Gluten Free Baking

Gingerbread Cookies

Maybe it’s just the time of the year (the Holidays!) but I’ve gotten into several discussions about baking lately. It’s no secret that I’m gluten free and people are often shocked that what I offer doesn’t wind up tasting like a door-stop. Part of what works for me is using good ingredients and making things fresh. I also do a crazy amount of research and am always trying out new things. In an effort to share what I’ve learned, particularly what works and what doesn’t as well as where to get specialty ingredients, I’m putting together this post for reference.

One of the biggest obstacles people face when going gluten-free is getting used to new ingredients and their often higher prices. They are also sometimes harder to find. However, once you get the hang of it, baking is just as easy (or difficult) as it always has been.

Mint Milanos

A note about the expense: going gluten free is like any other kind of dietary change. It’s very easy to get caught up in the one-to-one replacements and wind up with an even less nutrient dense (and more expensive) diet. It’s important to note that most wheat products like bread, pasta, etc. are all fortified with vitamins and minerals – this minimum dosage is just enough to keep us from severe diseases of deficiency, but are in no way the optimal way to get these nutrients. That being said, switching from wheat-based processed food to gluten free processed food, which is not usually fortified, can lead to disaster. If, instead, you choose to switch the base of your diet away from grains in general in favor of fruits, vegetables, and high quality proteins and fats, you’ll be significantly improving your overall nutrient intake. This way of eating is also much cheaper than buying all the gluten free packaged food available these days.

Snickerdoodles

All of this is to say that baking is not the answer to changing your diet and not noticing a difference. There should be a difference. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to say goodbye to age old traditions like baking cookies on Christmas. There is just something lovely about making and sharing yummy treats with friends and family.

Since this particular brand of oven-baked joy is my cup of tea, I’d like to share my go-to ingredients and favorite recipes (found for free online!) I buy quite a bit online, mostly on Amazon, but some things can be bought in stores. I will include affiliate links where applicable, but also mention when you can probably get items locally.

Ingredients

Almond Flour
This is my preferred brand for a fine, light texture perfect for cookies and cakes.
Almond Meal
I buy this at my local Trader Joes and it includes the almond skins and is very course – cookies baked with this come out more like oatmeal cookies than regular chocolate chip. It’s also good for making buns or “bread” for a more whole grain texture.
Coconut Flour
This can also be found at my local Wegmans, Whole Foods, etc. I’m not as picky about brand with this stuff. I haven’t tried one that didn’t work as of yet. 
Grade B Maple Syrup
This has to be my secret weapon ingredient. Using this recreates the right flavor profile for chocolate chip cookies, which traditionally would use white and brown sugar. I buy it at Trader Joes and find the Grade B is way better than the thinner, less rich Grade A.
Coconut Oil
This can also be bought in most stores and is great for replacing butter, if you are very dairy intolerant. It works surprisingly well.
Palm Shortening aka Vegan Shortening
Somehow this isn’t a trans-fat nightmare and is considered a safe alternative. I don’t use it much, but have on occasion when you need a completely neutral flavor. You can also use this as a sub for things like butter or lard.
Swerve Confectioner’s
This is a low carb product that I use in icings and as the sweetener in homemade ice cream (it keeps it from getting rock hard). I use this powdered version in all applications, sometimes cutting the suggested amount (the granular version doesn’t taste as sweet to me and I get more bang for the buck with this).
Stevia
This brand is great in my coffee and I can sometimes get away with using a little bit in place of caloric sweeteners but doesn’t generally work that well in baked goods all by itself. You only need the tiniest bit of this – I use the undiluted version so it doesn’t measure like sugar at all. I prefer not to pay for the bulking agents.

