And still chugging - test will come in November

I am definitely feeling the desire for more food and more sleep as the summer closed out and fall began. My heart last Sunday sank when it realized that waking at 6:15 am now meant waking in blackness too. The seasons fly by me even faster as my life is fuller and busier. I feel like summer foods and eating just started and yet, we are having to go back to our fall standbys of brussels sprouts and store tomatoes already as the apples and pumpkin spice everything roll in.

The last two years where I had lots of good losses on the scale in summer, I tried to keep up with the same pattern of eating and loss... which lead to 30 pound weight gains both winters as I couldn't keep it up. I would get too hungrier and sleepy and that makes me want sugars and eventually and gradually I would go from allowing one sweet a day, to 1500-2000 calories a day of sugar (or more).

As I stated last time, my goal is not to try to keep up with the same level of restriction, because I've learned I can't manage that. My goal is to keep my carb level low. So, if I want to eat more, I choose low carb foods for that "extra". The hope, is that perhaps I'll see no weight loss, but maybe also no weight gain or minimal weight gain. When you eat low carb foods you don't get the insulin spike which then makes you want to eat even more. Carbs start that vicious cycle for me of ramping up more and more sugar highs that are really hard for me to  "come off" carbs in spring/summer. This year it took until July. The year before that it was late May.

How am I doing so far? So far so good. I did step on the scale the other day out of curiosity and my guess of my weight was correct. I've gone up and down so many times and no what clothes fit when so well, that it's easy to know.  I've lost some weight as some clothes are significantly looser and some that were too tight are fitting now... which is great as I feel better, but I'm not going to get stuck on looking at numbers. Goal is STRICTLY to keep low carb and not worry about weight and see where it leads me - while adding in more movement to my days too.

The movement part was going great with daily walks, until I sprained my foot and "slightly" sprained my ankle almost 2 weeks ago. I had to stay completely off my feet for 5 days and ice it, but after that I started moving around a bit and after 10 days took a walk... I'm about back to normal. I even did some jump rope with the kids in Sunday School this past Sunday.

I created a "junk drawer" of low carb snacks too - roasted almonds, roasted peanuts, 3 different kinds of low carb protein bars and a low carb shake mix and in the fridge apples, cheese sticks and in the pantry, peanut butter. At dinners I skip the starch or don't even serve it. I'll eat a protein and veggies. My treat for the night is one square of dark chocolate.

I really have no idea of what my caloric intake is... It varies from day to day. Yesterday was around 1500 I think, day before was about 1300, probably the day before that was around 1900.

The real test for keeping it low carb will be the beginning of November - THREE TIMES now I've gotten derailed the first weekend of November and it started the downward spiral. So, that I'm seeing success now is great, but that isn't new for me... I was able to keep it low carb (though more difficulty)... November is the trick.

I've also considered have one day every 2-3 week "carb day" as staring at all the yummies and never having them is REALLY hard, but I don't know if I can handle it or not. So, for now. I'm not going that route. For when I do want a treat/snack, I'll try a few things I've discovered that have a hint of sweet, but are low carb enough to not spike me. Like rolled oats with almonds or pecans and a bit of brown sugar and butter baked over sliced apples (with skins on) and topped with a bit of slightly sweetened whipped cream. Kind of like this:

Seratonin and Carbs - How did I Miss the Connection?

A couple days ago on a forum post someone wrote this:

This what I've learned from my Neurophysiology class. This is a very simplistic explanation for some very complex processes. 

If you've had a lot stress, depression, or anxiety it can result in you gaining a lot weight. For a lot of people stress leads to stress eating and usually those are carbs because carbs are needed to help tryptophan get into your brain. Tryptophan breaks down into 5-HTP which then increases serotonin levels which help regulate mood. But carbs also tend to come with a lot of calories. 

I read that and thought, huh... let me look up some more. And then I found TONS of stuff. I found this on webmd: http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/craving-carbs. Hmmm...

And then this abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8697046 and then this: http://www.livestrong.com/article/458140-do-carbohydrates-raise-serotonin-dopamine/ and even more articles.

