Here we are, 5 days and almost 10 hours in to the gluten free experiment. I am still debating whether or not to even have a blog, so I'm kind of behind on posting. BUT, yesterday and today I did some gluten-free shopping and ran into some interesting things.
For example, today I spent $5 on a loaf of gluten-free bread. And by "loaf" I mean a doll-sized loaf. Really, it's funny. I opened it at home and it was hard as a rock! Then I read the packaging which said I needed to microwave or toast the bread briefly. So I did. And it became soft. And then I ate it. AND then it was gross!!! Truly, it was the most foul bread I've ever had. It was stretchy, for crying out loud! So that was a dud, and a loss of $5.
I'm snacking a lot less because there really isn't much to snack on. That is probably a good thing, and I'm interested in seeing whether I drop a few pounds from all of this. To alleviate my snacking issue, I bought some special GF (gluten free) snacks including crackers and chips. Chips I can usually have without any special buys, but you have to be careful. Crackers are always a no-go. The crackers were surprisingly delicious. They, too, were very hard. I'm sensing a pattern. Really it was hard cracker with ranch powder on top. The chips were decent, too. I bought some dried banana chips and they were horrible. Apparently I found the ones with no sweetener. Blech. May as well have bought cow chips.
I ran into something interesting today -- obviously no wheat, rye, barley, etc. But "malted barley syrup"? Sounds like a definite no, but I found it on the back of a rice krispies box. Rice krispies are supposed to be one I can eat!! I guess it depends on the brand.... was really looking forward to rice krispy treats in the microwave tonight. But it's little things like that which confuse me. That wasn't a very good example because it had the word "barley" right in it, but there are other things like different starches that just really make me go "huh?" I can't tell you how many times I had to whip my phone out in the middle of the grocery aisle and Google "_____ gluten free?" But, I'm learning.
It really hasn't been as bad as I've heard or expected, so far. Sure, there are things that frustrate me. Like today, in the healthy living aisle at the giant new mega-Kroger, they had a freezer of different things. In one section they had frozen burritos. I saw one that said "gluten free" then looked around and saw that whatever brand it was had several burritos, and all of them were on sale, EXCEPT the GF one. Honestly, for about 5 minutes I stood there wondering if I should get a manager and complain. I bet I could have convinced them to give it to me at the sale price (and oh how I would have embarrassed my husband!)....but really, it's the principle of the thing. I really do see that companies in the food industry are taking advantage of the growng GF population. I should have taken a photo just to emphasize my point, and I may go back and do so. 3 shelves of burritos all from the same company just with different flavors, all with big sale tags underneath them with a discount of nearly $1. Then there was one, lone box of burritos with the same logo and tiny words "gluten free" and there was no sale tag beneath it. Mind you, the base price before the sale was all the same, gluten or no gluten. But Kroger *chose* to have the gluten-free burritos excluded from the sale. Unfair!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Ready, set, go...
And so it beings. I have just reached 72 hours of eating gluten-free. While I'd love to write a detailed blog about the huge impact it has already made on my life, I can't. I don't feel all that different, but I also didn't expect to. In fact, I truly don't expect to report many changes for another few weeks so I would imagine that this blog will begin with information I'm finding, experiences I'm having finding gluten-free food, and gripes about craving my beloved carbs and the price of gluten-free items at the grocery store.
So, if any of that sounds remotely interesting or amusing, let's carry on.
This journey began .... well, I'm not sure exactly how it began. I suppose in short it's really an attempt to alleviate a whole host of medical symptoms I've experienced. Primarily, I have endured excruciating headaches that come with no warning, can last from just a few minutes to 24+ hours. They stink. After paying a fortune out-of-pocket for an MRI (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) that showed nothing, my doctor prescribed me several medications that also amounted to nothing. I hate going to the doctor, so of course I waited months before even mentioning it again.
In addition to the headaches, I have several other random, bizarre "things" that never get figured out. For instance, for approximately 5 years I have been randomly passing out. Fortunately this doesn't happen often (that would be weird and I probably would never leave my house...) and mostly it's just the before-feeling of passing out. We originally chalked this up to blood sugar and hypoglycemia except that my blood tests really didn't show that. After spending another small fortune out-of-pocket on a blood glucose monitor (Again, kudos Mom and Dad!) we never got anywhere with that, either. So, I carry snacks and prick my finger every once in a while, but really it's just another thing on my "list."
I won't yet get into detail about anything else on this list, but I will say that it's pretty frightening to read about the strange symptoms people have experienced before being diagnosed or going gluten-free. There are many individuals and doctors who report gluten having an effect on other things such as women's menstrual cycles, frequent rashes or hives, extreme fatigue or sleepiness, GI symptoms (of course), and even effects on mental/emotional health. There are even women reporting gluten being related to early-onset gray hair or other changes in hair growth.
A lot of people take a look at this on the surface and instantly conclude that what one eats can in no way affect such a variety of systems in the body and some of that just sounds downright exaggerated. Well, it may seem that way. However, a lot of people with sensitivity to gluten have a difficulty absorbing the vitamins and minerals they need. If this is so, that can definitely affect things like hair growth. God made our bodies SO complex, and even when you think you've got it figured out, you realize you don't. Everything affects everything.
So, this is my start on a gluten-free journey. I'm hoping to see many things change, but honestly I'd be happy just to see anything change. I've experienced enough dead-ends in my life in regard to my health, and I would like to know what it feels like to feel good. While gluten-free eating does not sound like the most appealing thing ever, nor is it even close to what I would dream as an ideal lifestyle, the results that seem to be possible from this change override all of that. And you know, if it doesn't work, maybe I will at least be eating healthier in the long run.