Recipes

Choc Chip Macaroons

I am an avid collector of online recipes and you can follow me on Pinterest, if you want to keep up to date with stuff I’m trying. However, I think it’s important to start with the tried and true, especially when you are just starting to buy new ingredients. There is nothing worse than throwing out a whole batch of something that just didn’t work. It’s also important to follow the instructions carefully – the ingredients and method are what the recipe writer used and found to work. Changing it up is fun, but can result in flops. I recommend finding something that appeals to you, you have or can get ALL the required ingredients, and then follow it exactly the first time. Not every suggestion is going to meet that set of criteria, so I say skip the ones that aren’t a perfect match for your needs and abilities and just try something you can do as described. I cannot stress this enough – you cannot determine if a recipe works unless you actually follow it! That being said, I DO sometimes tweak things (I’ve been at this for some time) and I will note things that I’ve tried successfully along with the links, in case those alterations appeal to you, too. I mostly just want you to have a good experience out of the gate!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I should also mention that gluten free baking IS different from its wheat-laden, more ubiquitous pastry-cousins. You cannot simply swap out the regular flour in a beloved recipe with a gluten free alternative and get the same result. When starting out, choose a recipe already developed and tested by someone else before trying to adapt old favorites. There is a learning curve and it takes a bit of experience to get a feel for how different flours behave.

All the recipes are Paleo-friendly, but not necessarily Low Carb (LC). I’ve noted the ones that use non-caloric sweeteners as LC, in case you want to especially use those to avoid as many carbs as possible or avoid them due to the questionable ingredients. For me, I’ve determined that Swerve and Stevia are within my comfort zone of safety, but I do not use or advocate the use of aspartame, Splenda, or other more widely available artificial sweeteners. I also avoid Truvia, which is neither True, nor Stevia. And, it tastes bad. BAD.

On to the links!!!!

The Wonder Bun

My version of the Wonder Bun
I don't eat a lot of bread-like things anymore. They simply aren't worth the time or energy, most of the time. But when I just need something, this does the trick! I use these mostly for open faced melted cheese to go with Tomato Soup and as croutons in French Onion Soup. I don't usually bother for burgers anymore, but it works well for those, too.
The Food Lovers
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I often use melted butter in place of the coconut oil (both work well!) and sometimes swap white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts for the chocolate chips. If you use chocolate chips, any brand will work. They just list the allergy-friendly type for sensitive folks. The Enjoy Life ones are awesome, just a bit pricier, if that’s not a concern for you.
Pumpkin Cookies
These are a huge hit every fall and have the added benefit of being vegan - everybody can enjoy them!
Gingerbread Men or their Updated Version
I’ve made the original version as instructed with cookie cutters, but also made them without rolling them out, using my cookie-disher, and smooshing them down before baking. I make royal icing either with organic powdered sugar or powdered Swerve. I either pipe it on all fancy-like when using the cookie cutters or just slather it on when doing the regular cookies. Both ways taste incredible. I haven't tried their updated version, but I'm sure that's wonderful, too. Maybe better since they revised it? Hard to imagine since I LOVE the original.

Sticky Bun Cake

Comfy Belly
Cinnamon Bun Muffins (almond flour)
Cinnamon Bun Muffins (coconut flour)
Sticky Bun Cake (my adapted version of the above) (LC)
I make some version of the above three recipes quite often. So easy and delicious!
The Paleo Parents
Chocolate Chip Macaroons
The salty-sweet combo of these is off the charts good. If you use dairy free chocolate chips, these are completely vegan (and autoimmune Paleo compatible without the chips).
The Urban Poser
Snickerdoodles
These are incredible. That is all.
All Day I Dream About Food

Cinnamon Rolls

Nutella Loaf (LC)
This has to be hands-down the best completely low carb cake I've ever made. It tastes a lot how I remember those marble poundcakes at Starbucks.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins (LC)
Also Starbucks-inspired. Hmm...
Maria Emmerich
Cinnamon Rolls (LC)
This recipe uses a somewhat controversial ingredient called Psyllium Husk Powder. Please read this post about its safety – this is why I use it. It makes gluten free baked goods have the right doughy texture for things like this recipe. Just don’t buy a huge thing of it, like I did! You need very little per recipe. I also generally just use royal icing made with Swerve on these, too (like the gingerbread cookies). This Brown Butter Icing recipe is also amazing, though.
My Mint Milano Creations
This recreation went amazingly well and hit on some deep childhood memories. The originals were always my favorite cookies and I could easily eat a whole box of them all at once. Making them from scratch with better ingredients staves off the urge to binge on them.

