Gluten-Free Update

Life with a puppy is a challenge.  Not having a baby or child, I can't compare but...I change newspapers when they get dirty - sometimes right after I've changed them...I make sure he eats on a schedule...I can't leave him for too long at a time.  It's a lot of fun too.  We play games together and we snuggle together.  He is very consuming right now.  That's my long way of saying that his attention is not giving me much time to blog.  All of my spare time is spent on client work and getting other things done around the house.

 Last week, I was in Chicago very briefly for a client meeting.  I stayed with Mark's sister and her family.  It was lucky because it was Halloween and I got to go along with the trick-or-treaters.  It was a blast.  However, it is hard to travel and eat gluten-free.  It's unfair to impose dietary restrictions on others and it is really hard to eat on the road without encountering gluten.

My two weeks of gluten-free were up last Monday, the day that I left for Chicago.  I tried my best to avoid it but it was inevitable and I'm 99% certain that I ate gluten in my first meal at the airport - a salad.  I picked off the bread crumbs but...then for dinner after trick-or-treating, we ordered in Chinese food and the chicken that I ate had breading on it :(

Now, my reaction was not one that I thought I would have but I'm fairly certain that I do have a gluten intolerance - maybe not though an allergy.  My stomach had some problems that I won't describe but the hives did not show up as I thought they would as that was the symptom that I was trying to eliminate and did successfully once going off gluten.

So, the result?!  I probably have an intolerance.  My plan is to continue to avoid gluten when possible but I won't get too upset if I eat anything with it by accident when out or on the road.  I do feel better when I avoid it and it can't hurt anything by avoiding it!

Eating gluten-free (for the most part) for a little more than three weeks has been a lot easier than I thought and I'm getting the hang of it!  I even bought a blender so I can start to make smoothies for breakfast and snacks.  I'll add kale for my greens :)

Have you been inspired to try a gluten-free diet?  Any good recipes to share?

24 hours to go...

In just about 24 hours, we will have a new family member joining us...Winston.  I can't wait!  Tomorrow, our lives will change forever in a good way and the feeling is so good.

Not Winston but a 9-week old Westie (Source)

 Today is day 5 of being gluten-free.  One of the big reasons for going gluten-free were hives that I was getting daily.  Since I've cut gluten from my diet, I've noticed that the hives have slowly disappeared.  I'm shocked at how quickly things have improved.  I'm happy and sad.  Happy because my hives are gone.  Sad because this might mean my thoughts around food may have to change forever.  It'll be interesting to see what happens in 9 days when I eat a big bowl of gluten-filled pasta! :)

Last night, day 4 of gluten-free eating, I had:

Breakfast: same boring breakfast of rice cakes with peanut butter and honey and a yogurt

Lunch: roasted chicken with salad, raspberries, yucky gluten-free crackers (still have a whole box left that I'll have to finish)

Dinner: sauteed chicken breasts (in butter, I know, I know) with sauteed spinach with garlic (in olive oil, a little healthier!)

Tonight, we go out for dinner and I'll do my best to find something on the menu for a gluten-free meal.  I might turn into Sally from the movie When Harry Met Sally and order something on the menu and then turn it into my own creation :)

In other news, my mom is coming for a visit!  I can't wait to see her.

Stay tuned for new photos of Winston - I'm sure before the weekend is over!

Day Two of Being Gluten-Free

So far, so good.  Either I'm doing something wrong or being gluten-free isn't as hard as it appears.  Yes, it takes me longer to grocery shop and it takes a while to think of a menu for the week but that's it!  I kind of actually started over the weekend - making a conscientious effort to avoid wheat and other things I knew contained gluten.  Yesterday was the first official day of two weeks of gluten-free.  One of the driving reasons and purposes for this is to see if the hives that I've been suffering from for the past few months would go away.  While they haven't completely disappeared, they have gone away - there's one or two that pops up and bugs me but for the most part are gone.  Yay!

Day One (yesterday)
Breakfast: two rice cakes with peanut butter and honey, yogurt
Lunch: chicken breast cut up on top of butter lettuce with chopped celery, halved cherry tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese (not sure that’s Gluten-free but oh well), dried cranberries, balsamic dressing and a handful of salt and vinegar chips (gf, of course).
Dinner: curried whole chicken legs with carrots, rice and lime
Snack: popcorn, sliced apple with peanut butter

Day Two (today)
Breakfast: two rice cakes with peanut butter and honey
Lunch: chicken breast cut up on top of butter lettuce with chopped celery, halved cherry tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese (not sure that’s Gluten-free but oh well), balsamic dressing
Dinner: Pad Thai from Eat, Live, Run
Snack: Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips, sliced apple with peanut butter

Trying Out Gluten-Free

Starting Monday, I'm trying a new healthy routine.  For two weeks, I'm going to attempt to go completely gluten-free.  For the past few months, I've been struggling with some strange things with my body.  I've gotten hives on a regular basis.  They're terribly itchy and uncomfortable.  In doing some research (because of course, I haven't gone to the doctor for it), I've learned that it could be a symptom of a gluten allergy.

My acupuncturist says that I should go completely gluten-free for two weeks and then enjoy a large piece of wheat bread.  I should know almost immediately if there's a problem.

Mark has been pretty adamant that I'm being ridiculous but he isn't the one who is itchy almost every day.  We finally had a conversation about it and it turns out that he's completely supportive as long as I don't make him go gluten-free! :)

Source

The bad news is that there a LOT of things that have gluten in them. The good news is that there are a LOT of things that don't have gluten in them.  I just have to be VERY careful to read labels.  Luckily, here in Seattle there is a fantastic grocery store introduced to me by a friend called PCC.  They label their gluten-free products with an orange tag, so it makes it easier to identify the GF products.  I think that I'll shop there a lot during the next two weeks!

I think that we'll be eating a lot of meat, potatoes veggies and fruit.  I want to buy myself a blender so I can make a smoothies.  I'll find some tasty GF pasta and make some for me and some for Mark.  I'm hopeful that it won't be too challenging and that the transition is smooth.

My understanding is that I'll crave gluten after a few days of being GF but after a while like anything I'll get over it.

There's a website that I came across that nicely lays out which products are GF, which will help make my life easier: http://www.glutenfreeinfo.com/

Are you gluten-free?  If you have any tips or favorite recipes that you can direct me to, I would really appreciate it.