P.S.

Because of my previous post, I should probably explain why I expected to be gaining weight (or at least not losing).

As you may know, I started this blog to record my journey through the land of gluten free foods after finding out in 2008 that I have the following autoimmune disorders: rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune hepatitis, and celiac disease. I was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the same time, which may or may not be an autoimmune disease itself, but is frequently associated with AI diseases.

This is in addition to the AI diseases that I already knew I had: asthma, psoriasis, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Then I found out a few weeks ago that I've now developed Sjogren's Syndrome. Another AI disease!!

Well, as the links near the top will tell you (under FAQ), celiac disease apparently causes many people to develop other autoimmune diseases. Since I have celiac disease, it's not surprising I have other AI diseases. I'm on a gluten free diet in hopes that all of them will improve.

Some people have reported that their RA and fibro have gone into remission on a gf diet.

So, because of all of these nasty health issues, I'm currently on about a BAZILLION medications, and at least two of them (probably more) are known to cause weight gain: prednisone and Lyrica. The prednisone has already helped me gain more than 50 pounds in the past year! :(

My prednisone dosage was recently raised, and I started to take Lyrica about a month ago. I was warned by the doctor that it would probably cause me to gain weight.

Consequently, I am so relieved to see even the small weight loss reported in my previous post! I'm sure you understand!!

OMG!

I stepped on the scales for the first time in over two weeks, expecting to be upset by either a gain or (at the very least) staying basically the same. Instead the scale registered a six-pound loss!!

Wahoo!! :)

Ok, so why exactly have I lost weight? That is, what have I been doing differently?

Mainly I've been concentrating on protein foods/fruits/veggies for breakfast and lunch. I frequently eat cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast (a low carb fruit like berries). And I eat leftover proteins from dinner for lunch (leftover pesto chicken is great for lunch!). Salads are a good choice too!

Dinners have not been low carb in general, but apparently that's OK! I seem to be following the low carb diet made popular by Drs. Richard and Rachel Heller, who wrote the book called "The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet". The premise is that as long as you eat low carb for most of the day, you can have one hour per day during which you can eat "normal food"....in other words, pasta, pizza, even dessert. Of course, they suggest that you make the meal that you eat during this time a balanced one, with protein, starch, veggies, etc.

Frankly, I never thought this approach would work....I've always been more of an Atkins dieter myself. Now that's a REAL low carb diet!

I may end up on Atkins again eventually (when this stops working), but for now I'm enjoying having some carbs with dinner!

Gluten Free Menu Swap!

The Gluten-Free Menu Swap was started by Natalie and is now being continued by Cheryl.

It's being hosted this week by Kimberly at Gluten Free is Life. Her ingredient choice for this week's Menu Swap is cherries! Yum, I love cherries! I don't have anything on the menu with cherries in it, but I'm going to have to go check out those cherry recipes right now! :)

There are some wonderful Gluten Free menus posted at Kimberly's blogsite, including hers!

Gluten Free Menu Plan for the Week of August 3rd

Yes, I'm actually posting a menu plan this week! I'm still grading papers, but things are slowly settling down so that I can actually catch my breath! I have a lot of sweet potatoes to use this week, as you can see....

Monday: Crockpot Pesto Chicken and Baked Sweet Potatoes, steamed broccoli

Tuesday: Crockpot BBQ ribs with homemade gluten-free BBQ sauce, potato salad, celery and baby carrots

Wednesday: Crockpot Beef Stroganoff, gluten free noodles, green beans with dill

Thursday: Cheeseburgers with Microwave Buns, Sweet Potato Oven Fries, green salad

Friday: Kay's Pasta Gratin (gluten free version), green salad

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Grading, grading and more grading

The final exam for my 6 week summer class (algebra) was this past Friday, 31 July. I'm grading papers now.

HOWEVER, I definitely intend to post a menu plan.....

I know, I said that last week. But this time I mean it! :)

Where have I been, anyway??

Nowhere fun, that's for sure.....I wish I had been on vacation, but it's just been due to the fact that my day job entered a hectic phase at the same time I started teaching a six-week summer math class.

Naturally this left me no time for cooking or blogging or anything! :(

Things are calming down a bit on the work front and I promise that I will be posting meal plans again beginning next week....going without for a couple of weeks made me realize how helpful it's been to have menu plans! It does waste a great deal of time to have to come home at night after a long day at work and have to actually think about what to make for dinner!

Makes my head hurt....

Well, we've been eating healthy dinners for the most part, and definitely gluten free; I made Crockpot Garlic Chicken with mashed potatoes and a green salad tonight....yum! One of our favorite dinners, and so incredibly easy!

We have not (yet) gone low carb; I've been so busy I haven't had time to think about doing something like that. It would be a fairly big change, I suppose. But I already eat cottage cheese for breakfast, and try to concentrate on protein for lunch as well. Dinner is where the carbs are....pasta is frequently on the menu.

So anyway, I'm still here, and will be blogging again soon! :)

No real plan for this week

My husband and I continue to experience symptoms even though we've been gluten free for a while now. His skin is still flaring up from time to time, while my headaches, brain fog, mouth sores and gastric symptoms come and go as well. Plus both of us are currently at uncomfortably high weights.... :(

From the many many posts on the forum at celiac.com, I've discovered that a large percentage of celiacs had to give up additional foods as well before they really started to heal. Many of them eliminated dairy, soy, and most or all grains. Which leaves veggies, fruits, and meat.

We are still discussing what to do....my own preference would be to go on a modified low carb diet, which I always did well on before I was diagnosed. Eating low carb in the past always gave me lots of energy, I lost weight, and my "IBS" went away!

Well, of course it did, because I was eating gluten "light"....no bread, cereal, baked goods, pasta, etc. Naturally I would feel better on a low carb diet because I didn't have IBS, I had celiac disease.

So I had a ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet this morning for brunch. But I'm not sure about dinner yet.

More soon!

Update: We're having lamb chops and a green salad for dinner! :)