Cahliah's Reintroduction Log

[cahliah]

Yesterday (3/7) was the final day of my (and my mother's) Whole30. We did pretty good. Not a ton of victories for me, other than what I've learned, but my mom made a lot of progress in a lot of areas.

We don't intend to continue eating Paleo after reintroductions, but we do intend to keep our food as close to whole as possible.

Our reintroduction schedule will be as follows (assuming everything goes to plan - which it never does.)
3/8 - Dairy
3/11 - Non-gluten grains
3/14 - Gluten-containing grains
3/17 - Beans & legumes (peanuts for my mom, none for me - I already know peanuts kill my stomach)
3/20 - Alcohol (beer and/or wine for my mom, rum for me - don't care for beer & wine)

We're not reintroducing added sugars separately, but we're going to be more careful about where we allow them, and what types of sugar. Soda is out for me, and my mom will only be allowing it sparingly (I know myself enough to know that 'sparingly' would turn into 'once a day' and then 'three times a day' and then 'what's water???')

I intend to avoid soy products whenever possible, whether or not they cause issues that I can sense. I don't like the potential long-term issues associated with it, especially with how much it's processed in order to get to the form it's used in in pretty much every processed food.

My mom (who I say did Whole-ish30, as she didn't follow the rules to a T) will be continuing to eat previously reintroduced on reintro days (butter on bread, for instance) but I will be doing what I can not to do so.

I plan on continuing to cook from scratch in the future, though I may allow some prepared foods in, so long as the ingredients are acceptable to me. The only exception being bread - we will not be buying bread from the store anymore - we know we would go right back to allowing it to be the base of our diets. Instead, when we want bread, I will be baking it from scratch. Which I love to do, and we all love homemade bread, but it definitely won't be an every day thing if I have to bake it.

 

Today was dairy reintroduction day, so I had yogurt with my 1st meal (Pakistani Kima), cheese in my 2nd meal (Crustless "pizza" bake), with ice cream for dessert, and will have cheese again in my 3rd meal (the last of the "pizza" bake.)

The yogurt didn't seem to cause any immediate issues - but I didn't expect it to. Yogurt has been one of my main sources of probiotics, and one of the foods that I use as a fall-back when my stomach is upset.

The cheese seemed fine, too. Again, no surprise there. And, wow, was it good to finally have it back!

The ice cream, however... First, despite it being decent quality ice cream, and despite my checking all the ingredients for additives that could cause problems, it didn't sit right. My throat & esophagus felt inflamed after eating it, and my stomach wasn't too happy, either. Plus, it really didn't taste all that great - I wound up adding a banana to it in order to make it taste better, and I think I would have been  happier with just a banana. I've suspected for years that I'm slightly lactose intolerant, or at least sensitive, but I generally have only noticed problems when drinking straight white milk. I've thought, in the past, that the addition of sugar stopped all the reactions I have, but I realize that I might have been having reactions a lot more than I ever noticed. And it would explain part of why I tended to vomit if I ate too much, or ate desserts (usually with ice cream) after having a meal.

I won't be eating ice cream again, except in small quantities on special occasions, and only where I feel that it's worth the potential for issues. I'm also going to keep an eye on how I react to recipes involving milk, and will definitely avoid drinking it straight in the future. Cheese and yogurt will remain on my ok list, though, unless I find myself having reactions to them, too.

[cahliah]

...yeah, definitely going to have to add a few days onto the end of the reintroductions and try dairy again, but break it up into types.

Threw up for the first time in over a month. Stomach is killing me - this is exactly what I used to deal with on almost a weekly basis. So something I ate today set it off - and I can't really be sure if it was the yogurt, cheese, ice cream, or even the pepperoni, as the pepperoni had pork in it.

Makes me glad I decided to stick to a reintroduction schedule instead of just going right into eating what I wanted. Sucks tonight - and I'm going to be curling up in bed (early for me) as soon as I submit this... But a week or three of potential bad reactions while I work through what I can and can't eat is much better than spending the rest of my life unknowingly causing these issues.

