Mentally, it was quite an adjustment, as some of you saw. Stress this month has been high, both because of the lifestyle change for me -- especially the cooking all the time, cleaning all the time, etc., but also because these last couple of months have been some of the tightest we've experienced in a LONG time, and I was really thinking we were getting past that.
I suppose mentally, I've never really had food take such a role in my life that I had to think about it constantly - 3 meals a day plus snacks. When I cooked, it was actually because I wanted to cook, when I didn't -- it was McDonalds, Wendy's, or Sonic. (Unfortunately, when I decided that Wendy's had the better iced tea, I think I single-handedly drove the northeast Indiana Sonics into bankruptcy) I know that sounds kind of pathetic of me, but I just never really got this part of life down, and as much as I love food, real food, I really enjoyed not having it be something that I had to focus on unless I wanted to (even if I did feel like crap and was eating terribly, despite having good food in my fridge and freezer).
Anyway, I see good things happening. My house is cleaner. In the last week or so, I've had people over that I've meant to have over for a long time. I am actually starting to see my thinking change in regards to meals. I'm even developing new strategies for coping with breakfast -- from leftovers to making muffins or pumpkin pie ahead of time, that are actually paleo, as well.
The moods are stabilizing. I can see my mood swings becoming less drastic -- including the "I don't want to do this" tantrums. My back doesn't hurt anymore, my cycle is no longer absent, my skin thinks about getting clearer.
On the weight side, while things have definitely slowed down, I've lost fourteen pounds this month, as well as 3 inches around my waist. My fasting blood sugar has dropped points as well. I don't test it all the time, but at the beginning of the month, it was at 114-115. It is now around 105. Now that's motivation to keep going -- to get out of the pre-diabetes range.
I have found I am reacting to corn, as well. Tortilla chips will cause my digestive system to do flips. No big loss. I really don't like corn all that much, anyway.
I can't say my feelings on the matter are any different, but I'm coping. And in many ways, I am thankful. I have awesome friends and family. God is providing what we need, not to mention He gave me extra Autumn before we headed into Winter. I hope Spring is as beautiful as Fall was. :)
(Okay, really....brownies??? Who didn't know that brownies contain flour?)
Proud of you, my friend!! And your skin is looking great.
ReplyDeleteWhen I discovered my daughter has a dairy allergy, it became very difficult to cook meals. I mean, no cheese? No butter? You'd be amazed at the foods that have dairy in them! I have, over time, learned to make fairly tasty meals without the dairy (thank God for soy milk). It also makes going out to eat quite difficult. There are only a handful of places we can go. It's a bit inconvenient, but I think we definitely eat more healthily as a result. Silver lining. You'll continue to adapt too. Keep hanging in there!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen.
ReplyDeleteAll of us are allergic to dairy (and soy) We did rice milk until we discovered that most dairy allergies aren't to milk and cheese, etc. they are to cooked milk protein -- pasteurization. I was so happy to find that raw milk, cheese, and butter work better. And with the lactase that is in raw milk (killed in pastured milk), we actually can tolerate some pasteurized milk products, too.
I've adapted to so many different food issues, that this was one too many, at least for a while.
Something you might find helpful that I learned a long time ago from Whole Foods Market Cookbook -- Oat milk behaves most like milk when you cook with it. I used it in gravies, cakes, and so many other things for a long time.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Wow, I had never heard about the allergies being from the pasteurization. Even the allergist didn't mention it. I'm intrigued. In any case, I guess I'm in no position to give you advice. :) Glad you're doing better.
ReplyDeleteEllen,
ReplyDeleteNo...advice is always welcome. Your situation certainly applies, and I appreciate the encouragement! This actually would've been harder had I not already had that experience. THAT was rough.
I had never heard of the pasteurization issue either until a few years ago, when I'd gone to Dr. Mercola's clinic in Chicago (www.mercola.com). The opportunity to test it didn't come until a year or more later when I finally found access to raw milk.
It doesn't work for every situation, but in most that I've seen try it, it has worked, and as a La Leche League Leader and lactation consultant, I've seen a ton of situations where the baby was allergic to cows milk in the mother's diet.
I'm glad you were able to identify the allergy, because a lot of times, even that is hard to do -- or to get past the idea that we can't do without it. I know my husband's and my allergies to milk were there in childhood, but the symptoms changed over time, and our families just thought they went away (i.e. went from ear infections to upper resp. infections. Diaper rashes went away when potty trained)
I've only seen a couple of doctors who even KNEW about this idea. I was told that I might want to consider it by a doctor, but this doesn't make the journals. I know many people that have been helped by it, but they generally read it or heard about it on the internet and gave it a try, or read about it in books.