Working Out

I have been working out. Two days a week I work out with a friend. We are doing the Walk Off the Pounds DVD as well as weight training. I really like working out and she absolutely hates it. I keep reminding her to breathe and focus on the movements. We have seen progress. She is also doing Nutrisystem. I'm drinking lots of water, no alcohol and only decaf expresso based drinks. I'm eating pretty healthy, for the most part. No more GF sour cream and onion potato chips, they seem to give me a headache.

Going Bananas

Well, my headaches are better and this may be a stretch but I think I'll give bananas some of the credit. I felt a headache coming on, ate a banana, and felt better. Coincidence? Who knows. But bananas are a healthy food and when I had a bad virus my potassium was so low I had to take a potassium supplement. Since bananas are high in potassium, maybe it is something my body needed.
I had a blueberry pancake for breakfast, that was good. I also picked up some of the Foods by George english muffins that I love, they are great with a fried egg or peanut butter and orange marmalade. And I'm making lasagna for dinner. I'll have to go easy on that one. But I bought part skim mozzarella and ricotta. There are so many good foods and I seem to be doing better with my stomach/headache problems for now.

Migraines

I went to the doctor and she said it sounded like I had migraines. I think she is right because it did not go away with Advil, only when I went to sleep did I feel better. She also said my gastritis was acting up. Decaf tomorrow and if I have to go off all coffee for a while I will. I just feel frustrated because I feel like I may have to do an elimination diet to pinpoint triggers and that is really hard. I think when the school year finishes I will be better able to deal with that if necessary. I guess I might lose weight if I'm eating super healthy! Too bad all my pants are already big since I lost 20 pounds recently.

Headache Woes

I have been having a lot of headaches this past week and I'm not quite sure why. I call them my stomach headaches but my stomach wasn't bothering me that much. I'm cutting down on things. I only had one espresso drink each day and if I had another it was decaf. I'm not ready to give up my Starbucks drink that I love so much. I'm thinking maybe dairy is to blame but I can tolerate some dairy. And then there is sugar (like in Starbursts and Skittles). It is so hard to be really, really good but I did lose my taste for alcohol so that is good. I did not realize that wine and vermouth had gluten in them. Bummer.

Taco Salad

I adapted a recipe from Health Magazine. Black bean taco salad. I used Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers ( I shredded it), salsa, iceberg lettuce (instead of the suggested romaine), corn tortilla chips, the juice of 1/2 a lime and drizzled extra virgin olive oil on it. I eliminated the tomatoes since I am not a fan of them. It was very good. I should have taken a photo. However, I'm also having a hard time uploading photos lately. I guess my free trial with Adobe Photo Shop expired.

Mexican Flan

Since I am a big fan of Mexican food, I was sure I would like this flan. I got the recipe from Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus book by Carol Fenster. It said it is an almost foolproof version to make in the microwave. Well, I made it and it was good but I am still laughing because I did so many things wrong and it was still good. I did not have a 2-cup glass measuring cup, so I had to nuke the sugar and water in 2 batches. I did not have large eggs, so I used extra large and jumbo. I think I burned the sugar a little for the first batch. I ended up with a lot of extra mixture so I filled the ramekins all the way and they over flowed in the microwave. Maybe custard cups are bigger. I also was not sure what power level was medium. Anyway, I ate one while it was still warm. Oh, and I added nutmeg (good move on my part). I took a What Celebrity Chef Are You quiz on FaceBook and I am Rachel Ray so my strength is cooking with extra virgin olive oil and garlic, not baking.

gluten-free girl

I just purchased Shauna James Ahern's book gluten-free girl and although I am only on page 45 I feel compelled to comment on it already. She is a teacher of writing and it shows. She is so prolific. Reading her work is such a treat. Even if you are not into cooking, the book is amazing. It is such a good example of good writing, it draws you in and compels you to want to read more. I had thought about purchasing it when it came out but never did and now I was able to use a 40% off coupon at Borders Book Store. Her blog has the same quality of writing as the book. She really puts her "voice" into it as we teach children to do when they are learning to write.