Goodbye Sugar, Parting is such un-sweet sorrow

As if the dietary no-no column in our house wasn't long enough... I just found out that I am allergic to sugar! Any kind of sweetener is now taboo: cane sugar, beet sugar, maple sugar/syrup, molasses, honey, agave nectar and artificial sweeteners. The only safe 'sweet' things are low glycemic fruits and stevia. That doesn't leave much. However, the side benefit to all of this no sugar nonsense is a smaller number on the scale and that makes me happy. Stay tuned for my tales on my no sugar adventure.

I think I'm losing my mind...

For the last few weeks I have been having some serious memory issues. Not the typical, why did I walk in this room?, or where are my sunglasses? (when they are firmly planted on my head). For about two months now I feel like I've been walking around in a fog. Basic thoughts are hard to process. Making decisions is painful, and trying to talk without sounding like I'm drunk is a chore. At first glance, some friends and I thought perhaps Mother Nature was chiming in telling me I'm starting to get old. At first I was shocked, how could I, a spry young 43 year old be pre - (insert the M word here)? Since I was having serious issues remembering things and screwing up at work and forgetting really important things at home (I'd give you an example, but I can't recall...) I decided to go to my doctor. After a very thorough interview, she set up some tests and informed me that it's definitely more serious than just the impending arrival of the big M. My typing and talking dyslexia, the inability to do math in my head (which I used to do for fun - geeky, I know), the constant brain fog - all point to inflammation in my brain. Fortunately, because I am not having other neurological issues like problems with my gait as well as problems reaching out and grasping things, they have ruled out a brain tumor - insert big SIGH here. I'm not normally a nervous Nelly about being under the weather. A cough is just a cough, not a precursor to lung cancer. A headache doesn't mean I have a brain tumor. But I've got to tell you, this has me more than a little on edge.

I see a two person team, a homepathic MD and a Naturopathic Doctor, and as a result of my doctor's appointment, we are working on healing my apparent systemic inflammation. In addition to the brain fog, all of my joints seem to hurt, my heels, my knees, my wrists and my shoulders, oh my goodness, my shoulders. I'm a side sleeper and they've been hurting so much lately that I wake up in the middle of the night when I roll over. No fun there. I would think now that I'm eating so much healthier (being gluten and dairy free for 5 months, supporting my daughter - see here for her story), that I would be feeling better not worse. In general, I do feel a whole lot better. Since stopping gluten, I am no longer itchy all the time. Can I get an amen for that?! I don't think I'll ever go back. Since stopping dairy, I no longer have the most annoying post nasal drip ever. Woohoo! Unfortunately though, they do think that whatever substitutions I've made since going GF/CF are causing some full blown allergic reaction.

I got some blood tests done on Tuesday which will hopefully shed some light on the situation. They are testing my thyroid, testing for dyslexia (who knew they could do that in a blood test). They are also looking for immediate as well as delayed immunological food allergies. I am now on an anti inflammation diet, and I'm taking a few supplements as well.

I feel like some dizzy girl moved into my head and I want her out and I want the old me back!!

Starting to move again

It's been way too long since I exercized regularly. Today I started the C25K program. Week 1, Day 1 down (1.4 mile walk/jog). I have to remember it just takes baby steps. Cheers to step 1!

Freezer cooking is the new fast food

With life getting busier and busier by the day around here, I was looking for options to make mealtime easier. Luckily, I happened to stumble this website, www.onceamonthmom.com and it's awesome!! Not only did she explain how to do freezer cooking (pre-prep and/or pre-cook and freeze meals for later use), she makes it so darn easy.

Her website allows you to choose from several different menu options, surprisingly enough, one of them is gluten and dairy free - MAJOR SCORE FOR THIS HOUSEHOLD! Being new to this whole idea I didn't know where to start and she even has specific posts geared as newbies. When I actually printed everything out to take a look at what I had to do I was even more pleased. The recipe list allows to select the number of servings you'd like to make, this auto calculates everything for each recipe and then my favorite part happens... all of the ingredients are entered (with the proper totals) into the grocery list, which is already sub divided by category to make shopping a breeze! Then there are even prep night and 'day of' cooking instructions to guide you through how much of which ingredient to dice, mince, chop, etc. It totally takes the guesswork out of everything.
My first time through I made a mistake but it still turned out ok. Next time I will take her advice and chop the night before. This time I chopped and prepped on the same day and I was just a bit tired at the end! After two hours of chopping, and 6 hours of prepping and freezing, I had 16 family dinners, 30 individual servings of breakfasts and 12 individual servings for lunches.

Now the next two weeks will be a breeze to get dinner on the table! Oh, and did I mention that this is all free - that must be the cherry on top!