There are so many great recipes out there but these are my favorites that I go back to over and over. I hope this helps you get started and have some success right away. I would also recommend browsing the websites I linked to above for more recipes – they are generally trusted sites with great content. For more recipe ideas, follow me on Pinterest!

Domino's "Gluten Free" Pizza

That happened. And by "that", I mean the photo of the Domino's Gluten Free Pizza that accompanies this post. It's a 10 inch pie and it all went in my mouth in one sitting and was DELICIOUS (yes, I'm yelling that).

There has been controversy about Domino's decision to introduce a "gluten free" product that actually makes no claims to be safe for people avoiding gluten. Say what? I know it makes no sense. Basically, it's made with gluten free ingredients but is assembled in the same kitchens where the rest of their pizzas are made. Cross-contamination is a given.

So, why did I order this? I was curious. I generally don't worry about cross-contamination. As long as I don't order food that explicitly contains wheat, I'm fine. I don't get digestive distress at all (even with large doses) and only get the brain fog/moodiness/exhaustion when I eat an actual serving of an offending food. Who the heck knows what's happening under the hood, but as far as I can tell, minute amounts don't phase me. Considering I thoughtfully source and cook the majority of the food I eat on a daily basis, I am not too worried about the things I cannot reasonably control. Thus, the decision to order said pie.

That all being said, I do not support the business decision Domino's made to develop a product that is unsafe for its intended market (duh!) Also, I promptly passed out for two hours roughly 15 minutes after ingesting the pizza. I am not used to that amount of carbs at one time, so it's not surprising. All in all, it was tasty but not at all a healthy choice for me. It will not be a regular part of my life.

I will be trying out the Domestic Man's take on gluten free pizza soon. It is also carb-laden but at least I am clear on all the ingredients and will have to earn it by physically making it myself! I also don't plan to eat an entire pie by myself again (progress!)

Am I the only one with this gluten free pizza obsession? Have you found a good alternative to hit that pizza spot?

Carbs! (Perfect Health Diet Experiment)

OK, so are you SICK of all my food experiments yet? You know, the ones I start and am so excited about and then… [radio silence]. Yeah, me neither! Needless to say, the ketogenic dealio sort of petered out. First I got sick of tracking, then I got distracted by All. The. Cookies. It certainly did seem to “work”. If I kept my calories to about 1650 and under 75 carbs (I was shooting for under 50), I seemed to slowly drop weight. It really seemed to be more about the calories and less about how many carbs I ate, quite honestly. But tracking calories gets BORING and I sort of started to rebel against the idea. Then, I started baking. Need I say more?

Yes, all the baking I do is grain-free. But almond flour combined with things like maple syrup and chocolate chips? Kinda calorie-dense, as they say. The wonderful thing about this whole Paleo thing, though, is that due to how spot on everything else is, I’ve managed to stay in my current cache of pants. I call that a win! I haven’t been weighing myself but apart from noticing an ever so slightly more poochy belly, all of my clothes are fitting just fine. Whew. Bullet dodged. This is particularly remarkable because this spiral into daily cookie baking (I’m serious – it was pretty much every day) coincided with a relatively nasty back injury which kept me away from my normal level of activity for the same period. Hmmm… maybe out of the ordinary pain is correlated to cookie baking? Makes sense!

On to the real subject of this post… The Perfect Health Diet (PHD). A new version of this came out this week so the author, Paul Jaminet, was doing the Paleo podcast circuit (like the Fat Burning Man Show). I have to admit that I always dismissed the whole “safe starches” thing as completely bogus. As far as I was concerned, the fewer the carbs the better. Period. But, I decided to listen and something sort of clicked for me. The PHD is not a high carb diet, it’s just not as low as more traditional versions of Paleo, especially as it’s articulated for weight loss. Sure, athletes should eat more starch and fruit to correlate to their activity, but us fatties trying to shed a few pounds? Low carb was the way to go. And it was – I lost 50 lbs. that way. But then, I didn’t. Whether it was looser compliance or some sort of adaptation that made it stop working, I don’t know. A combination? Regardless, it just got harder. It came down to me having to count both calories and carbs explicitly in order to shed pounds. I came down with some serious diet-fatigue. This is like a part-time job that never ends!