What I finally concluded about myself recently, that I'm using carbs as medication is spot on with this research and findings. Below is some of my life history and when I've gained weight.

I gain weight or fall off the dieting wagon EVERY winter of 8 winters I've tried to lose weight save two and ONE of those times it was only partially successful as I did go off plan and go carb crazy for a month and gained 20 pounds in that month! At that point, I was kin to Cookie Monster for real!

I have gained weight EVERY SINGLE TIME I have started a new job -without exception: 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2014. Why? probably stress of new job and adapting to new habits with life that naturally follows a new job - especially if it involves a move (many of them) and in this last case, going from part-time working, mostly stay at home mom, to a full time working mom. I use carbs to boost my seratonin levels then too.

I also KNOW I depend on carbs, as I have done it in the past, when I had super late nights at work. My go to for a while at work past midnight was a can of Mountain Dew and a Snickers bar. That would keep me going for a couple more hours. Caffeine and carbs!

So, here I am on a low carb diet which is good for my blood sugar, good for my cholesterol levels, and good for more overall feeling of good health as I am terribly carb sensitive, BUT it lowers my seratonin levels which then creates carb cravings - especially in the darker months of the year. I actually DON'T eat super low carb, just much lower than the average person. Add in Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD) and I am truly depressed in winter and I crave carbs - lots of carbs and then I start eating them and then I'm out of control.  So, SAD already makes me depressed, but throw in the low carb diet and I'm making that even worse!  I need to figure that out to break that cycle!

There are a couple things I could do - I could go on a higher carb diet, but I have done that before with Weight Watchers years ago and still got derailed come winter. I remember making tons of apple crisp in the late fall and then completely giving up as I got so tired that exercising in the mornings became torture, and then that stalled the weight loss and then I went crazy on carb heavy foods by January. After that incident, I gave up trying to control my weight for over a decade - it was that demoralizing and I felt so self-defeated as I didn't understand how I was doing so well and then totally derailed and ended up heavier than when I started (which also included a job change).

Now, I could try to up my carb intake with healthier carbs in winter with more fruit (apples) and healthy grains, but I think I need to accept and realize that I need an antidepressant to get me through the dark months. Once mid April hits, I'm usually OK and good to go until October. AND, I need to be faithful about using my SAD therapy light in the mornings.

So, a 3 pronged approach? Slow weight loss and increase calories by upping slower burning carbs in winter, take an antidepressant and use the SAD light. If that combo doesn't work, I'm out of ideas and honestly, that might make me feel hopeless! Oh, and add in (keep) exercise as that too is a mood lifter - so a four prong approach.

But seriously, how did I not ever notice or take note of carbs and depression before when it's so obvious for me that when I'm depressed I crave and give into carbs in a HUGE way?

Following a prescribed diet versus tailoring a diet specific to you

Sometimes I read things and it gets me to thinking about it in new ways. As mentioned, I belong to a weight loss forum. On that forum, people are on a variety of diets - South Beach, Atkins, Intermittent Fasting, Weight Watchers, Paleo, Keto, Ideal Protein, Metabolic Research, Low Carb, Calorie Counters, etc. You get the picture. There are also people who have gotten a variety of weight loss surgeries and then a lot of people like me who make up their own diets.

I read a thread yesterday about someone who said that they had tried several diets and never could stick with it for more than three days before cheating/quitting. I responded with, "Well, maybe tailor your own diet that you can live with."  And that got me to thinking about those who follow diet plans out there in the world and those of us who don't And it got me thinking about how diets come and go in waves of fads. Huh... it's interesting. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to lose weight as long as it's done in a non-detrimental way to the health, but why is it that some of us need someone to tell us what to do EXACTLY and others can't or don't want to follow rules of a diet? And then that got me to thinking about myself specifically. Why have I never followed a diet, specifically?

So, my weight loss history. I have tried to lose weight 4 times in 44 years. The first time was when I was 21 years old. I just came up with my own hair brained idea of how to lose weight. I started exercising daily and then went on a heavily restricted diet. I lost weight SUPER fast, but was starving. It lasted about a month.

