Sarah Morgan
Right now I’m not eating some things.
Well, if I’m honest, it’s more than a few things. It’s gluten, dairy, beef, shellfish, eggs, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, peanuts, cashews, peppers, oranges, tomatoes, mustard or maple syrup. Probably a few more things I’ve forgotten. So, yeah, more than a few.
Why am I doing this? Don’t I miss yogurt, oatmeal, shrimp, ice cream, peanut butter, pizza, etc.? Am I crazy? Is this some stupid fad? Well, 1. I think it may help me be healthier. 2. Less than I expected. 3. True but irrelevant. 4. I don’t think so.
I’ve been doing this three weeks so far pretty comfortably – and I’m typing this sitting perfectly happily in Panera, home of gluten, so that’s saying something. Of course, Danielle already has inculcated me into eating pretty clean, so this was a big step, but not as big a one as it would have been otherwise. I think the relative painlessness of it may be showing that it might be a good idea.
Long story short, my doctor started asking questions – do you have this? do you notice that? – and it felt like he was reading my mind. Sure, I’m never hungry for breakfast, eating sugar makes me crave more sugar, I get more tired and depressed than I’d like, I get light-headed when I haven’t eaten, my hands and feet are perpetually ice-cold, and what do you mean it’s not normal to gain weight eating 1400 calories a day? The list went on, and his correct guesses on what I’ve been experiencing – and not connecting – got more weirdly accurate as we went.
Basically, his belief is that gluten intolerance, hypoglycemia and hypothyroid may all be tangled up with each other. Which I thought might be a shot in the dark… till I got test results that backed him up, and found out that several of my relatives have been diagnosed with these already.
Add all this to the fact that my martial-arts instructor, who as you’d imagine is very health-conscious, got me to watch Food, Inc. and I was fascinated. (And then read this article about how wheat may not be as good as we assume.)
By the way, this doctor isn’t an MD, he’s a DC. This had (has) me skeptical, but between the family history matches, the blood-work results, and how I’m feeling, I’m intrigued enough to stick with this and see how it goes. Sure, I’d love a big sticky wedge of apple pie with ice cream on top, and I’m not saying I’ll never do that again. But for now, I’m looking to see what else I can learn and how I can help myself be healthier.
OK I’m posting this while I’m eating wheat thins and cream cheese so take it for what it’s worth but I TOTALLY believe in cutting out gluten/sugar, etc is the way to go. I never felt better than when I did the Daniel Fast (stricter than vegan). I keep trying to talk myself into doing it again just to jump start my will to eat better again. Currently I’m in a vicious cycle of eating crap and then craving crap. Anyway, bravo for doing it for 3 weeks and I hope it goes well for you!
so, i always think i have hypoglycemia & hypothyrodism…. i don’t know about the gluten intolerance, but i’m seriously intrigued by this…. let’s chat!!
Steph, I’m emailing you right now!
Amy, I’ve never heard of the Daniel Fast… googling it.
My main thing is that I don’t want to try to make myself do something that’s 1. long-term unlivable or 2. long-term unhealthy. I worry about cutting out whole food groups which is why I’m not totally on board with no dairy… but no gluten or sugar makes a lot more sense to me.
I’ve been attempting to eat more organic foods and natural foods lately. I’ve decided to cut dairy out 99% because of my lactose intolerance and how it tends to leave a mucousy (sp?) residue in the digestive track.
Also, it was advised to me to eat warm foods in the morning instead of drinking cold mixed smoothies. Fruits, grains and dairy all digest at different rates and when they are cold, they digest slower. So a smoothie in the morning can lead to all nasty crampy all day. I’ve switched to warm organic oats with diced bananas and strawberries with slivered almonds and some sugar in the raw. The warm oats heat up the fruits and make it such a powerful breakfast.
Lunches have been organic rice or pastas with seasonal roasted or raw veggies and a lean protein. I haven’t switched over to organic meats yet, which is the next step. I usually slice an organic romaine heart in half longways and finish lunch up with that followed by some delicious dark chocolate to promote digestion.
Tommy, that sounds super-healthy. Definitely different to where I’m at, but I think you’ve got to figure out what works best for you and what makes sense for what you want to get out of it.
If you haven’t, I think you’d really like to watch Food Inc. I thought it was going to be some awful scare-mongering, but I didn’t find it to be at all. It was fascinating, especially re: grain, beef and chicken.
Also, re: hot oatmeal, I found that hot quinoa flakes with maple agave syrup are a very similar gluten-free dairy-free sugar-free alternative – and seriously yummy.
Yeah, the acupuncturist I go to discussed a typical “healthy” diet and then a diet that works for me. It was radically different. So it’s not “one fits all” but my experiences so far have been great with this.
Oh and I also have a recipe that includes quinoa and rolled oats. Love it! I’ll have to try this agave syrup with quinoa one day.