Food

I went to the doctor to talk about nutrition and my speculated gluten intolerance.

We talked a lot about my diet and my overall history with food and vegetarianism. Interestingly, she said that she was so happy to hear that I'm eating meat now. She said that she personally feels that vegetarian diets are unhealthy because many people consume and awful lot of crap in order to get as much protein as they need. She said that she'd rather see a person eating red meat on a regular basis than pastas and other carbs.

She hugely advocated low-carb diets and encouraged me to get the carbohydrates I eat from fruit and vegetables instead of grains. So basically my diet should be meat, fruit, veggies and dairy. No flours, grains or added sugar. This isn't really a stretch for me.

We touched on the quality of meat and other food that I eat, but didn't speak a lot about it because I already care a lot about eating organic food.

I think that it's interesting because it wasn't that long ago that most doctors would tell you that eating meat each day was terrible for your health and that a vegetarian diet was, by far, the healthiest thing that you could do for your body.

I need to make an appointment at Quest to have my blood work done.

eatcher veggies

I do my food shopping at two different places, which is a complete pain in the butt when you live in a city. Both places are walkable, and I have one of those little, personal grocery carts that all urban mamas secretly keep folded up in their coats closets.

I buy organic.

I used to buy organic when we could afford it.

Then, I would pick and choose which organic things to buy.

For lots of various, personal and pertinent reasons, I buy organic. There will be no High Fructose Corn Syrup creepin' into my cart. HELL NO.

So, I love my local Whole Foods and would like to buy all of my groceries there, but realistically that's impossible. It would mean stretching the $400 budget I have for a grocery trip to an $800 budget. Craziness. Instead, I buy organic, local meat and produce from the Reading Terminal Market (AKA the foodies paradise) and my dairy and general aisle/personal products from the Whole Foods Market.

Recently I've noticed that when I go through my check-out at Whole Foods they ask if I'd like to donate money to The Great American Salad Bar Project. This is such an important cause, particularly for places like Philadelphia where so many children depend on the Free Meal programs to eat both breakfast and lunch every day. The Great American Salad Bar Project is raising money to help put salad bars stocked with fresh veggies in one school near the participating Whole Foods. I was happy to see that within the top three participating Whole Foods Markets, two of them were Philly based... and one was the Whole Foods store that I use for my groceries.

If you have an extra dollar and you're looking for a good cause, check out The Great American Salad Bar Product and donate online. In doing so, you are potentially giving healthy options to children who may not have any- particularly in Philadelphia.

gluten free

I have an appointment to go and talk to someone about my nutrition and suspected gluten intolerance. The more I read about celiac and gluten sensitivity, the more convinced I am that this is my issue.

Last December, after my doctor suggested that I cut out a lot of the carbs I was eating, I felt better than ever! I still ate fruits and veggies but completely did away with all grains in my diet. I immediately felt much, much, much better than I ever had. I could eat until I was full and not feel sick, bloated and crampy after the meal. Generally, even when I do not overeat I am sick afterward. Also, even though I was eating plenty of natural sugar the weight fell off of my body.

Through my life, I've always eaten a carb-heavy diet. It's what I love. Originally, I attributed my better digestion to some sort of sugar-carb addiction that I had broken. Now, I'm certain that it's because I have an actual problem with gluten or some related issue.

When I began eating grains again in small portions, I would have a sandwich in a whole grain wrap or a salad with quinoa and barley. I might have one of these things one time in three days, so I wasn't going crazy or over-doing it. I noticed that I immediately started getting eczema. I mentioned this to my mom, who said that I was allergic to barley as a baby. It gave me rashes and eczema. I also noticed that when I ate these foods I'd feel so sick. I could eat rice or eat things that I've made with gluten free flour and not suffer from it. It makes so much sense.

It will be really interesting to have a few tests and see if this is an actual problem of mine.

It's funny, you never actually know that there's something wrong with you until you feel great. This reminds me of how amazing I felt after I began taking my thyroid medication. I remember thinking, "I had no idea how tired I was until I had energy again." For my whole life I just assumed that everyone finished a meal and felt sick and bloated no matter how much they ate. It wasn't until I stopped eating grains that I realized that I could enjoy food and not feel like I was about to explode.