Monday, June 27, 2011

Menu: Week 1

As I promised, here is our menu for this week.  Our menu is gluten-free (grain free), but for those that eat grains you can make your own substitutions :).  Hopefully, this will help those that are starting to phase out processed foods as well! 

Day 1

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs and blackberries
Lunch: Chicken Skewers (Chicken, tomatoes, onion, and pineapple) and fresh veggies
Supper: Italian Sausages with onions and peppers, Green Beans and Grapes

Day 2

Breakfast: Gluten free blueberry pancakes
Lunch: Italian Sausages with onions and peppers, fresh veggies and berries
Supper: Pork Cutlets, Asparagus, and Cantaloupe

Day 3

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Raspberries
Lunch: Pork Cutlets, fresh veggies, watermelon
Supper: Shrimp, Zucchini, Eggplant, and berries

Day 4

Breakfast: Blueberry Muffins and Oranges
Lunch: Shrimp, fresh veggies and a fruit
Supper: Baked Cod, Muffins, Brussels Sprouts

Day 5

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Nectarines
Lunch: Cod, fresh veggies, and fruit
Supper: Roasted Chicken, Asparagus, and Strawberries

As you can see, I usually make enough for supper to have for lunch.  This is just easier for me.  If, for some reason, I do not have enough meat for lunch the next day, salads our my go-to meal.  I always have tomatoes, mushrooms, lettuce and hard boiled eggs on had for an instant meal :).  I also don't cook any veggies for lunch - we eat raw veggies which consists of broccoli, carrots and cauliflower.

In regards to snacks throughout the day, the boys usually just eat fruit. I have lots of berries on hand (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries), along with watermelon, nectarines, bananas, apples and grapes.  These are easy, go-to snacks.  We also eat nuts, nut mixes, raw veggies, gluten free granola, and gluten free pretzels for snacks as well.  Freeze dried fruit is also great for the kids when you're on the go.  Freeze dried fruit has replaced Cheerios for us!  Natural peanut butter and hummus are great dips to add to any snack.

So, that's it!  If there's anything else I can do to help you out, please let me know!  Would recipes be helpful?? If I get enough response for recipes, I can post them tomorrow.  I am a mother of 2 young children, so simple is my motto!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Still Gluten-Free After a Week

Week One of Gluten Free

A little over a week now, our family has been eating gluten-free.  I felt this past week was a bit more challenging because I was out of the house more and faced with outside influences.  The funny thing was, I did not have the feeling of, "oh, I would LOVE to have a piece of bread right now!" or "those Sun Chips look delish!".  I was okay doing without.  I feel so good that I don't want to screw up what I've got going on.  We also went away this weekend to Amish country.  Now that, was a bit more challenging because all they serve is bread and noodles (okay, being a little sarcastic, but you know what I mean!).  It was hard to find things I could eat.  Even though I stayed gluten free, I found myself compromising on salad dressing that I KNEW had hydrogenated oil in it.  It's so hard to stay "natural". :)

Gluten-Free Crap

There is a lot of gluten-free crap out there.  Sure, you can eat gluten-free packaged cookies, candy, cereal, mac n' cheese, etc., but just because it's gluten-free doesn't make it healthy by any means.  I've started a new rule when it comes to packaged products.  If it has more than 5 ingredients, I will not buy it.  This has cut a lot of products out of our diet, but we are better off.  Since we've become gluten-free, I've been searching out other bloggers who are doing the same.  I've found many bloggers and TONS of recipes, but the majority of recipes are not-so-healthy.  Be forewarned, if you go gluten-free you can still eliminate gluten and not be healthy.

Adjusting My Frame of Mind

In our society we are told what to eat because it's good for us and we take it at face value.  For so long I was told to drink my milk, eat my grains, fat is bad, and Splenda was a gift from above.  I believed all these things, without question.  When I got married, Kevin refused to eat the low-fat American cheese, the 100 calorie packs - anything "diet" for that matter.  So, being the good wife I am, I eliminated those items from our diet in exchange for "real food" (we still ate our fair share of processed food then).  Do you know what happened??  Just months after we got married I had LOST weight.  Cutting out fake food made me loose weight.  At the time; however, I couldn't figure it out because I was consuming more fat than ever before.  This did not make sense!!  It went against everything I have ever learned!

There are many times I find myself going through the grocery store or looking through a menu and my first thought is, "that's good for me", when in fact it's not.  When we are told for so long what's good for us and it becomes your truth, you have to completely rewire your brain.  My brain is in the rewiring phase right now.

Why I'm Doing This

Okay, so I understand that some of you may ask why I'm taking everything a step further with going gluten free.  After all, isn't eliminated processed foods enough?  My answer is simple.  I am on a quest for wellness.  After having children I began to question our food and what it does to us.  My children are the primary reason I am on a mission to do better.  Did you know that one in three of our children will have cancer?  Did you also know for the first time we are projected to outlive our children.  This SCREAMS that a change needs to be made!  I want better for my children and I want better for me.  I want to be around for my kids and I want my kids to be around for their kids.

