Lightbulb Moment...

I’m still gaining weight, despite eating healthy and my fitness tracker saying I’m walking 2.5 to 3+ miles just at work. When I get home from work, I’m exhausted. My hormones are messed up. My skin is dry. My brain has been getting foggier and foggier. I’ve been getting slight headaches. If I hurt myself, it’s taking a long time to heal. I’ve been worried that either this is getting older, or the autoimmune issues that run in my family are catching up to me.

Then I had a lightbulb moment while looking up something…

MY ANEMIA IS BACK. I haven’t had to take iron in a few years. But everything mentioned above, plus some other related issues, can all be symptoms of iron deficiency. I know I’ve had it before. But because it was causing my brain to not think the clearest, it didn’t even occur to me!

I found what looks like the iron supplement I used to take, which is the only one I tolerate well, and ordered it online. It shipped today, so hopefully it’ll be here soon! In the past, it’s taken a couple weeks to start feeling a real difference, and about a month for it to kick in fully.

This one “small" thing could explain all the health issues I’m having. If it’s what's behind everything, it's a simple fix that could make a huge difference in my day-to-day functioning. And make me more pleasant to be around ;)

Hoping and praying…

Back to School...

I am two weeks into the school year. I have been in the heat quite a bit. Our building is outside access, so if I am not in a classroom, I am in 100+ degree heat indices. We have had NWS-issued heat advisories a few days. Most of the classrooms are fairly warm also. The teacher's lounge (which is my only option other than outside for breaks and lunch, and has the copy machines which I've been using frequently) is having AC issues and is staying 78-80 degrees all day. I have been on my feet a lot, both in classes and in the halls. I have been doing a good bit of walking while running errands. As everyone settles into the school year, I expect I won't be moving around so much. But I don't know when that'll ease up. I wish I had a pedometer to see how many miles I've been walking each day! All teachers and support staff had dismissal duty, which put me in the heat, and on my feet, even more.

The good:
My blood sugar seems to be staying stable at the lower carb levels, despite being on the go all day.
I've been good about reaching for non-carby snacks at work when I need a little something. Those 1-oz bags of almonds I prepped have come in handy!

The bad:
I have been swelling as a result of being in the heat so much.
The tendonitis in my Achilles is back.
I have gained weight again (could be retaining some fluid for various reasons, but I don't think that's all).
I am physically EXHAUSTED when I get home.

Here's what my eating looks like during the weekdays:
First thing in the morning - coffee with 1 tsp. demarara + heavy cream
Breakfast - low carb protein shake (protein powder + almond milk + coconut milk + heavy cream)
Lunch - leftovers, salad w/tuna and crackers, etc (about 20 g carbs)
Snack at school - string cheese or 1 oz roasted almonds
After school snack (if needed) - a few dark chocolate almonds, granola bar spread w/peanut butter, etc
Supper - meat or salmon (about 4 oz) cooked in olive oil + frozen veggies (8 oz) w/butter or salad
A couple of days, supper was different. One night we treated ourselves to pizza (I found a nearby pizza restaurant that has GF pizza!).
Most days I eat a square of dark chocolate at some point during the day.

I haven't been eating my usual 1 oz PB + 1 oz bittersweet chocolate chips because the store we usually shop at stopped carrying the chocolate chips for a while. I just got some more last night. I was curious if I would lose a few pounds not eating it at night or stay the same, but I certainly did not expect to gain! I am not saying that's the reason I gained, but it's interesting I didn't lose any either...

I was hoping to start a housecleaning routine + working out when the school year started, but I have been so worn out when I get home that it's all I can do to stay awake. Some days I have been too exhausted to cook supper. I'm getting a good amount of sleep. It's not always straight through the night, but if I wake up, I get back to sleep easily.

I am eating when I'm hungry, but part of me worries if I'm eating enough. 

One big positive... After 12 years, I am finally getting new eyeglasses! My current ones are so scratched up, and I'm having trouble driving at night with them. I'm back to making the 4.5+-hour round trip drive to get my boys every other week by myself (half of it after dark), so we took some of the little bit of savings we have left and used it. Thankfully I have vision insurance! Without it, my glasses would've cost around $700 to get what I need, which we could not afford. They should be in before I make the next drive.

I'm interested to see how the next month goes as I get back into the routine of working again, and things at work settle in to a fairly normal schedule.

Progress?

Just an update, and some thoughts about how to move forward...

