Thursday, October 23, 2008

A day in the life with no wheat, dairy, or sugar.

So somehow I find myself two weeks into a two month period with no wheat, no dairy and no sugar. I went to see a naturopathic doctor a few months ago to get rid of some stomach issues I have had forever. Tests to see if I was sensitive to wheat or dairy proved inconclusive, so now we're 'cleaning up my digestion'. That seems to involve giving up just about everything I used to eat.

And it's a little strange.

First we wanted to see if I was sensitive to wheat, so I didn't eat it for two weeks. That was pretty easy. I have given up wheat before. You can still eat all kinds of nice things like chocolate, palak paneer without the naan (I love palak paneer), roasted vegetable quesdillas without the quesdillas - okay that's just roasted veggies, but with cheese and sour cream who can complain. So really it wasn't bad. There are plenty of comfort food, bad for you items in a wheat free world. Plus, I could drink, well wine anyhow.

Next, I gave up dairy for two weeks. My doctor wanted it to be absolutely pure, so I couldn't even eat things that were produced in a factory with dairy (mind you, there are a lot of 'vegan' items produced in factories with dairy products or with 'trace' amounts of dairy - pretty much anything chocolate). Now in my old world, dairy was pretty much my number one protein source morning noon and night. To say I ate a lot of dairy was an understatement. That last time I went to a naturopath (mid 90s maybe) he suggested I use the 'blood type' diet. I am B+ and according to the blood type folks, B+ needs to eat dairy. So I always figured dairy was my food, I needed to eat it and a lot of it. So, giving up dairy was huge. I do realize there are lots of vegans in the world, but I had never even considered it. What was my new vice? Well, there were some rather tasty vegan cookies that they sold at work. I started eating a lot of potato chips. Really, the very saddest part was that I could find no chocolate to eat!

But that was the old world - just no wheat or just no dairy. I was living large. Now what is there? I'm pretty much left out of any comfort food, junk food game. Plus, it seems that alcohol is all sugar, so really I'm not supposed to drink much of it. (I think there are a lot of things that are 'all sugar' some of which I may be eating, but I have decided not to explore that too fully.)

So what do I eat? Today I had quinoa and eggs for breakfast. Rice cakes and PB for snack. A big salad with lots of veggies and some canned salmon plus some rice for lunch. A pear. A hemp protein shake, some gluten free crackers with PB, and some squash soup for dinner. Tasty huh?

So, crazy things about not eating wheat, dairy and sugar. Anything slightly 'sugary' is SO SWEET. I had a juice last night and it was like I was eating super sweet ice cream with chocolate sauce. Really, it was too sweet. I couldn't drink it. The only juice I really like now is grapefruit juice. What else? I'm skinny. I've lost about 5 pounds in two weeks and I eat ALL THE TIME. I eat lots of fat. It doesn't matter. At least for now, my digestion seems super sized. Maybe that will change, but at the moment I have pulled out all my super skinny clothes. And the final thing, is socializing. It's hard, you really have to think about and plan any outing involving food. I can't even imagine going to some one's house to eat, because I would be so annoying. At the moment, I pretty much just eat before I go out. Restaurants? Kind of scary because I'm never sure what is in what I am eating.

So six more weeks. We'll see how it goes. Will I waste away to nothing? Will chocolate chip cookies be too sweet and I'll never want to eat them again (chocolate chip cookies are my number one favorite food group). Will my stomach never hurt again? Will I ever be able to go on a date without my date thinking I'm a crazy person?

I'll keep you posted.

Friday, October 17, 2008

VOTE

www.progressivevotersguide.org

This is the coolest voting guide every. Go vote, once, twice, three times!!!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Nothing

Daisy and boot.

Daisy and boot in formation.

Otto unsure of boot.

Otto: "Why is this happening? Save me?"

So today we're going to talk about, well, nothing. So here's the deal. I have been trying without success for the last couple days to find a new blog topic. I could talk about politics or the economy, but:

a. NPR has been pledge driving, so I may not be cutting edge in my political knowledge.
b. I am sick to death of the presidential election.
c. the economy is so terrifying at the moment, who can think or talk about it, or even fathom it is really happening.

I could talk about my social life, but you don't want to hear about that. Well maybe you do, but since it only seems to oscillate from boring to stupid and back, I certainly will not be blessing the internet with those tales.

I could talk about how incredibly hard my crossfit class was tonight, but I've already talked about that way too much. Plus, the class was too complicated to explain.

Or, I guess I could talk about Otto and Daisy, but although I find them infinitely entertaining, my audience may not.

So, you may get the chance to explore all the above in the future, but at the moment I am going to talk about nothing of importance, also known as 'my new boots'.

I decided a few months ago, that for fall/winter this year I needed a pair of black boots that I could wear with the fun socks that are all the rage these days (nothing better than a good pair of socks). I have been looking endlessly and really wasn't happy with any of my choices. They needed to be flat and most importantly they needed to be calf length. I found one super extra perfect pair at Nordstrom that may have been Chanel or something, but they were $1200!! Anytime I mentioned my quest to a sales associate they proceeded to walk me around the floor showing me boots I wouldn't be caught dead in.

Well, (on the edge of your chairs yet) I found them! I had to drive the sales associate crazy trying them on about 500 times, but they're kind of exactly what I was looking for. Get this, I think I have worn them more than my clogs since I got them. Is that possible? So, this is really a happy/feel good/happily ever after story to get you through these dismal economic times.

There is one sad spot in this happy tale. I have yet to get a compliment on my boots. Okay, I got one, but it was from someone with no taste, so it doesn't count. I guess it's possible no one but me likes my boots and my crazy socks, but that's okay. Everyone else is just wrong!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Is it a basketball court? Or a desk?