Listening to (and then reading, after I bought the book) Paul Jaminet talk about eating things like rice, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes started to make those items swim in front of my eyes! Could I really be able to eat those things? I’m still not sure, but his argument started to resonate. Whether it’s wishful thinking or not, I’m willing to give it a shot. If, for no other reason, then to mix things up and relieve some of that diet fatigue. What really made me think was that this plan is shooting for sufficiency for all nutrients – macronutrients like Carbs, Fat, and Protein as well as Micronutrients like Vitamins and Minerals. The key, according to Jaminet’s theory, is to get just enough of everything. Not too much, not too little. Both overdoing it and underdoing it have consequences. If you are deficient in any of these variables, your appetite will be high, trying to get you to eat what you’re missing. If your diet just doesn’t contain that missing thing, overeating will result in added weight but still leave you malnourished, continuing to seek relief through eating yet more. This made perfect sense to me.

The basic idea is to shoot for 30% carbs, 15-20% protein, and 50-55% fat by calories. Jaminet does admit that to lose weight ultimately a calorie deficit must occur. He contends that for most people, it will happen spontaneously based on the satiation of this macronutrient ratio coupled by the recommended supplements which should also bring micronutrients into sufficiency as well. I haven’t started any of the supplements yet, although I already take Vitamin C and a multivitamin (not necessarily advocated with the PHD) daily as well as fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend which offers a good deal of Vitamin A, D, and K2. Even so, the last couple of days of higher carb meals have left me extremely satisfied! I used to think that any appreciable whack of carbs would automatically send me into a carb binge. This has not been the case so far. I really think it IS wheat and sugar in particular for me when it comes to trigger foods. Starchy foods and even fruit seem to be OK so far. And I must be honest – just the novelty of being able to eat these things is making me extremely happy without any desire to go crazy with them. Amazing! I also haven't baked any cookies for 4 days even though I have a ton of dough in the fridge (for our upcoming cookie themed holiday party - smart thinking, that one!)

I am plugging stuff in to My Fitness Pal again (I know, I know, the calorie counting DOES make me crazy) but just for the short term. I don’t yet feel confident in my eyeballing skills to get me to the right ratios. I’ll give it a few weeks and see how I do. It’s new and fresh again – it’s interesting to see how it all works out when I’m aiming for different goals. Hopefully, after I build my confidence a bit, I’ll be able to let go of the training wheels. The general idea is this:

• Skip breakfast - can use Bulletproof Coffee since fat doesn’t interfere with benefits of fasting. Yes, I AM returning to this and giving caffeine another shot. It’s a great easy way to start the day and allows me to eat more later, when I really want the food anyway. I am in no way forcing this. If I am hungry before noon, I’ll eat.
• Protein – 12-16 oz of meat/eggs/fish per day, which works out to two good 6-8 oz portions at lunch and dinner.
• Starchy Carbs – four fist-sized servings of starch per day (potatoes, rice, etc), which works out to be 1-2 fists at lunch and dinner; it’s key to eat starch coupled with fat, non-starchy veggies, and some sort of acid like lemon juice or vinegar for blood sugar regulation reasons.
• Sugary Carbs – up to 3-4 fruits or sugary veggies a day (probably more like 2-3 for me).
• Non-starchy Veggies – add to meals for flavor, micronutrients, and the blood sugar modulating effects of fiber.
• The above should work out to a plate consisting of 1/3 meat, 1/3 starch, 1/3 veggies with fat used at will to make things taste good but not be greasy.

