No wheat = 8 pounds

So, I gave up wheat in July.  Well, I started to give up wheat in July.  Honestly, it was a bit of a tough journey.  Because: I love bread.

But I was having some health issues and I traced them to (possibly) pizza, and I don't want it to be cheese.

Over the space of July I gradually decreased my wheat intake.  I had a few slips.  On vacation, my friends said "well, you will probably have to give it a few months to see if it really helps."  Which, yuck.  I was hoping for 2-3 weeks?

Anyway, I dedicated myself to it, with a caveat...I didn't read too many labels (I'm looking at you, Costco meatballs) for the first bit.  And...I felt better.  Very gradually, so the "wait a few months" was a good suggestion.

I happened to give up wheat at the same time I started training for my Pier to Peak uphill half marathon.  So, I started to lose weight.  I didn't actually notice - I don't get on the scale often.  But a neighbor said something and I shrugged.  Then my officemate said something and I said "hmm".  Got on the scale, and I'd lost 4-5 pounds.  Hey hey hey, that's why I needed that belt.  This happened in about 6-7 weeks, so mid-August or thereabouts.

Fast forward to the race (which sucked, of course) and then the next month.  When I had this goal to maintain my 3x a week running, and at least 6-8 miles for my long run.  It didn't happen.  In the first month I only ran 4 times, once a week, on a weekend.  The "big" run was a 10k the week after the half.  The other runs were 4.5 miles or less.

On a whim I got on the scale and it's dropped more!  I made a comment on FB about the 8 lb loss.  Of course, this results in the resident expert on my health, fitness, and body mansplaining to me (at work, no less) that of course it's the running.  Nevermind that I actually live in this body, and have for 47 years, and track myself pretty well - my exercise, and food, etc.  Anyway, with the eventual "half the weight loss was after the race, and no I'm not training anymore" he sort of shut up.  He's just lucky I didn't have PMS that week.

(Seriously, what is up with that?  I was so effing cranky and sarcastic at work this week, that I think I scared the "new guy" who has been there 9 months.  I told him I think I have PMS.  Turns out, I was right.)

Anyway, I'd like to try and reintroduce wheat/ gluten.  The first attempt did not go well.  Same issues.  This weekend, I ate those Costco meatballs, same issue.  And I had a beer.  Boy, that was a mistake.  I guess I'm going to give it a longer bit of time before I try again.  And I bought some ingredients to attempt gluten-free baking (like Xanthan gum).  I was holding off on that, hoping it was temporary.

So if you have gluten free recipes, hit me with them!  Now what to do with a half a bottle of soy sauce in my fridge.  Kids will eat the meatballs no problem.

2017 Goals

Taking a page out of Mavis' book (I haven't done this before because it felt too overwhelming), I have 2017 goals!

1. Exercise:
Running: 300 miles, half marathon in May, and *maybe* the Pier to Peak half in September (depends on how May goes)
Biking: 500 miles (to/from work 2x a week)
Swimming: 50 miles
Walking: 150 miles (more running, less walking)
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (use that Beachbody all-access!)

2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000

3.  Weight: maintain or lose up to 5 lb

4.  Family:
Go on 12 family hikes
Do game night once a week

5.  Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket (a "thermometer" granny square blanket, based on the temperature each day)
- crochet a purse
- finish a quilting baby blanket
- participate in my quilting group's exchange
- make 12 snowflakes
- attempt to make socks

6.  Sleep: keep track of it and see if the low dose estrogen helps

7.  Food: eat vegan 2 days a week

8.  Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own

9.  Work:
     a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases)
     b. Personal:  Don't engage.  Really.  There's that one guy who is annoying.  And that other guy who just has a different opinion.  And he's always right, and he's impatient.  He really doesn't like to listen.  He seems friendly, (and is), but in a "do not engage or get into a discussion.  You will only annoy him, it's obvious, and he annoys you too."  It's okay.  Smile, listen, move on.  Then there is that third guy.  Also a great guy but you don't agree on a few work-related things.  Just don't discuss those things.

10.  Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.

11.  Garden: actually plant tomatoes this year.  Baby steps.

12.  Spouse: once a month lunch date

13.  Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day)
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships
- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum.  My doc thinks that my occasional light-headedness when exercising is a combo between low blood pressure + slight dehydration.

2016 By The Numbers

A little summary of 2016:

Grocery spending: $6864.21
(does not include meals out, personal hygiene items, or school lunches)
As a comparison:
2015: $5706.05 (trying to be extra frugal)
2014: $10,261 (big weight loss year)

Crafty things:
- One large crocheted blanket
- Two quilts
- A couple dozen crocheted Christmas decorations (snowmen, snowflakes, stockings, trees)
- One sewn tote bag (Steelers!)

