Good God I Miss Sourdough Bread: My Gluten-Free Journey

I'm sure all of you have heard about going "gluten-free". You may have heard it's just a fad. You may have heard that all you have to do is eliminate gluten and you'll get a flat belly. You may have heard that it can actually hurt you to eliminate gluten. You may have heard that you can solve your child's behavior problems by eliminating gluten. I'm not here to give a universal opinion on whether or not YOU should eliminate gluten from your diet or your child's. I'm simply going to share my personal experience in this post. In the second installment, I will share the pros and cons as well as what I would do differently if I was starting all over again.

Five years ago I went to a new doctor. When I signed in at the front desk, they handed me a very detailed 4-page questionnaire to fill out. I was ready to check "no" to virtually every question and write down the few surgeries I had. But this form was different. It didn't just ask if I had diabetes or had ever had a stroke. It asked how often I experienced headaches (daily), how much they affected my life (greatly). It asked how often I experienced bloating or intestinal distress (when did I NOT?), and how much it affected my life (significantly). It asked about my allergies and asthma. It asked about my level of energy and moods. It asked how often I felt irritable (ooooohhhh, should I answer this one or call my husband for HIS answer?). It was redefining "healthy" for me as I answered the questions. I started to realize that lack of major illness did not necessarily mean that I was "healthy".

When I met with the doctor, she said that many of the symptoms I was experiencing could be caused by a gluten sensitivity. She didn't reccomend any tests, but she did suggest that I eliminate gluten from my diet for a couple of months to see if it changed how I felt. It was really difficult. I LOVE me some gluten. But within a couple of weeks I was feeling significantly better. My headaches disappeared completely. A couple of months later I got a little headache and I couldn't even remember where I put the Excedrin. I wasn't running to the bathroom several times a day. I wasn't avoiding social situations because of "intestinal distress" that could clear a room. I had more energy. I felt less irritable. I felt like I could think more clearly (it was just like a Claritin commercial). I definitely felt the difference. The first couple of times I ate gluten again (either by accident or because I just said, "screw it, I really want that pizza") I felt all of those symptoms come back. It got to the point where it was pretty easy to say "no" because I felt so crappy when I let myself give in. Five years later I've identified other, more subtle side-effects of eating gluten. The most surprising to me was the dry skin/eczema I would get around my nostrils and on the sides of my chin. It started in my early 20s and I didn't even realize it had gone away at first. It wasn't until 3 years into my gluten-free journey that I realized that every time I ate gluten, the dry skin would come back about 48 hours later. I never would have thought there would be those sorts of connections between what I ate and very specific changes in so many parts of my body.

A couple of years after going gluten-free I started having severe, debilitating headaches again. I was also having some increased intestinal distress. I went through neurological testing, CAT scans, an MRI, and some kind of crazy probe that went up into my sinuses. Everything was coming up clear. Then, at the ENT's office, I noticed a poster advertising a test for food sensitivities. I told him about my gluten issue and asked if some other sensitivies could be causing my problems. We did the test and it turns out I am also sensitive to egg yolks, egg whites, all dairy, and almonds. Your body can develop these sensitivities over time. With no gluten, I was eating a lot of these other foods which may have contributed to developing a sensitivity to them. Within a couple of weeks of cutting out these other foods I felt much better again.

The testing also helped me to understand the actual process of what was happening in my body. When most of us think of food allergies, we think of hives or anaphylactic reactions. It turns out there is another type of allergy that results from different antibodies. These non-IgE allergies are more likely to have a delayed onset and have a wider variability in symptoms. This is why it is often so difficult to make the connection between the food and the symptoms. When you eat shrimp and break out in hives 30 minutes later, it's not hard to figure out what's happening. When you eat bread and 18 hours later you feel foggy headed and have diarrhea, it's a lot harder to connect the dots.