That, in theory, should make things balance out to the intended ratios. But, I’m still new at this so I’ll dutifully measure my portions and track in My Fitness Pal for a bit to get the hang of it. So that’s it in a nutshell. I will keep you posted on how it goes (or not, and then you’ll know I’ve flaked out again). Anybody else have some good food experiments going or is just me with this particular brand of crazy?

Sweet Treats - Part Two

The homemade peppermint patty and peanut butter cup bites I mentioned yesterday turned out amazing! What a fun treat. I sort of took in the ideas from both recipes and smushed them together to make creating them at the same time more efficient.


You'll need:

Two loaf size pans
Parchment Paper
2 cups Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup cashew butter (can use peanut or almond butter)
1 Tbs Maple Syrup (can use honey)
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 tsp Organic peppermint oil
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 dropper Liquid stevia extract

Here's what I did:


Line both loaf pans with parchment paper. Heat chocolate chips in a small saucepan stirring continuously until it's all melty-goodness. Spoon a bit of the melted chocolate to cover the bottom of each pan and put in the freezer to harden (you should have about half the chocolate left after you do this). Meanwhile, stir the syrup into the nut butter in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the coconut oil, coconut, stevia, and 1/2 tsp of the peppermint oil. When the chocolate has hardened (took about 10 minutes), take out of the freezer and smear one pan with the nut butter mixture and the other with the peppermint mixture. Put the pans back in the freezer to firm up this layer (another 5-10 minutes). Take the pans back out and add the final chocolate layer to the nut butter pan and return it to the freezer. Add a 1/4 tsp of peppermint oil to the remaining chocolate, then use it for the final layer of the peppermint version. (Yes, there's added mint in the top layer of the candy but not in the bottom layer. It just worked out well logistically to use the same pan with the melted chocolate and just add the flavoring at the very end. Between the minty-ness of the filling and the final layer, it's plenty!) Put the mint version back in the freezer one final time. When both are hardened, take out and cut up into bite sized pieces. Share with love!

Sweet Treats

Even a Paleo girl needs a treat now and then. With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I'd share a few of my current favorites. I’ve made these Chocolate Chip Muffins several times over the past few weeks and they’re always a hit. Cute Man even brought them to a bake sale and they went like gangbusters – nobody had any clue there was anything different about them. Using coconut flour is very different from using regular or even the almond flour I like to use. It soaks up a LOT of liquid. You’ll notice there are 6 eggs to only a ½ cup of flour in the linked recipe. That’s not a typo and it’s not up for negotiation. I love to experiment and do my own thing with recipes, but you have to be super careful with baking. Unless you really understand how the ingredients work together, it’s best to follow it as is before deviating too much. In any case, this one needs no tinkering. It’s just that good.

Another important factor is the quality of ingredients. I get my coconut flour from Tropical Traditions. It’s the only brand I’ve ever used and it works out really well with all the recipes I’ve tried (LOVE these Coconut Flour Pancakes!) I’ve heard many complain that other more commercially available brands like Bob’s Red Mill don’t always turn out as well. I can’t say for sure, but I know I won’t be messing with a good thing. I also love these cute Enjoy Life Mini Chips. I can get them at my local grocery store as well as online. They are gluten and dairy free, which is nice. I should also mention that these gluten free muffins can easily be made dairy free if you use coconut oil or Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening (no trans fats!) instead of butter. I like the butter, though :) The author does mention that she once made them without any butter, oil, etc. by mistake and they turned out well so you might be able to cut the amount down or omit it, if fat is a concern for you (more vitamin K2 for me!) The final touch is to use my Muffin-Top Pan. I just love the texture. I usually make half in that and half in the regular muffin tin so that I can make them all at once (I have one of each). Both are good but the muffin tops are just more… fun.

In advance of V-Day, I will be making these peanut butter cups (using cashew butter) and peppermint patties for some real homemade deliciousness. I have yet to try either recipe but I have high hopes! They are to be a little sweet surprise for Cute Man (glad he’ll be way too busy to read this before he sees them tonight!)

I hope you all have a great Valentines Day!

Why am I Gluten Free and Should I Stay that Way?

