Trying to keep up with the weight loss wagon......yet again (new title, same journal)

[Rose&Mike]

Well, I have been thinking about starting this food journal for a couple of weeks now. I tried just bugging all of my BL princess friends with the details of all the changes I am dealing with, but I don't want to drive them crazy. Things seem to be catching up with me a little and I feel like I need to process a bit. So here we go. Comments are welcome.

I am 43, married, mom to a college sophomore. We are really starting to enjoy being empty-nesters. I work part-time for a non-profit. I'm a runner and I lost 50 pounds over the past year. I am at maintain, and overall very happy with my weight--which I think is probably the first time I have said that in my adult life.

So what's the problem??? Life is good right??? Well, as I got healthier over the last year and improved my eating over the last year, I still just wasn't feeling right. Lots of symptoms that I finally couldn't ignore anymore--and I'm sure way more info than anyone really wants. And the funny thing is no matter how much weight I lost and how healthy I ate my stomach just never felt "good." To be honest, I never really felt good. And it was effecting my running, which is what finally sent me to google and the doctor.

So long story, short, I tested negative for celiac (not sure which tests she ran) but have gone ahead and tried gluten free anyhow. You can test negative to celiac on a blood panel and still have celiac disease/ and or gluten sensitviity. A lot of times doctors stop there. My doctor wanted to send me to a gastroenterologist to deal with a nasty problem I was having after running and some other issues.

Well, my DH was out of town that week, and I noticed that I was eating very little gluten and feeling ok. Then he came back and we had thin crust veggie pizza and my stomach got bloated within hours and I felt horrible the next day. So, I decided to try g-f. When the doctor called with the results, I told her I would like to try this for a few week before doing tons more tests. (After only a few days I was already feeling better.)

I won't bore you with all the gory details of WHY I feel better. Let's just say, my body seems to have suddenly figured out what it needs to do. And I finally don't have a huge bloated stomach! I could never understood how I could lose all that weight and feel so bloated.

So this is my journey as a gluten-free vegetarian. It's a little hard at times. And emotional. I really do believe food is fuel, but sometimes we just want what we want. And I'm already known at work as the person who doesn't eat anything. Now they think I'm even weirder. I don't like being weird. On the other hand, after about 10 days of being g-f, I accidently got some gluten on Wednesday and felt awful yesterday. Still not great today, but much improved.

I'm hoping by journaling some of this, I can deal with some of the emotional stuff involved with such a big change.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I'm icing my foot, so I thought this would be a good time to update my journal.

I'm feeling much better today. I think I mentioned that Wednesday I accidentally had some gluten. We think it was in the cornmeal we used to make our homemade g-f pizza crust. The cornmeal is processed in a plant where they also process wheat. So within an hour of eating my stomach was swollen again and I felt cruddy all day Thursday. Yesterday was better and today is a little better as well.

After being vegetarian for over a year, I felt like I was finally getting the hang of cooking and had quite a few recipes that we really liked. This has been a big change even from being vegetarian, so I spent some time the other day looking for some more recipes. I did find a brownie that we really liked--it uses black beans instead of flour. Right now we are probably eating way too many Amy's bowls. I'm hoping to get the hang of g-f cooking when we get back from the Princess.

Today for breakfast I had a hard-boiled egg, some rice chex w/a small serving of greek yogurt that has chocolate in it. I stir the yogurt with the rice chex instead of milk. It's very tasty and because it's a mini-yogurt doesn't have too many calories.

For snack I had a Lara bar, which is kind of like Luna bar, but g-f. We were at the mall at lunch so we split a personal size g-f veggie pizza with artichokes, tomatoes, garlic and onions. We also shared some chocolate and I had a glass of hard cider. I had an Amy's bowl for dinner with beans and corn and a cheese enchilada. I need to get back into the fresh fruit habit. We did great over the weekend, but the last couple of days not so good. Actually, until today, I just wasn't eating enough period. My weight was at a new low today.

So the goal is to get through the next couple of days, run the princess, and then come home and start some serious g-f cooking.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Icing my foot again. I ran 6 miles today, with no tummy problems which is such a relief. Going g-f has made the biggest difference with running and all the stomach issues I was having. Now if only my foot would cooperate.