I went on a diet again when I was 27. I decided to join Weight Watchers to help me stay accountable. They had just started their points plan. I 'sort of" followed it, but not really. It gave me a set of points, but I often didn't follow it. for half the month I felt famished, so I ate more points. For the other half of the month I felt less hungry, so I ate less points. I also included exercise. After a couple months I stopped counting points and I didn't really care about anything they had to say. I just knew to eat less and move more. That lasted for about 6 months before I stopped.

I didn't diet again until I was 41 years old. I went with low carb because my blood sugars were way out of line (most likely caused by my thyroid). I had done low carb before during my second pregnancy because of gestational diabetes, so I knew what to do. But, I didn't follow any low carb diet like Keto or Atkins or South Beach. I don't know why... It never even entered my mind to follow a diet already out there. I just cut out the grains and sugars because those are not really needed for nutrition and they are also a great way to cut calories. And, again, I added in exercise, first just cardio, and then strength training. I had started low carbing specifically to lower my blood sugar levels, but what I found is that eating low carb made it easier to eat less and move more. I had more energy. I had less cravings. Huh, this low carb stuff might be the way to go for me!

I did that diet with a lot of exercise, with little tweaks, for over 2 years. Then I had this disaster half year when I just totally didn't care as I was tired of struggling with injuries. I snapped out of it, and then started right back up with the same diet, with more changes to accommodate for my injuries. At this point, I cannot do the strength training I was doing as I have several issues with neck and back issues (I get spasms quite frequently) and some issues with my left knee. I can, however, walk and walk fast, so I do that. BUT... if I'm too busy... I'm too busy. I don't beat myself up any more for days I can't fit in exercise, OR just don't feel like it. I just adapt my eating to be lower on those days - something I didn't seem able to do the last go around. Exercise is important, for sure, but I also need to be able to adjust my eating around more or less exercise as injuries and time away from exercise WILL HAPPEN.

So, now, with this current weight loss I do a combo of these diets: Keto, Atkins, South Beach, Calorie Counting, Low Carbing, Intermittment Fasting, and Intuitive Eating and probably more.  I don't follow ANY OF THEM specifically.

I fast most of the day and eat one large meal a day with two very light 'snacks' in the morning and afternoon. I keep them low carb to keep hunger at a minimum. However, if I'm hungrier, I listen and eat more (intuitive eating). I will not white knuckle it out. When I eat my big meal of the day, I keep it low carb - high fat and high protein. BUT.. I don't avoid food groups completely. I will eat fruit (minus bananas) and I will eat any vegetable or bean. When I'm craving it, I'll have something with sugar - in small bits. Like a slice of zucchini bread. Or a single small ice cream treat. I don't say, "I can't have that.". I just try to limit them because when I eat more of them, cravings start increasing and it becomes harder to stick with this way of eating. I also still need to calorie count because I do not have an "I'm full" button. I can and could eat my entire calorie allotment in one sitting - in one salad, so I need to count the calories.

This is what has worked for me, and for the most part, has been totally sustainable for 3.5 years. It was only depression that derailed me and now, I have a plan for that too.

Even the mere idea of following a prescribed diet has me balking at the idea. Like, "Who are YOU to tell ME how to eat?" But more, I don't trust any authority with food recommendations because what I've learned is that we still don't know SO MUCH about dietary needs. But also, I don't think I could follow someone else's diet and be able to stick to it. I would find it too restrictive for me. I would feel like I was cheating or failing if I couldn't follow it to a T. I just don't need it and would find it a hindrance.

Yet, I know a lot of people who need to be told what to do. It's why those diets that come with meals are so popular - Jenny Craig, Ideal Protein, etc. It takes all thinking out of it. Just do this and X will happen. Somehow, you need to figure out how to eat once you go off the program, but maintenance on ANY diet has that aspect of it.

I don't even think it's that people don't know what's healthy eating or not, but that they feel they need someone to hold their hand through it - to lead the way for them.

