I've been keeping up with my new healthier eating habits, and working with Ellie, so I figured it was time for an update (in bullet form):
-The gluten/corn/uncultured dairy experiment ended with little fanfare. I made the torte, and it turns out I make a killer torte. If you are into the dark, rich, chocolatey things in life, I can wholeheartedly recommend this recipe. My family is not so much into those things. On one hand--more torte for meeeee!!! On the other hand, it also turns out I am capable of consuming SEVERAL pieces of rich, chocolatey torte, and that is why I now have three quarters of half a torte living in my freezer.
-I didn't have a protocol for reintroducing the above items into my diet, and--surprisingly--for the most part I didn't feel an extreme need to do so. I have noticed no ill effects if I'm out with the family and decide to have some pizza, or a burger complete with bun. But if I decide to have ALL the pizza AND a burger complete with bun, I do feel vaguely cruddy and notice some extra fatigue for a day or two. Is it a real thing, or psychosomatic? No idea, but it seems like a nice little parameter to help me stay in moderation.
-Corn is dead to me.
-Corn is dead to me.
-I told Ellie she's ruined a few of my guilty pleasures for me, in that my tastes have changed and some of the things I used to LOVE are now so-so or even kind of gross. Her exact reply was "SorryNotSorry." And I have to say I'm not really sorry either. Anything I really, really miss...I can eat. But for the first time ever (and I do mean EVER), my cravings are greatly reduced from the usual, and I kind of don't want to mess with that, because they were getting to some crazy places, those cravings.
-Speaking of cravings, a word (or two) on sugar. If I had a propensity toward alcohol as I do sugar, I'd have hit rock bottom long ago. It's tricky, because while I knew I needed to be eating WAY less sugar, I was also afraid of having to cut it out completely. Yes--afraid. So I knew going in that I could not tame that beast on my own. The key factor has been having a plan with a positive emphasis, by which I mean instead of the negative-sounding "don't eat the sugar," it's a more positive "when you have the cravings, eat such-and-such." This is where the super-dark chocolate and mug cake come into play. It would be inaccurate to say that I don't have cravings. Every afternoon I look forward to my treat, and to be honest I am a little mean about it if people are sticking their fingers in my cake and whatnot.
-But the interesting part is that now when I want something sweet, there are WAY fewer foods that sound appetizing, and it takes WAY less for me to feel like I've had enough. That sounds really virtuous of me, as if I suddenly developed moderation, but the truth is I've had a couple of run-ins with sweets (e.g. too much of the above torte) that left me feeling cruddy, which led to the epiphany that, for all its uses as a pantry ingredient, sugar does not have my best interests at heart. So while I have not cut it out completely, I will always need to be very careful with it. Very careful.
-Pants goals are coming along nicely, and I am seeing a general (and gradual) downward trend in my weight. NOT THAT I'M KEEPING TRACK OF NUMBERS, ELLIE.
-My skin is clearing, and at my haircut a week ago, my person (stylist? cosmetologist? hair-cutter?) commented on how much my hair had grown since my last appt. Collagen, baby!
-I'm starting to have weird, random, healthy thoughts, like the other day when I was making some eggs and threw some spinach in on a whim. Because a) I actually had some on hand, and b) I've had enough practice now that I knew how to make it taste really good. This was not true of me even 3 months ago.
-I don't mean that corn is necessarily dead to me forever, just that I'm currently neither eating nor craving it. I'll probably have a few ears' worth this summer, and maybe allow some cornstarch for thickening sauces. And you know, powdered sugar for...stuff. I have a little soul searching to do in this area.
-I said the last time that I wasn't keeping a food journal. I've decided that I want to start, because I want to keep track of the times I deviate from the plan and any effects I notice. I've gotten as far as printing off the journal templates, which I will begin promptly. Tomorrow.
-I make really tasty food, and when you can make healthy food really tasty, it is much more pleasant to consume. The biggest challenge I'm running into right now is time; I mean, to me it is worth the time it takes to make delicious healthy food, but in the long-term I'm going to have to find some shortcuts and greater overall efficiency, because it is still a lot of work and I'm not sure how sustainable that level of work is. To be fair, some of it is that I'm trying all sorts of new recipes so really it's me throwing myself a learning curve there. So it's an ongoing process, trying new things but remembering to double-back to the familiar in the interest of speed and not being in the kitchen ALL the time. All to say, it's something I'm keeping an eye on...kind of like the sugar.
In conclusion, things are going very well, and are still very much a work-in-progress. Also, my bedtime alarm just rang so I need to close and get my beauty rest so I can maximize all these amazing nutritional benefits.
Also-also, I am past the point in the evening where I can solidly trust my thoughts, so best for us all if I quit while I'm ahead.
You're welcome...
-But the interesting part is that now when I want something sweet, there are WAY fewer foods that sound appetizing, and it takes WAY less for me to feel like I've had enough. That sounds really virtuous of me, as if I suddenly developed moderation, but the truth is I've had a couple of run-ins with sweets (e.g. too much of the above torte) that left me feeling cruddy, which led to the epiphany that, for all its uses as a pantry ingredient, sugar does not have my best interests at heart. So while I have not cut it out completely, I will always need to be very careful with it. Very careful.
-Pants goals are coming along nicely, and I am seeing a general (and gradual) downward trend in my weight. NOT THAT I'M KEEPING TRACK OF NUMBERS, ELLIE.
-My skin is clearing, and at my haircut a week ago, my person (stylist? cosmetologist? hair-cutter?) commented on how much my hair had grown since my last appt. Collagen, baby!
-I'm starting to have weird, random, healthy thoughts, like the other day when I was making some eggs and threw some spinach in on a whim. Because a) I actually had some on hand, and b) I've had enough practice now that I knew how to make it taste really good. This was not true of me even 3 months ago.
-I don't mean that corn is necessarily dead to me forever, just that I'm currently neither eating nor craving it. I'll probably have a few ears' worth this summer, and maybe allow some cornstarch for thickening sauces. And you know, powdered sugar for...stuff. I have a little soul searching to do in this area.
-I said the last time that I wasn't keeping a food journal. I've decided that I want to start, because I want to keep track of the times I deviate from the plan and any effects I notice. I've gotten as far as printing off the journal templates, which I will begin promptly. Tomorrow.
-I make really tasty food, and when you can make healthy food really tasty, it is much more pleasant to consume. The biggest challenge I'm running into right now is time; I mean, to me it is worth the time it takes to make delicious healthy food, but in the long-term I'm going to have to find some shortcuts and greater overall efficiency, because it is still a lot of work and I'm not sure how sustainable that level of work is. To be fair, some of it is that I'm trying all sorts of new recipes so really it's me throwing myself a learning curve there. So it's an ongoing process, trying new things but remembering to double-back to the familiar in the interest of speed and not being in the kitchen ALL the time. All to say, it's something I'm keeping an eye on...kind of like the sugar.
In conclusion, things are going very well, and are still very much a work-in-progress. Also, my bedtime alarm just rang so I need to close and get my beauty rest so I can maximize all these amazing nutritional benefits.
Also-also, I am past the point in the evening where I can solidly trust my thoughts, so best for us all if I quit while I'm ahead.
You're welcome...
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