I made g-f raviolis. I put the frozen g-f raviolis in a glass baking dish, added tomato sauce and a can of red beans. Baked for about 50 minutes and then put a little mozz. on top and baked for a few more minutes. It was not too bad. Grocery shopping is still a little overwhelming. It's hard to find things and reading labels is tiring. It would be so nice to just have a g-f store to go to! I'm sure we will get used to everything and it will get eaiser. One thing I noticed is that in the grocery store near our house there is a brand of g-f flour in the middle of all the other flours. Ok, but there is so much flour floating around the shelves from the bags that it's hard not to believe there is not cross contamination. I don't think I will be buying that brand, at least at that store.

Ok, guess that's it for today.

 

[Rose&Mike]

We had baked potatoes for dinner today. I steamed some broccoli, too. So we loaded the potatoes with black beans, salsa, broccoli, a little butter, sour cream and cheese. They were yummy and I am stuffed!

In a few minutes I am going to try making g-f choc chip cookies to take to work tomorrow. They are a betty crocker mix. I'm also going to make some puppy chow with chex mix--we are having a bake sale tomorrow as a fund raiser/team builder.

I have been craving bread, but I'm so full from my baked potato, that I think I'm over it!

I'm a little stressed about being away from home for 5 days--but we are putting in a garden grocer order, so I know I will have some good, healthy things to eat if I need them.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Struggling a bit mentally today. Lots to do, long day at work and a million things to do at home. And I'm really wanting comfort food. Over the last year my comfort food has gotten healthier--Amy's mac and cheese with veggies ands tofu instead of a box of kraft, but the reality is that a lot of the things I love to eat, are off limits. And that's ok, it could be worse--I've been saying that a lot today. So, I made it through the day, didn't make the healthiest choices, but no gluten. I'm going to consider that a victory.

 

[eyor44]

Have a great time at the Princess. I have done the January 1/2 twice and love it. Next year I hope the begin doing the Princess also.

I am really interested in how the chocolate chip cookies turned out. My boss is going G-F and asked me about bakery items. I do a birthday cake once a month, group thing, we have a big group and he asked if I could make one of the cakes G-F. First thing that turned me off was the price of the mix. Over twice of a regular mix. But, if it is good, I'd be willing to pay it. I think it is a Betty Crocker brand.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Have a great time at the Princess. I have done the January 1/2 twice and love it. Next year I hope the begin doing the Princess also.

I am really interested in how the chocolate chip cookies turned out. My boss is going G-F and asked me about bakery items. I do a birthday cake once a month, group thing, we have a big group and he asked if I could make one of the cakes G-F. First thing that turned me off was the price of the mix. Over twice of a regular mix. But, if it is good, I'd be willing to pay it. I think it is a Betty Crocker brand.

Thanks! I'm really excited!

The cookies were Betty Crocker. They were good. Very crispy--I could tell they were a box mix and not homemade, but they were just fine. I have had good luck so far with box mixes. I have made brownies from a box for DH's birthday (which were pretty tasty) and I've made brownies from scratch--which I liked better. I think the cake is worth trying.

Everything is crazy expensive. I am really missing pretzels (I like to have them after I run), but I'm not paying $5.00 for a tiny bag. I'm hoping one of my sisters sends me a box of the snyder's g-f pretzels and if they are good I'm going to order a case.

I worked a special event for our agency tonight. They were serving pizza so I ate before I left and took along some peanuts. I was still hungry so I ate some peanut mms. I have been eating too much junk, but my weight is staying in the maintain range, so I'm going to cut myself some slack. I will get the hang on this just like I got the hang of being a vegetarian and eating healthy.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Back from WDW. I will post a mini-trip/dining report once I download the pics.

Traveling g-f definitely presents a few challenges, but overall I am so happy to be feeling better. And another thing I've noticed--my skin is clearing up. I have never had much acne, but a lot of large pores, etc. Well, I noticed it last week, and much more so today, but my skin is looking smoother and move even and Mike commented on how soft my hands are--all this from going g-f??? Who knows.

Today I worked, and we got take out Moe's. We got home last night at midnight, so trying to catch up around here. Tomorrow, the plan is to get a few recipes/ideas for the weekend. I need to establish some go to recipes. I am feeling much more motivated than I was last week. My stomach felt much better after the race. Overall everyday, I am just feeling a little better, if that makes sense. I will go back to the doctor in April to tell her how things are going and to see if she still wants me to see another specialist.