It gets me to wondering if people who follow their own diet are any more successful long term than those who follow a set of rules given to them by someone else. Or the reverse? Of course, people often start out with a particular diet and then tailor it to fit their needs - more points, less points. More carbs, less carbs, etc. I don't even know if there's been studies on that! I LEARN from prescribed diets, for sure. I didn't know about low carb when I was 27, but it was easy to find information on it later. But it's interesting to think about why we flock to diets - and then ditch them too.

Like Atkins was a HUGE rage... then it disappeared. Low fat was (and still is lingering on) a huge way of living, but now is waning for high protein and high fat. Paleo is now huge and will fade. it's always a cycle of diets coming in and out of fashion and people jump on the band wagon and jump off.  Why is that? is the problem of being too strict to follow? Or that it's trying to make all people fit into the same peg hole?  And why do people try a diet, have success at it, quit and then never try it again? Because you quit there was a problem with the diet? Or, was there a problem ELSEWHERE - like in your head?

It's interesting and the more I think about it all, the more questions I have.

Today I noticed a physical difference and a food difference

Today I went shopping for something silly, but necessary. I needed jeans or jean shorts so that I can do some gardening and other grub work. Since I have SOOOOO few clothes that fit me right now, I only have a couple "good" things for teaching/working and then a couple fitness skirts and fitness tops. That material is more sensitive to snags and staining and I DO NOT want to snag and stain those as I should be able to wear them through the summer as they are stretchy and have a lot of give to them - getting more bang for the buck, but I know me, I will not wear stained or ruined clothes, especially in public!

I first went to Goodwill. Man is it hard to find stuff at Goodwill. I ended up at TJMaxx and got a pair there for $10 - the same price as at Goodwill! They fit now and probably not for long, but I truly need gardening clothes and when I garden? I get DIRTY!!!!! Nothing but jeans material will work - no way.

But, while at TJMaxx I tried on a couple things. I hate that I'm still so big, but I could see in their awful mirrors that I am deflating. Mostly, I'm noticing my gut is deflating. It's where I got the biggest and it's where it is coming off the fastest, thank goodness. 

My husband remarked on it the last time I lost weight and it's true this time too. I don't get much narrower side to side (though I do, of course), but I get less wide front to back. So, today when I was standing at a mirror, I could see I was less wide. I didn't looks "as" fat. Fat, yes, but not as fat as I was 6 weeks ago.

And today with the scale I am down a bit more. here's what it looks like right now:

I have no idea what that top pink line represents. I need to do some searching, but the lower dotted line is the weight loss since I started April 1st. Mostly downward trend, but a few bobbles up. My first month goal was 10 pounds. I got to 9 pounds lost. This second month I hoped for 7 pounds lost. So far I am .4 away from that. That is 16 pounds down in 6.5 weeks.  Oh, if only it stayed that easy and weight kept dropping at that rate! I KNOW that it will just keep slowing down as I get closer and closer to goal, but this quick beginning at least helps keep the head in the game.

And I am finding it quite easy to stick to it. Today I bought donuts for an occasion. I even moved them from the box to a plate - not even tempted to eat one.

I'm finding in general it's much easier to eat less and to have less cravings for sweets and I think I'm beginning to figure out why. This time I am keeping my carbohydrate overall numbers and percentage even lower than last time. I just did a nutritional analysis and it looks like this:

This is still not very accurate, as I don't always put the foods in the right meals, and don't care to get the overall composition of foods right, but calorie number right instead when I input foods (like an entry for taco salad will include more carbs that I eat as I don't eat it with taco shells, for instance).  With that said, it's 'fairly' accurate picture of what I eat. It's proteins and carbs are about equal and fats a bit more. It doesn't like that I eat eggs, full fat dairy, and meat. Notice though, there's more fat from the avocados, olive oils and nuts as I eat more of those than the other.

