blessing in disguise

Ugh, I am so far behind in blogging! Not because I don't want to, but because I don't have a consistent internet connection in my apartment (because I "borrow" it from an unknowing neighbor...) and I can't access blogs at work.

First things first: I have lost a few pounds and I feel pretty good!

After two weeks ago when I ate like crap and felt close to throwing in the towel, I got back to planning, planning, planning. I spent that next Sunday grocery shopping my butt off, and planned a ton of healthy meals for the entire week. It's incredible how important this step is in developing a healthier lifestyle.

Through this meal planning, I have remembered how much I love salads. I have always been a big fan of salads, but I have had a mental block in making them because I "think" they take too much prep. WRONG. I made two salads for lunch this week and it took me less than five minutes. All that was in them were lettuce, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, avocado, and turkey. My dressing was a homemade vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon peel.

Salads bring me to my next topic: Gluten. Because I was tested for celiac disease a few years ago (which was negative), I never thought to further explore how I react to gluten. Turns out, I'm slightly/moderately gluten intolerant (for those of you keeping count, that now makes me gluten, soy, and dairy intolerant).

Before I cut out gluten, I thought it was normal for my stomach to stick out after eating. Not stick out from being full or fat, but my stomach has always protruded out a bit after eating. Now I realize that's called being bloated, and gluten makes me quite bloated. Since eliminating it from my diet, my stomach is much flatter after meals and I just feel all around lighter. It's hard to explain, but it feels like I've lost at least ten pounds just from not being bloated all day.

Now I haven't eliminated gluten from my diet 100%. I don't think that's realistic for me. However, I have eliminated about 90% of it from my diet, which I think it a good percentage for me. In the past month, I have had one piece of bread, whereas I usually ate bread on a daily basis. Instead of eating sandwiches for lunch, I have leftovers from dinner, or a salad.

The best swap I have made has to be at Subway. Subway is literally the only somewhat healthy place to eat within an eight mile radius of my work. On days that I don't bring a lunch, I usually go there. I have started ordering turkey salads instead, and because you can add as many veggies as you'd like, they fill me up as much as one of the sandwiches normally would.

I have realized that I'm thankful for all of the stomach pain I was in a couple of months ago because that was my big wake-up call to get my diet on track. It has led me to being so much more conscious of what I put in my body. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to be gluten/dairy/soy intolerant, but at least I have figured this out.

Morale of the story: never underestimate the blessings that may come from bad situations!