So what have I eaten? After leaving the doctor on Tuesday I went to McDonald's for a quick last-hoorah on my way to work. I should have gone all out, but didn't. Cheeseburger, small fry, sweet tea. Pretty lame. By the time I got to work my tummy was already screaming at me. But it sure did taste good. After that - no gluten!
A sweet friend took me by Zaxby's before our last work assignment and she bought me a "zalad" (I think it's silly that Zaxby's throws a Z into anything they can, but anyway....). I got the Caesar salad with no croutons and grilled chicken. Not bad!
The next day I ended up having some rice krispies cereal (bland, but if you squeeze some honey in before pouring the milk, it's delicious!). Honestly I can't remember what else I ate.... For lunch I remember having a peach, banana, and yogurt. Hello health nut! Totally not a "me" lunch but it was good. However, I need to find ways to get more carbs in there, at least at first. I noticed the passy-outy weak feeling coming on.
My wonderful husband made pasta salad, and he bought egg noodles to make a separate batch with for me. He was smart to make a separate batch because honestly, they tasted like poo. (Sorry dear!) Okay, so they didn't taste like poo, but their texture was surely not what I expected. Josh was better at this than I was though, and by the next day he found that if you heat up the egg noodles, they get a better, more-noodley texture. So, maybe tonight I'll try warm pasta salad.
Yesterday I whipped out my rice cooker which I bought about 3 years ago and haven't used. I'm terrible at cooking, and even a rice cooker was complicated for me. But, eventually it yielded 2 bowls of brown rice which I can now use for other things. I think the key to this is going to be planning ahead. If I can figure out how to plan ahead, and maybe figure out how to function inside of a kitchen, we might just be okay. :)
So, if any of that sounds remotely interesting or amusing, let's carry on.
This journey began .... well, I'm not sure exactly how it began. I suppose in short it's really an attempt to alleviate a whole host of medical symptoms I've experienced. Primarily, I have endured excruciating headaches that come with no warning, can last from just a few minutes to 24+ hours. They stink. After paying a fortune out-of-pocket for an MRI (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) that showed nothing, my doctor prescribed me several medications that also amounted to nothing. I hate going to the doctor, so of course I waited months before even mentioning it again.
In addition to the headaches, I have several other random, bizarre "things" that never get figured out. For instance, for approximately 5 years I have been randomly passing out. Fortunately this doesn't happen often (that would be weird and I probably would never leave my house...) and mostly it's just the before-feeling of passing out. We originally chalked this up to blood sugar and hypoglycemia except that my blood tests really didn't show that. After spending another small fortune out-of-pocket on a blood glucose monitor (Again, kudos Mom and Dad!) we never got anywhere with that, either. So, I carry snacks and prick my finger every once in a while, but really it's just another thing on my "list."
I won't yet get into detail about anything else on this list, but I will say that it's pretty frightening to read about the strange symptoms people have experienced before being diagnosed or going gluten-free. There are many individuals and doctors who report gluten having an effect on other things such as women's menstrual cycles, frequent rashes or hives, extreme fatigue or sleepiness, GI symptoms (of course), and even effects on mental/emotional health. There are even women reporting gluten being related to early-onset gray hair or other changes in hair growth.
A lot of people take a look at this on the surface and instantly conclude that what one eats can in no way affect such a variety of systems in the body and some of that just sounds downright exaggerated. Well, it may seem that way. However, a lot of people with sensitivity to gluten have a difficulty absorbing the vitamins and minerals they need. If this is so, that can definitely affect things like hair growth. God made our bodies SO complex, and even when you think you've got it figured out, you realize you don't. Everything affects everything.
So, this is my start on a gluten-free journey. I'm hoping to see many things change, but honestly I'd be happy just to see anything change. I've experienced enough dead-ends in my life in regard to my health, and I would like to know what it feels like to feel good. While gluten-free eating does not sound like the most appealing thing ever, nor is it even close to what I would dream as an ideal lifestyle, the results that seem to be possible from this change override all of that. And you know, if it doesn't work, maybe I will at least be eating healthier in the long run.
So what have I eaten? After leaving the doctor on Tuesday I went to McDonald's for a quick last-hoorah on my way to work. I should have gone all out, but didn't. Cheeseburger, small fry, sweet tea. Pretty lame. By the time I got to work my tummy was already screaming at me. But it sure did taste good. After that - no gluten!
A sweet friend took me by Zaxby's before our last work assignment and she bought me a "zalad" (I think it's silly that Zaxby's throws a Z into anything they can, but anyway....). I got the Caesar salad with no croutons and grilled chicken. Not bad!
The next day I ended up having some rice krispies cereal (bland, but if you squeeze some honey in before pouring the milk, it's delicious!). Honestly I can't remember what else I ate.... For lunch I remember having a peach, banana, and yogurt. Hello health nut! Totally not a "me" lunch but it was good. However, I need to find ways to get more carbs in there, at least at first. I noticed the passy-outy weak feeling coming on.
My wonderful husband made pasta salad, and he bought egg noodles to make a separate batch with for me. He was smart to make a separate batch because honestly, they tasted like poo. (Sorry dear!) Okay, so they didn't taste like poo, but their texture was surely not what I expected. Josh was better at this than I was though, and by the next day he found that if you heat up the egg noodles, they get a better, more-noodley texture. So, maybe tonight I'll try warm pasta salad.
Yesterday I whipped out my rice cooker which I bought about 3 years ago and haven't used. I'm terrible at cooking, and even a rice cooker was complicated for me. But, eventually it yielded 2 bowls of brown rice which I can now use for other things. I think the key to this is going to be planning ahead. If I can figure out how to plan ahead, and maybe figure out how to function inside of a kitchen, we might just be okay. :)
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