille

Dinner: Leftovers from lunch. Don’t judge me. It was staring at me from the fridge calling my name. The salad was oddly silent…maybe my rejection has hurt its feelings. 

So I'm off to wash up for bed. My husband has quite the surprise waiting for him when he gets home, seeing as my sunflowers and pole beans are now history. Goodnight!

Day 3 And the going gets tough...

Sunny Tuesday with a call from my boss and curry cooking

I almost messed it up today. Raiden has been pretty miserable with his teeth happening, so before he went to bed, I treated him to some Annie’s bunny crackers. When I went to clean up the mess, without thinking, I popped a few of the crumbs in my mouth. Thankfully, I realized what I had done before swallowing, so I spat them out and washed out my mouth.

I will say, today has been a little more difficult in that I am less interested in the many and varied approved foods I have available and more interested in ones that aren’t. My solution is just to eat a little snack and see how I feel about eating more later, when I’m actually good and hungry. I keep reminding myself, “it’s only for a month, and this is the worst part now. Hang tough.”

Breakfast: Leftover grits from yesterday, dolled up with some milk, cheese, and a slice of turkey bacon

Lunch: ½ a banana, some chips and guacamole. I meant to go back and eat a salad, but was too busy.

Dinner: Leek and onion soup with fixins (see Day 1)

Snacks/beverages: Hot tea, a little more chocolate (I’m spreading a small bar over 3 days), water, probably some chicken. 

Day 2 Gluten Free

Today I did a little research (read, about 30 seconds' worth) because I heard that going GF can give you withdrawals. This is what I found: 

"Some people experience withdrawal symptoms for several days or weeks after starting a gluten-avoidant diet, according to Wangen. These can include headaches, fatigue and powerful cravings for glutenous foods. Withdrawal symptoms should resolve within a few days or weeks..." (http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/expect-stopping-gluten-1075.html). 

Good to know! So far, none of that craziness, though I have been a space cadet today. I wore my shirt inside out for the first half of the day, misread something (and I'm a copy editor), and generally was a spaz. That may just be me, though. :-) 

Day 2                     Rainy/cloudy/sunny Labor Day Monday with laundry, dishes, and cooking salsa!

I think I’m less hungry during the day on hot days. I usually make up for it after Raiden goes to bed, when its cooler out. Hopefully I can come up with plenty of tasty options to get us through the week. There will probably be discount grillable foods this weekend on sale at the grocery store, so next week’s cooking will be a cinch.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs topped with a smidgen of sausage, cheese, and grits

Lunch: Roasted green beans dipped in ranch dressing. Mmmm.

Dinner: Ummm....wow, I really was not hungry today. I'll try to remember to take my prenatals tomorrow so that I can get some extra nutrition. 

Snacks/beverages: Hot tea, a little chocolate, a taste of the salsa on about 3 tortilla chips, grape/pomegranate juice mix

AND, in case anyone was wondering, here is my salsa recipe:

A quart ish of ripe tomatoes (these were the ones with spots from my in-laws' garden)

1 onion

1 bell pepper (this is mild, use jalapeno and poblano for spice that bites back)

small bunch of green onions

small bunch of cilantro (why I didn't eat more of the salsa)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

at least 2 teaspoons salt 

leeetle bit of garlic powder

red and black pepper

Slice, dice and puree as desired. This would be great mixed with avocado to make guacamole! In fact, that may be tomorrow's snack, if the cilantro flavor doesn't get any more intense. 

Gluten-Free Month!

Big things are happening in the next couple of months at the Thomas house, and it's time to be prepared!

First off, we decided not to do a beach vacation because it would cost us 5% of our annual income to pull off the shindig we wanted, so instead I'm planning a fall staycation with apple picking, aquarium visit, and all sorts of things that don't involve busting a grand. That, I'm sure, will be the subject of future posts.

Second, the minja will be turning 1! I've got a tiny toddler on my hands, and each growth offers new ways to make things amazing. His is one of about 3,572 birthdays happening in the next month, and all in time for the holidays to show up, sooooo....

It is now time for me to finish off this baby weight. Any of you who know me well probably know I nurse Raiden and don't really plan to stop for a little while. Though things have definitely slowed some, the hormones really need about 3 months of no milk before it becomes easy to lose again. If it ever even does.

So, I want to take some "drastic" measures that won't hurt my milk supply. And since I spoiled it in the title, I'll go ahead and spell it out: no gluten for Jenny in the month of September. Today was Day One, and things are off to a great start.

I have my size measurements below, and I'll check again at halfway and at the end, to see if there's a change. I don't have a scale, so weight is not going to factor in. I also have eczema, and this will be a bit of a test to see if anything changes there, though I doubt it will. Mostly, I'm hoping to trim up that 40.

Waist: 32 1/2 inches
Hip: 40 inches (you see where the problem lies)
Bicep: 13.5 inches

So, without further ado, here's Day 1 of my Making Gluten Free Amazing challenge!

Rainy Sunday with afternoon trip to Ama’s to shell peas; writing the Fuel

Day one of my gluten-free month! I must say, though there are plenty of temptations around me, my excitement and my plan have held through pretty well. The plan is to have 3 delicious meals and a couple of snack options available. Then, when hunger comes, I know what options I have next. I hate meal planning long-term, so planning a day at a time gives me something to look forward to without making me feel trapped by a piece of paper.

Breakfast: Omelet with cheddar, ½ slice of turkey bacon, avocado, and green onion.

Lunch: Leek & onion soup with goat cheese, ½ slice of turkey bacon, balsamic dressing, and tortilla chips.

Dinner: Rice/veggie medley, chicken, baked green beans, Greek yogurt sauce

Snacks/beverages: Green grapes, shared orange, hot tea

If anyone wants my recipes for any of this, holla!!!