Going gluten-free is not easy. Luckily there are many quality products widely available in stores and there are great resources on the web. But a lot of gluten-free stuff is high-calorie crap. In the next post, Good God I Miss Sourdough Part Two, I'll share some of the most difficult aspects of going gluten-free as well as a few of my favorite resources. I hope that sharing my experiences can help you if you decide that going gluten-free is something you'd like to try.

Please share your experiences if you've cut gluten or other foods out of your diet and feel that it has made a positive difference in your health. Your story might help someone make a positive change in his or her own life!

Playing Tug-O-War With the Ocean

A few weeks ago we were at the beach trying to eke as much fun out of the end of summer as we could. Towards the end of the day, our daughter saw a huge kelp bundle floating in on the waves. I guess she decided that it needed to be part of the sand sculpture they were building because she spent the next 45 minutes or so trying to bring it all of the way out of the water. My husband and I watched her, and laughed, and marveled at her persistence. At one point I said, "Only she would play tug-o-war with the ocean and think she's gonna' win." I noticed that my smallish 8 year-old was frequently trying to use her bodyweight to muscle the kelp up the beach instead of using the motion of the ocean to help her. The other day, the image of her fighting the ocean popped into my head as I was waging my own internal tug-o-war.

I struggle with balance. A lot. And I'm really awful at time-management. As sad as I was to see summer end, I was excited that THIS school year, both kids would be in school ALL day!!!! More time to work, more time to get housework done, more time for ME :) The first day they were back in school I unfroze my gym membership so that I could start taking classes again. I promised myself that I would schedule in time for my own personal workouts. We're a week and a half in and even though I really do feel like I have more time, I'm still constantly being tugged in multiple directions. The feeling of being pulled apart is not new and isn't even entirely uncomfortable for me. The hard part is the guilt I feel once I make a decision . . . a huge wave of guilt crashes in and sucks my positive energy away with it. I choose to stay at the PTA meeting and miss Yoga . . .  a wave crashes over me that I'm not sticking to my exercise plan. I take a Zumba class instead of doing the laundry and cleaning the house . . . a wave crashes over me that I'm not taking care of my family. I get a chance to take on a new personal training client or teach a new class in the afternoon . . . a wave crashes over me that it means less time with the kids. I choose to go to Yoga instead of helping to set up the Book Fair . . . a wave crashes over me that I'm not pulling my weight at the school. It seems that no matter how much more *time* I seem to have, and no matter what I choose, I feel like I'm losing.  

What I realized the other day is that the only way to win is to stop fighting. I kept thinking as I watched my daughter that if she would wait for the wave to bring the kelp almost all the way up and then pushed it as a mass to the farthest point of the wave, the kelp would not get pulled all the way back in as the wave receded. If she just waited patiently, the next big wave would help her push the kelp a little farther into shore. Patience and Strategy. I've realized that there are a lot of opportunities for me to exercise. There are a lot of ways that I spend time with my kids and help them (including making money to help support our family and provide experiences for them). There are a gazillion ways I will be able to help out at school this year. I just need to be patient and work on my time-management. Patience and Strategy. And when the waves crash in, and I start to feel guilty about whichever decision I make, I need to turn that feeling around. Instead of letting my positive feelings get sucked away, I need to let the receding wave take away the guilt. We all have multiple demands on us at any given moment: jobs, romantic partners, kids, family members, friends, pets, volunteer organizations, personal endeavors and hobbies. It is impossible to say yes to everything and to make everyone happy; we all know that. But it's not enough to just learn how to say "no" ~ we have to actually accept that it's okay to say "no" and then, to let go of the guilt. We can't be everything, to everybody, all of the time. But we can be enough, for the people who really need us, when it matters. And right now, I'm going to practice floating on that knowledge and learn to enjoy the rhythm of the ocean.

Quinoa Shrimp Salad -- Gluten Free Summer Salad Series

So I realize that summer is coming to an end, but I also know that the warm weather is not going anywhere for a while (at least here in SoCal). I know I will rely on these make-ahead salads even more now that afternoons will be busy with homework, soccer practices and a few more classes for me to teach. Hopefully they will make your life more convenient (and healthy) too!

