Returning to GF/Paleo: Days 2 and 3

Welcome back!  If you missed the first 2 posts of the series, you can see them here and here.

Day 1 was rough.  I felt like I was hungry all day long.  I need to start eating more raw veggies to fill up, but if they don't sound good, I can't eat them, or I get nauseous and won't be able to eat anything for quite a while, which is not okay with me.

I want to take a minute to talk about meat.  I'll be honest and say I don't concern myself with the fat content of most meat I purchase.  We eat a lot of uncured bacon, and we've been eating quite a bit of the 1/4 + 1/8 of the organic, grass-fed beef that's in our freezer.  Chicken is something we used to eat a ton of, but only have once or twice a week at this point.  Firstly, because of the cost.  And secondly, because it's so much more convenient to cook the beef we already have.

That being said, if I spot a deal, I SNAP IT UP!  Thankfully, we have a flex budget every paycheck that allows us to go beyond our usual cash grocery budget if need be.  I went shopping yesterday to round out a few things we needed for the coming week and scored a huge deal on free-range, organic chicken.  It was nearing its expiration date, but since we keep it in the freezer until the day we use it, I'm not worried about it going bad.  I grabbed 5 packs of chicken breasts, 6 packs of thighs, and a whole chicken, each pack marked down around 30%.  I also found some uncured breakfast sausage links, which are a rare treat for us, and a package of uncured spicy Italian sausage that will be perfect for the next time I make zuppa, also with a 30ish% mark down.  If you really want to be on top of great meat deals, ask the department what day/time they mark the discounts, that way you can be there for first pick.

All that out of the way, here's what I ate on Day 2.  I'm still including how often I'm drinking water, to give you a good idea of just how much you can get in during the day.  I keep my handy-dandy Dirty Girl water bottle with a straw-like spout with me at all times, so it's easy to just sip on it all day long.

Water

Scrambled eggs with broccoli and bacon
Coffee with coconut creamer
Water
Banana
Water
Greek yogurt with chocolate chips and pecans
Water
Chicken with sliced cucumbers (I kept one of those packs of chicken thighs out of the freezer to bake for a late lunch.  It was perfect!  The cucumbers, however, just tasted like chemicals, despite being organic, washed, and peeled.  Very disappointing.)
Water

Carrot

Water
Gf pizza (I used Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Mix.  For sauce I just used some organic crushed tomatoes and seasoned it myself with red pepper flakes, garlic, and oregano.  Topped the kids' with cheese, uncured pepperoni and black olives while Captain and I had cheese, uncured pepperoni, spinach, mushrooms, pickled jalapenos, and black olives.)
Water

After dinner we scooted off to a ping-pong social with Captain's work friends.  We had Pirate Booty and some GF cookies for a snack.  With water, of course.

Here we are at the end of Day 3.  It was an odd day, since I spent half of it out of the house, but with a little preparation I was able to still make good choices!

As usual, I started the morning off with water and then my coffee with creamer.  I packed myself an apple, a bag of mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, and macadamia), a to-go cup of chocolate almond milk, and a banana, then my local bestie picked me up and we headed to the Dirty Dash!

I had the apple and nuts before the race, for carbs and fat, but stopped drinking water about 40 minutes before the run.  There was no chance of me trail-stopping for a pee break.

Apparently, that's my "Look strong" face.  Yeah.

My dad's response to this picture was that we needed to go play outside.  What a funny guy.

Immediately after we finished I grabbed some water and a banana.  I rinsed off a teeny-tiny bit, then we headed over to grab a smoked turkey leg (They gave me 2!  What, did they think I needed the extra calories or something?) and I drank my almond milk before playing get-changed-without-anyone-seeing-my-goodies in the woods.  I think we were successful. 

On the way home I had water, my banana and a GF Cliff bar that they were handing out at the Dash.  Here's what I've had since cleaning off 3 layers of mud:

Water

Yogurt with chocolate chips and walnuts

Water and a 3 hour nap.

