diet stuff

Weekly Therapy: That I am extremely hungover on my last day of work somehow explains everything.

- Mel

the week:
My last week at my job… at least, on-site. We’ve worked out an agreement so that I can stay on as a contractor until one of us: finds a job (me) or finds a replacement (them). The universe has also blessed me this week, to randomly (and separately) run into people who I haven’t seen in a while. These things have warmed my heart (and will keep my bank account warm as well).

weekend:
Tonight is our going away party, and then I’ll spend my last weekend in Pittsburgh (since we leave next Saturday morning). Yep, I thought two weeks would be SO long to wait out, but it’s positively flown by. I do need to get my shit together this weekend and ship some things out to the new house though, especially now that the movers have confirmed they will not pack/move any opened toiletry item. 😐

seven things, seven days:
1. Uber drivers who let you plug in your phone and pick your playlist are the best Uber drivers! I had our guy dancing in his seat. We had a good time.
2. Furniture shopping is a pain-in-the ass, you guys. And whomever actively promotes a 2-6 week delivery window can burn in a fire.
3. One last visit with friends to one of my favorite restaurants in the ‘Burgh: CURE. *sniff* (And we finally remembered to use our gift certificate from two Christmases ago.)
4. Speaking of tears, I had my first ugly cry about moving this week. 🙁
5. An economics trick that might help you with your motivation {via Quartz}
6. Being a thin person for 97% of my life, this research from the Cornell Food Lab is fascinating! {via The Atlantic}
7. This article had perfect timing for me (and will for any of you who watched the Olympic Trials and/or love to run and/or take same advice for running and life): What Does it Take to Win? {via Forbes}

Retesting and being tested.

- Mel

Guys. I did NOT pass my food sensitivity test. At all. In fact, this six-month retest is worse than my initial one. My body was obviously trying to tell me something what with all the sugar cravings, and well, now I can’t have sugar. NO SUGAR. No cane sugar, no HFCS, no brown sugar, no white sugar, no corn sugar. NO SUGAR.

paraorganizarte_keepcalm

Do you know that sugar is in basically everything?

List of items in my pantry/fridge that are now off-limits:
My gluten-free oatmeal packs.
Peanut butter AND the PB2 that I recently fell in love with.
Gluten-free honey nut Chex. (Obvs, but this makes me sad.)
My poop bars.
Mayo. FREAKING MAYO HAS SUGAR IN IT. Do you know how hard it was to find a brand that didn’t contain paprika?
Nomato ketchup.
Bolthouse Chai drink that I use in my fridge oats.
My gluten-free, nightshade free honey mustard from Annie’s. See: mayo.
The chocolate milk drink boxes that I have after every workout/practice. OMG.
My gummy Vitamin D supplements. Seriously. I can’t swallow pills. What am I supposed to do now?
That brand of beef jerky that finally (FINALLY!) didn’t have nightshades.
Sugar.

On top of ol’ sugar, I again tested for nightshades and gluten and hops; I also tested for potato starch, which I didn’t have a sensitivity to in my prior test (pick up a gluten-free anything, there is potato starch in it). So, buh-bye gluten-free pancake mix and frozen waffles and anything easy that I can make for breakfast when I haven’t had enough coffee in the world. Incredibly, my shellfish sensitivity (which I consider to be truly an allergy) fell off the radar, but I’m NOT ready to reintroduce projectile vomiting into my diet changes just yet.

I feel really lost right now. Have you given up sugar in your diet (because of medical/sensitivity reasons or otherwise)? Send help.

{photo credit: Energy We Bring}

Day fifty-five.

- Mel

A number seemingly insignificant for journaling, let alone blogging, but it’s Day fifty-five of my “new life” — or rather, a portion of it. I’ve been feeling like crap for the better part of two years, and then when my depression slowly subsided last year, I was still feeling… not myself. My body still felt wrong.

Fifty-five days ago I finally went to see a naturopath-slash-nutrition coach to get tested for food sensitivity — after my primary doctor wanted to put me on yet another prescription supplement (that my body wasn’t absorbing) and my gyno couldn’t definitively provide any answers to what’s going on with my old-lady parts either.

I’ve been on a gluten-free, no nightshades elimination diet since. I went all out on Day One, and yeah, I didn’t know what a nightshade was either. I did know that bell peppers were not my friend, and I had already given them up. The storm was greater than bell peppers and a little indigestion, however, and that is what makes this diet so. hard. sometimes (pick up anything pre-packaged and see the words “natural flavors” or “spices” — even if organic — and throw it away… because, nope).

BUT IT’S WORTH IT. I have energy. I don’t feel 20 years older. My joints no longer ache endlessly. I don’t feel lethargic. My productivity is up; my anxiety is down. My undereye circles don’t require eight layers of concealer. I am still dealing with some other mental things, but this diet change was a really important first step. Aside from being glutened something horrendous yesterday, I’ve been feeling really. really. good.

Myself.

Just without all the ketchup.