Exercise and Fitness:
Walking: 297 miles
Biking: 233 miles
Running: 114 miles
Swimming: 51.5 miles
Weight training/ yoga: 2118 minutes
Hiking: 9.4 miles

Healthy Eating on Vacation - Part 3. Train travel

Welcome to Part 3 of my Healthy Eating on Vacation series - Train travel.

Mid-way through our trip, we took a train from my family's to my in-laws house.

This involved:
1.  2 hour drive to the "big city" (Erie)
2.  Dinner in Erie
3.  Overnight hotel stay
4.  Breakfast at McDonald's (included in the hotel stay)
5.  Train trip to Upstate NY

Train travel is much like airplane travel.  The food on Amtrak sucks (I know this by experience).  Luckily, this was a short trip - supposed to be 6 hours (was actually 7 due to construction).  I've been on 24 hour trips before...no fun in the food department.

This trip had a few new challenges:
1.  We had to carry all our bags with us (no checked bags)
2.  We were leaving from a hotel room, not from home. That limits your food choices.
3.  We were in the city for dinner, with no kitchen

Let's start with step 1: dinner.  Erie is like any other city, with many restaurants and grocery stores.  I knew that my stepdad would want to have dinner at a restaurant, and truthfully - we hadn't eaten out all trip at that point.  I chose Applebees, because I know they have paleo-friendly, lower calorie options.  I also know that they have meals that my stepdad likes.

In general, I avoid sit-down restaurants with the kids because the 3 year old cannot sit still.  And in fact, he didn't.  When his older brother was 2 to 4, we didn't eat out either.

I ordered the Napa chicken with portobellos.  I have to say, it was kind of bland and overcooked.  But my 3 year old loved it.  So much for choosing healthy - I ended up eating one of his mini-sliders. I tried to talk him into getting chicken, because he likes chicken, but NO.  (Step #1 of a good mom, always order something that your kid likes.  Step #2 be willing to trade with him.)

From there we went back to the hotel to go to bed.  We had a room with 2 double beds.  My stepdad was next door.  We all slept great!  Okay, I lie.  My toddler fell out of the bed.  So my husband joined us so we could trap him.  Two adults, one toddler, in a full bed.  And the toddler did NOT want to share, so he woke up every half hour to push, kick, and complain.

Train left at 7 am.  So we were up at 5 am.  We went to McDonald's for breakfast.  I know, I know.  But this particular hotel had no breakfast, but they gave you a voucher to the McD's across the parking lot.  Again, you have to be flexible.  Big boy ordered pancakes, but only ate one.  Toddler ate the other one.  I had a coffee (my second, the first was from the hotel office), and an Egg McMuffin, because I figured it would be filling.

Next thing we did is pack up.  This particular room had a fridge.  I'd taken some snacks in a cooler up with us.  This is a good tip - your food choices expand when you have access to refrigeration.  It was very nice of my stepdad to drive us up and stay up overnight to take us to the station.

Snacks from the fridge that we packed up:
1.  string cheese
2.  hard boiled eggs - I peeled them at the hotel and put them in a baggie with salt and pepper
3.  apples
4.  raw veggies again (cucumber, carrots mostly)

Other snacks:
Granola bars
Nuts
2 small bags of M&Ms from grandpa's house.  That candy did come in handy.  My newly potty trained toddler is afraid of public restrooms (can you blame him?) His reward for using the train bathroom was the M&M's.
Water bottles

So my meals looked like this:
Breakfast: egg McMuffin
Snack: shakeo protein shake (I just made it and shook it up and drank it on the way to the train station)
Lunch/snacks on the train: Quest bar, raw veggies, apple, eggs, string cheese.
Dinner: birthday party at my MILs house!  Did I mention that we were traveling on hubby's birthday?

Again, my husband and kids bought some additional snacks, coffee, water, and lemonade from the train.

All in all the 7 hour trip wasn't too bad.  Amtrak seats are pretty comfy and spacious. The kids napped, watched movies, colored, played games on the pads.  We enjoyed the sights, the brief view of the lake.  We had to stop 2x for construction, which made us an hour late.

Probably the most exciting/ scary/ stupid part was watching people at the Erie station.  There was a cargo train that went by before the passenger train.  About 1/4 mile down the tracks there were two people purposely standing in front of the train and jumping out at the last minute.  For both trains.  I hope they were arrested.  Sometimes I think about Darwin, but really you have to feel bad for the guys driving the train.

Have you ever traveled by train?  Do you have any other tips on packing food for the train?