[JenHZ]

sorry but if you can figure it out that will be so terrific.

[Guest]

Did the ice cream have corn syrup in it?  Most do, even 'all natural' Ben & Jerry's.  That might have added to your woes.  I'm sorry you got sick.

[cahliah]

10 hours ago, Georgina2 said:

Did the ice cream have corn syrup in it?  Most do, even 'all natural' Ben & Jerry's.  That might have added to your woes.  I'm sorry you got sick.

Nope, no corn syrup. I was careful about which ice cream we got. The only ingredients that weren't W30 approved were the dairy, obviously, and the cane sugar.

It's ok that I got sick, no matter how much it sucks, though - because it told me that something that I ate yesterday has been causing my digestive issues. I just have to make sure there's nothing else doing it, then figure out the specifics of what caused it.

[cahliah]

Last night was pretty bad. No worse than what I usually get every couple of weeks, but after not having it for a month, it felt worse than ever. I'm not entirely sure that it was the ice cream that did it, though, so I'm adding a couple more reintroduction days to the end of my list. My mom doesn't have to do them - she seems fine - but I'm definitely going to go back and double check on the dairy.

Today was back to W30 - oven roasted meatballs, potatoes, and carrots for dinner, none of which I enjoyed. The meatballs, all I could taste and feel on my tongue was the coconut flour, and the veggies were just... Meh.

Before that, all I ate was a little applesauce, some cashews, and an orange. My stomach felt too weak to eat anything else (even the cashews were pushing it), and I think I should probably have just not had the meatballs, too. Oh well.

I'll have more of my Kima tonight, if I think my stomach is up to it. If not, I'll have an orange and maybe some cashews or walnuts. Fruit is easier on my stomach than vegetables.

I noticed, though, that today was the first time I felt the mucousy feeling and cough that used to be a normal part of my day to day life. Didn't even realize taht it went away during my Whole30! I assumed that was from corn syrup, but I avoided corn syrup all day yesterday. Guess that's another dairy side effect - ack!

I can give up milk in most cases, but I really hope that I can at least have my cheese back without getting violently ill.

[cahliah]

So, last night, when I made meatballs, my mom decided she was going to dip them in ketchup. We already decided we weren't going to worry too much about sugar, so long as we kept sugar-containing products in moderation, so she just used the ketchup we had in our fridge (Hunt's.) This morning she told me that, while she was at work last night, she found herself really tired, with all the energy she gained from Whole30 totally sapped. As yesterday was a W30 day, and the only thing she did different was the ketchup, my guess is that even that little bit of high fructose corn syrup was messing with her. Needless to say, I did some looking and found a different ketchup that should be better - still has some sugar, but it's an organic ketchup with reduced sugar - and no artificial sweeteners added to make up for the reduced sugar.

1st meal today was a chicken & apple sausage, celery w/cashew butter, and an orange. Made chicken for dinner - threw some frozen chicken tenderloins on a pan, added seasonings, and baked them. My mom and daughter liked it, I thought it was dry and a bit tasteless. Had an orange with it, because I was too tired to do the carrot fries I initially planned (was a long day, and didn't get enough sleep last night.) For my 3rd meal, though, I mixed a little bit of honey in with some stone-ground mustard and coconut milk, and wound up with a decent dipping sauce - enough to make the chicken palatable (though next time, I'll do half stone-ground and  half yellow mustard, and add more coconut milk.) Added an orange to that and called it good, though I'll have some more celery with almond butter tonight.

I'm feeling much better after kicking the milk back to the curb, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's reintroduction - gluten free grains!

