I spent several hours (literally) today planning for our upcoming trip to Lisbon and Paris. I also had to make reservations for a business luncheon in Atlanta Thursday. Just before I left work, I had a phone call (I let it pass because i was busy) from Carraba's in Carrollwood, responding to my comment about their GF preparedness at their store.
All these processes are just in a day's work for someone who is gluten free. And it is time consuming and hard work, but required.
A few years ago, we had an ASNE fellow in Tampa who kept Kosher. I'd worked with Kosher people in my past, and I was prepared for label-reading, but to be responsible for someone else's dietary concern is demanding. I learned a whole lot from that woman, to be sure. First, I must NEVER assume a food doesn't have wheat. As I explained to a conference planner today, some chicken broth has wheat it in, so I can't always be sure. Second, it doesn't take much to make a sick. I now get a horrible stomach reaction AND a rash if I'm cross contaminated. Third, I can never let down my guard. Ever. two words: I=Hop.
I return to this concept again and again on this blog: I am not doing this because I want to be difficult. I do it because I become extremely ill when I eat BROWM -- barley, rye, oats, wheat, and malt. I also don't react well to certain kinds of GF flours, and other grains like millet, quinoa, and sorghum cause me gastric distress. No, I do this to be healthier.
Sadly, I'm not quite there yet.
The question I've had a lot of problems with lately is, if you don't eat all these foods, why aren't you thin? I mean, you should be thinner...I mean. Yeah. I get it. And you're right. I need to be thinner.
So here's the answer to that good question. Because while I am diligent about not eating BROWM etc., I am not as diligent about gluten free foods. Take that beautiful sandwich pictured below. Anyone want to guess the calorie count of it? The bread along has almost 500 calories -- it's the equivalent of FOUR 140 calorie slices of bread! And THAT is too high for bread in the first place. I ate a lot of bread.
I eat gluten free. But I eat a lot of other stuff that is wrong wrong wrong.
My dear former student Joyous and I have a pact. We're decided to be diet buddies. So as of tomorrow (April Fool's Day - classic day for this if there ever was one) I am going to begin to cut back on my intake.
Yep. The GF Paula Deen is going on a diet. Food reduction plan. Sensible eating plan.
I vow to you I will continue to provide gluten free recipes. I'm going to consume what I make. Only now, I'm going to try to practice moderation. And my goal -- yes I do have one -- is to lose 35 pounds. Now that won't make me rail thin, but it is my start. No, I'm not going to tell you how much I'll weigh then. But you know what I look like now. I currently weigh 27 pounds less than I did last year at this time. (Seriously!)
Tomorrow is the day. I hate April Fool's Day anyway. And really, all my diligence is necessary, because I'm starting to look like I'm due soon! One by one, I'm going to apply the "eat this, not that" theory to my life. (Great book, BTW.)
The first substitution begins in the morning. I am swapping my WHOLE FAT Duke's Mayonnaise for light Duke's Mayo. I don't like its taste as much, so I will surely eat less.
Much love, and hang in there with me, will you? There are still great recipes out there, folks.
Ging
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6 comments:
Best of luck to you. I'm proud of you for taking this step, AND making it public on the blog. That takes guts.
You can do it!
Go, Ging! I'm heading back to Yoga classes as soon as PT is over this month too. I can't wait!!!
ummm...was going to start my journey down this road next week...
you are braver than me, I was going to do it in a personal journal OFFLINE.
So I am with you in spirit if not in blog.
Yes, I think we CAN do it!
Did someone really ask you why you weren't thin? How rude is that? Surely, this kid (I'm assuming it was a kid and not an adult) was not in PR.
Best of luck to you! I met a girl the other day who has a slight gluten allergy - she discovered it drinking beer. I told her about you and your blog, so maybe she'll check it out.
Way to go, Ginger! This is something hard to do, and it shows great courage to lay it out for us.
Sometimes Andy complains about his love handles or something. But he gorges himself on ice cream - and he knows it. But the thing that gets him the worse is his condiments. He "doesn't like the taste" of the low-fat version. Well, we had dinner at Chick-Fil-A the other night. He had some salad. He put 2 whole bags of blue cheese dressing on it! Do you know what that means? 16 grams of fat per serving - 2.5 servings per bag. That was 40 grams of fat he ADDED to his salad!!!!
Me, I'd much rather eat the waffle fries.
But I've seen it with lots of people. They just don't bother to think about the condiments they use. And as if anyone actually uses "a serving."
So go for it! Use the light mayo (and use less of it)! Once you get accustomed to that, maybe you can work your way down to the fat free. Or give it up altogether (for the most part).
Find a new spice and work that into your recipes - change them up.
I agree that it's hard to control your portions. Especially when you're used to eating bigger portions for so long.
Good luck on your journey!
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