Some Follow-up on The Pyramid and vacation review

Wow, some great comments on my last post!  Just some notes:

I do not mean to bash grains. I love grains.  I think whole grains are a healthy food. I don't even think white bread is going to kill you.  Millions of Frenchmen and women (who eat croissants), can't be wrong, right?  I think most foods belong in a healthy diet (in moderation), but we have to figure out what "in moderation" is?  (Note: it's probably not daily.)

In fact, one of my favorite recent reads is The Blue Zones that chronicles the diet and lifestyle of the areas of the world with the most centenarians.  Several of the areas eat whole grains.  Corn tortillas, brown rice.

You will probably never see me go full-on Paleo or Primal because I love grains and beans.  I've been very nearly vegetarian on many occasions. I have a shelf full of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks.

The issue I have is the Food Pyramid, and it's specification that we eat 6 servings (6-11 actually) of grains per day.  Prior to it's release, we had "Basic 4".  Well, for the last 20+ years, that's what I've based by eating habits around.  Okay, to be honest, I didn't think much about what I ate until I woke up one day at 31 weighing 182 pounds.  But that year, 2002, I put a lot of effort into losing weight via Weight Watchers, and have done really well maintaining that weight loss since.  (With two excursions due to having babies.)

Over the years I've "control-checked" my diet with weight watchers, a dietitian, my fitness pal. or the USDA website,  The thing they have in common is the Food Pyramid.

When I was younger, it was  no problem.
When I was nearing 40 and training for races (half marathons), it was no problem.
When I had a baby at 42, and had a couple of years of lack of sleep, plus stress (layoffs at work), plus injuries (cannot do high impact exercise anymore) = problem.

I'm coming to terms with the fact that I cannot eat that much grain anymore, and still lose weight.  I am  not giving up grain - still eating 2 servings per day - generally a piece of toast for breakfast and perhaps 1/2 c. rice or quinoa for dinner, or maybe crackers in my soup.

What I find interesting about the whole thing is how personal it becomes.  Some people never have a weight problem, and I find it's hard for them to understand.  Several years ago I read Refuse to Regain by Dr. Barbara Berkeley (an obesity doctor).  One thing that she has learned in  her work is that people who are FOW (formerly overweight) metabolize food differently than people who were NOW (never overweight).  Particularly carbs.  So her recommendation for people to maintain their weight loss is to restrict carbohydrates. If you've been overweight, your body stores them more efficiently - you permanently changed how your body works.  (Depressing, huh?)

When I read the book I was happily maintaining my weight loss (this is pre baby#2), so I figured that I was never hugely obese, so I didn't need to restrict carbs like that.  I had some inklings however - I had one friend who I walked a lot with on weekends.  When she was about 62 I noted how trim she'd always been.  She said "I don't really eat that many carbs".  She has oatmeal for breakfast and maybe the occasional bit of rice or potato for dinner.

Just last year I attended a women's retreat run by a personal chef and a personal trainer.  The chef, who is 60, said "well once you are over 40, if you want to maintain a healthy weight, you cannot eat more than X number of carbs per day" (I wrote it down, but do not remember the number.)  I ignored her, of course, because - Food Pyramid.

I have been very resistant to the idea of restricting carbs - but in reality, I'm not really "restricting". I still eat 2 cups of fruit per day.  Yogurt.  Lots of vegetables.  Beans several times per week.  Grains and/or potatoes 2 times a day.  I've just now started to realize that 6 servings a day, at my exercise level and age, is not doable.  And I've also found out that 6 servings a day is a MADE UP NUMBER BASED ON NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.

Okay, on to the camping review.  We camped 2 nights nearby - El Capitan SB.  We booked in June and there was literally ONE site available.  Man, we got a GREAT one!  One neighbor, lots of shade, lots of space for the kids to run, not TOO close to the RR tracks (but let's face it, the whole campground is near the RR tracks), not near the ocean/cliffs/creek/roads (I have a toddler).

The kids had a great time sleeping in the tent (though the 2 year old slept with me a LOT), eating at a picnic table, and playing at the beach and in the waves.  We used our  new campstove that heats water for coffee WAY faster.

And the big hits foodwise?  Nachos (tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and canned chili on top, with guacamole), and hard boiled eggs.  We ran out of eggs.

Beach

Campstove

Zucchini bread and instant coffee

Our picnic basket which is GREAT for camping

Inside of the basket

The tent

Ahhh

What to Eat (a brief review) and The Food Pyramid of 1992 - How it Probably F*cked Up My Life

Very deep title there, eh?  Not my usual stuff.

