Moving Forward

This is one of those mornings where I feel really crappy and regretful. See, here's what happened. On Friday, I cooked myself a nice lunch that I felt really good about. I sautéed carrots, bok choy, basil and ginger in coconut oil. I had three leftover potato chunks with ketchup. And lastly, I had a bowl of chopped apple with cinnamon, chia seeds, and basil on top. And to drink I had a small glass of V8 Fusion (pomegranate and blueberry). Everything was light and delicious and healthy and I was feeling really good about my GF/DF lunch that I whipped up. (okay I realize there was not much protein or healthy fat but I did my best with what I had...)

About two hours later, I was DYING of the bloat. I felt like I was going to explode. It was obvious that something I ate caused this feeling, but what?

Of course the bok choy was a possibility. But Lindsay also pointed out to me that it could be fructose, and perhaps I should not eat apples or drink fruit juice.

Ugh.

This brings me to yesterday lunchtime. I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while, and I couldn't think of what to have for lunch. I was making my kids pb&j on whole wheat sandwich thins, and I just made myself one and ate it with pretzels. Hello, gluten!!! I din't have any sort of reaction afterwards or feel bad at all. No bloating or anything like that. So of course, I determined gluten must not be my problem!!!

Which brings me to last night. Date night. I had the most amazing dinner. It started with none other than BREAD. And I didn't hold back either. I had the bread with honey butter, a glass of wine, etc. I did order a dinner that was both gluten- and dairy-free at least. But they say with gluten, there is no 80/20 rule. If you're sensitive to it, even a little bit can be damaging.

After that, I went to a party where I may or may not have had two brownies and another glass of wine.

So this morning I wake up totally feeling the effects of the wine (draggy, feel like there are spider webs in my head) and bloated as all get-out.

Whyyy??? Why did I feel like it was okay to eat whatever the heck I wanted last night?  How was this helpful at all???  Two weeks DF and a week DF/GF and I went and did that, and I totally feel it.

Anyway, moving forward. I need a plan. I have a new rash on my ankle and one on my shoulder. I'm slightly congested this morning. I really believe food is at the heart of this, I just need to figure out what it is.

I think my plan is this -- continue with DF since that has already made me feel so much better. Limit gluten/wheat since I seem to have more energy without those. But really drastically cut down alcohol and sugar, as in no alcohol and not much sugar.

If that doesn't work, it's possible the bloating is caused by certain foods like the bok choy.

Maybe I'll also keep a food diary, so I can start to see patterns.

Plans are good. I feel better already.

Gluten Free and Dairy Free -- So Far, So Good

Okay I know it's only been a couple of days, but so far gluten- and dairy-free eating has been pretty simple. It takes planning and preparation, as well as a stocked refrigerator and pantry. But the food itself is delicious and doesn't leave much to be desired.

Yesterday I had GF toaster waffles, poached eggs, and pineapple for breakfast. Yum. For lunch, I had a salad -- romaine, garbanzo beans, avocado, oil & vinegar. For dinner, the family wanted pizza (and I haven't yet tried making a cauliflower crust!), so I went next door to the pizza place and got a Five Guys burger -- no bun. Usually Five Guys leaves me feeling sooooo full, but skipping the bun seems to alleviate that a lot. For dessert, I had a So Delicious coconut ice cream pop, which totally hit the spot. I also had a glass of white wine. Very little bloating/gassiness yesterday.

(Note: I also had a multivitamin @ breakfast, and a calcium/D3 and fish oil with all three meals)

One thing I've noticed the last couple of days is I have slept *so much better* than usual. My nights are usually quite restless, up 2-4 times during the night, mind racing, can't get back to sleep, etc. I couldn't even remember what a good night's sleep felt like. But the last couple of nights I have slept so well. The weirdest thing is I am *wide awake* at 6:30 AM, whereas usually I am dragging myself out of bed at 7:30. Clearly sleeping more restfully means I am ready to get up earlier.

The sleep could be a coincidence. It also could be a side effect of the vitamins/supplements. And it could be the removal of the dairy or gluten. Who knows??!  But I will figure it out eventually. I just really hope that this keeps up, because I love getting a good night's sleep!!!

This morning I had Puffins Honey Rice cereal with almond milk. It wasn't bad but wasn't super awesome either. I wouldn't buy it again.

I had the most enormous lunch. Two poached eggs with Sriracha, leftover lentil and buckwheat salad with sriracha, and romaine with garbanzos, avocado, and GF dressing. The different flavors went well together and it hit the spot.

For dinner, I loosely followed this recipe for Sloppy Joe's from an apparently defunct blog. I left out the jalapeño, chili powder, and tamari, used onion powder instead of onion, and instead of tomato sauce/paste, I blended up a can of fire roasted tomatoes. (Accommodating for kids' palates -- less spicy, fewer chunks.) It was still very good, flavorful, kid-friendly, etc. The kids and husband ate it on rolls. I just ate mine in a bowl. I'm easy to please.

