Carbs

The school year started a couple of weeks ago so I've been back at work. I'm still playing around with amount and timing of carbs.

Drinking a protein shake for breakfast is working really well! I don't get hungry before lunch, even with having cafeteria duty right before my lunchtime. When I did duty two years ago, I was having to eat a snack beforehand.

For lunch, I've been eating about 20g of carbs + protein + fats. When I get home (3:45-4), sometimes I eat a snack, but not always. It's usually a small carb snack as up to this point, I've averaged about 35-40g (net) for the day.

Yesterday I brought Greek yogurt for lunch, and ate a carb snack (15 g) during my afternoon break. My body didn't do as well. I ate the snack because I could feel my blood sugar was a bit low. I don't think it ever really balanced though. I was very sluggish the rest of the day. I ended up drinking a little coffee for an energy boost to get some stuff done that needed to be taken care of, but once it wore off, I went back to having no energy.  I was also a bit emotional last night. I know there are other reasons, but I wonder how much what I had eaten was a factor.

Today I am a bit achy too. It could be because I'm taking less antihistamine, but I suspect it's from yesterday.

I'm going to start paying more attention to when I eat carbs, what I eat with them, etc, and see if I notice any patterns.

Sick

It's been a month and a half since my accidental gluten ingestion. I am *finally* feeling like it's (mostly) cleared my body. The number on the scale has just dropped a few pounds this week, after gaining 5+ with the reaction.

Last week I was sick with a bad cold. I still haven't fully recovered. I know gluten messes with my immune system. I think that's part of the reason I was so sick. I took Quercetin and vitamin C a few times a day. It helped!

One weird thing when I was sick... I ran a fever Tuesday night. Not high, around 100. Wednesday morning, my temp was only 95.9 :o It went up to 98.x later in the day, and has seemed fairly normal since.

Rice

NOTE: All g are net carbs

I usually eat a bit of carbs at lunch, unless I know I'm going to have carbs at supper. Balance!

Yesterday I had a shake before I went to work for a half day (around 12 g). Since I wasn't planning on eating a carby supper, for lunch I ate grits with cheese (22 g). The only other carbs I had were 1 tsp demerara in my coffee (4 g) and 1 square of Ghirardelli Twilight Delight (4 g).

Last night I ended up eating my favorite frozen dinner for supper (http://www.shopwell.com/full-circle-butter-chicken/poultry/p/3680036784). It is fairly healthy, with real ingredients. I add more chicken and a bit more cream. But... 42 g.

At 84, my total carb count for the day wasn't bad. Higher than usual, but not terrible by any means!

Before I ate last night, the swelling in my hands and feet had finally gone down for the first time since the episode Sunday night. When I woke up this morning, I'm swollen again :( Not nearly as bad as I was, but it's noticeable.

I've been trying to minimize rice. I've been saying that I don't tolerate it well. I think this is more evidence of that. I do okay with (GF) oats, grits, potatoes, etc.

I absolutely LOVE that frozen dinner! A friend who lives out of state recommended a butter chicken seasoning packet that looks like it has good ingredients (nothing I react to in it obviously). Once I find it in a store here, I'm going to try it, without rice.

For now, I'm going to continue keeping rice-based products to a minimum.

Gluten Reactions Suck - Stage 2?

My last post was Thursday of last week. The symptoms were easing. They say it takes about 30 days for gluten to really clear your system. I think this week is evidence that it's still wreaking havoc in my body...

Sunday my stomach felt a bit off. I didn't eat anything unusual. Yogurt and coffee for breakfast. Roast, beef broth "gravy" over 1/2 cup of brown rice, and Brussels sprouts for lunch.We had to bring the boys back to their dad's, so I had my usual extra cup of coffee before we left. I also took a dose of Pepto in case I had stomach issues brewing, which would be a big problem on a car trip!

I ate a string cheese on the road. When we got home, we ate some leftover chicken and coleslaw. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Shortly after, my stomach started hurting. It got worse. The pain would come in waves. I laid down and pressed on my gallbladder to see if it was causing me problems. It wasn't any more sore than the rest of my stomach. The most tender parts were in the lower middle area. I could feel stomach acid backing up into my throat.

I finally got to sleep about 2:30am. I woke up an hour later in worse pain. I got up and sat in the bathroom. The pain kept getting worse. I was beginning to think I needed to wake up my husband and have him bring me to the ER. It was that bad! (says the woman who's suffered at home through numerous gallbladder attacks and stuck gallstones) I finally vomited the undigested contents of my stomach. TMI Food that I had eaten 14-15 hours before looked freshly chewed, despite acid burning my throat as it came back up.

The pain eased after my stomach emptied. Monday I braved some chicken broth and Jello. My stomach still didn't feel good, but it didn't rebel. Tuesday I had a small bit of coffee (to avoid a caffeine withdrawal headache) and a little more food.

Today is Friday and my stomach still doesn't feel back to normal. I'm taking it fairly easy. Yesterday I had a second cup of coffee in the afternoon. It was also the first day I've eaten veggies (a small bowl of coleslaw).

I'm wondering if it's a delayed digestive reaction to the gluten. Especially since my stomach was okay last week. Everyone ate the same thing as me with no problems. I was so sick. And scared :(

Thoughts?

Gluten Reactions Suck :(

(I originally posted this in July but I think it got out of order when I made a minor edit in August)

Last week (beginning of July) my husband ended up in the ER :( Turns out it was "just" a kidney stone, but it was pretty scary! When we stopped at the pharmacy, I picked up a bag of a new Ghirardelli Intense Dark flavor. I paid for it and opened it while we were waiting to fill his prescriptions. Ate one.