My Mom and I talked through this salad and then she did the heavy lifting and actually came up with the proportions. She managed to create one of my absolute favorites so far!

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked shrimp
1 cup of red quinoa
3 cups of brown rice
1 cup of toasted pepitas
1 cup of sliced celery
1 cup of chopped avocado
1 cup of chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup of chopped red or sweet onion
1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes
fresh cilantro to taste

Dressing:
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
1/4 cup of lime juice
1 tsp of honey
1 finely minced shallot
1 tsp of ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp of chipotle flakes
1 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Throw everything into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Enjoy!

I haven't figured out the nutrition information or the Points Plus value on this one yet. I will update the post when I do :)

Let me know what you think!

Life-Lessons From an Ironman Triathlete

Palm Desert Triathlon -- Katie placed 1st in her age group (40-44)

I've always felt that one of the best ways to become a better person is to study people whom I admire. My friend Katie is tops on my list in a few categories. Not only is she a fantastic mother, an honest and reliable friend, and a very smart cookie, she is now also an Ironman Triathlete. While competing in a triathlon has never been on my bucket-list, I knew that I could apply what Katie has learned from her success in all of these areas to my own life. 

Katie has always been athletic and competitive and even played soccer for Stanford University with Julie Foudy.  She continued to stay fit through three pregnancies by running regularly. After undergoing knee surgery, however, her doctor suggested she stop running. Katie realized that she had taken her athletic body for granted and decided to start training for triathlons both to make the best of what her body could do now, and to extend her ability to exercise farther into her future.

Competing in triathlons has now become a major part of Katie’s life. She completes one or two big races a year and fits some smaller, single-activity races in between. She trains most days of the week with a combination of long swims, long bike rides, runs, or strength and conditioning work. She has traveled the world to compete, including a sprint triathlon in Australia and a full Ironman Triathlon in Canada. For anyone who is not super-familiar with triathlons (like me), an Ironman is a 2.1 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run (I know, HOLY CRAP!!!!, right?)

I am inspired by Katie’s accomplishments, however, as someone who hates to run and can’t imagine doing a triathlon, I wasn’t so interested in learning about triathlons or the training itself. What I really wanted to know was how she fit all of that training into the rest of her busy life as a wife and mother. And I wanted to know how she has maintained her focus and commitment to this lifestyle for years. 

Here are the life-lessons Katie shared with me:

1.       Figure out what makes you “sing inside” and find a way to do it. Living your passion makes you happier which makes you much better as a person and a parent. It also sets a wonderful example for your children. Katie’s parents set this example for her and she, in turn, is teaching her children this valuable lesson. Whether her kids compete in triathlons or not, they will value physical activity and hopefully make time for whatever makes them sing inside. Side note: her 10 year old son Patrick has already competed in 2 kids' triathlons and will be competing in the Pacific Coast Triathlon this September!

2.       Identify your purpose. Every workout should have its own specific purpose which should fit into a framework of the overall training goals. Having a goal gives you focus. Triathlons provide clear results that show how the training is paying off which keeps her motivated. Even her off-season rest is purposeful; it would be impossible to keep up that kind of training and focus all year-round.  Wanting to be successful in the triathlons prompts her to eat better, rest, sleep, and recover because those things are as important as the training itself.

 

3.       Get support. Katie trains with a team and a paid coach. Her teammates encourage her and her coach gives her invaluable knowledge and support.  She makes sure that she communicates with her family about how her training affects all of them. Her husband, Steve, is very supportive, taking care of the kids' needs while she trains. Sometimes she is away for hours on long bike rides or at competitions. She frequently “checks in” with Steve to make sure that she’s not leaning on him too much. She also  touches base with her children and asks that they let her know if they feel that she is away training too much.