I have been sticking to my plans for the most part :) Cup of coffee with 1 tsp turbinado and heavy cream first thing. Breakfast/brunch most days is 4 oz nonfat Greek yogurt w/2 oz heavy cream + half a pack of instant oatmeal (GF maple brown sugar) with about an ounce of unsweetened frozen or canned fruit (usually peaches), about 2 Tbsp chopped pecans,  and some cream. It's been holding me up well. Some days I skip breakfast, especially if I sleep late, and don't eat until lunch. At lunch I try to get about 20g of carbs, 10-15g of protein. Supper is usually 3-4 oz of meat + 1/2 lb frozen veggies, occasionally with some carbs added in. I bought some (unsweetened) dried fruit (mango, pineapple, apple, strawberry) today to put in my oatmeal for more variety.

The Good:
I've had more energy lately
My feet and ankles haven't been swelling as much, and they've been going down more quickly
I've been more mindful than usual of what I'm eating
Sugar cravings are down

The Bad:
The scale hasn't changed much (may be up a couple pounds but that's it), but I can feel that my midsection is bigger

I'm concerned about the fat gain. Considering muscle weighs more than fat, and the scale hasn't changed much, I'm wondering if I'm losing muscle. I've been getting about 60g of protein a day, but I'm playing around with the idea of increasing it to .5 times my current weight, which would bring it to 85g. I don't know if I'm eating enough in general this summer. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing, so my activity level isn't super low. Once work starts back in a couple weeks (I work at an elementary school), I'll be eating more consistently.

I shopped for snacks for work today. I got some more of the GF cheese crackers I like, turkey jerky, roasted almonds, and some coconut rolls to try (I've had another brand, but not these). I'm hoping these will make candy less appealing! I don't eat much of it at work, but I usually have a little bit. Sugar has been tasting super sweet to me lately (yay!), so it's easier to stay away from it.

Now that I have a good bit of open floor space in one room, I'd like to try to get back into some weight/resistance training. I've never been consistent about it (except one summer when I was 19 and went to aerobics/training classes) but I'm thinking about how I could work it in at least 2 or 3 times a week. I have a thick exercise mat, an aerobic step, dumbbells (2 sets, each with 1, 2, and 3 lb pairs), and ankle weights (adjustable .5 to 2.5 lb each). I would do best with a video to guide me. The thought of sifting through YouTube videos is overwhelming, but I don't have money to spend on buying any right now. The ones I had are all VHS (yep, they're that old LOL) and I have no way of watching them, even if they still work after being in storage for so long. I think 15-minute segments would be a good place to start - 1 segment/day, 1 day each of arms, abs/midsection, and legs/butt, for a total of 3 days/week.

So that's where things stand as of now...

More Tweaking...

I've lost a few pounds since my last post in January. Not much, around 5, but it's stabilized. Which is good, because I haven't gained any more, but bad, because I haven't lost any more. Some very stressful personal situations have come up in the last 6 months that I know aren't helping! They have caused me to lose sleep, which makes my body less able to function, which causes more stress, which causes me to lose more sleep... It's a vicious cycle...

I had a major gallbladder attack in March, the first in a long time. I was vomiting bile and ended up in the ER. I had a smaller one this week, but I think I know what triggered it (food intolerances + a 1-day exposure to a large amount of environmental allergens).

I also found out that I have arthritis in my lower back. I've known since '09 that I've had it in my left ankle, but it rarely bothers me (that's the one I have a rod and 8 pins in). I suspect I also have it in my left wrist (which I sprained badly twice in high school and get tendonitis in).

My inflammation levels are climbing :( I'm off work for the summer so I'm looking into making a few more dietary changes.

In researching eating plans to lower inflammation, the one thing that kept coming up was the Mediterranean diet. I knew a bit about it but not much. So I spent some time looking up the specifics - what is and isn't allowed, pros and cons, rate of long-term success, how to adapt it to lower carb, etc.

Here's what I like about it:
Emphasis on whole foods
Easily modified/customized
Not very restrictive
Relatively easy to stick with long-term
Dairy isn't the devil ;)
Nothing to count
Not very different from what I'm doing now (so only minor tweaking vs major changes)

The things I don't like about it are the same as any other healthy way of eating:
More planning
More meal prep
More cooking

Any plan I do has to be flexible. I'm already limited by the foods I react to, and at least 4 times a month I'm on the road for 6+ hours at a time. I have to eat on the road those days, and between the amount of money I have to spend on those meals, what I react to, and what's available on the route, I have very few options, none of which really fit in any healthy eating plan. But if I can do well the rest of the week, that one meal off-plan shouldn't be a big deal. And I have to allow for celebration days, like my birthday and anniversary, along with occasional meals out with family and friends.