Oh, and my dsis sent me some g-f pretzels. And they are pretty tasty. I need to check with our local grocery to see if they can order them.

 

[corinnak]

Hi Rose! I don't know how I missed your journal all this time but... better late than never!

I also wanted to share with you my unusual (yet gluten-free!) chili/soup recipe. Although it has lentils. I still don't know what that chef was talking about but here's a link anyhow. It's in my WW blog:

http://community.weightwatchers.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?threadID=1340426

 

[Rose&Mike]

Hi Rose! I don't know how I missed your journal all this time but... better late than never!

I also wanted to share with you my unusual (yet gluten-free!) chili/soup recipe. Although it has lentils. I still don't know what that chef was talking about but here's a link anyhow. It's in my WW blog:

http://community.weightwatchers.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?threadID=1340426

Thanks for the recipe Corinna. I haven't googled yet to see what the deal is with lentils. I had a chef tell me some people don't do blue cheese and another chef who assumed I don't do dairy as well. So far dairy seems to be fine. And I kind of understand the blue cheese, but I'll have to google that as well.

Today was a good day. I now know part of the reason my weight was up a little. I completely skipped t.o.m. in February. I am hoping that the longer I am g-f, that maybe things will get more regular again. We are having baked potatoes for dinner. I REALLY need to get going on the recipe planning. I am still pooped from the race, and my throat is a little scratchy.

I did sign up for my next race today. I'm going to run the KY Derby 1/2 at the end of April. Mike is running this one for time, so I will have to carry my own water.

I'm going to attempt to start my race trip report tonight.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Mike and I both worked 1/2 days today. We were off to the airport around 2:30. We got through security with no problems, but our flight was delayed. So off to the airport bar. We had a few adult beverages on this trip--thank goodness most alcohol is g-f! This year has gotten off to a rocky start--Mike's sister died on New Year's day, and I have not been feeling great, along with some other drama. We were both ready for this trip. I had a grey goose martini and Mike had a Woodford.

Our plane finally boarded about 30 minutes late, no problem right? Well the flight attendants made multiple announcements about cell phones as the plane taxied out to the runway. And then the plane stopped. And sat there. And then turned around and went back to the gate. To unload the passenger who would not turn off their cellphone!!!!! About 30 minutes later we finally took off. It was a very rough flight. We flew over bad weather and landed in some nasty wind.

The second flight was much smoother. We were not able to leave the plane between flights and barely had time to go to the bathroom, but the flight attendants made sure everyone who was on the first flight got free grown-up drinks (there were no beverages served during the first flight because it was so rough). So we landed at MCO pretty happy but hungry. It was almost 9:00 when we landed--90 minutes late. I had some nuts and snacks that I brought along on the plane, including a Lara bar. The peanuts they served on the plane had gluten in them.

After the slowest ME driver ever, we finally got to BWV around 10:00. We checked in and went off in search of food. The kitchen at Kouzzina's was closed. The Bakery only had g-f muffins--no one was around to make a g-f veggie sandwich. Finally we went to ESPN zone--who would have guessed that's where we would find g-f veggie food!

The chef came out and talked to us, and I ended up getting the grilled veggie sandwich--no bread, though they did have g-f rolls, and no mushrooms. It was good. I've had it before--with bread. And most exciting, I had ff!!! I haven't had fries in a while, because you need to have a dedicated fryer in order to avoid cross contamination. They were fabulous! And we had another grown-up drink. Yes, I know that's a lot of grown-up drinks in one day, but it was a long day! And really it was pretty unusual for us.

We got back to our room around 11:30 or so and called it a night.

Here's a picture of me and Mike at the start of our trip. I sized it smaller, so hopefully it will resize.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I woke up about 6:30am. We had to switch rooms--split reservation--so after getting showers we took our stuff down to bellservices and then walked over to The Swan and had breakfast at the Fresh Market. My foot was a little bit sore today, but not too bad.

The server offered to have the chef show us what I could eat on the buffet, but I opted for scrambled eggs and fruit. Mike had oatmeal. Yummy. We then walked to DHS to catch a bus to Caribbean Beach so that we could catch the bus to the expo.

The expo was a lot of fun. We met up with Lisa, Lindsay, and Cathy from the BL thread. It was so fun to meet them in person. And "my fairy godmother" told me she hadn't seen me in a year and she gave me a big hug. I love the fairy godmother. She's my favorite Disney character. I always throw her a kiss when we watch the parade. She told me I was pretty smart for bringing Mike along to carry my water.