Well the vacation went fairly well.  We didn't sleep that much (it's hard to get the little guy to sleep in a hotel room).  We had fun at Legoland, the Water Park at Legoland, Manhattan Beach, and the California Science Center (got to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor).

Vacation, to me, has always meant reading books.  I love to read.  So does my husband (our dating life was dinner out and then a bookstore, almost every week).  So I took three books with me on the trip (I was reading four at once).  This time around, they were all non-fiction:

Simple Food for the Good Life - Helen Nearing
Death by Food Pyramid - Denise Minger
What to Eat - Luise Light

I bought Death by Food Pyramid on my Kindle, and was in the early stages of it when she mentioned What to Eat.  So I decided to order What to Eat on Amazon (used, for $1.00, plus shipping).

That book was eye-opening, to say the least. She has 10 simple rules for how to eat healthy.  They make so much sense!  And they would have been really helpful in 2006 (when the book came out).

The single biggest thing that I got out of this whole book is this: Luise Light was the nutritionist in charge of creating the USDA Food Pyramid in the late 1980s.  She had a team of experts collecting data, reading the literature, studying results of tests comparing dietary factors and disease.  She was very proud to submit her recommendations to the USDA.

And then...what came back bore little resemblance to her pyramid.  So the experts did their due diligence, made their recommendations, and politics changed the food pyramid in response to industry pressures.

I am so disillusioned.  Why, you ask?  Well.  The Food Pyramid came out when I was in my early 20's.  It's been a HUGE part of my life - HUGE as I've been interested in health and fitness.  And I have struggled with my weight. I have lost weight on Weight Watchers and by using a variety of other plans.  Most of which were based on the food pyramid.  Every dietitian I have worked with, or have read, discusses the food pyramid (low fat/ high carb).  Lots of whole grains, low-fat cheese, skim milk, you get the picture.

In the last year or so, I've found alternative eating plans that have called for a major reduction in carbs.  (For example: Primal Blueprint, 21-day fix).  And while I followed them, or tried to, in the back of my mind I always thought "but 2-3 servings of carbs a day is NOT sustainable, the Food Pyramid/ USDA recommends 6!  Eating vegetarian/ high carb is better for the planet, better for your health."

And it was all a LIE!  The original food pyramid submitted to the USDA?  2-4 servings of WHOLE GRAINS per day.  TWO (for most women, more for men and teenagers). In addition, the dairy recommendation was only 1-2 servings.  Is it any wonder that I have a problem losing and maintaining weight?  All of those people who eat "low carb" were pretty much right.  I thought it was a fad - but really 2 servings of grain a day is a LOT closer to the Paleo/ Primal/ Low carb lifestyle than it is to the USDA recommendations of SIX servings.

So for fun, I went to the USDA website CHOOSE MY PLATE and put in my age, sex, and weight and said "I want to lose weight".  It recommended a reasonable 1500 calories per day.  Commercial programs recommend 1200 to 1400.  It also recommended SIX servings of grain, THREE servings of dairy, etc.  I decided to use the Supertracker to simulate a basic day's eating plan based on their minimum recommendations.  What did I get?  2000 calories!  Despite their recommendation of 1500 calories a day, if I eat six grains, three dairy servings, etc., I end up with almost 2000 calories.  Is it any wonder I am fat?

So I played around with Supertracker and here is what I found:

Using the USDA recommendations 1951 calories - probably won't make me fat, but no wiggle room for anything extra.


Cutting grains down to 2-3 servings per day 1707 calories.  Still probably not enough for weight loss.

Cutting grains down to 2-3 servings and dairy down to 1 to 2, 1458 calories.

And here was my actual intake for this particular day, 1455 calories.

So right now, this very moment, I am in mourning for my grains.  I am trying to come to terms with 2 servings a day.  At least Luise Light is a little bit easier than the 21 Day Fix.  21DF lumps beans/ legumes/ peas and potatoes in with carbohydrates.  Luise Light allows for potatoes as a vegetable and beans as a vegetable or a protein.

How do you adjust?  No more sandwiches!  I mean, a single sandwich is both  my grain servings for that day.  What about a burrito?  Yep, a burrito with rice would put me over.  And pizza!  Well, I guess pizza is an occasional food anyway. What is guacamole without chips?  Bruschetta without the bread? I've been trying to focus on what I SHOULD eat, not what I SHOULDN'T eat.  It's going to be a challenge, that's all I can say.  And from a "frugal cooking" standpoint, even more so.  Grains are cheap.

Even now, when I google "How Much Grain Should I Eat?" the first many many pages are based on the USDA recommendations. :(

How much grain do you eat?