Which leads me to another thing I like about the Mediterranean plan... The emphasis on the social aspects of eating. You don't see "cheats" mentioned. The native Mediterranean culture sees "cheats" as an occasional treat to enjoy with friends and family, in moderation. No guilt, no shame.

So here goes...

(and if you're reading this, drop me a comment so I know I'm not just talking to myself ;) )

Tweaking

I've gained more weight :(

I'm trying to tweak things a bit with my eating. I considered some other options, but I think this is what I'll go with. I briefly thought about trying to go full keto, but it's just not realistic for me at this point, and on days when I don't get enough carbs, my blood sugar drops and I get lightheaded etc. So I'm trying to find that sweet spot.

1. Lowering my carbs at work (lunch/snacks) by 10-15g
2. Increasing fats more at lunch and the rest of the day

I'd like to do 1-2 higher carb (under 100g) days a week also. When I have the boys for the weekend, staying at my weekday carb level isn't realistic. Especially when at least once a month, they want a pasta meal! So my goal is to "allow" myself to eat a bit more carbs when they're with me, but still keep it around 100. I don't want to spend the limited time I have with them stressing about food, but I also don't want to blow off eating how I feel best. Under 150g is considered low carb from what I've read, so I am still under that.

I've been under a lot of stress and haven't been sleeping enough, and I know that doesn't help! Along with eating more carbs over the holidays.

One positive thing... I'm smaller at this weight than I was last time I was here (9 years ago). I think it's partially from eliminating gluten, partially that I have more muscle tone. But I'm not close to a healthy weight. I carry it fairly well (I don't look like I weigh 175 lbs at 5'2"), but most of the gain has been in my stomach, which is definitely not healthy!

On another note... My Achilles still hasn't healed completely :( And it's been joined by tennis elbow (where did that come from???).

So that's my update...

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... :)

Vaccine Philosophical Refusal Form

Keep a copy of this form with you, filled out, for each of your children. The glove compartment of your car is a good place to have it.

I saved the form from a website (it was a pdf) but I haven't been able to find the website again. If anyone knows it, please leave the url in the comments so I can add the link!

Day 2

I woke up (after being up for an hour+ during the night) today to a mess! Our upstairs neighbors' dishwasher was leaking (as we found out later) and it was flooding our kitchen! The water was pouring in through the light fixture in the ceiling. It had filled one of the globes of the light, which got heavy and fell on the floor and shattered. So we had water and broken glass all over the kitchen floor! Called emergency maintenance number, and our maintenance guy was at our door in minutes. He went upstairs, figured out what was going on, came back down to let us know what to do, and said he'd be back Monday with a replacement globe.

So on top of being weak etc this morning, I had to clean up that mess :p Jesse couldn't help with his vision (he's legally blind) so it was up to me. I was panting by the time I was done!

Other than being weak and tired and cold, I'm doing okay. Tired of apple juice :p Still hurting a bit.

Looking forward to getting this over with and being able to eat tomorrow!

Another Perfect Storm...

It didn't start with my gallbladder. But whenever I have a major stomach issue, that's where it ends up concentrating :p

Yesterday I started with a stomachache that kept getting worse. I thought it might be my gallbladder acting up. I laid down on the bed and pressed on it, lightly at first, then with a bit more pressure. Nothing! Not even a twinge of soreness! But by last night, the pain had migrated there :(

So... I'm on day 1 of a 2-day flush. When the pain moved to my gallbladder, I made a trip to the grocery store to get what I needed for all of us for the next couple days - easy food for the guys, canned veggies, unfiltered apple juice, and olive oil for me. Doing a flush is the only time I actually prefer canned veggies.

I ate a big, late lunch yesterday. Nothing last night except a little diluted apple juice. So far today (4:45pm) I've had a can of green beans and about 40 oz of apple juice. I ended up getting Simply Apple's apple juice this time. It doesn't taste overly sweet to me so I'm very happy about that!

Things have been NONSTOP for 2 1/2 months now! Lots of busyness, lots of emotional stuff (both good and bad), not enough and not good quality sleep, plus some other things that combined into the perfect storm in my body. And under those conditions, I end up with a "small" gallbladder attack :p

Even a "small" attack is painful, but not nearly as bad as they used to be! It's been 14 months since my last one. The last one wasn't too bad either. I say that relatively speaking... I've had attacks in the past that 1000mg of Lortab didn't touch!

