Gluten and Dairy Free.. and Feeling Great!

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I have been gluten and dairy free for a little over a week and it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it's still no walk in the park either.

There is no just grabbing a quick snack or being fed up with the kids and ordering take out. I have to actually put a lot of thought into what I buy at the store, not that I was buying unhealthy foods before but when you cut two whole foods groups out of your diet your choices at the store become a bit more limited and you become a nutritional label reading ninja.

I am still learning how to do this whole thing but I have honestly never felt better since I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease fifteen years ago. I was eating healthy but still fell back on take out or crackers to fill me up sometimes- now I have to eat even better than I was. Of course I miss bread; I made a delicious loaf of Italian bread for my family the other night and was drooling over it but feeling great was worth way more than indulging in a food that hurts me.

My biggest advice for people who are changing their diet is to not think about all of the things you can't eat but of all the things you can- believe me, just focusing on things you can't have is depressing. It is mind over matter when it comes to making changes in your life and a positive outlook will get you to where you want to be!

As far as my diet goes, I haven't had to go too crazy to fill my tummy.

Dinners are super easy to do gluten free- if it's something that includes gluten or dairy I just change my portion up a bit. I made turkey noodle soup the other night and used brown rice in my soup instead of the noodles I used in everyone else's. I've also found out that I love quinoa pasta- actually more so than regular pasta (color me surprised on that one).

Breakfast and lunch (when I don't forget to eat- so not healthy but I am working on this) have been pretty easy so far too- I eat quinoa pasta with sauce, brown rice with dairy free butter, veggies, poached eggs (obsessed with these right now), fruit, salad, Raw Meal mixed with almond mix (its an organic meal replacement drink), gluten free oatmeal and leftovers.

What has been hard for me is snacks. I refuse to buy specialty gluten free crackers and cookies because they are overpriced, I am sure they don't taste very good and I want to eat as little processed food as possible. I love salty crunchy snacks like crackers and my willpower gets tested every time I open my pantry and see the kids cheddar bunny crackers staring at me but I just remind myself that a handful of crackers is not worth the damage they will do to my body. Tortilla chips have become my best friend right now and I have been making an effort to snack on fruit, which is something I rarely did before.

Listen, if I can completely change my eating habits anyone can. It takes determination and knowing that what you are doing is benefiting your body, which will in turn spill over to other aspects of your life. You don't need to go gluten or dairy free like I did (I only stopped eating them because they made me sick) but why not cut out the junk food and the processed food? Why not eat more whole foods and fruits and veggies? You can do it. It will stink at first to give up the things you loved to eat but I promise you will find other things that you love and when you start to feel better and have more energy, you won't ever want to go back to how you were.

We can do this! We are strong enough to better ourselves!

Homemade is Better

I try to buy as little processed food as possible for my family for the simple reason that it is not healthy. I'm not perfect though and still do buy some things, though when I do I make sure they do not contain genetically modified ingredients, artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, etc. and are organic.

This photo illustrates why I don't buy conventional foods anymore- something that was once a staple in my pantry contains everything I hate about processed foods! Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup is chock full of genetically modified ingredients and honestly, even without gmo's wouldn't even be close to begin healthy.

Last night I made tuna casserole and used homemade cream of mushroom soup- it is my husband's favorite recipe and he even admitted that homemade soup made the casserole taste way better than if I had used the canned stuff. It really only took me about ten extra minutes to make (I used mushrooms that I froze a couple of weeks ago so they were already sliced up) and those ten minutes ensured that I was feeding my family the best. 

I created the soup in my kitchen which is one million time more wholesome and healthy then using something that was created in a factory with ingredients that were genetically modified in a lab. I used organic butter, fresh mushrooms that I froze myself, organic heavy cream, homemade beef stock, kosher salt and flour- that's it. Look on the side of a can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup and I guarantee there will be more than six wholesome ingredients.

I am not preaching to you or trying to make myself seem better than you- I just want to share how easy it can be to cut the bad stuff out of your diet. Even switching out one thing for a whole foods option will help your health and those switches don't have to be huge, time consuming things. Plus, in my opinion, homemade always tastes better anyways : )

A Vitamin a Day...

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I have trying to focus on making healthier choices for my family so when we ran out of the usual vitamins I give my kids something hit me...

I am paying more attention to the ingredients on the food I am buying but what about the vitamins I am buying?

I flipped the Flintstones Vitamins bottle over and read exactly what ingredients I was letting my kids eat each day and I was floored because this is what I saw:

Sucrose, Sodium Ascorbate, Fructose, Ascorbic Acid, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Stearic Acid, Gelatin, Vitamin E Acetate, Niacinamide, Maltodextrin, Invert Sugar, Magnesium Stearate, Starch, FD&C Red #40 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow #6 Aluminum Lake, Artificial Flavors, Mono And Diglycerides, Aspartame†, FD&C Blue #2 Aluminum Lake, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), Vitamin B12.