For dessert, I had an almond flour blueberry muffin (recipe from this book, The Immune System Recovery Plan: A Doctor's 4-Step Program to Treat Autoimmune Disease, which I'm obsessed with). It was my first time trying almond flour, and I was pleased, but it used almost the whole bag and that shit is *expensive*!!!

I'm heading upstairs to bed now and hoping for another good night's sleep!

Elimination Diet Day 1 (Well, mostly...)

Today, I started eliminating gluten and dairy from my diet to see what impact it might have and whether I have a sensitivity to either one. I actually had a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, because a friend brought it into work just for me, so my elimination diet started after that. 

I decided to eliminate gluten and dairy for three weeks. I also considered eliminating corn and soy, then decided not to. I may come to regret that decision, we'll see.

The rash currently on my feet :(

The symptoms I have -- which could possibly be related to a food sensitivity -- are:

• frequent sickness (colds, sore throats)
• rashes on body (mostly behind knees, tops of feet, bikini line, lower back)
• nasal congestion
• post-nasal drip
• bloating and gas, abdominal discomfort
• brain fog
• fatigue, low energy
• anxiety, panic
• fainting, faintness in stuffy or hot rooms

Here is my food diary for today:

Breakfast:

• red delicious apple
• garlic bagel
• plain cream cheese
• Green tea
• Calcium, multivitamin, fish oil
• Claritin & Zantac

Lunch:

• Red leaf lettuce
• Garbanzo beans
• EVOO
• balsamic vinegar
• Celery (ugh, I hate raw celery)
• Water
• Calcium, fish oil

Snack:

• So Delicious coconut milk ice cream bar (OMG yum)
• Raw coconut water

Dinner:

• Chevy's Fresh Mex
• a few corn chips
• shrimp fajitas w/corn tortillas
• shrimp, onions, pinto beans, pico, sour cream (DOH!!!!!!!), guacamole
• margarita on the rocks
• Claritin
• Calcium, fish oil

The verdict? 

First, I didn't have a huge issue avoiding gluten. I like fish and meat and vegetables (and CORN!). If I had to give up corn it would be harder. 

Second, I ate sour cream without even realizing it. Darn!

Third, I am super bloated and gassy right now. Why, I wonder? I felt great all day so I don't think it's the bagel and cream cheese from this morning. My guess is it's something from dinner -- could be the sour cream, or maybe the margarita (alcohol? sugar?).

Also, I should mention that I hit up Whole Foods today for gluten- and dairy-free goodness (hence the So Delicious ice cream bar). Here are some of the GF/DF things I bought:

• Bob's almond flour
• So Delicious hazelnut coconut milk creamer
• Rice Dream vanilla 
• Unsweetened almond milk
• some kind of GF cereal
• GF brownie mix
• Quinoa
• Toasted buckwheat (can't wait to try this!)
• GF toaster waffles

I also bought normal things like eggs, avocados, and some veggies to make a detox soup.

I'm excited for tomorrow. I think I'll have a poached egg, toaster waffle, fresh pineapple, and coffee with coconut milk creamer for breakfast. For lunch, maybe I'll get that detox soup cooked up.  Oh wow, check out this recipe I just found. I am so totally making this tomorrow, using some of my squash and baby bellas too: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lentil-and-buckwheat-salad/

Good night!

Allergies, Rashes, and Food Elimination

For the past -- hmmm, how many years has it been? Five? -- five years, my health has been a virtual roller coaster. I suffered chronic strep throat for years, and finally got a tonsillectomy in March of 2010. The good news is, I haven't had strep throat since then. The bad news is, my health still sucks. I constantly get colds, have rashes all over my body, and suffer from extreme bloating and gassiness. (TMI?) Not to mention that I have a tendency to faint (or feel like I'm going to faint) in stuffy or hot places.

A few weeks ago, I was suffering from nasal congestion -- AGAIN -- so bad taht I couldn't breathe through my nose at all for four days. I sometimes panic when I can't breathe through my nose, so this was -- shall we say -- a rough week. I finally decided enough is enough and made an appointment with the ENT. He gave me some corticosteroid nasal spray called Qnasl and also set me up for allergy testing.

On Monday, I went in for the allergy testing. The tests showed I have a mild allergy to dust mites and cockroaches (ew) plus some grasses/weeds, a moderate allergy to feathers and some trees like red cedar, and a moderate allergy to -- wait for it -- glycerin. Allergic to glycerin. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Glycerin is in *every* cosmetic product out there!!!

Yesterday, I went to the lab and had blood drawn for food allergies. I hope they run the glycerin test again as well because I really want someone to tell me that was a mistake.