I have a packet of almond & rice crackers that I'll be having with one meal, some gluten-free oatmeal for another meal, and for dinner I'm making chili with (dairy-free) cornbread - which I've been looking forward to for a week now. My mom got a box of honey nut Chex that she's going to have for breakfast (with milk, since she didn't have a reaction, and doesn't think she really needs to follow the reintroduction - she's an adult, I'm not going to fight her on that.) And she's getting some tortilla chips to eat with salsa.

I'm hoping that tomorrow goes a lot better than Wednesday did. Don't see any reason why it wouldn't, but I didn't think I'd have a reaction to milk, either.

[cahliah]

Today was gluten-free grains day!

Started off the day early. Had a chicken & apple sausage, handful of cashews, and a small cup of gluten-free apple cinnamon oatmeal, with a banana mixed in because it honestly didn't taste like anything other than oats.

After that, my daughter had a state-wide orchestra contest she had to go to with her class, so we drove 1/2 hour out for that. On the way back, everyone was hungry, so my mom decided to stop at McDonalds.

Yeah.... That doesn't work for me. At least, not right now.

My daughter had a fish sandwich, my mom got french fries and a coke (bad mom!), and I got to smell the food the full 1/2 hour it took to get home. But, I wound up eating tortilla chips dipped in taco meat & salsa. Which, in my opinion, is better than McDonalds any day!

Dinner was bean-free chili and dairy-free, gluten-free cornbread. I had a bit of an anxiety attack while I was cooking, but that's not unexpected, considering everything that's happened the past couple of days, and the fact that I haven't been getting enough sleep. Had a bit of a headache today, too, but I don't think that's so much about the grains but, again, about stress and lack of sleep.

Haven't noticed any digestive issues, aside from being a bit overstuffed after eating too much chili & cornbread. I'll wait and see what happens tomorrow, though.

Still have another meal in a few hours - will probably have more chili & cornbread - or maybe the little sample size pack of gluten-free pasta that I found in my snack drawer.

[cahliah]

Still feeling fine after yesterday. The time change (and previous lack of sleep) definitely screwed with me a bit today, but other than that, feeling no side effects from the non-gluten grains - even after having a slice of cornbread with my first meal today.

First meal was leftover chili & cornbread. After that, I snacked a bit, and didn't really have a 2nd meal - just some cashews, a little chicken, and a banana over the course of 6 hours or so. My brother visited, and my day started late, so I'm just glad I managed to keep it on-plan. 3rd meal, I had a chicken & apple sausage, an egg with some chili, celery & cashew butter (which I'm finding I don't like as much - it has a bit of an odd aftertaste), and a banana. Bit too much food, probably - I think, after snacking for my 2nd "meal," I was feeling pretty hungry and in need of something filling, so I filled up a bit too much.

Wound up not having that pasta yesterday, which is fine - I might need to save it in case I can't handle gluten! The crackers, too, I had to leave off - though those were because I double-checked the ingredients, and they had dairy in them ("natural flavors" that specifically said contain milk.)

My mom will be done with her reintroductions on the 22nd, including 2 days after reintroducing alcohol. My last reintroduction day is the 29th, which will be a quick reintroduction of alcohol, as we're going on a trip either on the 30th or 31st, and trying to eat W30 while on a trip that's supposed to be relaxing doesn't sound like my idea of fun. It's bad enough that I'm likely going to have to watch out for dairy!

Tomorrow's dinner will be shepherd's pie, which is a proven winner here. Then, Tuesday, we're going to have spaghetti & meatballs, and I'm going to make homemade bread, and possibly a dessert of some sort - maybe a carrot cake - with natural sweeteners, and no refined sugars (or a single-serve something after everyone else goes to bed and I'm still up and working.) 

[cahliah]

Quick log for today.

Another W30 day - breakfast was 2 eggs, chicken & apple sausage, chili, and banana. Didn't really follow the meal template, might be why I've been hungry pretty much all day. Shepherd's pie for 2nd meal (and 3rd.) Got a snack subscription box in the mail today, but didn't touch hardly any of it - 2 fruit chews sweetened only with honey, and then tried the peppermint & honey patties from last month's box - which were absolutely horrible.