Tuesday when I woke up, my stomach felt a bit weird. I took some Pepto and didn't think anything more about it. By that afternoon, my emotions were out of control :( Every little thing was making me upset to the point of tears. I had to make the 5ish hour round trip drive to bring the boys to their dad's. It was a tough trip!

By the time I got home that night, I started thinking there was something really wrong. My anxiety hadn't been that bad since..... my last gluten exposure 2 years ago. I tried to think of everything I had eaten in the last couple days. The only thing I could remember having different was the chocolate. I eat Ghirardelli Intense Dark on a regular basis. But this was a different flavor. I pulled up the ingredients online (the bag was downstairs and I was upstairs).

Ingredients: Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Glucose Syrup (Wheat), Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Cream (Milk), Butter (Cream, Salt), Nonfat Dry Milk, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Vanilla Extract.

*facepalm* 

There it is, right in the ingredient list that I did not check :(  I'm so anal about checking labels! I guess after being in the ER with hubby, with the boys, having to get his car from his work, etc, I just wasn't thinking. Plus I know I can eat GID normally, so I think that played into it too.

My stomach never acted up too much, but my anxiety was through the roof! I got upset easily. I was sad. I had no motivation to do anything. I was absolutely exhausted. My heart rate would jump whenever I did the least little thing.  

I found something that helped a little. I take Quercetin as needed for allergies. It took the edge off the anxiety. 

Sunday evening I finally started feeling somewhat human... Today is Thursday. I'm still fighting the anxiety but it's better. 

If the little bit of gluten in one square of chocolate that had a wheat-derived ingredient affected me that much, I'd hate to see what more would do!

A Few Things re my blood sugar levels

Someone asked about the blood sugar lows. Here was my response:
"There wasn't rhyme or reason for them at first. Other than I suspect they were chronic stress-related.

I've noticed the last 6 months or so that I've been able to keep it fairly stable if I don't eat a lot of carbs, unless I go many hours without eating. Once it goes low, I have trouble keeping it up the rest of the day unless I eat a good many carbs. Those are the only patterns I've noticed. Oh, it tends to drop if I get overheated or haven't had much sleep also."

I have noticed that rice affects me more than other carbs - both as far as inflammation and blood sugar levels.

The blood sugar lows were confirmed about 2.5 years ago by a diabetic friend who let me use an old meter she had. They weren't dangerously low, but my symptoms were very noticeable!

I'm Baaack!!!!! :)

So... A lot of changes the last couple years! Here's a brief summary.

1. I divorced

2. A year and a half ago I started working full-time for the first time in over 10 years

3. After the separation, I had to move and lived with family and friends for 16 months

4. I lost down to 137 pounds

And now?

1. I'm recently remarried :D 

2. My husband and I rent a townhouse in the area I grew up in

3. In the last year, I have gained back 25 pounds

The last couple years have been stressful to say the least! Things seem to be calming down now, but my body has suffered :( I know some of the weight gain is muscle. Living somewhere with stairs most of the last year and a half when you haven't before does that to you ;) Most of the weight gain has been in my stomach area though. It's where I always gain...

I have been tweaking my eating habits since I started back to work. I was having issues with my blood sugar dropping, so I increased my carbs. I've been able to bring them back down and am feeling much better since doing so! 

I'm working at a school so am off for the summer. I have a list of things I want to accomplish, but a high priority is getting my health back on track. I seriously doubt I can safely lose back down to 137, but I would like to get a lot of this fat back off my body. The muscle is welcome to stay ;)

Here's what my summer eating looks like most days...

Breakfast: Coffee (w/1 tsp sugar + heavy cream)

                  String cheese

Lunch: Something relatively low carb + about 10 g dessert (chocolate or cookie) eg

            Turkey lunchmeat (no nitrates/nitrites) + cheese + mayo mixed w/cream

            Tuna salad (tuna, mayo, cream, dill relish + about 15 g carb crackers)

            Cheese grits (one packet plain instant + cheese + cream)

Snack: String cheese or

           About 15 g carbs if I didn't many eat carbs at lunch

Supper: Meat (4 oz uncooked) + veggies (8 oz uncoooked) w/lots of olive oil/butter/cream

Most days (snack or nighttime treat): peanut butter + bittersweet chocolate chips

Other than 1 cup of coffee, I drink very dilute iced tea or water. I drink sweet tea/soda/juice a couple times a month, mainly if my blood sugar feels low.

Sometimes I drink a protein shake for breakfast or lunch. Sometimes I have more carbs, especially if my boys are here and have requested something like alfredo (usually I mix a carb into their supper after taking mine out).

My husband eats mostly low carb at home, so that helps! 

No food is off limits to me, unless I react to it. I still look for healthier ways to eat what I want, but I do better overall if I allow myself an occasional splurge.

As far as exercise... Before the summer heat hit (I live in south Louisiana), I did a whopping *one* Couch to 5K workout. I realized I needed to buy new headphones and a few other things to be able to work out effectively. By the time I got what I absolutely needed, it was in the 90s by the time I got home from work in the afternoons. I'm trying to figure out a good time of day to go... I have the boys every other week, and my "bonus daughter" half of every week. Mornings before hubby goes to work are not realistic. I'm not stressing myself out over it right now. I have higher priorities.

Enough for now... I plan on updating about once a week or so.

Let me know you're here! I could use the support! 

Keep Standing By...

I haven't forgotten ;) So much to try to condense into a coherent post... But I'm working on it!

Stay tuned...

New blog post in progress... :)