Here are some pics.

We did some shopping at the expo. I bought 2 shirts and a magnet for my car. I also bought some new inserts to try in my shoes. The next step is going to be the podiatrist, so I thought it was worth a shot.

After the expo we watched the Braves batting practice for a few minutes and then had lunch with Lisa (lisah0711). I had the grilled veggie sandwich with tapioca bun--I didn't eat the bun. They did not have a dedicated fryer, so I took the chips, but they had some questionable ingredients so I skipped them.

After lunch we went back to BW via All Star Sports and DHS. We hung out at the pool and had a drink. It was gorgeous! My foot was starting to get pretty sore so I spent some time icing it. We were able to get into our room around 2:00--before we went to the pool.

We had dinner at Narcoosees. We left our hotel around 5:15 and went to MK and then took the boat to GF. It was such a perfect day! The chef came out and talked to us. I had a cheese plate with g-f toast points and beet salad. I love the beet salad at Narcoossees. The toast points were pretty tasty--they were coated in olive oil. I only ate a tiny bit of the blue cheese. I need to research the connection between blue cheese and gluten. Normally we have the almond crusted cheesecake for dessert, but that was off limits. So we shared the creme brulee. There were two servings--one coconut and one key lime. It was soooooo good. We finished dinner just in time for WISHES. We went out on the deck and watched. They pipe the music in. It was so fun!

After the fireworks we took the boat back to MK and the bus to BW. It was a fabulous day!

Here's a picture of us at Narcoossees and some pictures of my g-f dinner.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

i'm following along! wow, rose, i knew you were apart of the BL group but i can't picture you 50 lbs heavier! you're an inspiration!

my cousin is g-f and i don't envy you in your journey! but, i really think the key is to find go-to meals that you really like and like making. i am working on that myself. not g-f but healthy.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Hi Nancy! I am procrastinating. I'm supposed to be menu planning. I messed up my knee big time on the treadmill! Uggh! So trying to stay off my feet.
Anywho, here is a before picture from our trip last December.

Sometime today, I need to type up the next couple of days of our trip before I forget! I have two new recipes to try so far next week and I'm going to get a g-f pizza crust at Whole Foods.

Ok, back to planning.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Ok, I did it! I planned a week of g-f vegetarian meals! And I think we will have leftovers to freeze. I have been reading about cross-contamination from things like collanders and pans and even hot pads! Since we've been eating so many Amy's bowls and very simple foods, I'm a little nervous about cooking again. I guess if I know the ingredients are g-f and I get sick, I will have to assume somethingis going on with the cookware. And we had already planned to get a new collander, so we will do that tomorrow.

So here's my meal plan. Tonight we will get take out g-f pizza and tomorrow we will make a trip to Whole Foods.

Sunday--Corinna's Two lentil chili
Monday--Beet Salad w/ goat cheese.
Tuesday--Brown Rice and Black Bean Casserole
Wednesday--Spinach Artichoke spaghetti casserole
Thursday--Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Friday--Tofu and Artichoke Risotto
Saturday--Leftovers!!

Can you tell I was in a casserole mood??? I am hoping to freeze a bunch of leftovers this week and have some stuff to take for lunch. And the goal is no Moe's takeout and no Amy's bowls for dinner! Some of the stuff is heavy on the cheese/dairy, but I plan to use less, and have small servings along with salad or an extra veggie. I think we have three bags of frozen broccoli in the freezer.

 

[Rose&Mike]

So Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. We had placed a garden grocer order. So in addition to the emergency snacks I brought along (mostly nuts and lara bars) we ordered:
water
hummus
tostitos scoops
hardboiled eggs
peanuts
plain mms
chunk of cheddar cheese
rice chex
vanilla flavored greek yogurt

I think I had a hardboiled egg and rice chex and 1/2 a greek yogurt for breakfast. We then went to DHS for EMH. We rode Toy story, rnr and tower of terror twice. We checked at the starring roles cafe for g-f treats. They had a prepackaged g-f brownie, which while it wasn't as good as the stuff we usually get, it was pretty tasty. Mike asked me if I minded if he got a pastry, and I said of course not, I had my brownie so I was happy.