Tomorrow, I find out if I can handle gluten. Really hope I can - would hate to have to hunt down gluten-free meals while we're on vacation. But, I know, for a lot of people, that's their daily reality. Still sucks.

Was bad and spent a little too much money on clothes, mostly for the trip, but also because I'm realizing  I don't like half of what's in my wardrobe - so, for each item I bought, I will be getting rid of something. At least, that's the plan. Will be nice to have at least one pair of jeans that fits and doesn't fall down all the time. 

[cahliah]

So far, so good. I haven't noticed any reactions to the gluten-containing grains!

Had a bagel spread with homemade pizza sauce with my shepherd's pie for 1st meal (toasted a bagel from the freezer, then realized I had nothing to put on it... pizza sauce to the rescue!) Also, a bag of chocolate emoji cookies. Because I wanted to have something from my snack box.

Made 2 loaves of bread (was only going to do 1, but my mom pleaded, and it was the same amount of work, so I just went with it.) Grocery money is tight this week, so I just went with a white bread, as we didn't have the money to buy the whole wheat flour. My mom loved it, I loved it, my daughter loved it... It was good.... and the first loaf might have been gone within an hour. Oops. This is why I won't be making bread every day.

Meal 2 was spaghetti with ground beef and marinara, because I was too tired to make meatballs (long day, and didn't get much sleep last night.) I was going to just use whole grain spaghetti, but my mom, again, pleaded for me to at least do half & half with plain, white spaghetti. Turns out, nobody could tell the difference between the two, so from now on, it'll be whole grain spaghetti. Also had a couple slices of bread with meal 2.

Meal 3 will be shepherd's pie and more bread. And maybe a mug carrot cake or something.

I think we definitely need to be more careful with grains in the future, reactions or not, because it would be incredibly easy to go back to filling our diets with grains and ignore the meats, vegetables, and fruits that we really should be eating. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm going to do my best, even if my mom eventually goes back to how things were before.

Tomorrow: Sheet pan fajitas
Thursday: Uh... I have no idea whatsoever
Friday: Legumes reintroduction - roast chicken w/ baked beans, black beans or chili for lunch, and canned bean soup for my mom

[cahliah]

...and it looks like gluten is not my friend.

Woke up this morning, and within an hour, I was having "stomach" issues. Won't go into details, but this is what has plagued me my entire life. And what I haven't had except for 4 specific occasions over the past month and a half - when I ate pork, when I ate dairy (violently so then), and now today, after gluten. Bah.

Didn't eat much today - cup of applesauce, a few nuts. My mom made meatloaf for dinner, which my stomach was not ready for, and it complained rather loudly for a couple hours after.

Already doing my research into gluten-free options while we're on vacation, and thankfully, it seems like I'll be ok. Even my daughter's favorite restaurant chain, Noodles, has an option for me, even with dairy issues (and peanuts, and trying to avoid soy.) Plus, there's a little bakery a couple towns over that is 100% gluten & dairy free, and they also have paleo options... Starting to look like I'm going to be eating mostly paleo, whether or not I want to. At least I can have non-gluten grains!

Not sure if I'm going to eat any more tonight - probably should if I work, but not sure I'm going to work tonight. Might take the night off and just relax, after today.

I almost don't want to try reintroducing anything else at this point - 2 out of 3 things I've introduced have been troublemakers!

[JenHZ]

yeah a couple extra days of w30 might be comforting after those gut issues

[Guest]

I'm sorry gluten didn't work out.

[cahliah]

Last night, I kept waking up with an upset stomach, but managed to get back to sleep easily enough. My mom used regular oatmeal in the meatloaf, and I'm guessing that was the problem - unless it's specified as gluten free, it can contain gluten-containing grains. Oh well.