Anyway, the day after the allergy testing, guess what happened. I got a rash on both feet. Awesome! So I went back to the ENT yesterday and they said that it's because of the allergy testing, my body is extra sensitive right now, not to worry. They also gave me an interesting "cocktail" to systemically address the allergy issues. This is just a short-term thing I'm supposed to do when I have an attack/rash.

- a 24-hour Claritin (or Allegra or Zyrtec) twice a day
- 75 mg Zantac twice a day (apparently this is an h2 histamine receptor??)
- benadryl at night if I need it

I already have 150mg Zantac, so I decided to take that once a day instead. Hope that doesn't screw everything up!

My doc believes that a food intolerance or allergy might be behind all of this. Maybe the food allergy test will turn something up. Either way, he suggested I do an elimination diet to try to identify whether dairy, gluten, or soy are causing me any issues. An elimination diet is something I've never really had the motivation to try, but I'm at the point now where I think I really need to do it. After all, if I could feel better just by not eating something, it would be totally worth it!

So this weekend I will stock up my gluten-free pantry and fridge and give it a whirl. I'm going to do no gluten or dairy for sure, and maybe also no corn or soy.

Wish me luck!

Fresh Produce FTW!!!

I recently discovered a local produce company called East Side Produce. They are located in Eastern Maryland and deliver fresh produce weekly right to your (my) front door. I've purchased three boxes from them so far and am completely hooked. The first time I ordered, I got the large box, but it was a bit much for my family of four. Since then, I have ordered the small box which is a much better fit for us.

Week 1

My first box had the following:

• Green Leaf Lettuce (1 bunch) 
• Arugula (1 bunch) 
• Beet Bunches (3 beets) 
• Yams (4) 
• Yellow Tomatoes (4) 
• Cucumbers (6) 
• Petite Bananas (8) 
• Kiwis (8) 
• Lemons (8) 
• Red Grapefruit (4) 

(I approximated the numbers because I don't remember exactly how many of each thing I got)

I chopped up the lettuce and arugula and used it throughout the week for salads, with cucumber and yellow tomatoes on top of course! I boiled up the beets which were sooooo delicious. For the yams, I just microwaved them and served them with brown sugar and margarine. The bananas were awesome and we had no trouble finishing them off. My six year old ate all the kiwis by himself. I ate all the red grapefruits, which by the way are INSANELY delicious with Stevia on top. And I never did eat all the lemons (oops). I used the lemons to make salad dressing and ate a LOT of salads this week!!!

Week 2

The second week I ordered the small box, which contained:

• Romaine Lettuce (1 bunch) 
• Ginger (a lot) 
• Green Pepper (4 small) 
• Snow Peas (a bag full) 
• Braeburn Apples (4) 
• Garlic (3 heads) 
• Grape Tomatoes (a bag full) 
• Sweet Onions (2) 
• Cara Cara Oranges (3) 
• Radish Bunch (1) 

I tried to be as good about the salads as the week before, but I really wasn't. I ended up wasting some of the romaine. I haven't decided what to do with the ginger yet, but I should hurry up and freeze it. I used the bell peppers to make stuffed peppers. The snow peas, grape tomatoes, and radishes were eaten on salads, but I didn't quite finish them. Ate all the apples and oranges. Didn't eat the onions. Roasted the garlic, which was insanely delicious.

Week 3

The third week, I again ordered a small box, and it had:

• Frisee Lettuce (1 bunch) 
• Bosc Pears (3) 
• Red Potatoes (a lot) 
• Roma Tomatoes (3) 
• Bunch Carrots (2 carrots) 
• Watercress (bunch) 
• Red Delicious Apples (4) 
• Gold Pearl Onions (bag full) 
• Zucchini (1) 
• Red Bell Pepper (2 large) 

I didn't do great with the lettuce/watercress or tomatoes. I think I only had two salads, and none of the watercress. I ate all the pears and apples. Used the carrots, zucchini, and red bell peppers to make stuffed peppers. Here's the recipe for the stuffed peppers, but I used zucchini instead of spinach and black beans instead of kidney beans. I only had two peppers, so I stuffed them and the rest of the filling is what my kids had for dinner since they don't like bell peppers anyway. My kids LOVED it. Still have the bag full of pearl onions, which I should cook before they go bad. I made potato salad out of the red potatoes and served that at two parties over the weekend!

Week 4

Okay so here we are on the fourth week, and I really want to make sure I don't waste any food. I thought about not ordering this week, then I realized that $30 isn't that much to spend on produce, and the variety really makes me get inventive. So coming tomorrow is:

• Red Leaf Lettuce 
• Yellow Squash 
• Idaho Potatoes 
• Celery 
• Golden Pineapple 
• Green Beans 
• Spanish Onions 
• Baby Bella Mushrooms 
• Granny Smith Apples 
• Arugula

The red leaf lettuce and arugula will be for salads. I'll cook up the squash, potatoes, and beans. The pineapple and apples will get eaten, as fruit always does in this house. Celery and mushrooms make me think of soup, so maybe there is soup in my future this week.
 