I was technically due for a flush anyway, just was hoping to wait till after the holidays to do it :( But it waited till after Christmas, and I should be fully recovered by New Year's :)

I'm feeling okay all things considered. A bit hungry and weak. The boys have been playing well most of the day. I've been parked on the couch with my laptop. The boys have been up on the couch with me off and on. I've read them some books. Talked to them. Etc.

I have stuff I've been meaning to blog on here about. Maybe between today and tomorrow while I'm pretty much stuck here...

How I Organize Meals and Recipes

The title says it all ;)

All my recipes are in a big binder. Well, my snacks and desserts have their own, but everything else is all together. My main recipe binder is divided into these sections:

Breakfast (Breakfast foods, seldom eaten in the morning ;))
Protein/Carb (This is broken down by type of protein eg ground beef, chicken. Then within each type of protein, it's divided into Mexican, Chinese, Italian, etc)
Low Carb
Veggie Sides
Carb sides (Divided into what carb it is eg potato, rice, pasta)

Each recipe is in a sheet protector. If it gets splattered on while I'm cooking, it's easy to wipe clean with a damp sponge.

I also have a meal plan binder. It's divided into these pages:

Breakfast foods
Meatless
Chicken
Ground beef
Other beef
Hot dogs/sausage
Seafood
Pork
Low carb
Veggie sides
Carb sides
Supper foods (we eat our main meal at lunch)

On each page is a list of all the recipes in that category.

Binder #3 is my weekly binder. More about it later :)

So here is the process that works best for me when meal planning...

1. Sit down with weekly grocery ads. Mark anything that's on sale that I use. I circle them in the ad (so they're easier to find later) and write them on a list:
Store name
Item #1 - sale price
Item #2 - sale price

I do this for each store. I also note on the list if an item is only on sale one day etc.

2. Look at the sale items list. I plan meals for the week around sale items as much as possible, especially meat sales!

3. Make meal plan page. It looks like this:
Lunch
M
T
W
Th
F
S
S
M

Supper
M
T
W
Th
F
S
S

I write in the left margin anything scheduled for that day that will affect the meal. For example, I always write Church next to Lunch Sunday so I remember to plan a crockpot or make-ahead meal that will be quick to finish after we get home.

4. I get out my meal plan binder and decide which meals we'll eat for the week (or however long I'm planning). I choose meals based on what's on sale, events/appointments we need to plan around, fresh veggies I need to use, meat in the freezer that will expire soon, etc. This week bell peppers and ground beef are on sale. Perfect time for Unstuffed Bell Peppers! A typical week's lunch plan has half beef recipes and half chicken/turkey recipes, with an occasional sausage meal thrown in. I don't plan specific meals for specific days, unless there's an event I need to plan around.

5. I take the week's recipes out of the recipes binder.

6. Using my meal plan and recipes, I add whatever ingredients I need to make the meals to my grocery list.

7. The week's meal plan and recipes go into my weekly binder.

When it's time to cook lunch, I get out my weekly binder and check my meal plan. There will be a meal planned for that specific day, or I will have a list of meals to choose from. Either way, I'm not overwhelmed by the choices, and I know I have the ingredients to cook whatever I choose from the list. After I decide what I'm cooking, I take the recipe out of the weekly binder (if I need one) and bring it with me to the kitchen. After I cook a meal, I cross it off the list so I know I don't have the ingredients anymore.

Sometimes I cook something that isn't on the list. If that's the case, I know I have the ingredients for that meal next week.

When I plan the next week, I put the previous week's recipes back in the recipe binder. I check the meal plan for meals I didn't cross off and add them to the next week's options.

It might seem like a lot of work, but it's really not! Knowing I don't have to stress about what to cook is well worth the little bit of time and effort it takes to do it!

Pinterest

So... I finally joined Pinterest! Go to http://pinterest.com/cmlanclos/ to find me :)

How is that relevant to this blog? I have 5 boards that may be of interest to my "hordes" of readers ;)
1. Recipes - To Try
2. Recipes - Tried and True Favorites
3. Health
4. Favorite Brands/Products
5. Gluten Free Options

On my Gluten Free Options board, I'm pinning links to GF restaurant menus, my favorite GF products, etc. On my Recipe boards, I'm trying to remember to include if they're low carb, paleo, etc in the description.

I'm just getting started, so check back from time to time to see what I've added!

And if you know of any GF restaurants that aren't on my board, let me know! I've started with what we have in this area, but I may include others as well...

Hello!

