After being plagued by eczema, stress, fatigue, bad skin, bloating and a disco dancing monthly cycle for the past few months, it was suggested to me that perhaps a change in diet could be called for.
I do not think that I have a dreadful diet, but my body was obviously trying to tell me something and as I have also struggled to lose that last stone of baby weight, I thought it could do no harm to investigate how changing my diet might kill a few birds with one stone. Or, about 6kg for those preferring the metric system.
So, last week I decided to try to live wheat and dairy free. I also became one of those weird people who cut out caffeine and I also considered giving up wine, but realised that would be too ridiculous.
I expected it to be a miserable week. I expected to give in on day 2 and gorge on white bread pasta sandwiches with melted cheese on top.
But, it was actually much easier than I thought.
Fortunately, there is a Planet Organic close to my office so I popped in there for lunch and feasted on teriyaki salmon salad on Monday, vegan shepherd’s pie on Tuesday, chicken with rice noodles and cashew nuts on Wednesday, falafel with baba ghanoush on Thursday and an egg mayo sandwich on rye bread on Friday. Yum.
I snacked on oatcakes, nuts and corn thins. For dinner, I would have things like brown rice with veg, baked fish, risotto (with fake cheese!) and beans on gluten-free toast (as I had spent a small fortune and needed to rein some of it back in). I drank only water and green tea!
Ok, and a diet coke on the weekend because I couldn’t deal with the withdrawal headache on a hangover.
During the week, I noticed a vast improvement in my eczema, my skin cleared up and I was definitely feeling like less of a bloater. Someone at work even commented that I looked bright-eyed!
It was fabulous. I felt I had finally found a diet that suited me and I was on quite a high.
Until this morning, when I hopped happily on the scales and discovered that I had gained 4 pounds.
DEVASTATED does not cover it. I am now the heaviest I have ever been not pregnant.
So earlier today, I called an emergency meeting with a nutritionist-in-training and she explained that sometimes it takes a while for the body to adjust to a new regime and to give it a month before making any hasty decisions.
She also advised me to eat carbs much earlier in the day as it is not good to have a heavy risotto at 8.30pm when you generally go to bed at 9.30pm (I have a toddler, I work full-time, I’m exhausted).
So, I’m giving the wheat & dairy free thing another go but will cut back on the late night carbs and try snacking on fewer oatcakes and ‘Free From’ chocolate bars (they still have calories, you know).
‘and quit the vino’ the Greek God(zilla) interjected helpfully before I banished him to the spare room.
How do you stay healthy?
Hi, I’ve had to give up wheat and dairy due to severe intolerance to them. It’s a far easier and healthy lifestyle. I’m enjoying it now, though it took a while to find alternatives. The biggest tip I can give is find alternatives to your favourite dairy (it it happens to be ice crea etc) and wheat foods, then you don’t miss them at all. Also I’m not coeliac so I can use spelt flour which is a great alternative to the standard wheat if you can tolerate it. (It is related to wheat and has gluten). Hope they are of some help. Best of luck it’s worth it.