99% Gluten Free Day 8

Officially one week (almost completely--darn corn!) gluten free. Niice.

November 9

-1/2 of a gluten free lemon muffin (140 cals)
-water



-leftover 4 oz filet mignon (220 cals)
-leftover creamed corn (125 cals)
-the rest of my dad's leftover salmon (2 oz or so) (85 cals)
-a few bites of potatoes (100 cals)
-a few snap peas
-1 tomato slice



I feel like it was more cals than that, but idk.

-2 organic/raw/vegan/gluten free/any other health term macaroons (delish) (140 cals)




-herba tussin tea with 1/2 a teaspoon maca powder (5 cals)




-gluten free beef strogonoff with lots of wilted spinach (500 cals?)
-2 pieces of dark chocolate filled with marzipan (60 cals)

15 minutes? Not quite.




-snack plate with 1/2 serving of gluten free mary's gone crackers, 1 oz dill havarti, and raspberries (200 cals)
-black cherry zevia soda (0 cals)




I'm going to go now and be the sweetest daughter ever and reorganize the kitchen. I probably should have decided that a couple hours ago BEFORE I got tired, but oh well. Not like I'd go to bed before 3 am anyway *sigh*

Oh, & Chloe wanted to say hi. Isn't it funny how cats LOVE boxes?



Case in point...Ethan last month (with Buster looking on):


Cuties.

xo,
Amanda

Gluten Free Day 7

November 8

-about half of a salad trio (fruit salad, spinach salad with bacon and feta-no dressing, and some deliiiicious chicken salad..and I'm super picky about chicken salad) (350 cals?)
-half of a side of rosemary breakfast potatoes (125 cals?)
-2.5 or so cups of coffee (I put a tiny tiny splash of 2% milk in half a cup + between all the cups I used 1 packet of raw sugar) (30 cals?)
-water





Originally I was planning on the entree sized fruit salad with a side of potatoes and a side of ham, but I'm so glad I noticed the trio! Deliiish.

I thought I'd miss eating wheat and eggs in the morning (I'm not giving up eggs, at least not now, just scaling way back, especially when my stomach is weak), but mostly I realized I like the ritual of Sunday breakfast, not necessarily the breakfast foods themselves. I do stil love all the stuff I can't have (bagels, crepes, etc), don't get me wrong, but I left feeling good and satisfied, not sad I didn't have the food I'm not "supposed" to. I was also a little worried even giving ALL that up I'd still leave feeling sick because of the coffee, especially since I didn't sleep very much last nite (ironically, when I don't sleep is when my body can't handle coffee very well), but I was a-ok. Score. Oh, and usually I hate bacon, and I'm definitely not TRYING to like it, but I've noticed I can handle a little bit now and not freak out lol. I forgot to say no bacon (or croutons for that matter) in the salad, but I thought it still tasted fine. I did, of course, take out the croutons. I don't like croutons anyway luckily. I know technically people really diligent about being gluten free freak out about any amount of gluten even touching their food for a second, but I figured picking them off was good enough. *shrug*

-the rest of the mousse from last nite (about 3 teaspoons worth) (75 cals?)



After I ate that my stomach hurt a little for maybe 10 min max, but I was getting tired again, so it could just be my body rebelling in general. NOTHING like yesterday though, just a lil blahness.

-the rest of the trio & potatoes (475 cals?)

-12 oz ibc root beer poured from bottle into frosty mug (160 cals)



My family went to a diner for dinner, but I had just eaten before my brother suggested it. Regardless, who am I to pass up good company and extra cold, extra tasty root beer? :)

-pomegranate seeds, pineapple, and grapes (about half of what's pictured) (85 cals?)
-water



Usually I just suck the juice off the pom seeds and spit out the actual seed, but I just ate the whole thing this time. Gotta say, not as tasty, but far less messy and time consuming :-P.

