Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Releif

It was a horrid day at work. And since I cannot have booze on the job, I jumped ship. I haven't tested Oats at all during the three days we had scheduled. Instead, today, I went and got myself a Cold Stone Creamery Cheesecake Ice Cream cup. And it was sinful and delicious and I don't care. The worst that it seems the ice cream has given me is gas. If that's the worst of it, then hell, as long as I keep the dairy in moderation, I'm pleased. I'll try oats and millet some other time. I'll keep to the schedule in the household, but I'm otherwise declaring myself done with the elimination diet.

Results: Need Preleif if I'm going to eat tomatoes (found that out with a tagine this weekend). Need to avoid the HFCS and the MSG. Caffeine in moderation and only early in the day. No artificial sweetners at all. My body definitely doesn't want any of those.

Probably should cut back on the wheat and not be so attached to the dairy. And more moderation in the alcohol than I had been as it makes me tired and sloth like. But otherwise, I can eat most things so long as they aren't prepackaged and pay attention.

The payment for such decadence though is I had to bike today. I wasn't really feeling it when I got home. But later, after I had eaten dinner and had a light cocktail (I did say it was a horrid day at work, right?) earlier and sobered up, I went out.

It was a route I've done once before, along Minnehaha Creek, and this time I went all the way up the hill at the end to Lyndale. That is a freakin' awesome hill. Very satisfying to turn around and ride at least half a mile on that speed without having to pedal. 3.6 miles today. All on my own. And I biked up both hills.

I'm thinking that if I get up early enough on Saturday, I should push myself and try to bike around Lake Nokomis. Even if I have to wait for 10 minutes to have my heart rate go down again, I want to go 5.5 miles. My legs were only a little wobbly at the end of this. :-D

It's either that or the Farmer's Market in St Paul. But that might not even be necessary as our CSA starts up this week. Woo!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Resurrection!

Today marks the first time I've been on my bike in almost 3.5 weeks. I've been such a punk. In part I feel like I've been a total slacker. And no wonder I've gained a couple pounds back. But I'm ready to be riding again and hopefully the weather will cooperate more.

It's a gorgeous 70 out today after all.

In any case, I made my first foray to the grocery store a mile away by bike, and hauling groceries back on my back. WooHA that was exhilarating and fun. :) I feel like an honest to gods adult urban BIKER now, running an errand on my bike. Probably added a good extra 3 pounds to my back.

The route is interesting. it's a slight incline most of the way there except for the big downhill by my house and the big downhill by the store. It means I was working during most of it, but got a good start and a satisfying finish on the way there. The way back, it meant that I had two HUGE hills to come up with the extra weight on my back. However, I got to rest for a good period in there as I coasted most of the way home. Even made it up the home hill too and when I hit our driveway I went "What? Already?" because I had thought the hill was bigger. :-D

I definitely feel it though that I haven't been in almost a month of crappy weather or crappy attitude. Must get out again tomorrow. Maybe I an get my light installed and I'll bike to my friends' place for class tomorrow. That could be fun. Though I wonder about the biking at midnight. Without a helmet. Hmm. I'll think on it.

It felt so good to get out there again though. Must. Be. Better. About it.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Unexpected

So, went away for the weekend the same point we got gluten back. Gluten seems to have generally gone well, except for the part where wheat makes one crave more wheat. The big problem of this weekend happened when we went to a Chinese Buffet though, thinking we might be able to eat some of the stuff.

No, we were incredibly ill on Saturday night, and even by Monday I'm still not feeling right. It was pretty immediate and there was way more time than bad reactions had been taking, so I'm pretty sure that it's the Chinese food and not the wheat or the accidental dairy that I had. So I'm guessing that the problem with pizza really was the tomatoes, and not the dairy. Weird. Must be MSG. It's the only thing we can think of.

Much to our disappointment though, there was no biking still. The weather has been just crap. So we drove down there and the bikes stayed on the back of the car the whole flippin' weekend. Not the fab getaway I was hoping for, but it was still lovely to just have some relaxing time with him. I just wish it had been... well... healthier.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

update

Still have not managed to get on my bike. The weather has been for crap, and on the nice days I've been incredibly busy as it is. May 1 is a busy busy time for me, with 5 different meanings for me, including PiC and my's anniversary.

