Well, today was the day that I finally caved and intentionally ate gluten. I lasted 3 weeks. I was hoping to go a whole month. The idea was to go gluten-free for a month and then slowly add gluten back to my diet to see how it made me feel.
I have IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I know, I know... it's icky-sounding. Sorry if you know me and you have to now think about this every time you see me. According to justibs.com (which I have no clue of its reliability), about 10-20% of the world's population suffer from some sort of this disorder. I won't go into all the grisly details of how it works, but just know that it causes me to feel unwell in some way just about every day of my life. I usually push the discomfort to the back of my mind and just carry on with life as usual.
I read in a some food-related magazine a while back that cutting out gluten can really improve the symptoms of this incurable syndrome. I used to take a prescribed medicine for it back in college when I had little control over my diet and stress levels. I didn't like being dependent on medicine for something that I could control with diet and a healthier lifestyle. So, I weaned myself off the medication and haven't taken any prescription medicine for it since. After my 25th birthday hit earlier this summer, I decided that my body will not tolerate my unhealthy lifestyle for much longer. So, I decided to start out by seeing what gluten might be doing to my system.
A lot of my friends and family members were a little wary of me trying this. They told me all sorts of horror stories about it. Everyone I told about it seemed a little hesitant.
I went ahead and cut gluten from my diet. At first it was fun. I went to Whole Foods and perused the gluten-free sections of my local grocery stores. It's amazing how easy it is to live gluten-free in this day and age. I also tried many different popular chain restaurants to see if I could still go and eat gluten-free. I even went to Panera! I'm sure I ingested gluten through cross-contamination (especially at Panera), but I was remarkably surprised at how many restaurants either have a gluten-free menu or have multiple items that are naturally gluten-free. For the most part, I have felt really well during this three week period. I also cut out coffee and cut back on soda.
I'm heading home to Illinois in less than a week to see family. Whenever we go home to see family, we eat and eat and eat. I figured I should probably ease my way back into eating gluten before I go home, so I don't shock my system. So, today I went to my favorite local pizzeria for a delicious, gluten-filled stromboli. We'll see how I feel tonight.
For now, I'm thinking that I can tolerate gluten. I do think, however, that I need to cut back significantly on my intake. I'm thinking about eating gluten only during one meal per day.
As soon as I come back from vacation, I'm embarking on a new diet which simply involves counting calories. My dad has lost 25 lbs. and my brother has lost 15 lbs. in the past month using this tried and true method. I think I need to jump on the bandwagon and get myself healthy again. I ordered a book off of Amazon that includes the calories in 1000s of common foods. My dad has been using this book and is singing its praises.
I'm tired of being so overweight and lethargic. I need to kick it in high gear before the school year starts and life gets crazy. Here goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment