An Outlet

So the food and nutrition thing has been reintegrated into my life. I realized that if I try to separate it all out I will feel as thought I am running as different people in different races at the same time.

I am off the wheat. I feel better, I'm losing weight. Beyond that it is boring unless I am shopping. You never so someone so happy to see the letter "g" on a chocolate bar.

The business part of my life is finally swinging back toward balance since we moved into a new house. I now have a studio to itself and an office with a DOOR! I never realized that a physical barrier was so important to the psychology of the barrier. I now don't get sucked in to working when I am "off". I also realized that I am a full fledged "stay-at-work mom". For those of you who don't know what this means, I am working a full time job, from my house, with part time child care. It is hectic to say the least. 3 days a week I shut myself into the office or go out on location to a wedding. The rest of the time I spend stealing moments after the kids' bed time, or when hubby gets home.

I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. My oldest son, as many of you know has Asperger's Syndrome. He's a genius who can't sit still, or stay on track. The sensory integration issues that go along with it make it difficult for him to be in a classroom, let alone learn in one. When your pediatrician, his teachers, and school administrators are telling you that homeschooling is the best option what else can you do?

all calories are not created equal

So in my quest for weight loss I was completely confounded. I was tracking my intake, increasing my activity, feeling worse and gaining weight. WHAT?

As I have shared I suspect food allergies. So I eliminated wheat and corn from my diet. BINGO! I have been gorging myself on gluten free and corn free product for a week and I am losing weight. The bloat is gone, my headaches are gone, my joint pain is gone and I am no longer the crankiest monster on the block. I've just been feeling my way through. I need to get a book so I can identify all of the gluten-y foods (they hide it everywhere I am told). If you know of any great books, blogs, recipes, or tips to share on the subject, please do.

Day... who really cares.

I have been frustrated by my apparent lack of ability to plan my meals and exercise. I have added to this a suspected food allergy. Make that a pantheon of food allergies. It started with my suspicions of corn. I was a very good girl, grabbed a bowl and ate a serving of tortilla chips, then proceeded to suffer through the usual bloat that accompanies the indulgence. Then the next day I indulged in some light microwave popcorn and suffered more. It then occurred to me that perhaps I shouldn't eat corn. I went online to check out the common knowledge about these things and discovered that a lot of the digestive experiences I have are actually symptoms. Raw almonds, bananas, and watermelons make me itch. Bread and paste makes me bloat. Then on to the other symptoms that go along with allergies to just about every food I enjoy.

What started as an effort to be healthier, cut calories, move more, is turning into an all out attack on my entire diet and everything I love. In the end I know I will feel better, my kids will be better off, since they have food allergies also, it does appear. Maybe it will turn out that I have only 2 or 3 allergies, rather than the 4 or 5 I suspect. I am at the end of the day and have avoided gluten et al as much as possible. The real effort will start after the next grocery odyssey.

Day 14 (?)

So I have completely lost track of what day I'm on. I am supposed to weigh today, but had a really long weekend and can't muster the courage. I did walk last week and have added more fruits and veggies to my intake. I also resisted the cupcake bar at Saturday's wedding and ate only half a slice of cake. That was the hardest. It was Sweet Dreams which is my absolute favorite wedding cake. The jeans are fitting better, I'm feeling better, that's what matters, right.

What I really need is one week that isn't crazy so that I can eat properly, write it down, exercise and get a great pay off to motivate me. I don't think that is very likely to happen. My only real option is to just learn to work within the craziness, or maybe get everything in order.

Day 8

I am behind on the posting. Ugh.

This week I lost 1/2 inch off my waist. I gained .2 lbs. Not bad, I'll take the shrinkage over the loss any day. I have been trying to track what I consume. I discovered that when you are photographing a wedding, drinking whatever you can just to stay hydrated, grabbing whatever you can to keep your blood sugar level, it is hard to make a note of things or remember what you ate. I instead tried to choose wisely. I only ate half a piece of cake. Quite an accomplishment.

I noticed that I have a tendency to eat too little early in the day, blow off lunch and then consume all of my calories for the day between 6 and 11 pm. I will try to change that this week. Not going so well thus far. I also find that when I am stressed I want junk food, nothing else, so I will eat nothing rather than making a healthy choice. What is up with that?

The good news is that the feeling of junk food withdrawal is passing. My blood sugar levels seem to be keeping more stable, which means I don't have the urge to destroy Tokyo if I miss a meal. I still feel the need for a new coping mechanism. I hate exercise, don't smoke, don't drink. What do you (besides eating) to cope with stress?

Day 4

I have started this series in a blog format, cause the note thing wasn't doing it for me. Besides, I could really use another blog, right?

Today I not only did well, but too well. I found late in the day that I had not consumed enough calories to keep the metabolism where it needed to be, so I punished myself with a SERVING of frozen yogurt. Life really stinks, doesn't it. I also did 30 minutes on the Wii Fit, which is an hour in real time. I am going to have to find some way to make the exercise more brief and effective. Although I do have to say nothing has been as motivating as watching my Mii overtake the trainer and fall face first. That silly, gigantic headed version of myself was just asking for it. That is probably some weird form of masochism.

I grocery shopped tonight and bought good health in Costco size. Luckily it is getting toward summer and the fruits I like are in season. I have a birthday party to go to tomorrow, so that may be a challenge.

Lay it on me. How is it going with you?