 

My favorite quote from the interview is: “There will always be things that need to get done, and they WILL get done.” When she gets on the bike she just focuses on the pedaling and within a few pedal strokes the endorphins start to kick in and the to-do list starts to fade away. It becomes meditative. She said it’s her Prozac. She recognizes that other things can be put off or delegated to others allows her to focus on her workout. This is possible because she has built and maintains such a strong support system. 

4.       You can do more than you think you can. You may have to break the task down into smaller challenges, but you’ll still be moving in the right direction!  Katie said that competing in triathlons has changed her definition of “hard”. Now she feels like if anything seems too difficult, it just means that she needs more practice. While she always feels nervous before a race, she knows that in order to accomplish anything, she needs to push into uncomfortable zones. Competing in triathlons gives her the opportunity to keep raising the bar for herself and challenging her body in new ways. Since I interviewed Katie, I run this as a loop in my head when I workout. And she's correct; it is very empowering.

I won't be competing in any triathlons, but I've already applied these lessons in other areas of my life and I know that I am better for it. Thanks Katie! 

How will you apply these lessons in your own life?

 

                                                                                                               

Mango Quinoa Salad

I love mango. I love quinoa. I love spicy food. This salad has it all! The amount of dressing makes it very wet so it is perfect to have over a big bed of greens. Filling, nutritious, and delicious!

Salad:
2 cups red quinoa
1 cup chopped mango
1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion finely chopped (soaked in ice water for ~ 15 min, it takes away some of the "bite")
1 cup of black beans (no salt added, rinsed and drained)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

calories: 208
carbohydrates: 43
fat: 3
protein: 7
sodium: 8
sugar: 19


Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 an orange
1/2 a lime
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce (I put the whole pepper right out of the can. If you don't like a lot of spice, you can rinse the sauce off and/or split the pepper and take the seeds out)

I put all of the ingredients in my Vitamix and blended until it was completely smooth and liquid. You should be able to use any blender to achieve the same results. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix thoroughly.

calories: 139
carbs: 5
fat: 14
protein: 0
sodium: 71
sugar: 19

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value = 7 PP for the salad and the dressing

I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

Green Salad Staples

A member of my Facebook accountability/support group recently asked what salad staples I keep on hand so I can throw something together quickly. I gave her a list off of the top of my head but I've spent a little more time thinking about it and came up with this:

Pantry:
Black beans no salt added
Mandarin oranges in their own juice (no sugar added)
Roasted peppers
Artichoke hearts in water
Sundried tomatoes in a bag, not packed in oil
Water chestnuts
Dried cranberries ***
Dried cherries ***
Salsa
Balsamic Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil ***
Olives *** my family especially loves Kalamata

Healthy dressings-- I tend to go as natural as possible even if it means higher fat and calories. I don't want a bunch of chemicals on my healthy food. Just use it sparingly. You'll find that you don't need as much if you add a lot of other fun stuff to your salad.

Fridge:

Here is some fordhook chard growing in my garden

Greens I try for a variety of pre-  washed mixes, baby spinach, and any that are growing in my garden
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Carrots
Green onions this one is usually dependent on my plans the rest of the day!

Seasonal:
Avocados ***
Berries
Asparagus
Beets

Protein:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Shrimp
Canned tuna
Lean ground turkey

Nuts/Seeds***: I like to toast them a bit first (thanks for the tip, Mom!)
Sunflower seeds
Almonds
Pistachios
Cashews
Walnuts

Cheese *** is also great in salads. I can't have dairy anymore so cheese is no longer in my staples but a little goat cheese added to a salad can be heaven!

***Be careful with these additions as they are calorie-dense so they can rack up the calories or Points Plus Values very quickly. They can make a "good" salad into a sabotage salad in seconds.

I shop a lot at Trader Joe's and Sprouts but most of these items can be found at any grocery store.

What do you love to add to your green salads?

Stretch Video

This video is a stretch segment I've used in both my Boogie Body and Strength and Stretch classes. You can use a yoga strap or necktie for the stretches that require assistance. Please be sure you warm up your muscles before doing a static stretch routine like the one I've posted.

I hope you enjoy it! Click here to view