A carrot (and the first ripe pea from my garden!)

Water

Dinner: Grilled flank steak, mashed sweet potatoes (with butter and a touch of coconut sugar), roasted beets, and green salad with some dressing. With, you guessed it, water to drink.

Now I'm sitting/laying (it's really hard to type while laying on your left side, btw) in bed, trying to discourage contractions!  Whee!!  I do plan on sneaking down for a cookie, or maybe a piece of super dark chocolate once the kids go to bed.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which is Captain's day to sleep in, so I'll be making one of our favorite grain-free pancake recipes tomorrow and hitting the Farmer's Market for some local produce!

First Dinner, Preparations, and First Full Day- Returning to GF/Paleo

If you missed the preface post to this one, you can read it here: Double Whammy.

So, you're all caught up on WHY I'm returning to a gluten-free/Paleo/Primal lifestyle.

Here's how we're getting started.

Thankfully, I've kept quality meats at the top of my grocery priority list, even at my laziest.  We have grass-fed, organic beef, free-range chicken, and a bit of wild caught fish in the freezer along with a few cuts of pork and loads of uncured breakfast meat like bacon and chicken sausage.

I had plans to roast a chicken to go with the fettuccine alfredo I was craving like mad, so I had a thawed chicken in the fridge when I learned that my switch to gluten-free had to be immediate.  Scrounging around the cupboards, I found rice, organic crushed tomatoes, and canned coconut milk.  CREAMY CURRY TIME (recipe will be at the end of the post)!

We already use olive oil, butter, lard, or coconut oil to cook everything, so that's not going to be a hard switch.  I made our grocery list after dinner, keeping in mind what we have discovered works for our family and what doesn't, and hit the road.

I happily took my time perusing the shelves for what I wanted.  As I was leaving, this happened...

May have just yelled 'Slug Bug Yellow' in the grocery store parking lot for my kids. I went shopping by myself. #AlwaysMom #ISwearImNotCrazy
— Jessica Cobb (@DomesticPirate) June 20, 2013

Going from what I brought home and what we already have, this is the plan for the next few days (all of it is gluten free and as much as possible is organic).

• (Alongside my coffee with coconut hazelnut creamer) Breakfasts will consist of:

Gluten free steel cut oats once or twice a week
Eggs with veggies (either broccoli or kale) and bacon/sausage most mornings
Hard boiled eggs on lazy mornings (read: mornings I don't have to cook Captain's post-workout breakfast)
On weekends I'll make Paleo pancakes or waffles

• Lunches:

Leftovers from dinner
Tomato soup
Tuna/chicken salad with kraut and cucumbers
Hard boiled eggs with salad or black olives

• Snacks:

Fruit
Nuts
Kettle Brand potato chips (Kettle Brand, NOT Lay's Kettle; non-GMO is important!)
Homebrewed kombucha

• Dinners:

Spaghetti with meaty marinara and salad (from my garden!)
Beef with roasted red potatoes and beets
Roast chicken with lentil soup

• Treats:

Greek yogurt with pecans and Enjoy Life chocolate chips
Almond shortbread cookies
Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk

It's important to note that during the first few days of a dietary change, your body will rebel.  HARD.  I feel like I am starving today, so I'm allowing myself to eat as much as my body thinks it needs, even if it's trying to trick me.  I'm also drinking copious amounts of water to help flush as much gunk out of my system as possible.

Today, I had:

• Water with my cranberry and spirulina supplements.
• Coffee with coconut creamer and 2 hard boiled eggs.
• Water.
• Water.
• Cookie.
• Water.

Lunch: leftover roasted chicken breast, half an avocado, and a handful of black olives.

• Water.
• Kettle chips.
• About 8 oz. kombucha
• Water. 
• Water.
• Greek yogurt with pecans and chocolate chips.
• Water.
• The leavings of the kids' mango.
• Water, water, water.
• GF spaghetti with meaty marinara and salad greens from our garden with a touch of dressing.
• Water.
• Chocolate almond milk.
• And more water.