We didn't do much else except walk around cause the weather was so nice we hated to be inside. Around lunch time we went back to bw so I could ice my foot and then we went to dtd for lunch. First we tried the new restaurant at dtd--fresh appeal, I think. I could have had a salad, but I wanted the rice and beans. Well one kind had sausage in it, so that was out and the other one had wheat starch in it. It was kind of disappointing.

So we went to the wolfgang puck's on the marketplace side. They were pretty helpful. I ended up getting the beet salad (I do love beets) with a side of goat cheese. Mike had pizza. It was kind of torturous to watch him eat it, but I knew if I even had a couple bites that I would have a stomach ache. I even debated picking some cheese off it, but ate my beets instead.

After lunch we walked to Little Miss Matched. I bought a cute little purse. Then we thought about getting icecream, but every place we checked was really crowded and we didn't want to wait in line just to be told no. The issue with ice cream is cross contamination. There are lots of flavors of ice cream that are g-f. So we went to the bakery at Fresh Appeal (can't remember what it's called) and had a g-f cupcake. It was pretty tasty.

Then it was off to All Star Sports for the WISH meet. We got there early so we sat by the pool. We had a lot of fun at the WISH meet. It was so nice to put names with faces and we got to meet some new folks too!

Around 7:00 we headed back to BWV on the bus from ----! Oh my. It was crazy. We were so worn out when we got back to BW that we decided to just eat what we had in the room and were ready for bed by 9:00. Mike checked on the bus situation, since originally there was not supposed to be a bus to the race, but on Friday they told us they added a bus. Well, the bus was a no-go again. Ok, I realize Disney is big, but they really are clueless sometimes. The good news is, that when we got up Sunday morning there was a bus!

G-F cupcake:

Wish Meet:

 

[corinnak]

Aww - I'm honored that you're making my recipe! I hope you like it. And if you don't, I hope you find a way to make it more to your liking.

Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't just put "Beet Salad" every night. I thought that was a solid g/f vegetarian staple!!!

I was thinking about your unfortunate experience with the c/s restaurants especially compared with the table service restaurants. I think the chefs must welcome the challenge - they are all trained chefs and they make the same exact things day in and day out in many of those restaurants with not much creative outlet. A Gluten-Free Vegetarian request is like the Iron Chef of Disney!!

Compared with the Counter service where they are all about ordering by number, you know? It's speed, efficiency and putting the square pegs in the square holes. You have a vegetarian meal. You have a gluten-free meal. BOTH is probably beyond their comprehension. But I'm sorry. People do not order a gluten-free meal to be difficult. Sheesh. Have some compassion, counter-service person.

I am impressed by how well you managed over the weekend with these challenges. I am going to do a Gluten-free Vegetarian week in solidarity and support. (I guess this means I'd better plan my menu. Oh wait - I can just copy YOURS. )

 

[eyor44]

I'm reading along and loving your TR of the Princess weekend. and hey, I now someone in your WISH picture.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

Ok, I did it! I planned a week of g-f vegetarian meals! And I think we will have leftovers to freeze. I have been reading about cross-contamination from things like collanders and pans and even hot pads! Since we've been eating so many Amy's bowls and very simple foods, I'm a little nervous about cooking again. I guess if I know the ingredients are g-f and I get sick, I will have to assume somethingis going on with the cookware. And we had already planned to get a new collander, so we will do that tomorrow.

So here's my meal plan. Tonight we will get take out g-f pizza and tomorrow we will make a trip to Whole Foods.

Sunday--Corinna's Two lentil chili
Monday--Beet Salad w/ goat cheese.
Tuesday--Brown Rice and Black Bean Casserole
Wednesday--Spinach Artichoke spaghetti casserole
Thursday--Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Friday--Tofu and Artichoke Risotto
Saturday--Leftovers!!

Can you tell I was in a casserole mood??? I am hoping to freeze a bunch of leftovers this week and have some stuff to take for lunch. And the goal is no Moe's takeout and no Amy's bowls for dinner! Some of the stuff is heavy on the cheese/dairy, but I plan to use less, and have small servings along with salad or an extra veggie. I think we have three bags of frozen broccoli in the freezer.

wow these sound delicious! would you mind sharing the recipes if you have time? i'm giving up processed foods for lent and i have a feeling your meals would be really yummy!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

A Gluten-Free Vegetarian request is like the Iron Chef of Disney!!

very funny and probably very true!!