When trying out a gluten elimination diet, a 60 day trial is usually what is recommended. Well, it’s been 60 days. I’ve found avoiding gluten to be not as difficult as I would have imagined. The only time I really freaked out was at the wedding last weekend. I was cranky and hungry when we got to the reception and consciously made the choice to dig into the bread basket. That night I had a roll and a half and about a cup of spaghetti. Not exactly a “breaking my diet” binge. I didn’t feel any sort of urge to go all out or overindulge since I’d already given myself permission to “eat what I wanted”. And although there was lovely wedding cake, donuts, and other dessert-goodness, I was simply too full by that point to be interested. This all just reinforced to me that avoiding gluten was a choice I was making to see if it would improve how I felt, not a diet. I had none of the diet-breaking symptoms. This was fantastic news. One thing I did notice was that I craved a bagel the next morning when I smelled Cute Man toasting one. I decided to not go for it, then, so it definitely wasn’t an all-encompassing undeniable urge. I’ve remained gluten free since and it’s been fine.

My question, though, is: what is the purpose? Am I achieving what I sought out to do? I reviewed my first post about going GF from back in April and realized that I haven’t seen any improvement in the physical symptoms I described. The biggest is the heartburn and that is still raging, I must say. TUMS remains my friend and I’m living with it. The other things I mentioned all remain the same, too. With the gluten free trial period completed, I would expect to see some sort of difference. I realize that these things don’t happen right away, but after two months, I’d think I’d see something. So, it’s really an opportunity cost thing. For the inconvenience of avoiding this food, what I am getting? Nothing really that I can see.

I also need to balance these health concerns with my dieting history and make sure I’m not doing it in order to somehow continue to restrict my eating. I must admit that I hoped that avoiding wheat would have a “happy side-effect” of not exactly weight loss, but maybe leave me less bloated and more comfortable in my clothes… Well, the bridesmaid dress was definitely tighter last week than it was before the GF experiment. I’m not beating myself up about that or anything, it’s just a fact. So that hope (whether it was a healthy one or not) went out the window, too. As a result, I feel like I need to return to Intuitive Eating basics and stop the GF restriction at this time. It’s not helping me and may actually be triggering a bit of my ‘fantasy of finding the answer to my weight related woes’ issue. I can say that I’m fine with being fat all I want, but it’s a hard road to follow within our culture. I recognize that dieting has never had a lasting positive impact on my life but making peace with my body is an ongoing process.

Moving forward, I’m continuing to focus on treating my body well. I’ve been upping my yoga practice and enjoying it at home more often as well as my classes at work. I want to add more walking in my daily life but I’m otherwise pleased with my ability and inclination toward activity (it’s no longer something I should do, rather it’s something I want to do because it feels good). This is a huge shift for me! I also know that keeping processed foods to a minimum helps me feel better, too, so that will continue. As for the continuing heartburn, it is what it is. For now, I think medicating with TUMS isn’t the end of the world. I’ll mention it to my doctor the next time I’m there and see if she has any ideas. It’s time to give myself a break and just trust I know how to feed myself: Eat when hungry, stop when full. I can do that!

Step by Step

One lesson I’ve had to learn over and over again is to not try to do everything at once. I often get revved up and try to do a bunch of things at once. In the bad old days, it was mostly about food restriction and exercise in a weight loss attempt. While the goals have changed, the tendency to be overly gung-ho remains. Case in point: trying to cut out gluten and coffee while upping my yoga practice. All seem like great goals and really not that hard to do. But taken together, it’s a lot of change. I’m grateful that I caught my mistake within a few days and picked one thing to focus on: cutting out gluten.

I’m happy to report that it’s going well. I had a moment of doubt when Cute Man suggested Panera Bread for lunch while we were out on Saturday. I wondered if I could resist all that baked goodness. But then I thought to myself: it’s not about resisting anything. It wouldn’t kill me to have a piece of bread or anything else. However, I’m choosing to see what, if any, benefits there will be to avoiding gluten in my diet. It’s just an experiment and completely within the realm of personal choice (in this, I’m lucky – I know this is NOT a choice for those more adversely affected). That subtle shift in thinking made all the difference and I really enjoyed the salad and bag of chips I chose to have.