Yes, I had lots of treats today and not many veggies.  No, I'm not worried about it.  Like I said above, my body is rebelling against the changes I'm making and I'm doing what I can to cope with alternatives.  I'm hoping all this water will not only flush out some of those SAD toxins, but help me deal with the allergies that are making me want to claw my eyes out right now, too.

  Now, on to the SUPER easy curry recipe!!

Sautee diced onion in coconut oil in a large pan.  Add diced zucchini.  Season generously with curry seasoning, paprika, garlic, and salt.  Add cans of coconut milk/cream and 12 oz. crushed tomatoes.  Simmer until it begins to thicken, then add half of the roasted chicken (I do exactly half, mixing white and dark meat), torn into bite sized pieces.  Let it simmer a few more minutes, taste to decide if it needs more curry or tomato, then serve on top of steamed rice or riced cauliflower!  If you can, steam your rice in half water and half chicken broth for a flavor AND nutrient bonus.  The best thing about this recipe is you can add whatever veggies you want to customize it to your family's tastes.  I LOVE sweet potatoes and cauliflower in my curry, but the Pirate Crew does NOT.  We also like this recipe without the tomatoes, and we add large chunks of bell peppers to the onions.  It is great the night of, but I love it even more reheated a day or two later!
 
Don't forget to clean the other half of the chicken and keep the meat for leftovers or tomorrow's dinner and SAVE THAT CARCASS, drippings, and giblets to make some chicken broth!

Dump all of those chicken remains (skin and everything!) into a crockpot, dice up an onion (carrots and celery tops are great, too) to toss in, cover with water, and let simmer on low for at least 12 hours.  This stuff is gut health GOLD!

If you try the curry, please let me know what you think! 

Double Whammy; The news that shook me out of my SAD diet stupor.

Being pregnant is hard.  Being food conscious is hard, too.  Being pregnant AND food conscious?  SUCKS.

My body has been craving simple carbs like mad.  Know what's full of simple carbs?  Crap.  Conventional, boxed, overly processed CRAP.  In a battle between hormones, sciatic pain, pelvic pain, and food cravings, the cravings are the easiest to take care of.

So instead of being our usual 80/20 selves (80% Primal, 20% not Primal but mostly clean with an occasional cheat thrown in), we've been more along the lines of 50/50 (50% crap, 50% whatever healthy thing I can manage to scrounge together).

The kids and Captain are LOVING it.  We've had crackers and cookies, bread for sandwiches, noodles and rolls with dinner, and take-out and fast food MUCH more than I am willing to admit.

I've been struggling.  Feeling guilty about allowing my family to eat this junk, feeding my family this junk, and every night I resolve to do better the next day.  Then, the next day rolls around and it's the same story.

Until yesterday.

**History break.  During each of my pregnancies my blood platelet count has dropped low.  Low enough that I hemorrhage after delivery and need intervention in the form of a clotting injection.   Anything less than 100 can cause extra delivery complications.

Yesterday my platelet count came back much lower than it has previously been at this stage in my other pregnancies; at 29 weeks my count is at 105.  Group F Strep was also found in my urine samples, meaning I have a urinary tract infection; not from e Coli, as most are, but from strep, pointing to an imbalance in my gut flora.

Low platelets AND a UTI.  Fun.

My doula picked the brains of a few colleagues and informed me that there are some inconclusive studies out there linking gluten to low platelet counts during pregnancy.  There are also a few connections between chlorella consumption and increased platelet count.  

So begins an experiment.  I'm officially going back to a strictly gluten-free diet, and at the same time falling back into a mostly Paleo lifestyle, with the exception of rice, red potatoes, and quinoa for simple carbs and Greek yogurt for extra protein and probiotics.  I'm also taking an spirulina supplement for chlorella and cranberry extract, to see if it helps my UTI in conjunction with focusing on gut healing foods.

