The day before 12-12-12
While Pinteresting this morning, I stumbled onto a blog of a girl that decided to eat gluten-free. Just out of curiosity, I read the story of why she decided to make the change. She has rheumatoid arthritis and takes Plaquenil and Prednisone. (Umm…HELLO! That’s me!) And after talking to some friends, she thought that going gluten-free would help with her joint pain and inflammation. And as it turns out, after a year of being on the diet, she is pain free!
So I’ve decided that maybe there really is something to this whole ‘gluten-free’ craze. So I figure, what can it hurt? Let’s do this!
First things first. After MUCH research, I find that my beloved Diet Mountain Dew is gluten free! Oh happy day!
The problem with trying to eat gluten-free is that it’s hard to figure out if something has gluten in it or not. It’s not like counting calories where you can just look at the label. It doesn’t list ‘gluten’ in the ingredients list on a food. Frustrating. Time consuming. Not to mention everyone recommends cooking most of your food. From scratch. I don’t cook people. I can microwave like nobody’s business, but when it comes to actually putting ingredients in something and stirring it or whatever, I’m out. So this new journey is going to be VERY difficult for me.
I plan on spending the rest of my day researching and then tomorrow, I will start the GF diet!
Day One 12-13-12
I woke up this morning with great confidence that I can tackle this beast! While also making sure everything I eat is gluten free, I am also trying to stay under 1500 calories a day. I’m not going to be too strict on myself with the calorie counting until January though, just so I have some time to figure out the whole gluten situation!
Also, I am going to keep track of my pain levels so that I have a reference to look back on and see if I can tell a difference.
Pain: I woke up with moderate-severe pain in my right shoulder and right thumb. Hands and feet were swollen. Slight pain in my feet and hands. No pain meds taken. By 9am, pain level is only slight.
Breakfast: Sugarfree Red Bull (15 calories), a Promax Fit ‘n Crisp protein bar (140 calories), water
Lunch: Chipotle Burrito Bowl with chicken, white rice, tomato salsa, cheese, lettuce, sour cream (605 calories, water
Afternoon snack: Diet Mt Dew (0 calories), small banana (89 calories)
*After my banana, I wanted something crunchy, like pretzels or something-which have gluten in them. So I went to Manna Grocery (local hippie, specialty grocery store) and loaded up in the gluten-free aisle. Score!
2nd afternoon snack: Glutino Gluten Free Pretzel Twists (70 calories) (They smelled a little funny, but tasted almost like the real deal!)
Dinner: Chick-fil-A Chargrilled and Fruit Salad with Light Italian dressing (245 calories), Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (70 calories)(yummy!), Glutino Gluten Free Breakfast Bar (140 calories)(These are freakin delicious!!)
Total Caloric Intake: 1374
Day Two – 12-14-12
Pain: Better than yesterday. I woke up with moderate pain in my right shoulder and moderate pain in my feet and legs. As of 7:30am, all pain is now slight except in my feet.
Breakfast: Glutino Gluten Free Breakfast Bar (140 calories), coffee with 1 tbsp Coffeemate liquid hazelnut creamer (25 calories), Sugar free Red Bull (15 calories)
Lunch: Logan’s Roadhouse Mesquite Wood-Grilled Shrimp Skewers (with no rice)(193 calories), Side salad with Italian dressing and no bacon bits or croutons (120 calories), water
I looked up online before we went that they will give you an updated gluten-free menu in the restaurant if you ask. The server was very friendly about it! The dish was served with cocktail sauce. I tried doing a quick google search on my phone to see if it was GF. I couldn’t find anything, but I ate it anyway. :/ The server brought the salad to me with croutons on it. Picking croutons off a salad is a big no-no for people with gluten sensitivity, but I felt like I was already asking for a lot of special treatment, so instead of sending it back, I just picked the croutons off. It’s only my 2nd day…I’m taking baby steps! J But I am learning that it’s hard to eat out GF and not feel like a needy customer.
Afternoon snack: Tree of Life GF chocolate chip cookie (100 calories)(Not super tasty, but satisfied my craving.) water
Dinner: Longhorn Flo’s Filet 7 oz (430 calories), mashed potatoes (340 calories), water
Total Caloric Intake: 1363
I didn’t write down anything for Saturday and Sunday, but I still kept to the diet. I even turned down birthday cake and sopapilla cheesecake this weekend! I cooked some bbq chicken in the crockpot this weekend that was divine! The hubs was begging me to cook it again sometime this week! I will post that recipe later!
So far, it seems the only time I have trouble is when I’m not prepared. We had some parties to go to this past weekend and I did fabulously because I took some snacks with me that I knew were GF. But for dinner Saturday night, I was already hungry before I knew what I was going to eat. I tried looking up some foods that I had, but I couldn’t find definite information on. I was pretty sure they were GF, so I just ate them anyway. That’s something I have to work on. So in trying to be better prepared, last night I searched the internet and came up with a menu plan for the week. That way, I already know what we’ll be having and I’ll already know that it’s safe to eat!
Today, Day 5, it’s rainy and yuck outside. Normally, those are the kind of days that make me hurt the most. My hands are swollen today, but I don’t really have any pain! I don’t know if it’s just coincidence or not, but seems like pretty good evidence to me that this is working. Time will tell!
5 comments:
I have tried a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is gluten free that is really good. I used almond butter instead of peanut butter. The only other ingredients are chocolate chips, honey, egg, and baking soda. http://www.pbfingers.com/2012/07/29/almond-butter-pancakes/
I'm interested in hearing how this goes for you. I have RA as well, but I don't know that I could go gluten-free (is it harder if you're a vegetarian??). Good luck!
Cady, I will be posting an update soon! The hardest part to me about going gluten free is figuring out what you can and cannot eat. Once you figure that part out, it just becomes everyday life! It's similar to Paleo in that you can eat all the fruits and vegetables you want. I imagine it will be a little tougher if you are vegetarian, but definitely not impossible! It makes the diet a lot easier if you know that eating that piece of cake will make you hurt later!
Have you really noticed a difference in your pain levels? I sure would love to have less pain in my knees...
I have noticed a change. One day this week it was gloomy and rainy out (those are the days I usually hurt the worst) and I didn't have any pain that day! But yesterday I woke up and had moderate pain. I can tell a huge difference in my energy level as well! I am a little concerned that since I don't have celiac disease, completely eliminating gluten from my diet could cause me to develop a sensitivity to it. So I am now easing up on the diet just a bit, until I meet with my doctor next month to discuss her opinion on the matter. Until then, I plan on just cutting WAY down on my gluten intake.
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