Oh man, it's 11am and I'm exhausted... partially because it's a Monday, partially because the soap holder in the bathroom fell off the shower wall in the middle of the night and startled me enough to completely wake me up and make it hard for me to fall back asleep quickly, and partially because I biked to work this morning. Oh yes, that is correct. I biked just under 10 miles to work today on my COMFORT BIKE. Now I get why they make commuter bikes... with more gears. I LOVE my bike, but I highly doubt I will be making this a regular routine. I might just ride to the MAX station and take the train, but unless I have a bike built more for long rides, I will happily just use mine to run quick errands and visit friends. What a workout, and I still have to bike home at the end of the day. I might make a few stops...
This week is supposed to be gorgeous! I'm very excited because the rain last week killed me just a tiny bit; I am excited that Fall is on it's way, though. Mr made it through his first week of school last week with minimal drama so that is always good and I'm just plugging away at work as per usual. I did just complete my second month of being gluten and wheat free and I feel amazing! I didn't make this change very willingly at first, but realizing you are putting something in your body that your body doesn't react well to is a huge motivator. And now that I'm saying this I realize that I haven't brought this up at all in any post, so I guess now's a good time to tell all.
It all started last winter (and if I really think about it, it started WAY before that) when I was traveling a bunch for work meetings and I started experiencing some not so fun GI issues. I asked my doctor about it and and she said it sounded like I had some mild IBS symptoms, which made sense to me at the time because my mom has a history with IBS. I avoided "trigger" foods for a few weeks and really didn't feel any better, but I was told that with diligence, time, and a diet change things would get better. Well they didn't, and my allergies were getting out of control bad. The last few years I'd been getting a rash on my hands and feet (and sometimes on my elbows and knees) in the spring and summer when my allergies to pollen would get bad- or so I thought. We always thought it was a reaction to touching grasses and green things (most of which I'm also allergic to) since I didn't have it or I had a very mild rash in the fall and winter. This year, I got the rashes so bad I couldn't wear regular shoes because it was so painful, so I was relegated to 1 pair of super-soft flip flops that didn't rub anywhere that was rashy. I was talking to a few friends that have Celiac's and/or gluten and wheat sensitivities and over time they told me that my symptoms all sounded like they had something to do with wheat or gluten. I looked it up online (because I'm sometimes skeptical of other people's ideas about medical issues) and found that my symptoms did closely match someone with a wheat or gluten sensitivity, so maybe they were on to something.
I called the advice nurse and told her what I thought and about my symptoms that I didn't think were connected before. She suggested I try an elimination diet (and gave me some good resources for that) to test myself- eat the basics, no processed foods and sugars and eliminate gluten and wheat. I did days and days of research before deciding on a good diet for me and then implemented my plan to take out wheat and gluten. After a few weeks of eating without those, I noticed my face was clearer (unexpected awesome effect!), my rashes were almost completely gone and my regular allergy symptoms were way more manageable than they had been for years. I also noticed that I felt much less bloated than usual and didn't really have any GI issues that had continued. I was supposed to "test" the elimination by eating wheat/gluten and then noting how I felt and if any symptoms returned, so I did and found that I felt bloated, tired and had some mild GI issues later that day. I was also supposed to get some bloodwork done after eating wheat/gluten, but it's spendy and by the time I got around to "testing" the elimination and adding wheat/gluten back in, I knew pretty immediately that it didn't matter because I felt so much better without them that I didn't need a concrete diagnosis. I did accidentally eat some wheat/gluten filled food last week at a dinner with family and didn't know it until 30 minutes after dinner when my stomach got super bloated and I got headachey... then we realized that the steak marinade that was used for dinner was not wheat/gluten free. Crazy how quickly your body reacts to things!
I really do need to go in and get an official "diagnosis", but I think that I have non-Celiac's gluten sensitivity and possibly some form of wheat allergy (but that is harder to find out about because apparently there are 27 different things in wheat that a person can have an allergic reaction to). That is just my speculation based off the research I've done and reading after the fact on symptoms/issues that I used to think were random, but now look like they actually were all connected. I really don't want to go back to eating wheat/gluten if I can help it but I feel like my Dr will order the bloodwork and I will feel icky for a few days. Oh well! I probably should be an adult and just go in.
So anyway, I've been experimenting with new foods which has been expanding Mr's diet to new things as well. It's been interesting, but also super frustrating. Sometimes I just want a quick snack, but I cannot just pick up any-old-thing. I have to seriously read labels at the store (which I think you should do anyway) but I have now realized how much we use wheat in our foods! I've increased my fresh fruit and vegetable intake substantially which feels pretty good. And by default, Mr is eating pretty much what I eat. He's also now reading some Michael Pollan books (ones that I was totally into about 1.5 year ago which got me into the whole food, organic kick in the first place). Now we are a little more aligned with our food strategy.
So that is what's new with us- what's new with you?
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