Basketball flooring for sale (no I didnt get the S)


My future desk, pretty huh?

With the help of some gentle nudging from some friends and acquaintances I have come up with the (possibly) brilliant idea to make a desk from an old basketball court. Well, the idea (not mine) was first to build/buy a desk for my kitchen to replace the large Ikea cabinet that is currently there. There never was a great place for the desk in my back bedroom and now that I'm wifi, I can have my computer anywhere. Then, I some how brilliantly got the idea to go to Earthwise Salvage to see what I could find that might become a desk. As I was heading off the Earthwise, I suddenly remembered that my friend Amy has a table someone made for her from a piece of Leilani Lanes (yes the bowling alley). So when I got to Earthwise and saw basketball flooring right in front of me, it seemed like fate. I'll keep you apprised on desk developments. I'm not usually so out of the box!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Just a few comments

Well, I don't really have a theme for today's blog, just a few thoughts that are running around my head. My brain seems to have rejected such pithy topics as the economy, simply because as the news seems to get worse and worse with each passing day I have lost all ability to deal. The first is less in my head than my body. Yesterday in crossfit we did a very simple work out.

5 pullups
10 push ups
15 squats

Piece of cake, except the kicker, as many times as you can in 20 minutes. For me and most of the people in the class, that was 16. The after that we did a short core workout that involved walking with very heavy weights. This was basically working out to total failure. I mean, total failure in my arms. When I finished the workout I could barely coordinate my arms enough to wash my hands. I called my mom, and the only way to hold the phone to my ear was to prop it up with my other arm. And while one may not think of cycling as an upper body workout, riding to work today was near impossible because I could hardly support my body with my arms.

What is it mom says? That which does not kill you makes you strong. My arms will either be super strong in a couple weeks, or unusable. On the plus side, extreme body pain makes it easier to avoid thinking about our economic woes.

Subject 2, FOOD. So I have been seeing a naturopathic doctor to try to get over some stomach issues I have had forever. So far I have given up wheat for two weeks. Then, separately, I have given up dairy for two weeks. That was to see if I had sensitivities to either of those foods. The results were a bit inconclusive so my doctor has decided to wage a battle to strengthen my digestive system. This involves no wheat, no dairy and no sugar for two months. In addition, I should not eat things that seem to upset my stomach - which seems to include the large number of nuts I consume at work for sustenance when trying to avoid sugar and wheat. AND I'm supposed to limit for alcohol consumption for two months. I'm wondering what's left. Every thing I can think of eating in a restaurant involves all the above. Excuse me while I delve into my hermitage for the next two weeks! And beyond no fun, I am feeling a little panicy. I am not one who likes to be hungry. I am going to need some at work snacks. I'm taking suggestions.

Okay, I wanted to post something but this may be as much as my spagetti arms can handle. I'm off to watch Brothers and Sisters. Though can I mention, Brothers and Sisters and Grey's Anatomy have both become painfully unwatchable, as they rehash the exact same story lines for a third or fourth season.

How's that for some stream of consciousness. I promise a real live topic next time. Feel free to suggest one and see what I come up with!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Don't believe the hype? Or do?


I have to say my brain has been in a bit of a tizzy all week. For years our fearless leader and republican nominee have been telling us that our economy is strong and stable. The American people are whiners. There is no recession. Now suddenly the economy is falling apart and things haven't been this bad since the Depression. Only a $700 billion bail out can solve the problem. I am scratching my head wondering what is the truth. I am always super skeptical of politicians (more of some than others), but how could there be this huge discrepancy. I am listening to other sources. Many congressional members and senators -- including many I support - seem to think a bail out is necessary. Others, think this bailout sucks. As well, there is a large group of economists who think this particular bail out is a bad idea and we need to look to other possibilities to save the economy. I am finding myself leaning towards the 'it sucks' folks who tending to be very conservative republicans I usually disagree with (see, my confusion).

Now, I consider myself an intelligent semi well informed person, but frankly a lot of this I don't understand. I have heard numerous news stories attempting to explain why we are in this huge mess and my rather fiscally conservative brain doesn't understand. I guess the lure of making huge amounts of money. And the knowledge that no matter what happened down the road you would probably be able to keep a good portion of that money swayed people in power to make decisions that benefited them but weren't so good in the long run? And what should we do? Well, giving those same people a huge pot of money to correct the problem, that feels like a very bad idea.

BUT, I also feel like we're in the huge mess of hype, from the media and from the politicians. And at this point, no matter what the reality of the financial system and the financial bail out, if the bail out doesn't pass, maybe we're screwed. Maybe people have gotten themselves in such turmoil, that the ecomony will enter a downwards spiral if we don't pass a bad bail out package.

I heard from a friend at Washington Mutual, that though they were doing badly, they probably could have held on. However, all the talk of them falling apart led to a huge rush on the bank. The resulting withdrawals expedited or caused their final demise. Maybe it's the same thing happening with the economy, if we weren't all so freaked out, it wouldn't be so bad?

I have found myself this last week going about my life wondering why everything seems to normal. People are going to the gym, going to work, going shopping. I seem to have this idea in my mind that we are in crisis. People shouldn't have jobs. They shouldn't have the money to go shopping because our economy is in tatters. Yet in reality, my life hasn't really changed at all or not much.

I don't really have an answer for this blog, but I am so frustrated by the media and the politicians and not knowing what to believe. How could our economy be slowing but sound and suddenly explode without anyone knowing or talking about it? Or was I just not listening properly?