Anyway, on average I'm eating 87 carbs a day. And that INCLUDES days that I had a big piece of cake, and Easter weekend and Mother's Day. Those were much higher carb days. When I look day by day excluding holidays/special events, it's more like 60 grams of carbs a day. The last time I did this? I was averaging 110 - 120. It's  HALF of what I did before and... I'm less hungry and have less cravings. I thought I had the cravings under control before... no... not as well as this time.

Last time I relied heavily on high protein nutrition bars for snacks and sometimes meals. I ate one every day for breakfast and oftentimes a second one as a snack. That alone was 40-50 grams of carbs right there - those two low carb protein bars! Then, I would eat an apple for lunch and that large apple is about 30 grams of carbs. Now I'm up to 70-80 grams and I haven't even had dinner yet!

So, this time, I'm not eating protein bars. I am finding that for breakfast I'm good to go with just a decaf coffee with a half cup of half and half. I drink that at 7:30 am and then I don't need to eat until noon. At noon I eat an apple with peanut butter (3 tbsp of peanut butter!) or I make 2 eggs with a tablespoon of butter and a sausage patty. That keeps me full until dinner at 6:30 pm. At dinner I then eat a HUGE helping of non starchy vegetables. Like HUGE helpings of veggies, with a 6-8ozs piece of meat.  And then I'm full for the rest of the day. Well... full isn't the right word. I don't stay full, but I don't get hungry!

Lower carb is the way to go for me. Even lower than I thought I needed to go last time. Or, it at least seems that way for now!

My mind caught up with my body and it's not satisfied

Now when I see myself in the mirrors in Zumba classes or the like, I see my chubbiness and I don't like it. On the way down at this weight, I thought I was looking svelte. As well, I was looking much better than at higher weights. But, this time I know what I look like at a lower weight and I prefer that!

It's mostly in my gut. That's where I put it in and it's where I need to take it off. It's exasperated by loose skin on the abdomen, but it's not just loose skin, but flab, true flab too.

Sigh...

I know what I need to do and most days I do it, but what happened to that total 100% gung-ho attitude I had in the first 8-9 months of this? Why can't I recapture that? I can do well for a few weeks now, but then get derailed and mess up for 2-3 days, undoing all the progress I just made in the 2-3 weeks prior.

There is a saying that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. And well, it's true most of the time, but sometimes... it's not true. Like last night at dinner. It was so good. I had seconds. I shouldn't have had seconds, but I did and it tasted so good and it felt nice to be truly full for a change.

Then today, I'm making pizza for my son. It's smells so good. I could eat the whole thing. Instead, I ate my apple and peanut butter  and a pepperoni stick to keep the pizza urge at bay.

Doing the exercise has become habit. I do it and I enjoy it (mostly). I think I have won that battle. However, the food one I think will be with me forever and ever. I like food too much to not eat whole categories of food. I can do really well and stay on plan, but who doesn't want to eat a slice of homemade bread? or a cookie? or an ice cream cone? Yet, when I eat those things, I just lose control of eating so that it takes days to detox and settle back down.

I was hoping finding some low carb alternatives would help and it probably will, but they are more labor intensive to make, more expensive to make and just as caloric as traditional snacks. So, a slice of low carb pizza is still a gazillion calories as is a low carb cookie. They are yummy, but not very satiating. Eating a salad of 150 calories looks and feels like more food that a single cookie!

So, I like my food - real food. I also like seeing a thinner me in the mirror reflected back at me. I don't like seeing what eating too much food looks like in a mirror or how it feels on my body.  Why can't I remember that when I get tempted by food? Like grabbing seconds at dinner last night, huh?

Ok, going forward from here.

The weight loss challenge is behind me, but the work is not done yet.  I have to keep at it and up it a bit in intensity.

My biggest issue is trying to find something to replace BodyPump.  I'm finding I'm just getting too injured and it is too much isolating muscle groups. I want to do more whole body work.  I'm thinking of doing perhaps TRX as a class or Pilates.  Alternatively, I could just go to the free weights room, but I just don't tend to do as well on my own. Lazy, I guess!