In the spirit of camaraderie, I thought I'd share what we're eating the first few days of our re-adjustment, in case there are others out there needing some easy ideas, or a sympathetic ear.

If you live a gluten-free, Paleo/Primal, or clean eating lifestyle, what revelation(s) made you start?  Have you had any stops and restarts?

Check back tomorrow for the next post, which will include a curry recipe, meal plan ideas, and preparations for the first few days.

Booty my kid keeps sticking in his booty

Look.  We're all pirates here.  We love booty.  We have a house full of crap we don't need because we LOVE booty.

But you know what I don't love?  When my kid loves his booty SO much, that he thinks the only safe place for it is IN HIS BOOTY!

"Why you gotta play me like that, bro?"

In the past few weeks (in addition to the homie above), we have discovered:

Twice, in the same day.

 Way too many to count, on far too many separate occasions.

...yeah.  I have no idea how THAT was comfortable.

Just in case he needed to decorate something, STAT.

Vroom Vroom Motherf*&^er!

He likes to keep things that remind him of nature close by, apparently.

Also, CRAYONS.  Lots and lots of crayons.

I'm just thankful that we haven't found any of these things in his diaper along with what's SUPPOSED to be in there... yet.

Always listen to your gut, and never trust a box.

You know what's nice?  Instead of being woke up by nagging kids begging for food, being woke up with a soft kiss from your other half with a gentle request to come downstairs.

Until you discover why he needs you in the kitchen before 7 a.m.

To set the scene:

You're 7 months pregnant.  You've been fighting the seasonal allergy battle of your life (seriously, you're considering getting stock in pantyliners and tissues, you've been sneezing so hard and so often).  You stayed up late watching Green Hornet with your spouse, and even later reading the sci-fi classic, Ender's Game, hoping that at some point you would just pass out so hard you wouldn't be woke up by burning eyes and a runny nose.  At some point you say 'Screw it,' and go take some low dose, pregnancy safe allergy medication to try and get a little relief.  As you get settled back into bed with your Nook you consider going downstairs to check on the organic garden pest control you bought earlier that day.

But, 'No,' your sleepy, allergy overloaded self says.  'The instructions said 2-6 weeks.  Nothing's going to happen tonight.'  Finally, around the dark hour of 2 a.m., the drugs have done enough work for you that you can take the tissues out of your nose and sleep without fearing a snot coating on your pillow.

Back to 7 a.m., your spouse leads you into the kitchen, saying, 'Your mantis pods hatched last night.' 

Excitement!  "Really?!  Cool!"

'And they're all over the kitchen.'

"Shit."

 

In your defense, the box said that if you wanted to see them hatching, you should put them in a giant bowl.  In your defense, you thought the mesh splatter shield weighted down with a ceramic plate would keep any that *might* be able to climb up the sides of that giant bowl from escaping into the great unknown that is your kitchen.  In your defense, you know abso-freaking-lutely NOTHING about mantis babies.  For all the wide-world of information that is at your fingertips, you trusted a box to give you all the information you needed about the safe hatching of hundreds of tiny bugs.

So, you spend the first hour of your morning hunting down baby bugs in your kitchen.  BEFORE you get coffee.

FUN FACT TIME! 

• Did you know that those long back legs make it super easy for a mantis to jump?

• Did you know that they will play dead?

• Did you know that they move extremely fracking fast?

• Did you know that they're so light and tiny that they practically float to the ground on their numerous suicide-bomber-like attempts to escape you?

• Did you know that kids will automatically assume they are spiders and try to squash them?

After you think you've gotten most of them, you grab your coffee and take a few minutes to catch on up internet stuff.

And you can't help but smile when you hear your spouse say, "Hey little baby, where'd you come from?" as he's getting his lunch ready.  Because, really... they're kind of cute.