In a post that I happened upon today at The Simple Dollar, Trent talked about how most of us wind up taking 5 steps forward and 4 steps back when trying to make changes in our lives. The net result is 1 step forward, sure. But think of all the aggravation and hits to my confidence I could avoid by choosing to just do one thing at a time! That cuts down on a lot of feelings of failure and wasted energy. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up on reducing my dependence on caffeine or making my home yoga practice a daily habit. It means I’m focused on the big picture, realizing that self improvement isn’t a switch I can flip. It’s a work in progress.

I’m not giving myself hard and fast timelines on this. I’m going to do some periodic check-ins with myself to see how I’m feeling while avoiding gluten. When I decide to either continue with this indefinitely or decide it’s not for me, I’ll be able to move onto another goal.

Day 10 Gluten Free and Home Loan Approved!

Yep. It’s official. The loan has been approved and things are chugging along. Home ownership here we come! Now, it’s pretty much a waiting game as they build our house to-be. The timeline is still July or August for move-in. I’m personally routing for July, not only because it’s sooner and I’m inpatient, but because August is going to be a busy month. I have our annual convention in San Diego, Cute Man has his college trip with the kiddos. However, he does have a week off that month so that could come in handy! Either way, it will be a wonderful kind of busy.

In other news, I’m doing well with avoiding gluten. I’m not finding it all that difficult. I think I can say that the heartburn is a bit better (though not totally gone). And for the record, I have NOT given up coffee. The second day of that resulted in a near meltdown so I decided to pick my battles. I have replaced the stuff at work that they provide with my own instant from Trader Joes that I use to make iced coffee. I think it’s less oily and/or acidic so the tummy is happier, in any case.

Since I was at Trader Joes, I did decide to try out some of the GF products. So far, the pancake mix is a hit. LOVED IT. Literally the best mix I’ve used. Not kidding. I’ve also tried the brown rice spaghetti, which was good – I rinsed it well, which helps. The rice mac and cheese was good but a little unsettling to the tummy – I think it has more real dairy in it than the other kind that I seemed to be able to eat without a problem. I will try it again with Lactaid and see if that helps. I’m not worrying too much about the casein right now. After the coffee debacle, I’m trying one thing at a time. Maybe I’ll do a test taking that out later on, if it still seems like it may be a problem.

That all being said, I don’t want to become dependant on substitutes. I really do want to work towards eating more whole foods that are naturally gluten free. However, it’s nice to know these comfort foods are there when/if I want them and that they’re actually tasty.

Today happens to be tough one for me in terms of body image (I think PMS is the culprit!) but I’m trying not to draw any conclusions based on that. I have these days every now and again (roughly once a month!) so I tend to just discount them entirely and wait it out. So overall, I’m feeling good about this gluten free experiment so far and I plan to continue it indefinitely.

Day 1 Gluten Free

So far so good. It hasn’t been any sort of effort at this point and my attitude is really great. My goal from both a health and financial standpoint is to not go crazy with the gluten free processed products. I really want to “clean up” my diet in the sense of focusing on whole foods. This is the direction my body is really craving – I want to feel better and clear out all the junk. That’s not to say I won’t take advantage of some of what’s out there when I want to. This is not about deprivation for me. I just don’t feel compelled to run out and buy stuff specifically because I’m trying to be gf. Most of the things I already like to cook will work out fine. I will slowly try new things as I come across them and feel the urge. I know that I’ll probably want to try some gf baking at some point – but right now I don’t even crave baked goods (which is crazy in itself!)