Despite the cost, I really like this fresh delivered produce. It encourages me to eat more fruits and vegetables. It encourages me to get inventive with recipes. It encourages variety in the diet, which I think is healthy for everyone, but especially for my 2 and 6 year old sons. And it keeps us from getting in a food rut.

Fresh produce FTW!

Weekend @ Jacksonville Beach

I just got back from the most wonderful weekend in Florida. My brother's family relocated to Jacksonville Beach last summer, and we hadn't been down there to visit them yet. Well, my dad's 70th birthday is this week, and he thought it would be nice for us all to get together down there. What a great idea! My aunt and uncle were there, who I hadn't seen in several years, plus I hadn't seen my brother's family in three years (!!!). We had such an incredible time. His kids are 5 and 7 and mine are 2 and 6, and the kids had so much fun playing together. The water was too cold for swimming, but the kids had fun playing in the sand and splashing on the shore. I didn't get to play with them in the sand because I'm totally allergic to the beach. Not sure what it is -- Sand? Sun? But every time I go to the beach, I get a horrendous rash on my feet. I seem to have made it through the weekend unscathed, despite briefly walking in the sand while taking some family pictures. I immediately went back to the room, changed my clothes, and scrubbed my feet. It's that bad.

We stayed at the Quality Suites Oceanfront, and had balcony rooms overlooking the ocean.

 
It was so awesome to open the balcony door and listen to the sound of the waves. Plus, it's a great place to watch the sun rise!

I need to do a better job of keeping in touch with my family. My brother and his wife don't email much, so I really have to call them. Fortunately, my brother is on Facebook, so I do get little glimpses into what he's up to. We have one of those relationships where we don't have to talk, write, see each other, etc. for a year or more, and when we do, it's like not five minutes has gone by. I feel very lucky to have that kind of relationship with my brother. But I still should try to see him more, especially since the kids deserve to see each other and be close to their cousins. New Years Resolution #2 - Nurture My Relationships -- Check!!!

Do you have a good relationship with your siblings? Do you travel a lot to see them if they are far away? 

Have any interesting trips planned???

Randomness (and my new planner!)

So, I went to Target the other day and saw this.

These are exactly the kinds of clothes I wore when I was in 8th grade, about 1988 or so. I love it!!! Can a 37 year old woman rock those flowered pants?

I went to H-Mart to get ingredients for the zucchini cakes, and I saw these.

 I'm forbidding myself to do impulse purchases, but that Wasabi Blast will be mine. I'm going to have to Google the Korean pancakes to see what they are. I am curious!

I went to Staples for no other reason than I am obsessed with office supplies, and I found myself drooling over the Martha Stewart line. Again. Then I realized it's a new year which totally justifies a new planner. At the cash register, I realized I had a gift card. Winning all around.

I love this planner. It has a week view, and each day is split into morning, afternoon, and evening. On the right there is a task list for your weekly to-dos, or goals!

There are two extra squares at the bottom. I am using one for meal planning. Not sure what I'll do with the other square! 

It also has a full month view. Like my scribbles? I thought I was in the week view and was trying to write in my meals. Oops! :)

In the Monthly view, there is a "don't forget!" section for monthly reminders (or goals?), plus I love the little calendars for the before and after months. (Look, my dad turns 70 this month! Happy birthday, Dad!) And I bought those cute little tabs to help me find different sections of the planner.

Since it's Martha Stewart, she has helpful little notes throughout the year. (<3 you Martha!)

And less helpful reminders... (<3 you Martha, but sometimes you cray)

All closed up for the night. Isn't she pretty?

I also ate food yesterday. Peanut butter balls with vanilla almond milk and berries for breakfast.

Leftover zucchini cake on pita with bleu cheese dressing and a Chobani for lunch.
 

Rice pudding with cinnamon from Perfect Pita. Probably so unhealthy but so delicious. I ate the whole thing.

For dinner, Tiger had leftover bbq chicken and carrots/hummus.

Rocco wanted nuggets, and Rocco gets what Rocco wants. These are the nuggets we use. I hope they are good not too awful.

He ate 6 of them, which is over 300 calories. Wow! (lots of sodium though, boo)

Here's the ingredients. See anything awful in there?

Husband and I had leftover bbq chicken plus I made this curry ginger cauliflower from Peanut Butter Fingers. Holy wow, this stuff was soooo good. I've never roasted cauliflower before. Need to do that again!

Washed everything down with some seltzer from my new Sodastream. I have wanted one of these for years and got this for Christmas. I love love love it!!!

I mix in these (allegedly) natural flavors:

Yummy to my tummy!

Tell me, what random things have you been seeing lately?