Today is our first day on the gluten free diet. I mentioned to S that I wanted to give it a shot and see if it made a difference, and he said he wanted to do it, too. Well, that just made my life easier. The only one not giving up the gluten is E because, frankly, I don’t think she would survive without her organic peanut butter and homemade raspberry jam on whole wheat.
Over the weekend, I stocked up on some gluten free alternatives to our normal foods. Costco carries a giant bag of Ancient Grains pasta, which is both organic and gluten free. I’ll substitute it for pasta for S (he’s the pasta junky). We’ve had it before, and it’s not bad, it just doesn’t cook nearly as long as the regular stuff–it turns to mush if it’s left in the boiling water longer than 3 minutes. I also got cornflakes to substitute for breadcrumbs (S was unsure of whether he could live without my chicken parmesan), and we have enough brown rice and quinoa to last us until we move (in 39 days!!!).
Of course we are both hoping to see some pounds come off, but I’m hoping the food change will bring about some other changes. In the last few years (since after E was born and I was officially diagnosed), I have lacked motivation and joie de vivre. Sure, after her birth I all but ran myself into the ground trying to get the pregnancy weight off, but there was nothing I hated doing more. I’ve come to the realization in the last few months that I really have a hard time getting up and doing things. There are a lot of changes coming up, and I am very excited about them, and I don’t want feeling run-down to keep me in the same rut. I want to take the girls to Washington, D.C., to Annapolis, to Williamsburg, and the beach, and exploring the James Rives plantations. And I don’t want to feel like it’s a lot of work to do all of those things. But the weight thing also plays into some of that, too. I just feel so disgusting as is, and that definitely keeps me inside, more.
So, this morning I took before pictures (don’t worry, I will not burn your corneas with those), and once S comes home, I will take some measurements. This morning, I increased the weight I have been lifting and made a plan to slowly increase my cardio so I don’t overwhelm myself like I did last time. I don’t want to get burned out too quickly.
Wish us luck.