I did buy the new New Rules for Lifting Weights which give routines to do.  So, why can't I just make myself do it? If it had a phone app, I probably would.  Maybe it does.  Need to look. The phone app for TRX is appealing.

So, I was just looking at the schedule for the next few days at the gym, trying to figure out my new routine now that the twice a week personal training sessions are over.  It's up to me to keep going!

I did take a mini eating break yesterday. I ate more, but all low carb stuff. I just needed a day i wasn't a little hungry as i always am a little hungry. sticking with low carb stuff yesterday made it easier to eat normally today. That we nice!

Exercise tomorrow will help with lifting my mood too. This 4 day break is for the birds!

Spent the weekend perusing a cookbook calculating calories

Well, on my off time I did. I had other "duties" this weekend too - not just time to read a cookbook!

So,  I have this cookbook, The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking. 80 Low Carb Recipes that Offer Solutions for Celiac Disease, Diabetes and Weight Loss by Peter Reinhart and Denene Wallace.

I had mentioned it before, but this time I actually dove into the cookbook, figured out some nutritional stuff and tried my first recipe.

The recipe I tried was the blueberry pancake. I was making pancakes for everyone else, so I thought, "why not some for me?" I haven't eaten a pancake in over two years. The big test was also to see if I would get a sugar crash 2 or so hours later as I always get a sugar crash with regular pancakes and even whole grain pancakes.

First, the ease of making the recipes. One thing I like is that these recipes are basic. They aren't full of weird little ingredients. Well, maybe nut flour seems weird to non low-carbers, but it's a staple for those trying to keep carbs lower. They even tell you alternatives you can try. Since I'm doing low carb, I have gotten a lot of the nut flours and bean flours and they are pretty easy to make if I can't find them already ground. It's more expensive than wheat flour, of course, but wheat flour isn't an option.

The pancake recipe was almond meal/flour, hazelnut flour/meal, baking powder, soy milk (though I used regular milk), splenda (or the like), egg, vanilla and blueberries. That's it. Next time I'm going to take out the splenda and vanilla and put in a scoop of vanilla protein powder for more of a nutritional boost.

One complaint I have about the book is that there aren't any nutritional breakdowns. I can see that it's low carb by the ingredients, but how does it compare to other things?

Well, what I discovered of hours of computing different recipes from pizza crusts to muffins to cookies to pancakes is that calories wise it's about the same as traditional baked goods. A slice of cake, a muffin, a cookie, a pancake that is low carb and that is traditional flours came out about the same. They even have similar protein counts - depending on the recipe. These recipes just replace a lot of the carbs with fats.   And, maybe that's why they didn't configure the nutritional contents - people are still fat phobes. Though, most of this fat is from nuts which are the good fats, chock full of nutrients and way more satiating than white flour or even whole grain flour.

Anyway....let's compare blueberry pancakes.  Here's what a traditional blueberry pancake breaks down to nutritionally (6" diameter):

Calories: 170
Fat grams: 7
Carb grams: 22.3
Fiber grams:  0
Net Carbs: 22.3
Protein grams: 4.7

Here is what the low carb recipe with almond flour and hazelnut flour breaks down to for the same size/weight:

Calories: 161.3
Fat grams: 13
Carb grams: 7.8
Fiber grams: 2.8
Net carbs: 5
Protein grams: 5.84

If I were to take out the splenda and add muscle milk vanilla protein powder instead (replacing one for one):

Calories: 174.6
fat grams: 13.8
Carb grams: 7.1
Fiber grams: 3.1
Net carbs: 4
Protein grams: 8.1

Can you see where the big differences are? It's taking the carbs down and the fats up (and a more so on the protein if you take out the fake sugar and put in protein powder - which also has sweetener).

And, how did it turn out? And was I satiated from the homemade blueberry pancakes? It turned out great and, yep, they were filling. I ate 2.5 pancakes for breakfast with a few additional fresh blueberries. Now, could I have eaten more? Heck yes. I could have eaten 5 of these. Portion control is still important, of course. And, I should say, I never eat it with jam or such. If I had to put something on them, it would be a nut butter or a fresh fruit blended with plain yogurt, not syrup or jam. But this time I ate them plain at 9 am.