One thing that I am kind of stressing about is my daily caffeine intake – namely, coffee. I love the stuff but it hasn’t been loving me back. I have heartburn again today and I can’t imagine it being anything other than the numerous cups of joe I’ve been swilling. I’ve gone off of it many times in the past and always felt better. But, the Siren’s call pulls me back eventually. Maybe these cycles aren’t really a bad thing and that periodically going off of it is good. It’s not all or nothing, I guess. But just going on how I feel, I think it’s time to go off it again. It will be interesting to see if it relieves the heartburn, which I guess might not be gluten related, although just one day gf isn’t really enough to say for sure. I will be working from home tomorrow and then I’ll have a weekend – the perfect time to let the caffeine get out of my system. I plan to let myself sleep as much as I want and just be OK with being tired. I also have Tylenol at the ready!

The biggest concern regarding going off coffee is my energy level, which is LOW in any case. I think that in reality the caffeine is working at cross purposes. It works for awhile but leaves me crashing later on. I just want to even things out. And hopefully, with the elimination of gluten, the generalized fatigue that plagues me might lift a bit. To help with that, I’m working in a daily yoga practice. In addition to the two days of classes I do at work, I want to incorporate more at home time on the mat. This is not just one more “should do” thing on my list. This is something I’m viewing as a gift to myself. Yes, I *should* do strength training, but it’s just not lighting my fire right now. Trying to force it makes me resist it. Yoga has lots of strengthening components so if I did it every day, I would gain many of those benefits anyway. So the plan is to just get the mat out every day, when at all possible. Even if it’s just to do a 10 minute PM DVD like I did last night, it will be beneficial. I couldn’t believe what an impact that little bit had! I felt so relaxed when I went to bed. But again, it’s not something to beat myself over the head with – if it’s not every day, that’s OK. It's all about listening to my body. I'm the expert on how I'm feeling and what I need.

So that’s the plan going forward… The support I’ve gotten even in this short amount of time has been incredible. I have so many great online and in-person friends to count on! Thanks for making me feel a little better about trying this. Every bit helps!

Have I Discovered "What's Wrong with Me?"

I have the sinking feeling that I might have gluten sensitivity. I’ve had the nagging suspicion for some time but I’ve tried to tune it out. I am pretty severely lactose intolerant so I’ve resisted the notion that I might have to limit another major food group. While doing a little research on a site about gluten, I’ve come to see that the two might actually be related!

The reaction of gluten proteins in the gut creates a substance called gliadomorphin. This morphine-like compound causes you to become physically addicted to the gluten that is creating so many problems! This is the reason why you crave carbohydrates. You actually become “addicted” to them much the way an alcoholic becomes addicted to alcohol!

Specific cells lining the intestinal tract create enzymes to digest food and these, too, are damaged in this process. If you can’t secrete the enzyme lactase, lactose can no longer be digested and you become intolerant to milk as well!

And to top it off, the undigested dairy protein, called casein, reacts in your gut to make ANOTHER morphine-like substance called caseomorphin. So you become intolerant and addicted to dairy as well!!

So, at this point, if gluten sensitivity is left untreated, you will crave wheat, milk and sugar - exactly the foods that are the worst for you!!

The above basically describes me to a T. I’m pretty sure I’m intolerant of casein as well – I had a test done long ago that suggested it. I certainly crave dairy, despite my intolerance, and use lactase supplements to allow me to eat it often but do nothing about the effects of the casein in milk. I also tend to crave “comfort food”, which to me is generally carb-tastic like cereal and pasta.

While looking through a list of possible symptoms of gluten intolerance, I see that I have a few including:
- acid reflux (that was markedly better when “dieting” in the past, when I often curtailed my carbs in an effort to cut calories),
- bloating,
- psoriasis on my scalp,
- lower digestive issues (fun TMI!),
- fatigue (or general “laziness” when put through a judgmental filter in my head),
- mood swings, and
- hello! weight gain.

Sure, many of these things could be completely unrelated and attributable to other things. But I can’t ignore the fact that this is a real possibility. I owe it to myself to put my big girl pants on and try a gluten free diet for awhile to see if things improve. I’m not too fearful of trying this out, mostly because I try to eat a varied diet anyway so I’m already familiar with many of the alternatives to wheat products that are out there. I’m more hopeful that this change might actually help me feel better, which would make it worth it.