Because of the upset stomach, my first meal consisted of an orange (yay!) and a handful of cashews & walnuts mixed together. Had another orange a few hours later, because obviously, one orange and some nuts isn't going to hold me over for 6 hours.

Made sheet pan fajitas (with no tortillas for me) for dinner. My daughter loved the chicken, ate a bite each of the green & red peppers, and said she didn't like them. Again. But that's ok - the rule now is, she has to try one bite of everything, but she doesn't have to like it. I figure, eventually, she'll find things that she does like, or grow to enjoy some of the things she thinks she hates. My mom, on the other hand, didn't really care for them. She didn't like the spices on the chicken (even though they're the same spices I put in the chili that she said there weren't enough of. Crazy lady.)

There's still a huge bowl of leftover spaghetti from the other night, on the top shelf of the fridge, and it's been taunting me. Usually, it would have  been gone by now - easy leftovers meal, and one of my favorite weird foods is grilled cheese & spaghetti sandwiches - grilled cheese (has to be with Kraft American cheese) with a layer of leftover spaghetti inside. And I can't have it again without killing my stomach. Bah.

Tried to make myself full enough to not care for my 2nd/3rd meal - leftover fajita meat & veggies, celery with cashew butter, and an orange. While I ate, I was telling my sister about how the pasta has been taunting me... And she proceeded to tell me about this amazing meal she made last night - with pasta. Bah. So, I munched my celery all pouty-like, and told her how, when I'm there in the fall, I'm going to bring an ice cream maker and make coconut milk ice cream for her lactose intolerant wife and myself, and she can have regular store-bought ice cream, cuz her wife and I are special. Hah! 

...and, then, I spent an hour looking at recipes for paleo desserts. I swear, my paleo board on Pinterest is 99.9% desserts & baked goods, with maybe 3-4 other things thrown in. At least I haven't made any of them. Yet.

Tomorrow is legumes reintroduction day. I'm going to not push so hard with them as I did with bread, because I do expect a bit of a reaction. Though, beans have never been as bad on my stomach as peanuts are - and I'm not reintroducing peanuts.

[cahliah]

I'm trying hard not to make this about weight, but my mom went and bought a scale just before W30, and it's been calling my name. This isn't good for me - when I focus on my weight, I start to feel self-conscious, which kills the little self esteem that I have, and eats away at me mentally.

That said, I weighed myself tonight. Over the course of W30, I lost 1.5 lbs. In the week since, I've lost another 7.5 lbs. That's 9 lbs since I started W30 (and over 22 since I last weighed myself prior to this year.)

I hate that this is such a big deal in my head, and that it feels like such a victory. The real victory is that I've found potential causes of some of my major digestive issues - and that I've managed to get myself to the point where I really don't want soda. At all. I know that that's the important bit, but having grown up in the US, with a society so focused on being thin, it's hard to remember that the health aspects are what matter.

I've teetered on the edge of eating disorders before. My first (and only) semester of traditional college, I had a doctor's visit at the beginning. My mom found out how much I weighed, and had some choice comments for me (which weren't the first - and she wasn't the only person in my family that made said comments - but they were hurtful, and not really justified - I wasn't that big back then!) That semester, I ate maybe 1-2 meals a week, aside from crackers & peanut butter when I felt like I was starving (or I slept when I was starving - did a lot of sleeping that semester) - wound up going down 1 pants size, but I rarely left my room, and was actually kicked out because I wasn't going to class and, thus, failed. After I left school, I gained 4 pants sizes, lost 1 before I had my daughter, gained 3 back, and stayed there for 13 years because I decided I needed to stop with the weight loss.

I haven't had a scale in my home for nearly 11 years, and I finally was to the point where I was feeling better about myself, and willing to accept that I can focus on health, not weight, no matter what size I'm at, and actually be pretty happy, and feel good in my skin. It took a lot of work to get past the constant negative messages that I grew up with - telling me that I'd be pretty if I lost weight, or that I'd be happier if I lost weight, or that I'd get a better job - or a boyfriend - if I lost the weight, or that I was a fat, lazy pig who needed to get off my bottom and lose the weight (can thank my grandmother for that one. I stopped speaking to her after I realized how toxic she was - didn't stop the toxicity she spread, but I knew I didn't have to let it get to me anymore.)