Ummmm, yuck? What is with all of the added junk, artificial flavors and dyes?

After seeing that, I decided to go for a more natural multivitamin for my kids- something that preferably wasn't hopped up with crap I would't even let my dog eat.

I ended up buying Nature's Plus Animal Parade Gold vitamins and was much more pleased with their ingredient list:

Xylitol, Natural Color, Citric Acid, Guar Gum, Natural Cherry Flavor, Magnesium Stearate, Certified Organic Gold Standard Whole Food Blend [Organic Acerola Extract, Apples, Broccoli (Brassica Oleracea) Sprout, Cauliflower Sprouts, Collard, Cordyceps Mushroom Mycelia, Kale, Kale Sprout, Maitake Mushroom Mycelia, Nettle, Parsley, Beet (Beta Vulgaris) Juice, Carrot (Daucus Carota) Juice, Spirulina (Arthrospina Platensis), Reishi Mycelium (Mushroom), Shiitake Mushroom Mycelia, Spinach (Spinacia Oleracea), Tomato Juice, Wild Bilberry, Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium Angustifolium), Wild Lingonberry, Pure Chlorella], Rosa Canina (Rose Hip), Whole Brown Rice, Broccoli (Brassica Oleracea), Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit, Carrot (Daucus Carota), West Indian Cherry, Papaya Fruit, Mineral Aminoates (whole brown rice chelates)

Were the natural vitamins more expensive than the Flintstones ones? Yes, heck yes. I am willing to pay it though because I want to do what I can to make sure my kids aren't being pumped full of junky ingredients. In my opinion, it really is a sad state of affairs that to get healthier vitamins for your kids you have to shell out a lot more cash. Why can't mainstream companies and even store brands pay more attention to what they are putting in their children's multivitamins? I am all for companies making a profit but when they get into the business of people's health and then add junk to their product to increase their profits they are doing to huge disservice to us all.

If you're feeling daring, why don't you look and see what is in your child's multivitamin?

Food...

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So here I am. I have a husband, three kids and a dog who all have to eat.

I am trying to spend as little as possible but while saving money is a big deal, time is also a big deal.

I see the awesome deals every week at all of the stores but my reality is that I just cannot run around to get the best prices. In my town I have a Walmart, 2 Dave's Marketplace, 2 Stop and Shops, a CVS and 2 Rite Aids. My beloved Target is 20 minutes away (an honestly, the closest one is terrible compared to the one we used to live near) and my closest Whole Foods is 30 minutes away (insert super sad face here). Online shopping for clothing and random household stuff has definitely been my savior, especially Christmas shopping.

Each week I shop at Stop and Shop (despise it but they have the best sales). I go to Dave's Marketplace when they are having a great sale and Walmart once every few weeks when I need food and the other stores aren't having any great sales. Target is a luxury stop that I only do once every couple of months and BJ's (a warehouse store) is somewhere I go every four or five months because it is so inconvenient to go to.

Rite Aid and CVS are super close to me but I have only been shopping at CVS as I just cannot get out of the house enough to chase drugstore deals at two stores. Even CVS runs are only every few weeks.

Even with cutting coupons I am still spending $100 a week on groceries and household stuff (paper towels, toilet paper, toiletries, etc). I suppose that is really good for where I live but I still feel like a failure sometimes. I honestly go the the supermarket and have a list but always add other things as I am walking through the store. It's never junk food, just stuff that I realize we need because the original list I made is tiny.

The worst part is that lately I have found myself making choices based on price instead of nutrition. How terrible is that? Now, I don't buy chips and junk food but on regular foods I'll take the cheaper option instead of the more expensive healthier option. It's like I am using the fact that I have three kids and no time to excuse the fact that I am buying less healthy stuff.

You know what? I am done with this. We have debt to pay off, rent to pay on our townhouse and a big car payment on our SUV but I am sick of making judgement call on our food. I am sick of buying chicken breast from the grocery store that I cook and don't end up eating because it tastes like crap. I am sick of buying stuff because it is cheaper than something else. From now on nutrition is king. Screw the supermarket meat- it is terrible. I will only be buying meat from Whole Foods- not because I am a snob but because it tastes better (way, way better) and the animals are raised humanely. This means that I will choose food bases on the nutrition factor over the price factor. My kids love certain fruits so those fruits will be bought, even if they cost more.