At 1 pm I was feeling hungry and I ate my protein bar and a handful (one serving) of nuts. That's all I had with me as I was out of the house. That held me until dinner at 6 pm when we had a nice salad and roasted fish.

In the past, pancakes at 9 am (for the same caloric amount) would have had me shaking by 10:30 am so that I would need to eat. I would eat another snack/meal then and would probably still need a lunch as my snack would probably be something sugary to fix the sugar low I was experiencing. It just becomes a vicious circle. So, in the end a pancake breakfast would have resulted in another 200-500 calories for the day.

Moral of the story? Some foods fill you up better than others and keep you full even those with the same caloric count. And those filling foods can taste really, really good!

What was really great was that my husband and older son really loved these pancakes. They preferred them to the plain old pancakes. So, next time, I'll make some more of these as they certainly could use less simple carbs too.

What I'm really excited about though is finding ways to have treats during traditional sweets times (holidays) that won't derail me. I want to be able to have a cookie without it causing me to get sugar spikes so that I then eat 5 cookies. It's not about self-control. It's about controlling the sugar so that I can control my cravings. And craving is too light of a word. That makes it appear mental. My sugar highs and lows are physiological. If I can stop that up and down cycle, then my weight should be able to stay more stable because I won't have to keep feeding the sugar demons.

I can't wait to try more recipes from the book now! And since they are chock full of nutrients, it might replace my go to bag of nuts or protein bar when I'm in a pinch.

And now... time for lunch!

Exploring more options with this low grains/sugar diet

I cannot say that my diet is limited because I can eat anything if I want to, but I don't like how grains and sugar make me feel. For day to day meals it's easy to get around. Like last night I made roasted chicken, roasted brussel sprouts with minced pancetta and roasted beets (I ate just a wee bit of the beets).  It's something the entire family enjoys - including the 7 year old. Haven't tried roasted brussel sprouts? You might find you will love this much hated vegetable - it's just in knowing how to prepare it right!

Anyway... most meals I can substitute out things easily enough like quinoa for rice and so on, but there are some things I can't. Like breads, pastas, cakes, cookies, etc.

I am a baker. Well, I'm an all-round cook. I make everything from homemade yogurt to breads, cakes, roasts, great veggie dishes, etc. I just like to cook. But, I cannot eat a lot of what I cook. I make bread 2-3 times a week. I can't eat it.  I make some sort of cookie for the kids about once a week - I can't eat it. And there are times I really crave a buttered, toasted bagel, piled high with tomatoes, green peppers, pickles, avocado slices, swiss cheese, roasted ham or turkey (fresh made - not deli slices), and either sprouts or some lettuce. But I can't eat bread and feel good. I feel lethargic and I start to crave things. Plus, if I wanted to waste 200-300 calories, it wouldn't be on a bagel and those are wasted calories as I get almost nothing nutritionally from it!

So, I got to thinking. There are all these gluten free cookbooks now. There are people who have found ways to make good alternatives. Why not give that a try? So, I got this book: The Joy of Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Baking.

While I know that these treats will still be treats, they can at least be less nutritionally reprehensible and will keep me from craving crap. And while my family can eat that stuff no problem, who says they should be consuming so much refined sugars and flours?

Now, for the family, I won't use artificial sweeteners, but they could use more protein and fiber from the nut flours too.

I just wish these things weren't so expensive. Coconut flour is nearly $8 for a pound and almond flour is $10 a pound. Stevia and the like for sweeteners are expensive too. Sugar and white flour is cheap! Oh well, these will be for once in awhile, not as an every day part of my diet.

Maybe some people at our ethical society will be happy with my switching to more gluten free items too as we have someone allergic to wheat, someone else with Celiac's disease and another who is gluten intolerant and then add me who just blows up like a water balloon from it and then feels like crap afterwards.

I will try some of the breads first - or the pizza crust. Man, I would love a friendlier pizza!