Anyways... Now, that scale is calling to me, and the number is becoming too important. I have to know if I've lost weight, and how much, and I can see it starting to spiral.

Needless to say, we'll be returning it, and I'll be putting more effort into building myself up again.

Yet another Whole30 lesson. Yay. 

[JenHZ]

hugs for fighting all those negative messages  (((())))

hope she can hide the scale from you

[Guest]

I totally get it.  I have teetered on the edge of EDs before too and have had some really weird eating 'habits', like 'let's see how long I can go without eating during a day'.  I don't want to go there either, but I'm also so happy with the weight I've lost on and post w30 and don't want to gain it back.  It's hard not to obsess.  It's great if you can get rid of the scale.

[cahliah]

Thanks - both of you.

Today (and especially tonight) was a bit tough for me. My mom has decided she's not following the reintroduction schedule anymore. Tomorrow, she's getting pizza (and beer) - something we used to do every weekend. We'd split a pizza - either pepperoni & pineapple, or pepperoni with 1/2 onion (for her), and 1/2 mushroom (for me.) She was initially going to get a gluten-free crust, so I could eat it, too, but then I reminded her I'd have to get my half without cheese and, apparently, that was a dealbreaker. Then she was all "You can just get Chinese." Except I can't - my usual Chinese restaurant doesn't do gluten-free, and the local one that does is twice the price (and with nothing my daughter will eat - she's not a pizza fan.) Finally figured out that there's one dish at my daughter's favorite takeout place that is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and peanut-free (according to their allergen guide) so I guess that's what I'm having tomorrow night (Thai Green Curry w/ Shrimp from Noodles & Co - with no rice crispy treat for dessert.) I'm not a huge fan of spicy food, but at least I'll have something to eat instead of having to cook while everyone else eats out for the first time in 1 1/2 months.

This no-gluten thing is really killing me. Realizing that one of the things I loved was making me sick, and that I have to avoid it from now on, or I'll go back to where I was. I love to bake. I love cakes and breads and pies and cookies and all things glutinous. And, apparently, they don't love me back. And I think it's driving me into a bit of a depression. (Add in the weight thing I talked about last night, and... Yeah.)

I'm trying to stay positive about it. There are alternatives. Most of the things I love, I can still make versions of, they just might cost (a lot) more and be more difficult to source ingredients for. And I can still eat out, I just have to be careful - or know that I'll be sick after (which really isn't an option in my mind - I'd easily lose an entire day because I was so sick.) There are chain restaurants and local places that are great about food allergies/sensitivities. Red Robin, for example, offers a gluten-free bun, and a separate fryer for those who have allergies. There are a few restaurants, even in my small town, that have entire gluten-free menus - or items specifically gluten-free.

But it's going to be annoying, at least at first, and it's already getting on my mom's nerves. Granted, that's on her - she has no patience for things like this. My sister-in-law was vegan (she's now just vegetarian, and avoids dairy because she's lactose intolerant) - every time we spent time with them, there would be grumbling (on my mom's part) about having to find things that my sister-in-law could eat. And there have been quite a few visits that ended early because said sister-in-law tried to be polite and find things she could eat when out to dinner with us, and would wind up eating something that made her sick. Which my mom then would blame on sister-in-law, instead of recognizing that she had some part to play in it. (I started taking charge of menu & restaurant planning after the first couple of times. Didn't always work out, and there was always pushback, but it helped some.) Yeah, there are some issues between my mom and sister-in-law. How did you guess? 