-2.5 molasses ginger cookies (best cookies of all time, zomg. they'd be even better and less cal if they wouldn't roll them in sugar tho, but y'know) (285 cals)
-aveda comforting tea (0 cals)



I'm still a lil hungry, but am planning to go to sleep soon anyway. Gnite.

On another note: You should go enter Katie's fantastic giveaway! (here). Right now!

xo,
Amanda

99% Gluten Free Day 6

November 7

-qdoba naked bowl with rice, black beans, chicken, pico, corn salsa, a tiny bit of queso, a big glob of guac, sour cream, and a ton of lettuce (I never get the rice, but decided to give it a try this time) (600 cals)
-bottled water



This hurt my stomach SO. BADLY. Everything was gluten free, so I don't know what the deal was, but I hurt for like 2-3 hours :(. The pain would be off for 5 min or so and on for 5 min or so and when it would come back on it would hurt even more. I'm REALLY hoping it wasn't the dairy, but it seems like since going gf my only complaints have been after meals/snacks including dairy, even minute amounts :(. IDK. It was a pretty spicy meal too...Of course, I was the one who basically insisted we eat here, because it was fast and I knew it was gluten free. Mistake, much?

I was at a craft show when it came on and had no medicine on me, so I tried to just breathe through it. I also got REALLY hot and had to take off my jacket and still sweated all over my tank top (tmi). Eventually I bought some pepcid and rolaids. I took one rolaid chewable and 2 pepcid and slowly but surely got better over the course of two or so hours.

Just in time for...

my graduation dinner!

Yeah I graduated awhile-ish ago, but we never seemed to be able to find an appropriate celebration time. My Dad actually forgot and booked a business dinner, but it's with a colleauge my entire family really likes, so we just invited him along and made it a joint thing. Slightly annoying on principle, but I did have a choice and decided to just go with it.



-glass of pinot grigio (100 cals)
-III forks salad (basically spring mix lettuce, granny smith apple slices, pecans, blue cheese, and an apple cider vinegar-based dressing) (575 calories--yiiiikes)
-3/4 glass of cabernet (75 cals)
-half of a 8 oz filet mignon (220 cals)
-creamed corn (best creamed corn in the world. srsly. I ate mine and made my brother give me his with my leftovers lol) (120 cals)
-mashed potatoes (I also let them put a lil gravy on my potatoes, but right after realized they probably had a little flour to make the roux, so I pushed it to the side) (200 cals)
-1 or 2 snap peas
-1 tomato slice with herbs
-about 1/3 of a chocolate mousse with fresh blueberries mixed in (it came w/ whipped cream, but I don't like whipped cream, so I tried to take most off) (super good) (300 cals)
-2 or 3 bites of grand marnier creme brulee (no good, imo. my mom liked it) (50 cals)

(sorry for the lighting in the pics below)








Usually they leave the bowl of extra creamed corn on the table, but they didn't this time. I probably could have asked for more, but since my brother gave me his I didn't want to see like a weirdo asking for more when my plate was already still full-looking :-P. Oh well.

Eep, probably better they didn't. I just saw their recipe for it online and it contains 2 teaspoons of flour per dish. Granted it's a big dish (the recipe is probably for at least 10 people) and I don't feel sick, but ugh. The guy assured us all the stuff we got was OK, but I guess he forgot about the corn. I guess a few specks won't kill me, especially since it's my fave side dish of almost any restaurant and I don't even like corn that much, but it still sucks a lil.

My other fave appetizer, prob of all time, is their lobster bisque. It's probably got flour and lots of cream though, so with my stomach already on the outs (though feeling better at this point), I reluctantly passed. I was (mostly) OK with ingesting a little gluten for the wonder that is the soup since we only go to this restaurant maybe once a year, but again, with a bum stomach already it wasn't worth the risk. In a way I'm already slightly regretting it, but in another way I feel fine right now and maybe I wouldn't have otherwise...

I was glad the cream in the corn didn't hurt me. Gives my dairy-loving heart a smidge of hope lol.

