Mindset - Part I

When you're trying to remove something from your life, whether it's a food or a habit, instead of focusing on what you can't have, try to figure out all the things you _can_ have!

For me, talking about going gluten-free has led to friends sharing neat foods, some of which I didn't know existed. Chinese radish pancakes and plain roasted chickpeas are two of these, and while they may sound odd, they're really quite tasty!

Physically, armored combat is now out, so now I'll have more space in active storage and can focus on other pursuits like archery. I like archery, so it's all good :)

Here's a semi-random assortment of thoughts and experiences I've been having....

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One person I was communicating with commented that it's a good idea to _not_ try to find substitutes for all the foods you used to eat. Now, if you're really set on sandwiches, toast, cold cereal, it's certainly quite possible and there are more choices than there used to be. We have some of the cereals here, which I usually have with soy or rice milk (I alternate between two containers so my soy intake is moderate). Occasionally, if we pick up some raw milk from Sidehill Farm, I'll have that.

I'm not much of a toast person, although once in a great while English muffins appeal to me, so I guess I should look into trying to make some at some point.

Meantime, what are my other current breakfast choices? Eggs (over easy or as an omelette), buckwheat pancakes (light flour), and oatmeal.

Now, the oatmeal we have more than once a week, especially in cold weather. At its plainest L puts in sweetener, cinnamon, & ground flax. Sometimes instead of honey or maple syrup he puts in some fruit preserves, and I know a lady who chops up some dried fruit and throws it in to cook with the oats. The ground flax is for the omega-3, not flavor (doesn't change the taste). With all of these we sprinkle some sliced almonds on top, for a little more protein.

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We end up stopping at Dunkin Donuts for coffee (L) and tea (me), going to and/or from kung fu -- we have travel mugs, but we may want to consider making up a couple of thermoses for the car... anyway, there's all that sugary goodness staring at me, and it's all wheat! And lots of sugar!! Fortunately I don't like the large cube sugar they use on a lot of things, but I did ask them about their corn muffins and they use only corn meal in them, no wheat. So if I'm hungry, there's still something there for me.

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At Applebee's in Hadley, I asked one night if the chicken in one of the dishes was breaded, and the waitress asked if I'd like to see the gluten-free menu. Okay, it wasn't a huge menu, but there were definitely choices, and I was delighted that it even existed!

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A couple of times now I've had a wrap from a pizza place, without the wrap. I like to have pastrami once in a while, but I wanted to be good and not have the wrap itself. So I ordered a wrap without the wrap -- they stick all the things that would be in a wrap, lettuce and all (per my request), into one of the metal tins they use for things like salads or pasta dinners, and then I had it heated, just like when you have your wrap toasted. Yeah I know, sounds weird, but it was good. Think of it as Italian stir fry :D

Our local pizza place also usually has soup or chili, and so far I've found that the tomato and red pepper, cream of mushroom (if I'm up for dairy), beef stew, and veggie chili are all excellent. I've also had their meat chili, but I think their veggie is tastier and I really like it. They have salads too, and it's easy to ask them to leave things out (like croutons!)

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Our friends who host Concentus practice were apologetic last night because since it's a potluck and so what shows up for food is anyone's guess (we've tried organizing, it doesn't work), they're not sure where the shortfall will be. I said to not worry about it -- after one of the practices a week or so ago when the only thing that didn't have wheat in it was the apple cider L and I'd brought, I've tried to get something to eat before we go to practice. Yesterday I had ginger tea (made with freshly cut up ginger one person brought), and some stir fry kale (L and I brought the kale). So I had tea and kale. I'd had a handful of nuts at home and a corn muffin on the way there, so that really was fine.

I did cave in at the end of practice and have some ice cream, which did have some wheat in it -- cookies and cream -- fortunately some forms of wheat don't seem to affect me as badly as others, and it was a fairly small amount. I'm grateful that I'm not as sensitive to it as some folks are. But if I were, and I really wanted to have a little dessert, my hosting friends usually have some fruit on hand.

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A friend of ours can't have berries of any kind - he's mortally allergic to them. The rest of us love berries and at the time we found out about it we thought it was a very sad thing... but he said he doesn't miss having something that he knows is going to kill him.

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If you're trying to go gluten-free, it might pay to look at some of the snacks that are available - granola, dried fruit, nuts, some types of corn chips, whatever, and get in the habit of having them available to you at home and when traveling. Give yourself a choice, wherever you happen to be. As long as you're not starving, it's all good!

Mindset - Part II

Why is it that when we want to give ourselves a "treat", it's almost always something that we know isn't good for us? Why is that a treat?

I know, most of us (here in the U.S. anyway) grew up with candy, ice cream, burgers and fries, etc. Then we're told it's bad for us, that we have to eat boring non-tasty healthy food.

Why is eating something that compromises your health a treat?

Why is healthy food not tasty?

Don't let the marketers for Big Ag, fast food chains, and all the processed food companies pull a fast one on you and your life. They'll drug you into a sugary, super-caffeinated, chemical-laden stupor if you let them.


Yes, I do have some caffeine and some sugar, just not in the huge amounts marketers try to cram down your throat, and I try to choose healthier sources of sugar. Because we do need sugar in our diets, just like we need some fat in it. Fat and sugar are methods of energy storage after all. In fact our bodies need a certain amount of fat to be healthy -- you need some for daily living, some for emergency use (when you're ill, for instance), and there are small amounts on some organs as protective padding when you're moving. We just don't need as much as is in most processed foods.

Even before I started really working on changing my diet this year, I never followed cookie recipes to the letter -- they all use too much sugar. No, I don't use substitute sugar, because I have even more problems with those than regular sugar. I do substitute honey for cane when I can though...

Anyway, I just think that's something worth thinking about... why is treating ourselves badly a reward? If we learned to eat healthy foods that we love, prepared in ways that are delicious, we can treat ourselves every day!