Anyways... Been dealing with that today, which made food seem a bit blah, even though I was able to add beans back in. Had the last of my leftover chili from last week with half a can of black beans. Roasted a chicken and had  baked beans with that - and might have eaten everyone else's chicken skin, because that one thing was actually really good, and nobody else wanted it - crazy people. And then 3rd meal was leftover fajita chicken & veggies with the other half can of black beans. I had a couple oranges mixed in there, too, and some celery with cashew butter. And a handful of Cheerio's, which may have been a bit of a comfort thing instead of being hungry, but it was only a small handful.

So far, no reactions, but those will likely come a few hours after bedtime, or within an hour of waking up. At least I'm feeling a little optimistic about the legumes now. Haven't had the mucousy feeling and heartburn I realized got with dairy and gluten, and my stomach feels fine. Granted, beans aren't as exciting as dairy and gluten. Bah.

Oh well. Tomorrow and the next day are W30 days, and I have no idea what I'm making. Yay, me!

[Guest]

My husband seems to be getting sick of my diet too. It seems gluten and dairy are going to be a no go for me, at least on a large scale, which means family meal planning is tough since that's all him and the kids eat. 

[JenHZ]

hopefully your families will be happy eventually that you are less sick less often.

On my kid's' pizza night I eat a burger with sautéed mushrooms  and  with  sautéed onions and garlic if I feel fancy , and bit of tomato sauce. sooo much tastier than the pizza she eats.  but that is for pizza night at home.

can you add some of your own coco nut milk to  make your curry milder?  of  add some frozen veggies?

hope beans go well, they are great for the gluten free lifestyle

 

[cahliah]

Well, looks like beans are just fine. Yay.

Wound up not really feeling like having curry for dinner, and had an amusing conversation with my mom:

Me: I don't really feel like Noodles tonight. I could always get a gluten free pizza without cheese.
Mom: But how do they make a pizza without cheese?
Me: ...they don't put cheese on it.

Completely blew her mind, that. But I did wind up getting a gluten-free pizza, sans cheese, with mushrooms and green peppers, and a sliced up chicken & apple sausage that I added at home (Papa Murphy's take & bake) - and it was so good! Granted, for what it cost, I could have bought frozen, gluten-free crusts, and actually had no-dairy "cheese" on it, but still. And I'm glad I didn't go with the curry. Still went to Noodles to get mac & cheese for my daughter, and the staff there were incredibly rude. One wouldn't address anyone unless they were standing at the right register. Another, in the middle of dealing with a customer, told the first guy that she was leaving, and he needed to come deal with them. The portion size was off, but by that time, it wasn't worth dealing with. Especially since my mom knows the manager (who, sadly, wasn't in today.)

Had a bit of a stomachache after the pizza - and after the leftover pizza. Had me worried that even a little cross-contamination from gluten was going to be an issue (the girl at the pizza place didn't change her gloves between, and used the same sauce container & utensils on both gluten and gluten-free pizzas, and I didn't wash my hands between my mom's and mine, either.) Set me into a bit of a spiral. Went to find a snack I could eat in my emergency food/snack drawers... My choices were potato chips or candy, neither of which sound even remotely appealing. Wound up pulling out all the things I can't have, and there's so little left, it's depressing. Changed my monthly snack subscription box to the gluten-free option, which will wind up costing me more, and I'll get less every month. Whee.

I hit a point where I was crying, and wanting to start eating everything in sight that I knew would make me sick, because I was upset, and frustrated, and tired, and it was all just too much. I managed not to, though, because I kept in mind that eating those things would just make everything worse. Decided, instead, to focus some of that into making this week's menu - which didn't work, but I did promise myself that I can make a couple treats this week - gluten-free banana bread, and paleo ambrosia salad. And I'm getting some gluten-free spaghetti so I can re-make last week's ill-fated spaghetti, and enjoy the leftovers this time.

Still haven't slept. Tried to, got a stomachache, which just made me upset again, and I wound up getting up and looking at my bookshelf to see if there were books I want to take to my sister-in-law to read after her surgery. Then played a game.

