Lightening Online

I can’t believe it’s already 2 weeks into this exclusion diet.  The 2nd week has certainly had it’s ups and downs.

Day 8

I was out all day today.  Finding that my energy levels seem to be a bit more even now.  There hasn’t been a big boost in energy but I’m not having the same dips in my energy.  Took Ryvita’s and cheese for my lunch.  That worked fine.  Even came home and cooked tea which is unheard of for me if I’ve been out all day (usually collapse in a heap).

Day 9

Feeling flat and sluggish with headaches.  Not a great day at all.  Really struggled my way through netball training.

Day 10

Feeling a lot better.  Had lunch out at the pub.  A nice big juicy steak.  Discovered the local pub’s chips have wheat in their coating (they’re SO yummy too!!!! ).  So they are “off the list”.  The steak was good though.

Day 11

Had my first attempt at cooking Quinoa which turned out really GREAT.  Had to do lots of cooking for the Youth Group Progressive Dinner.  We are hosting mains and I’m cooking mornays.  Realised that a lot of “buffet” style food has wheat in it.  Did make a fried rice which I could eat (and had some leftover for the freezer).  I now have 3 meals (2 fried rice and 1 quinoa) in the freezer for days when the family has something I can’t have or I need to take my own food somewhere.

Helped out with sheep work in the morning (lifted 180 odd lambs for tailing).  Was exhausted when we’d finished and not sure how I’d get the rest of my days tasks done.  Found that after a period of sitting down resting, I had enough energy to get going again.  In the past, once I get tired, I’m usually tired for the rest of the day.  My body doesn’t seem to regenerate very quickly so this is a good outcome.

Day 12

Another pooled lunch at church so took my own again.  I do feel like a bit of a freak bringing my own food.  Some friends seem to be more supportive than others of what I’m trying to do (some just think I’m a nut I think).  The hardest thing I find with bringing my own food is that it makes me look “different”.  I’m not comfortable drawing attention to myself in any way (says she who shares her life with 100s of strangers LOL).

Day 13

Had a session with my trainer at the gym.  My wrist is sore from lifting all the lambs but I was happy with what I was able to achieve regardless.  Have lost 2 kg since I started on the wheat free diet.  I’m not sure whether it’s anything to do with the wheat or that I’ve been forced to eat more healthily.  Still, I don’t mind what causes it.  Hope it continues!!!!  One thing I have noticed is I don’t seem to need as much food to be satisfied anymore.  I used to get this gnawing feeling that I thought was hunger but now I’m wondering if it was caused by a reaction to the wheat in my food.  I’m not getting it now.

Discovered that our local supermarket stocks quite a range of gluten free foods.  Even though I don’t have to stick to “gluten free” as such, gluten free foods are free of wheat which means I can eat them.  Bought a packet of gluten free pastry to try.

Day 14

Got more housework done today than I have in a long time.  The house is looking good again which helps me to feel good.  Decided to make pasties for tea using puff pastry for the family and making up the gluten free pastry mix for myself.

My gluten free pastry was a big FLOP!  It turned out hard and not very nice tasting at all.  :(  I was pretty disappointed.  Found out that larger supermarkets stock ready made gluten free puff pastry so I will try that when I get a chance to buy some.

Day 15

Another disappointing failure today when I went out to lunch with friends at one of my favourite cafes (in a regional centre about 2 hours from here).  I spoke to the staff about wheat free options which all seemed fine.  I was told to order whatever I liked and have the cashier mark it as wheat free and if I had ordered something with wheat in it, the kitchen staff would let me know and offer alternatives to make it wheat free.

I ended up ordering a fish dish with cous cous.  Not having had cous cous before, I had no idea it was made from wheat and the kitchen staff didn’t let me know so I ended up eating it.

Had a stomach ache within an hour.  Nothing too serious.  Just that gnawing, hungry type feeling and some sharper cramp type pains.  Had it on and off all day.  Noticed that when I ate, it abated for a while but would return a few hours later.  No wonder I was confusing it with hunger when eating makes it feel better.

On the plus side, I think we can conclude that the wheat free diet is having a positive effect.  And I found out that that particular cafe can make gluten free pizza bases if I call ahead to let them know I’m coming.  Have to decide whether I should ring and complain about the cous cous though.  Feel a bit stupid that I didn’t know it had wheat in it.

Had afternoon tea at a bakery and they had a couple of gluten free cake options.  I chose an apricot slice and it was DELICIOUS.  Gluten Free eating seems to be getting easier and easier these days so that’s another plus.

I was able to buy some gluten free flours, gluten free pasta and some more quinoa.  Going to try cooking the quinoa dish for the whole family this week and see how it goes down.  Most gluten free products are rather expensive though so I probably won’t introduce them to too much of my food.  I’m not sure if it’s more expensive to make or whether it’s just not made in big enough bulk to make it cheaper.  Once I get more settled with what products I do and don’t like, I’ll have to do some research and see if I can find cheaper sources for them.

Day 16

I haven’t lost any weight for a few days now so that side of things may have slowed down considerably.  I guess it could be down to the drastic change in diet that I lost the first 2 kg.  Then again, my weight can fluctuate quite a bit so we’ll only know over the long term what the weight loss effects of the diet are (and they’re a secondary thing - a bonus really).

I am a bit tired today and my body seems to be working hard to expel anything inside of me.  It may be the result of the wheat I ate yesterday or could just be my body (you can never really tell with my body).

As I type this, I have some gluten free chocolate brownies in the oven which smell magnificent.  I hope they taste just as good.  Will let you know how that goes.