I get tired of having to use my phone to post, so I end up not doing it as often as I'd like :p One of my biggest dreams right now is to get a laptop! So many reasons it would be good... One day :)

Hmmm... Looking back, I haven't done a health update on here in quite a while! I'm on the computer, so now's probably a good time to do it ;)

1. I started a natural progesterone cream in January. My hormones were getting waaay off and I had to do something. Something cheap. So I went with a cream instead of the super awesome (but expensive) drops I was using last time. It worked pretty good at first, but in April I started having problems with it and had to stop using it :( I had read that it would only have full effectiveness for a few months but I was hoping I would be one of the ladies it worked longer... I tried to go back on the wild yam drops I was using but the company no longer had them! I started a desperate search to find some locally because, well, let's just say I needed them AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. I called around and found some at a health food store I go to occasionally. Whew! They're not the same exact formulation, but lots cheaper! I've been taking them for almost two months now and am responding very well to them :) (FYI - wild yam is bioidentical to human progesterone so it's the perfect supplement when you need it!)

2. I've started muscle testing all my supplements almost every day. (I'll do a post about muscle testing soon!) It's nice to see my body needing less and less of them as time goes on :) I don't know if it's because they're building up in my body, or if my stomach is absorbing more from what I eat as the gluten damage heals. If you're curious, here's what I'm taking:
Liquid B Complex http://www.nowfoods.com/Supplements/Products-by-Category/Vitamins/Vitamin-B/Vitamin-B-12-Complex-Liquid-2oz.htm#.UbElZJxdAp8
Liquid D3 http://www.cilihealthstore.com
Wild yam
Probiotic Boost http://www.cilihealthstore.com
Angstrom minerals (all from http://www.cilihealthstore.com):
Iron
Silver
Zinc/copper

3. I've been reading some of Matt Stone (www.180degreehealth.com)'s ebooks. Interesting information about metabolism and disease! I don't know that I believe it all, but he definitely makes sense about a lot! Your basal body temperature (upon first waking) is supposed to be a good indicator of how well your metabolism is functioning. You want to be in the 98s, preferably the upper 98s. My basal temp is in the 95-96s :( It gets up in the high 97s during the day, occasionally the 98s. But that's it. I'd like to try some of his tips and see if I can give my metabolism a boost!

4. My weight... I've hovered around 175 for a long time now. I got a little below that a couple months ago, then gained almost 10 lbs, and am now back to 177. I think the gain was a reaction to environmental toxins. My apartment complex is doing major renovations to the outsides of the buildings so there were a lot of chemicals and dust floating around that normally aren't there. As soon as work on our building was done, my body decided to do a small detox :p Before the detox, I was in the 180s. A week later, I was back between 175-180. Coincidence? I don't think so!

5. I must say... Jesse and I are healthier than we've been in a long time! Jesse isn't taking supplements (unless he feels like he's starting to get sick), but even with the massive stress he's been under the past 9 months, his body seems to be doing well :) I've noticed my energy gradually going back up. I think a lot of it with me is hormone related. Even the boys are healthier! They're having some slight allergy issues, but I think a lot of that is from the renovations that are still going on. No colds, no tummy bugs :) I think for all of us it's a combination of the overall stress being lower, our way of eating, the supplements (the boys take some too), and the gluten damage healing. We never had medical tests done to assess gluten damage, but it seems like I've turned a corner the past few months with my digestive system. It's so nice that heartburn rarely happens, my bowel movements are normal, I rarely get indigestion, no gallbladder issues, etc! Praise God!


Last but certainly not least... Our current eating plan!

Breakfast - Greek yogurt - I mix Chobani brand flavored yogurt with an equal part of plain, then add heavy cream.

Lunch - main meal of the day - 1 lb meat + 2 (cooked) cups brown rice OR 2 (cooked) cups quinoa OR potatoes OR 8 oz (uncooked, GF) pasta + seasonings, sauces, etc + lots of fat (butter, cream and/or olive oil) + usually 24 oz frozen veggies OR raw veggies (Total amounts to feed all 4 of us)

Supper - mixed bag... - This is our smaller meal so things you might eat for lunch - salad w/meat and/or cheese, mashed potatoes with cheese, eggs and rice for the guys, etc. Usually our protein at supper is cheese but not always.

As far as liquids, I drink half a cup of strong coffee with stevia and heavy cream, sometimes another half cup later, 1-2 cups of decaf tea (mixed half and half with water), and water to taste. And an ounce or two of grape juice with my supplements at night. My liquid consumption is below what the "experts" say it should be. But I'm not convinced they're right ;)

I guess that's it for now! If you're still following along, leave me a comment and let me know! Also, feel free to ask questions or request clarification on anything I've said here :)

God bless!