2 week update

Yesterday marked 2 weeks since I have made the switch to eating gluten-free. I am getting better at eating GF, but my weight has actually started going up (!) instead of going down. Let me clarify that I have purposely not adapted recipes that involve flours into my GF diet yet, so I have been more careful to avoid carbs this way. I have focused on recipes that naturally don't include flour in them. In doing so, I expected some weight loss and instead I find the scale climbing. I'm frustrated and I'm not sure what to change at this point.

On Saturday, Tyler took me to the Columbus Temple and then we ate at Texas Roadhouse for lunch. I hadn't had anything with gluten in it since I started, and decided I would eat some at Texas Roadhouse. I had two rolls - you know their rolls are delicious - but they didn't taste as good as I remembered them to taste. Odd. I had a salad and then some chicken strips and steak fries. I was surprised that my favorite part of the meal was the salad! Those who know me, know that I'm not a salad fan, but I do like salads with hard boiled eggs on them and Texas Roadhouse has those, so I like to get them. Very interesting that I preferred the salad to everything else I ate. In fact, the chicken strips didn't taste that great to me at all, and the rolls were just "eh". 

Tyler has me reading this book by Carol Alt. I have to say that it has been quite interesting! I don't know that I am going to go to eating 100% raw but I am intrigued by what I have read and might begin eating more raw foods in my diet. Perhaps this would help with weight loss, too?

Plugging Along

So, it's been a little over a week since I began eating GF. It has gotten a little easier, but I still miss certain foods. I am conflicted on whether or not I will occasionally eat something with gluten in it, such as the GNO this Friday at a tasty pizza place. I don't feel any cravings going away and I don't see any positive changes in my body, but I have heard that those things take time. I was two pounds down on Monday, which surprised me. I had gained some weight with a gluten last hurrah, so I am not down to my lowest last year, yet. I was mainly surprised to lose those 2lbs because I was eating GF treats everyday:

So I was pleased, albeit shocked, to see the weight loss. I am eating less sweets now, which is good. I am praying for help and my family is praying for me everyday, so I know that is helping. Something else that is helping me has been to make meals that I know I already like instead of trying too many new things too fast. This has reduced stress! For breakfast I eat some key lime or lemon meringue greek yogurt and mix in a spoonful of ricotta cheese, plus a cup of Choffy. For lunch I eat leftovers from dinner the night before (if I have some) or I make some scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. Then for dinner I have made the following recipes in the past week, some more than once:

Lone Star Chicken Enchiladas

Pork and Pinto Beans

Texas Flank Steak, Cheesy Creamed Corn

Scrambled Eggs and Fried Potatoes

Lion House Sweet & Sour Chicken

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

I am sure more recipes will come as I spend more time on the GF diet. Wish me luck!

I will go, I will do!

“I will go; I will do the thing the Lord commands.
I know the Lord provides a way; he wants me to obey."

I was thinking about this song today as I have been feeling low. I am grateful for when God encourages me to do things that are HARD. I have been depressed at the loss of gluten in my life. It has been one week now and I miss it. I miss pizza. I miss pasta. I still have rice and potatoes...but I miss those other things. And I'm not really wanting to make substitutes for them, either, at this point. Maybe in the future?

Today I baked my first GF recipe, which I will post hereafter. It turned out pretty good. I am contemplating the idea of assimilating some coconut oil and coconut sugar into our diet, replaced canola oil and refined sugar. Any suggestions of which brands to buy?

Day #4

Today is day #4 on the gluten-free diet. I would say that it is going moderately well. I tend to struggle at lunchtime finding foods that I can eat that I actually WANT to eat. You know? If I have leftovers, then that is great, but I don't always. I have made fried potatoes and scrambled eggs twice in four days. I think it will become a staple until I can expand my GF menu. I am working on printing off recipes for my cool new GF Cookbook.

I am trying to keep my diet higher protein and lower carb, as my ultimate goal is to lose weight and become healthier.

I found some cool new Valentine's Day treats that are all GF. I have them on my cooking blog: www.warriorkitchen.blogspot.com. The Gluten-Free Marshmallow Popcorn Balls are my favorite!



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Next Monday!!!!!

I have heard from some people that they have diagnosed themselves with a gluten intolerance simply by switching to a GF diet and seeing the changes that it brings. Since my PCM wouldn't try the blood test, I have decided that I will start eating GF and see how it goes. I anticipate that it will bring good results and I plan to post them here. True to the cartoon below, I will begin on Monday!

Doctor's visit

Today I met with my PCM to talk about gluten sensitivities. He told me that many people get either a false negative or false positive. I told him that I wanted to try a gluten-free diet to see if it helped me. He was supportive of that. So, I guess it's time to get started! My goal is to not only eat GF but to avoid recipes that would need substitutions of flour. I have lots of recipes lined up for the next month. Some are recipes that I have made in the past and some are new. I will return and report my findings. Stay tuned.