Good news is that eggs are not a problem. Nor does yeast seem to be, other than the fact that yeast seems to make me HUNGRY. As in I've eaten more in the last couple of days than I had all up to now; I wonder if this is why I have historically overate.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe my problem is ultimately a candida issue, and this diet that we've been on really hasn't addressed anything like a systemic candida infestation. If I'm still concerned about something like that, then I might try personally removing some of the candida feeding things and see what happens with that in a couple of months. I'm not going to make my family do this again.

This weekend though, PiC and I are headed to New Ulm. There will be a winery, and a brewery, and biking. He's in charge of finding the bike trails we're going to go on. :) I seriously need a break from the cities, so this is going to be good.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Meh

It's been about two weeks that I've plateaued at the same weight. I'm fairly certain that with the introduction of sugar and alcohol that my weight loss has come to a screeching halt. Not surprising really. But it's still disappointing because I won't reach my goal weight. By tomorrow. Still, a loss of 21 pounds is a win. And I do feel better, even if I'm feeling a bit.... bloated and heavy. Which makes me realize how ucky I felt 21 pounds heavier.

I still haven't been on the bike in a bit. I'm not sure what the block in my head is. I think that's also why the weight loss has stalled. But for as awesome as it makes me feel, I've been feeling tired lately. Perhaps also because of the sugar and alcohol. So while I'm not exactly having a lot of that, I'm still back to cutting back as much as possible without being a teetotaler.

We did however update our schedule for the elimination diet to give us some of the things that are harder to avoid and get them tested early. It's not keeping with the phases that they had in the book, but I think it suits us better. And it makes it possible for me to do some of the things that I want to during the month of May.

5/1 Eggs
5/4 Yeast/Gluten-free bread
5/7 Gluten
5/10 Kiwi
5/11 Sesame
5/13 Corn
5/16 Oats
5/19 Millet
5/22 Dairy

We'd found that fruit issues seem to show up immediately or not at all in us, so that gets only a day. We seriously miss eggs for our weekend breakfasts, and for me my weekday breakfasts. And with that back, I can get back to baking in earnest, because while flax seeds *work* for baking, they're not all that great. IMO. Make things gritty.

Getting gluten back on 5/7 also means that PiC and I can have an easier time going out of town for our anniversary (which is this weekend, but that is incredibly busy). We can go to a brewery for beer tasting, we can have pasta and make sandwiches for the trip. Because the thought is that we're going to do some biking on a trail down near New Ulm. I don't know how far I will make it, especially since I haven't been going, but we can always stop. Wait a while. Bike some more.

I think OSO is getting as weary of this diet as I am. Though I think that she has adjusted to it better. Her weariness may be more due to my whining than anything else. And PiC is thinking that he actually likes rice and beans as a staple for lunch. I am entertained. :)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

No riding

It has been since Wednesday since I rode my bike. I'm missing it. In fact, I think it has more to do with why I feel tired today than anything other than the cold and damp that it is. Which is why no riding in the rain. My joints would be pissed at me.

In the mean time though, happily oranges do not seem to cause any more of a problem than a little bit of congestion. Which means I can have my Sunday morning mimosas again. I have to say that I approve of that, I would have missed traditional mimosas.

I'm ready for the rain to be gone though. I need some warm days. I want to bake winter out of my bones.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Up Da Hill!

After punking out on Monday and Tuesday rides, I decided to go today even though I may need to work tonight. I'm glad I did, it's a flipping gorgeous day, and I saw that my little orchard is starting to bloom with big pink flowers. I give it three days before it has complete erupted in bloom.

But I did my typical 3.6 mile ride. I know PiC thinks me a bit boring for always riding the same way, but to be honest, I can best gauge what my progress is this way. I know what it was like last time, and I know the differences this time.

I went slower, working on pacing myself. My ride was back to 30 minutes. Thing is, there were two major differences. 1) My legs were not exhausted when I got home. I was just starting to feel the burn, which is what led me to try 2) I biked up the hill to our house in the lowest gear. I stopped half way up to catch my breath, but only for 30 seconds or so. And otherwise I biked it. I haven't done that before. And even though my legs are completely made of jello now, I see it as a great measure of my progress.

The weekend is still looking rainy, but maybe there will be time to get out there anyway. I can hope. I definitely should make it out Thursday and Friday just in case Saturday and Sunday are a wash.

Still keeping steady on the weight thing. This is how I push on through. Or not. But if I do, it could end up just being muscles and that's fine too. :)