...and then found out the stomachache probably had nothing to do with the pizza, and everything to do with just being a woman. Which explains some of the emotional craziness the past few days. Some of it.

The plan was to go grocery shopping this morning, so I'll probably do that before bed at this point. At least my schedule is flexible.

[JenHZ]

sorry hat all hit you at once.

[cahliah]

Had a long couple days. Typed up a really long post Sunday night/Monday morning, didn't hit send... And I'm kinda glad I didn't. More ranty nonsense.

Instead... This is a good summary of my week/month so far:

Perfectly ok - just falling apart a little (ok, a lot.)

Sunday was grocery shopping. My schedule was screwy, so my eating was screwy, too. Chicken & apple sausage, then almost-paleo ambrosia salad (had to add in a few marshmallows - it just wasn't right without marshmallows), and crumbly gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip banana bread (turns out, you really do need xanthan gum when you're baking gluten-free! Oops!) Had a gluten-free, dairy-free frozen burrito (Amy's brand) at one point, and that's about it.

Monday was a bit better. Reintroduction day for yogurt. Haven't been to bed yet, but so far, so good. Banana bread, ambrosia, and yogurt for 1st meal, gluten-free spaghetti & homemade meatballs for 2nd meal (didn't like the spaghetti - tasted like corn tortillas. Meh.) Snack at one point - more banana bread and yogurt. And 3rd meal was more spaghetti & meatballs.

Feeling a little better emotionally. Starting to be more ok with the whole gluten-free, potentially dairy-free thing. Still not quite there, yet - just the thought of planning meals for the next 1 1/2 weeks until vacation is still making me want to cry. I think we're having bacon burgers tonight (no cheese for me, possibly gluten-free buns.) And tomorrow night might be get your own, with me cooking a frozen gluten-free pizza crust with homemade sauce and vegan cheese. Maybe. Thursday will be crustless pizza again, and I still have some ground beef I was going to use to make soup or kima... And soup or kima would probably be a healthier choice than bacon burgers with gluten-free buns and gluten-free, pre-made pizza crusts with fake cheese. Whole foods are good. And healthier is always good when it's this time of the month, anyways.

...though I've decided that, Wednesday, I'm making gluten-free sandwich bread so, on Thursday, I can make my grilled cheese and leftover spaghetti sandwiches that I love. Just one sandwich this time - with meat & veggies (oooh, I could put some grilled red pepper strips on the sandwich!), instead of 2 sandwiches with nothing else.

And... My mom is already talking about doing another W30 round after we get back from our vacation. *facepalm*

[cahliah]

Bit of an off day today. Going back and forth between being ok, and not so ok. Had a few anxiety flare-ups, but I've managed. Have't had any side effects from the yogurt, so that's a good sign.

Meal 1 was ambrosia & banana bread. Don't really like starting my day off with sweets, but I didn't feel like cooking anything. Everyone else had McDonalds for dinner (my mom included) - and I didn't feel like cooking, again, so I wound up using one of my frozen gluten-free pizza crusts and making a pizza. I can officially say that I do not like vegan cheese. In the future, if I can't have regular cheese, I'll be going cheese-less. Had some pepperoni on the pizza, just to make sure that I don't need to buy turkey pepperoni for our crustless pizza on Thursday - don't want to throw off my cheese results by adding pork that might cause problems. Meal 3, again, didn't feel like cooking, so I had leftover spaghetti with some more pepperoni thrown in, and some more ambrosia.

I'm starting to fall back into my mostly-starch meal rut, which isn't good. Still going to make my paleo bread tomorrow, but I'm going to freeze most of it. Will make a batch of kima, and that should last me a few days.

Might wind up doing a Whole7 or something after vacation, just to get myself back to eating template meals... But I don't intend to make it last a whole month. Don't know if I have the mental stamina right now.