I'm currently reading the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.  This has changed my perception on grains.  If you want to know the science behind how grains effect us you MUST read this book.  I cannot even begin to explain it to you, but he made a believer out of me!  The Paleo diet is more than cutting out grains, it's cutting out dairy and refined sugar as well.  We have begun the phasing out process to live this lifestyle (which was just decided today).  The only dairy we really eat is cheese and since we've went gluten free we've found we don't crave sugar.  This past week I indulged in M&M's and a can a pop.  Not a bad sugar consumption for a week, huh?! :)

Menu's

I'm going to start posting what we eat on this blog to show other's it's do-able!  I can tell you, our meals will consist of meat, veggies, and fruit.  Thankfully, we are in the summer months so I have more options!

Getting Started to a Healthier Lifestyle

For those that are seeking a healthier lifestyle, I would not recommend going gluten free cold turkey because it may be very hard to stick with (however, if you do choose to do this, bravo!!).  First, cut out the processed food, or use the processed food rule - no more than 5 ingredients.  Cut out all deli meat (PROCESSED!) and try to avoid using bread as a side dish when possible.  Finally, STOP thinking of fast food as an option.  If you eat crap, you'll crave crap.  By taking baby steps, you'll find going gluten free will be much easier. 

Whishing everyone a healthy and happy week!  Blessings :)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Gluten-Free Day 3

It's day 3 of our gluten-free diet and so far we all feel great!  My husband said he usually crashes for a couple of hours every afternoon, but since his diet has changed, he said that dragging/sleepy feeling went away!  As for me, I've noticed my cravings for all things grain is completely gone.  In previous posts, I wrote how I love my pretzels and I could not/would not give them up.  My mother, being the ever-so-wonderful mother that she is, bought me gluten free pretzels at Fresh Market.  Since we've cut out all grains though, I've noticed I don't even want to eat pretzels!  This is HUGE!!  I don't think you guys realize how much I LOVE my pretzels! :)  The bloating that I was experiencing is gone.  As for feeling sleepy, I still have that, but Jackson's not been sleeping the best so I really don't have a good gauge on that aspect yet!

If I had to guess, I'd bet we continue eating gluten free.  I don't think my husband has any inclination to stop and I feel better so I don't plan on stopping either!  The transition has been an easy one.  Like I said in my previous post, we don't eat bread so our diet hasn't changed a whole lot.  The biggest change for me is I can no longer pop in a pizza for lunch.  All convenience foods are definitely out, which I've been trying to eliminate anyway.  I've had to plan out meals, even lunch, just to make sure we have food to eat!  Fast food is no longer an option for us.  I'm mean, really, that's not all bad, right?  If I had to guess, I'd say I lost some weight too.  That wasn't the objective, but that is a great side effect :).  One blogger wrote that she always had to worry about her weight until she went grain-free.  I think that speaks volumes!

In closing, Bear Family Chiropractic is hosting a wellness workshop next Thurs @ 7pm at the Wells Co Public Library.  Dr. Kevin, DC well be speaking about stress and Jill Sell, RN will be speaking about nutrition.  To all parents reading this blog, I URGE you to come!  I haven't heard the stress talk yet, but I'm sure it's great :).  As for the nutrition aspect, this is a MUST!  I learned SOOOO much from listening to Jill.  I thought I knew quite a bit about nutrition before I heard her speak, but I was AMAZED at how much I learned after!  I guarantee if come, you will be throwing out half the food in your pantry when you get home.  Come! Come! Come!  It's time to get healthy!! :)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Gluten-Free Diet

I'm considering doing a gluten-free diet.  Why gluten-free?  If I was to tell my grandmother this, she would look at me and say I'm just doing it because it's the "in" thing.  But Lord knows I love her! :)  Seriously though, I have noticed over the past few years that I have been tired.  Not a normal tired, almost exhausted.  Some would say, "well, Kam, you do have 2 kids under the age of 3".  And yes, I would have to agree with that.  I've had other symptoms as well.  I've been very bloated - to the point I feel like I'm pregnant (but THANKFULLY I'm not!).  I also just want to feel better and be healthier.

Today, I read an article, "Will a Gluten-Free Diet Improve Your Health?".  This article is great if you're considering going gluten-free.  When I was first considering this, I thought it wouldn't be that hard because we don't eat bread, BUT we do eat pretzels, cheerios (kid's snack), bagels, oatmeal, tortillas, and spaghetti.  I soon realized bread is only a small part of the equation. 

At the very end of the article, there's a section about how gluten free doesn't always equal healthy.  Lately, gluten-free products have been making their way into grocery stores.  Even the Bluffton Wal-mart has gluten-free products (that's when you know it's a big deal :)).  Just like every other packaged product, we need to know what we're eating.  Manufacturers add extra sugar and fat to simulate the texture and satisfying fluffiness that gluten provides.  Basically, you're eating junk.  It's just gluten-free junk!

Bottom line, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it 100%.  Here's the question...will it be too hard to stick with?  I don't want to do this if it's going to be an impossible task.  I'm not going to lie, I like my ice cream on occasion.  If I have to cut out everything, then forget it.  I am a firm believer that you have to be on a diet that you can stick with.  And when I say diet, I mean the way one eats...I'm not talking about a diet to loose weight.  If I choose to go gluten-free, it's because I want to be healthier; it has nothing to do with weight.

I think what I'm going to do is give it a trial run.  I'm going to do it for one week and evaluate how I feel.  I need to do more research in regards to what I can and cannot eat.  If I cannot have any sweets at all, then I may have to count myself out :).   I'm going to plan to start it on Tuesday and I'll document how it all goes.  I'm guessing the first few days will be a little hellish! 

Wish me luck!  I'm going to need it! :)