Who knows?  Maybe they'll help with the fruit flies that always seem to ride in on your bananas.

Belly Wonders #1

9 Years of Reconciling Grief and Joy

9 years ago today, something awful happened.

Because of that something awful, 9 years ago today, something extraordinary happened, too.

9 years ago, I had graduated high school.  I had been flirting with this amazing guy that I worked with, and his interest seemed reciprocated.  I had some awesome friends that I would miss terribly, leaving them behind to finish their high school journey as I embarked on mine to become a real adult.

On June 13th, 2004, I spent the day goofing off with my friends.  We hung out, played video games, watched movies.  I had plans to stay the night with them, until I got a text message.  The guy I was interested in was free that night.  Did I want to hang out after he got off work?  Maybe go see a movie?

Uhm, D'UH!

Did my parents need to know?  Nah.  They knew I'd be out, and that was good enough.  After all, I was 18 now.  An ADULT.

Off I flew to this guy's house, after creating a cover story with my friends, just in case my parents called while I was gone (I was out getting cupcakes, btw).  That whole being an adult thing still needed a little work.  My phone rang a few times, but I missed it because I was smoking and listening to my ridiculously loud techno music.

I pulled up in front of his house, tried to dumb down the shit-eating grin I had on my face, and, as I walked up the stairs, he opened the front door.  He had a bowl of spaghetti in one hand... I'll always remember that for some reason.  As he told me that my friend had called him while I was on my way over and that my parents needed me home immediately, I fixated on that bowl of spaghetti.  'Was something wrong?'  It sounded like it.  'Oh.'  You have my number, call me when you know what's up and maybe we can still do something later.

Back to my friend's house I raced to grab my things and give my parents a quick call.  'Sorry, yeah, out getting cupcakes.  Just noticed the missed calls.  What's up?'  Something bad happened and we need you at home.  'Is everyone okay?'  Just come home, we'll talk when you get here.

A 20 minute drive becomes a nightmare when you're left with such non-information as that.  Did someone get in a wreck?  Is someone in the hospital?  Someone's house burn down?  Dog get run over?

These are awful things to ponder in a car by yourself, driving down lonely rural roads.

When I pulled up our driveway, my family was sitting in camping chairs in the yard.  I did a quick count of the 4 of them, mom, dad, brother, sister, and the anxiety disappeared for an instant before returning.

I don't remember specifics of what was said... But, I do remember my mom holding a big, stuffed Tigger doll while she told me that my favorite Uncle, her only brother, had been found with his dog that afternoon, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He loved Ren and Stimpy.

His favorite childhood character was Tigger.

He smoked Camels.

He was an amazing gardener.

He had a piranha that he decided to stuff and mount when his (eventual ex) girlfriend decided it creeped her out.

He drove semi-trucks for a living.

He called his dog everything but his given name.

That dog was his world.  He chose not to leave the world without his one ever-devoted companion.

He was 38.

He had struggled with drugs forever.

He had tried to leave us before, but intervention only seemed to make his conviction stronger.



9 years ago today, something awful happened.

Because of that something awful, 9 years ago today, something extraordinary happened, too.

After a while, the phone rang.  It was that wonderful guy, checking to see if everything was okay.

I told him what happened.  I cried.  He listened.  He listened for a long time.

For weeks afterwards, he held me when I would suddenly start crying.  He saw me snotty, puffy faced, and red eyed, and continued to call me and ask to see me again.  He'd listen to me just talk.  He came to visit me when I was getting the tattoo in memory of my Uncle and his dog.

This amazing guy was there when my family went through the biggest emotional upheaval it had ever experienced, and it didn't scare him away. 

9 years later, he's still with me. 

He still holds me when I cry.

He understands what I need when he catches me listening to this song:




Today, I grieve a loss.

Today, I celebrate what that loss sparked.

And I wish my Uncle was here to see it.

My Uncle's pendant and my wedding bouquet.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please don't hesitate to call.  There is always help.

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/