Crazy Hungry

I used to get sort of crazy hungry. That doesn't happen anymore. It was like the food was controlling me. Stress or fatigue always meant reaching for sugary foods and refined carbohydrates. Then whatever I purchased I would compulsively eat until it was gone and I felt worse and worse. Interestingly the worse I felt the more I wanted to eat that junk.

Now I don't get psycho with hunger anymore. If I wait too long to eat I still get attracted to carbs. I have a few strategies that keep me on track
1) I absolutely do not eat sugar or grains, so if I wait too long to eat and get overly hungry I won't go
    really crazy with my choices.
2) I plan and bring snacks with me, snacks with fat that fill me up
3) I have a game plan for fast food places, things I can eat without getting off track. If I run out of
    snacks, I am hungry and far from home I have a plan.
4) I eat things that taste sweet, but are not sugar or artificially sweet. Stevia is my friend. Just
    bringing Sobe with me can make all the difference.

Be good to yourself and have a game plan!

Suspect Foods

When you cannot keep it simple or be your own chef, there are a number of things to watch for on the label... or just plain avoid in a restaurant.  
Note-- I do note touch most of the things on this list, but if you are still indulging be afraid, very afraid...

Suspect Foods  
ale, baking powder, barbeque sauce, beer, breads, broth, casseroles, cereals, chocolates, chocolate bars, coffees (flavored), cookies, crackers, condiments, deli meats, drinks (flavored), gravies, grilled fish, grilled meats, hamburger patties (unless stated 100% beef), hot dogs, ketchup, lager, licorice, meatballs, potato chips and french fries, ice cream, imitation bacon bits, imitation seafood, marinades, meats, medications (check with your pharmacist-- even for topical medications), pastas, processed meats, processed foods, sauces, sausages, seasoning blends (herbs, spicing, and other agents), salad dressings, sauces, sausages, seasonings, seasoning packets (generally have thickening agents with hidden grains), spice mixes, stews, stir fries, soups, soup bases, soy products, soy sauce, syrups, taco seasoning, teas (flavored), Worcestershire Sauce.

Blog Restructure

Change is sometimes painful, but needed for growth. This blog has been re-structured a bit to reflect how I am doing things now. The page links are now moved to the right and will no longer be found at the top.

All of the Low FODMAPs resources are now under one page called Low FODMAPs. I promise it's all still there. This Low
FODMAPs page has all the resources that were previously on separate pages, including:

• restaurants
• books
• recipes
• websites
• stores

I am beginning similar resources for the Body Ecology /Paleo /Ketogenic page. This way you can click into the page that reflects where you are at in your journey.

Additionally there is a new page that for now has my before and after pictures, with the plan to add others as they succeed through my new 30, 60 and 90 day challenges (coming soon).

All the Best -- Lisa

Straight Up Sugar

Sugars are hiding everywhere... lurking in all those crazy processed foods that we love so much. (Beware... be very ware ;)
 

Sugars:
agave, agave nectar, barley malt,blackstrap molasses, blue agave,brown rice syrup, cane sugar, cane syrup, corn syrup, dastatic malt, dextrose (sweetener made from plant starch generally corn, rice, tapioca or wheat), diastase, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit concentrate, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate (apple, pear, grape), dextrose, galactose, glucose, glucose syrup, golden syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), lactose, malt, maltodextrin (sweetener, filler and binder from rice, corn, tapioca or potato starch), maltose, molasses, panocha, rice syrup, simple syrup, sorghum syrup, sucrose (half glucose and half fructose), syrup, treacle.

Sneaky Sneaky Grains

Watch out!! Hidden grains are everywhere, especially in processed foods. Single source foods are of course the most safe (you know, a zucchini, spinach, an egg). Here are ingredients that are of concern.

Grains, Grain Ingredients or Likely Grain Ingredients:
artificial colors, artificial flavors, baking powder, barley -flakes/flour/pearl, binders, blue cheese, bread, breading, bread stuffing, brewer's yeast, brown rice, bulgur, bulgar wheat, cereal fillers/protein/starch, cheese -grated (if anti-caking agent used), citric acid, coatings, colorings, colors, corn, corn starch, dextrins, dinkel, durum (it is wheat), dispersing agents, emulsifiers, excipients (in prescription medications), farro/faro (type of wheat AKA spelt or dinkel), flavorings, flours (barley, corn, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, tapioca, wheat), food starch, graham flour, grated cheese ((if anti-caking agent used), grain alcohol (ale, beer, bourbon, grain vodka rye, scotch), hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed wheat protein, kamut (type of wheat), malt, malt extract, malt flavoring (barley malt, malt vinegar), malt syrup, malt vinegar, malted milk, matzo, matzo meal, modified food starch (from wheat), modified wheat starch, maltodextrin, natural flavors, rice, thickening agents (dextrin, corn starch, modified food starch, etc.), mono-glycerices, di-glycerides (made using a wheat starch carrier), natural flavorings, oatmeal, oat bran, oat flour, oats, oils (wheat germ oil and others with gluten additives), preservatives, rye bread, rye flour, seitan (vegetarian protein made from wheat gluten), semolina, spelt (type of wheat AKA dinkel, faro, farro), semolina, spelt (type of wheat AKA dinkel, faro, farro), sorghum, soy sauce, spices (if anti-caking agent used), starch (modified food starch, edible starch), textured vegetable protein (TVP), triticale, vegetable gum, vegetable protein or starch, vinegars (white, or malt), vital wheat gluten, vitamin e oil, wheat bran, wheat flour, wheat germ, wheat starch.

I have probably missed a few things, be vigilant!

6 flights of stairs

Who me? I walked six flights of stairs at work yesterday-- what?! My limit before all of this was two to three flights... which was not pleasant. So unpleasant... I basically decided never to do it again.

However, yesterday I needed a movement break from my desk job and ran down the six flights of stairs from my office to grab a Sobe at the gift store. Then I thought, "Hey, maybe I'll try a flight or two up and take the elevator the rest of the way." I figured I would get out of the stairwell when I could no longer breathe.

It wasn't until I finished the fourth flight that I even thought about it. I stopped briefly, recovered quickly and decided to keep going. Then I popped up the next two flights and got off on six hardly winded.

Just before thanksgiving I picked up a 28 pound turkey for a friend and did get winded before I got to my car after taking the elevator down. I thought about how I used to carry around 50 extra pounds all the time. No wonder I got winded on the stairs... apparently that was a lot of work!

These Tastebuds They are a Changin'

It's so challenging to get started with a new eating plan. Especially when we think it's going to be difficult or boring.

I've learned something though. If you change how you eat the things you like to eat change too... REALLY!  It doesn't happen in a week or two... but it happens.

When I talk about my diet people seem to think it's not something they would be capable of accomplishing. They say things like, "You're so good." or "I don't know how you do it." I have a big secret though.

I am not being good. I never suffer or sacrifice. My tastes have changed. I love what I eat now. Things I did not like initially, I look forward to now. Did I suffer initially? Yes!

At first I did not like what I was eating and did not feel well at all!  After two weeks I began to feel better. Slowly since my new foods became more and more appealing. I enjoy the food I eat now more than I ever enjoyed my food before changing my diet.

I spent endless amounts of time seeking out substitutes for wheat and came up with some good tasting things. However, nothing compares to how things are now. I have no desire to go back, none!