Gluten and Sugar-Free: A Mid-Month Update

I’ve been too absent from the blogging world.  I miss posting!  So I’m going to try to write more often and not let life get in the way.

So here’s an update about how my gluten/sugar-free month has been going!

For the most part, the adjustment has been easy!  I’ve been eating more fruits (bananas, berries, apples, and grapes!), spaghetti squash is in season, and I’ve been enjoying rice more and more.  I’ve had a few especially delicious meals, but here’s an old standby that I absolutely love:

An (mostly) egg white omelet (5 egg whites, 1 whole egg) with smoked salmon, dill, and a garlic and herb laughing cow cheese wedge, with a side of sautéed garlic and kale and sweet potato “fries”.

I could probably eat this meal every day and be happy.  Sometimes, instead of the kale, I munch on berries or grapes.  This meal is filling, feels decadent, and is super healthy.  It’s my meal of choice pre-climb– in fact, I think i’ll be having it tonight!

While my Bikram yoga membership has sadly expired and I am sadly broke, I have picked up running again on Saturdays to make up for it!  For the past two weeks I’ve done 6 miles in under an hour and shaved a minute off my time already!  I love the sore feeling my legs get after the run.  I’ve been climbing 2-3 times a week and going to step on Mondays, but still haven’t made it back to my strength/cardio class at the Y.  I did life some arm weights after my last run at least, and was even sore after them.

I haven’t been perfect, though.  This past week was Tuscon’s Meet Yourself, an event downtown designed to make you more culturally aware, but that mostly just stuffs you full of delicious cultural food.  Check out the obviously not sugar or gluten-free food I ate that weekend:

• chicken and pork steamed buns
• a tamale
• boba tea
• kataifi (a shredded wheat, honey, and nut Greek pastry)
• Danish donuts
• raspberry drink (Swedish)
• rose lemonade
• cabbage and mushroom pierogis (my favorite!)
• sorrel juice (a kind of syrupy tea)
• deep-fried banana
• fried okra
• yellow chicken curry with rice
• chicken satay
• more deep-fried banana

An impressive amount to say the least.  Despite this, I’ve been slowly losing weight over the past few weeks.  A few days of bad eating don’t ruin everything!  It’s only once a year, so I don’t feel guilty at all for my indulgence.   Next year I look forward to sampling some paella and getting more pierogis.

All in all, my sugar/gluten-free month has been going splendidly.  Day-to-day, I feel better, have less tummy troubles, and less cravings.  Overall, I’m losing weight and feeling healthier.  I’m going to allow myself one more cheat this month, though– if Frost has pumpkin gelato as its monthly flavor, I’ll be getting a cup!