a little inspiration

This week I've added gluten back in.  No wheat, just other sources of gluten.  Because barley is a little harder to have in the house and not share with Emerson I chose to get a loaf of rye bread to experiment with.  This was the first time in two months I could eat a sandwich.  I'm not even going to explain how big that is for me.  My favorite things to eat have always been sandwiches.  I even had to get used to the idea that John does not consider a sandwich dinner except occasionally. What??? Took me years to figure that out. This last few days have been a real pleasure.  So far, no side effects.  Now I have to wait four more days without it and make sure.  But next week is wheat.  I'm interested to see how that goes.  Corn is definitely out for me.  I'm so glad I'm doing this, no matter how hard it has been.  I had suspected corn a little but never eggs at all.  And for months I've been avoiding gluten and ...

Soy seems to have been okay, though I will admit to not eating as much of it as maybe I should have.  I had one serving a day plus tamari on anything I could think of... Today is the first day of corn and already I feel bloated and a little gross.  I did have corn three times today so maybe that was overkill for any day... But I couldn't resist.  Corn is such a big substitute for all things gluten and snack like. Anyway, I'll give it a couple more days to judge.  Yesterday my lovely mother in law got married and I spent the whole day running around with her and eating nothing but fruit and cheese(when we ate at all.)  It was a wonderful day and everyone had a splendid time.  I wore the Hawthorn dress I made from Colette Patterns.  I even got pictures for you!  I'll share later this week.  Can you believe how many things I've made the last few months?  I don't think I've been this productive since Emerson was born. Speaking of t...

Last week I re-introduced eggs.  At first I thought things were going well but as the week went on I noticed that I didn't feel very well.  I'm a little surprised by that and plan to try them again at the end of adding in all the other things.  Adding them on vacation was probably not ideal.  The reaction was strong enough to keep me off them for the time being at least.  I am glad I went back to the doctor and it came up! Our trip was wonderful though, enough beach time for everyone without getting sunburnt and even some down time for the grownups due to the hotel's camp program.  I'll never stay at another hotel for more than one night with out this feature again.  Talk about brilliant.  The cousins got to play and the parents and grandparents kicked our feet up for a few minutes without worry.  Ahhh.  It wasn't so hard to eat now that dairy has a green light.  I did have a protein smoothie at least once each day (but I have...

Four weeks people- FOUR.  I'm still a little surprised.  The last week has been the hardest for some reason with strong urges to quit and have a doughnut or whatever I wanted at that moment.  An iced mocha. A caprese salad.  A cookie of any sort.  (After seeing this list perhaps I can blame hormones?) Anyway today, on the last day of week 4 I messed up.  We were out running errands and up against a schedule and I hadn't brought anything with me, not expecting to be out so long.  There was an Indian restaurant that I thought would be safe.  Not one menu item without a nightshade veggie... Not one.  John had already gotten a plate from the buffet by the time I figured it out and so I just went with it.  Dairy is the first thing I am introducing back in so I chose some palak paneer and saffron rice and pakoras and just enjoyed it.  We'll see how it goes.  I was so hoping for a perfect record and have been diligent.  Tha...

I'm not going to lie.  This week I am bored with my options and ready for some cheese or tomatoes or salsa.  I opened the calendar to June and wrote on each week what food is going to be re-introduced.  I am so happy that dairy is week one.   I saw the doctor today and am actually up a couple pounds which I am super surprised about.  He said it because I am actually absorbing the nutrients.  After talking about how I have been feeling he suggested also cutting out eggs.  So many foods to miss at one time!  The evening is when it is hardest. I always used to load up on calories after the kids were in bed to make up for what I missed during the day.  Now I just have my smoothie or a rice cake with almond butter, coconut and raw cacao.  The other night I drank four glasses of water after the littles went to sleep and did feel much better the next day. But- two more weeks and then the fun part starts.  Anything is possible!! (ps...

Good morning!  How are you all?  Is anyone still here?  The last couple months have been busy and then this last one has just slammed us all with many new things.  There are several that I'd like to share with you and then I am hoping to share the journey too.  At the same time, since it is not all about me, I need to maintain some boundaries (which I quite admit I am not great at.)  I hope you'll find the journey interesting and you'll share it with other friends who might be going through something similar.  I'd love to start an actual dialogue here instead of just hearing my own voice, so if you have a comment or idea or story to share, please do. The first big change is my diet.  You know I am trained as a Health Coach and many of you know that before my son was born I struggled with Ulcerative Colitis.  Pregnancy and nursing somehow delivered the perfect cocktail of hormones to stop the disease in its tracks but in the last few mon...