Here are a few pics that are just a variation of the one above. I cropped it in diff ways.


such a good pic of my brother, I think


How is it Saturday already? Feels like Friday. Meh.

Nite nite.

xo,
Amanda

Gluten Free Day 5

November 6

-chicken fajitas with no tortillas (just plain chicken, salsa, sour cream, guac, a bite or two of onion) (350 cals?)
-spanish rice (175 cals?)
-refried beans (175 cals?)
-half of a mojito (90 cals)
-lemon water





We asked the waiter if their corn tortillas/chips were gluten free and he had NO idea what we were talking about. Then we asked if the tortillas had wheat and he said yes, but again I don't think he had any idea what he was answering lol. We didn't get sick or anything, so I don't THINK there was gluten in anything, but we can't be too sure. I was weary about eating here, but my Mom and I were outlet shopping and it was pretty much the only restaurant around and we were starving. Worth it though, I got some AWESOME Coach sunglasses. I just tried them on out of habit (I'm sunglasses obsessed), but the first pair I picked looked like they were tailor made for me. Looove.

-small root beer (not as good as usual, boo) (160 cals)

I got that at the mall. Yeah, so after a dr appt (for my Mom), outlet shopping, and an errand or two, we braved the mall. We each just wanted to run in about one store. I'm having SO much trouble finding clothes that look good on me, but I digress. We park and I notice there are about 1,000 people (OK maybe less, but I really don't feel like I was exaggerating lol it was NUTS) just waiting by the food court entrance. We were so confused. I guess they had some Christmas parade? We bypassed it and just went shopping, but on our way out the parade outside was over, but inside there were people walking around in costumes (bugs bunny, tweetie, etc), people in toy soldiers juggling, some holiday-dressed people on stilts. MADNESS.

-pesto tilapia (270 cals)
-half a cup of brown rice with a little I can't believe it's not butter spray (95 cals)
-water



-half of a mini whole foods creme brulee (the top is mediocre, but the actual custard is one of the best I've had) (200 cals?)


I also had a teeeny tiny taste of these gingerbread gluten free cookies we found. OMFG. BEST. COOKIES. EVAR. Will post more about them later.

I only slept about 4 maybe 4.5 hours last nite and had a full day. I'm going to bed soon. 'Nite.

xo,
Amanda

Gluten Free Day 4

November 5

I couldn't fall asleep until 5 am. Oops. So yeah, shamefully I slept (snuggled up real tight with my dogs, I might add-SO cute) until, wellll, 2:30. Whatevs. I needed it.

clearly 2:30 was still too early for them LOL. Usually Buster, the one in front, is an early riser!

-one lemon struesel gluten-free muffin with pumpkin butter (300 cals)
-one small honeycrisp apple (60 cals)
-organic classic breakfast tea with 2 oz pumpkin eggnog (best tea using the eggnog yet) (100 cals)




I feel a lot better. *knock on wood* And I must say, since the muffin flavor is fairly light, it's much nicer to eat on its own than mixed with yogurt. Don't get me wrong, it was still good in the yogurt, but I could actually taste all of it on its own. The tea did hurt my tummy a little, but not bad like before. Not sure if it was the caffeine or the eggnog. It didn't last tho, no big thing. I wanted yogurt too, but want to lay off a litttle bit on the dairy.

-half serving of gluten free pretzels (these are so so good) (70 cals)
-tootsie roll (20 cals)



-5 oz tilapia filet with pesto (270 cals)
-4 oz (dry) quinoa pasta shells with tomato sauce (425 cals*)



*Although, I think I've been calculating my pasta wrong. I feel so dumb, but OK, the portion says 1 serving is 2 oz (dry) for 205 calories, so I've just been measuring 2 oz in a regular measuring cup, but now I am starting to think they might mean by weight? Which seems like 2 oz would be more? I mean 4 oz is what I did above via the measuring cup method and look how tiny that is. I think 2 oz dry is supposed to amount to one cup cooked (in a measuring cup), and even with that 4 oz portion (measured), I don't think it would be a cup. I'm so confused LOL. So I think I've been WAY overestimating my quinoa pasta calories. I really need to get a food scale, stat. That will be amazing if I can eat double or more than what I thought for the same cals. I love me some pasta!!