I am not a snobby food person. I am just a mom who wants to feed her family as healthy as possible. If that means my grocery spending goes up, then so be it. It is my job to teach my kids how to eat healthy so if I have to put off paying off debt longer than so be it.

If I'm going to blow my grocery budget every week (I originally wanted to just spend $75 a week for a family of 5) then I might as well buy the good stuff!

No Junk For You!

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(make sure you say the title of this in the voise of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld, otherwise it just doen't sound too interesting)

When I started to coupon, I mean really coupon, over five years ago after I had my first child I was a complete coupon psychopath. I ran from store to store getting tons of free stuff, some because we needed it and lots because it was free. At that time every blog that I followed was the same way with pictures posted daily of piles of crap that was bought for free or at least 90% off.

Fast forward to today and I have seen a major shift in what people are buying- it seems that many have turned from "if it's free it's for me" zealots into being more intentional about what they bring into their homes. The piles of Pop-Tarts, Keebler cookies and Betty Crocker fruit snacks have diminished into more produce and natural foods. (my view may be screwed though because I don't really follow too many deal blogs and the ones I do follow I have been reading for awhile- I am sure newbie couponers with newbie blogs are more coupon crazy then us old-timers)

I have also been making this shift to feed my family better, though junk still has a special place in my heart and I still let my kids have treats. I'll never be someone who buys no processed food and all organic because there are just some things that I refuse to give up and try telling my husband to quit the soda- that would be total grounds for divorce. I actually looked back on my grocery shopping posts to see if I have been doing good buying healthier food and guess what? I am not full of hot air; I have literally put my money where my mouth is (meat from Whole Foods is killing me but it is a commitment I made and one that I will keep).

At the same time, I don't in any way think that anyone else should do exactly as I do. If someone else want to buy different types of foods for their families who am I to look down on them? I am far from perfect and have been known to be a completely lazy mom so how can I tell someone else that they are terrible for giving their kid a Pop-Tart? There are some morning where I wish I had a giant box of Pop-Tarts to throw at my kids so they would leave me alone and let me sleep for fifteen more minutes. That is actually one reason why I don't buy a lot of junk food- I am lazy and if it's there I will let my kids shove their faces with it, especially on the days where I am feeling overwhelmed being the mom of three kids under the age of five- which actually seems like it's every day. The moms who do buy said junk most likely have more willpower than me and are able to ration it out properly.

Speaking of Pop-Tarts, my mouth is watering right now thinking about the S'mores flavor. Why oh why can't they make a dairy free S'mores Pop-Tart? And if the did you bet your life I would hide the box form the kids, not because I would want to keep the from eating junk food but because I would want to keep them all to myself.

Water Does a Body Good

I have a new goal for myself and hopefully I'm not too much of a degenerate and can stick to it.

I am going to drink 64 ounces of water a day, which is my gigantic water bottle filled two times. Why do I want to do this? Well, I've heard drinking water is good for you.

Hopefully being hydrated makes me feel better all around because then it will be worth having to pee twenty times a day.

Not a New Year's Resolution...

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I hate New Year's resolutions. They are really lame, which is why it is a bit annoying to me that New Year's happens to coincide with when my doctor has cleared me to get on with my life and not have to worry about busting open my c-section incision.

Now that I'm cleared I am most definitely going to get back into shape. This was my last baby and I will be damned if I'm going to be content with having a post baby jelly belly (every mom knows what I'm talking about). I've already lost most of the weight but would like to lose a few more pounds and would definitely like to tone myself up. To do this I am going to literally dust off my copy of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and somehow find thirty minutes a day to get my exercise on- I'll have to have a talk with the baby so that maybe, just maybe she'll let me put her down for thirty minutes.

Since I will be exercising and exerting energy I suppose I will have to start eating more during the day. I usually have some wheat toast and orange juice in the morning (with non-dairy butter) but somehow every day in the late afternoon I realize that I haven't eaten anything else and at that point it's almost dinner so I just wait until then to eat. My problem is that I am always running around taking care of the kids or attempting to keep the house looking like it doesn't belong on an episode of Hoarders. If I'm not doing that I'm sitting on the couch nursing the baby at which point I remember to eat but can't get up because I have a baby latched onto me.

So, to accomplish my get in shape goal (not a resolution) I am going to:
- work out five days a week using the 30 Minute Shred
- buy healthy, convenient and dairy free food at the store for quick lunches for me (most likely frozen meals)
- drink way more water and kick the soda habit (soda also aggravates my Crohn's Disease)

I'm not really that out of shape so as long as I can keep up my will power (I tend to be lazy in the exercise department) I should be back to my old self in no time. Or maybe after a week of exercising I will decide that I am in fact not that motivated and will wait until bikini season looms closer to scare me into getting in shape.