Checking in on the food experiment

It has officially been a month with the gluten free diet. As a refresher, I began this experiment because my mood had been a little shaky, and apparently gluten intolerance runs in my family. So, I gave it a shot.

Everyone has been asking about it, and now I feel like I have a conclusion.

Mentally, I do feel pretty great. My mood is fairly stable. I find happiness and peace and fulfillment from most things. I have not been getting stressed very easily. I've been really good at leaving work at work (although this is difficult when you live with people from work). I've been going to a lot of yoga, and trying to be more mindful in life. Little confidence issues that I had been experiencing have not been rearing their heads as much.

Now, in terms of physical health. Can't exactly say I noticed a difference at the end of the day. To get really gritty: I was expecting different digestive and bowel patterns... but didn't notice anything there. I was thinking I'd have a lot more energy, which is kind of true. But no matter the day, I always crash at 2 pm in the office. I also thought I might lose some weight, because this happened for my dad (don't worry folks, this wasn't a goal, just though it would probably happen), but I don't think that really happened.

Here's what I did notice: I didn't really miss the wheat products. I was eating more vegetables, other grains, a lot of eggs, and I was getting more adventurous with cooking. I've made a lot of new dishes that I really enjoyed. I had to get more creative. Sure, I didn't eat sandwiches. That meant I cooked more dinners and had more leftovers. And, so I never went hungry, sometimes I ate frozen things from Amy's or Trader Joe's.

As any good experiment goes, now I will have a control: I am going back to a normal diet for at least a week. No restrictions, no limitations. I won't think, "oh, that has gluten, maybe I shouldn't." Nope. I am just going to eat as I normally would, this time last year, perhaps. This time I will be paying careful attention to my digestion, mood, and energy level. I would think that I would notice something this time, if in fact I should be living gluten free.

And the way I kicked it all off? Thanksgiving dinner at Ben's house. Stuffing, noodles, pie... the works! It was exactly one month on Sunday the 15th, and so I indulged, and felt terrible. But, honestly, I felt terrible because I ate 3 pounds of food and drank a lot of wine, not because of wheat.... or at least I assume.

Well, since I have so much catching up to do, I'll brainstorm my next few posts:

1) recipes I've tried recently

2) places I've eaten

3) This month's theme!!

4) Other social gatherings and food related items.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I'll give you all a hint about this coming month's theme:

Communal Eating!

More to come...