Yesterday we dropped D. off at the airport. She stayed with us for four weeks and we all had a great time. We went swimming almost every day, talked a lot, did some sightseeing and well… just enjoyed having our daughter so close to us.
But now life is back to normal. I’m going grocery shopping today. Alone. Not that I mind being alone, but it was actually fun and interesting to take her with me and talk about food and healthy (she is studying to be a dietician) or not so healthy (we’re human and women and have hormones and this was her much needed vacation) choices.
I have to admit though that the last few weeks were not my best food-wise.
Oh well, let’s be completely honest, it’s been on and off for over a year now. I felt sick a lot and I gained 20 pounds. But I started 2020 (sort of) right and then I got off-track again two weeks ago.
I had hormonal issues (I am going through perimenopause, but had my first period after eight months of thinking I was done) and stress (too much work makes me crave carbs), topped off with a little virus.
I also don’t really like what I’m eating anymore, especially at lunch. I typically eat three slices of glutenfree bread with some sandwich meat (thinly sliced ham, salami, etc.), but don’t like the taste of the meat anymore. Also, I”m craving all the carbs pretty soon after finishing lunch, so my blood sugar is not doing so great with it either.
So my goal for today is to find food that I like eating but that also works well for my body. This is kind of hard since I can’t eat gluten, soy or dairy (milk protein), have issues with peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, and some other nuts and also strongly react to sugar (hypoglycemia). I’ve known about the sugar for 25 years now, so that comes naturally to me, but the other intolerances/allergies I found out about in the past year. That’s probably why my eating has been off. Some of the things that did work in the past (like eating bread, wraps, and pizza, snacking on nuts) are not right for me anymore.
I know that stating you can’t eat some foods is controversial, especially if you didn’t have extensive blood tests. But believe me, I’ve been in denial for a long time, went back and forth between eating and not eating these things and this is what I know about my body:
– Gluten make me hold water and cause severe – like 3 weeks or longer – obstipation. I also noticed my arthritis flaring up when I eat gluten.
– Soy makes me nauseous shortly after eating it and the next day I feel “under the weather”.
– Cheese and other milk products give me headaches and stomach aches.
– After eating peanuts and nuts I notice my throat feeling swollen.
So, for lunch, I think I need to combine the high glycemic (gluten-free) bread (or rice cakes – those are a whole lot cheaper) with something that contains a lot of fibers and/or fat to will bring it down, like avocado or hummus. Also, I just have to get used to eating more salad for lunch. But hey, eating sandwiches for lunch has been my normal for 48 years. It’s a habit that I find really hard to change. It doesn’t feel like lunch when I eat something else. Maybe I could start with just once a week and then work my way up.
Anyway, changing what I put on the bread should help with my biggest issues. My breakfast (two boiled eggs and some papaya fruit) actually works pretty well and for dinner, I just need to cut some carbs (potatoes mostly) and eat smaller portions. Yes, that should work, don’t you think?
That was quite the brain dump, sorry. But it helps to think out loud and I think it would be helpful (both to me -accountability!- and my readers) to share some of this journey on my blog, so there will be more posts like these. Let’s hope next time I can safely state that I really am back on track…