-half a cup or so of haagen daz cranberry blueberry sorbet (100 cals)



I lost another full pound since yesterday morning. Wow. Let's keep this pattern going! :)

One thing I have come to realize about a gluten free diet is most "alternative foods" (crackers, breads, granola bars, etc.) don't have the high levels of fiber that most of my previous foods did. I realllly need to be much more conscious about amping up my intake of fruits and veggies. You know I love my fiber, lol.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How do you get your fiber? :). Preferably gluten free ways!

xo,
Amanda

(and cute lil Genie!)

Gluten Free Day 3

November 4

-chobani plain yogurt (100 cals)
-half of a gluten-free lemon muffin crumbled in (140 cals)




How come all of the gluten free products are tasty, but so dry? It's the FLOUR that includes the gluten, not the yogurt/oil/applesauce/whatever. It was still good, but I'll probably start making my own soon. Also, I'm not as impressed with the plain chobani yogurt as I am with the flavored. Together they were a nice combo, but I just felt like something was missing. A little agave or honey, perhaps?

-a&w root beer (170 cals)
-pesto chicken wrap (425 cals)
-water




Yep, again with the root beer. I can't help it! nomnomnom. Or uh...slurpslurpslurp? :-P

-mini toblerone chocolate (180 cals)



Damn Borders for putting all the best candy at the register lol. Nah, actually it was exciting. I rarely eat it, but toblerone is definitely my fave candy of all time. I was just SURE it would include gluten in the nougat or something, just so I couldn't have it, but nope! WOOHOO. Naturally I had to celebrate and have one, and c'mon it was only a mini! :). LOL @ my scarf and nails accidentally being so matchy matchy. How typical of me.

-1 cup arrowhead mills maple cereal (kinda meh) (170 cals)
-3 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk (15 cals)
-1 mini pack of raisins (40 cals)



I wish I could find the new Nature's Path maple cereal, but it doesn't seem to be in ANY stores around me yet. Boo. I have a feeling it's a lot better. Also, I wanted to have my cereal with regular cow milk, but since I'm getting slightly weary of dairy (*tear*) and didn't want to feel sick again, I went for the almond instead and barely noticed the difference. The bottom of the almond milk is a little messed up though and I spilled a cup or so full on the floor. I know there's no use crying over spilled milk (har har--not), but it's so annoying to clean up!!

I was intending to cook fish for dinner (with lentil rice pilaf), but was so tired + sick (when I got home anyway) + I would have probably ended up being the only one to eat it tonite. Kinda pointless. I'm thinking tomorrow, though. Yum. That's the second day in a row I've wanted to cook that rice. Maybe I'll get around to it one day, heh. I'm not going into the office tomorrow, so no excuses for me!

Soon after I ate the cereal my Mom was hungry, but couldn't think of anything gluten free she could make. I offered to heat up some leftover chicken from last nite and top it with a spinach/artichoke sauce we picked up at Target a week or so ago. There were 1.5 chicken breasts left, so I decided to eat the half sized one. I wasn't too hungry anymore thanks to the cereal, but thought I could use a little protein. The sauce? So good. (total=about 200 cals)




I felt mostly OK all day (tho still REALLY tired), but got a bout of acid reflux about 30 min or so after the chocolate. It didn't last as long as usual, but it still was NOT pleasant....:(

On a happy note: I've already lost FOUR lbs. Pretty awesome for not changing anything in terms of portion or calories. When I woke up I looked like I lost 10-20 too. Welllll, until I ate the yogurt and then I looked back to normal again lol.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your favorite candy?

xo,
Amanda