Twenty Laps

The YMCA was closed for a week for cleaning and repairs and I missed my swims.  Today I got right back into the habit with twenty laps.  I don't want to brag or anything, but I can swim twenty laps in under an hour.  Whew!  So fast!!  Twenty laps, incidentally, is two-thousand meters.  I think.

Did I mention I swam twenty laps?

The XR version of Wellbutrin is continuing to give me very mild headaches.  These are the type that I can ignore as I go about my day, and they may well cease once I'm back on a strict regimen of waking at the same time each day.  I've read lots of feedback from other patients online, and many of them say the headaches do taper off, so I'm willing to continue with it.

I've eaten lots of carbs in the past few weeks, mainly in an attempt to curb the headaches.  It doesn't really help, so I'm going to stick more closely to the low-carb eating for the rest of the summer.

Why gluten-free diets work

"Some people are convinced that their general health improves when they stay away from gluten. Though the science is still murky on non-celiac gluten sensitivity, recent studies in Italy and Australia found that significant numbers of patients with intestinal problems felt better with gluten-free diets, even if they had no indications of celiac disease or wheat allergy."

http://theweek.com/article/index/242263/is-going-gluten-free-healthier-for-everybody

Holiday Carbing

I decided to allow myself to eat carbs (within reason) during the time between 12/22 and New Year's Day.

What did I eat?

Well, the first thing I really had to have was a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats.  Everyone else was having a bowl, and they just sounded so crunchy and delicious.  I enjoyed them.

I ate a couple of pastry items I associate with Christmas, a German stollen and a Danish Kringle.  I enjoyed every morsel of sweet, floury goodness.

I allowed myself to have everything on the Christmas Eve buffet: the baked potato, the salad topped with sugared walnuts, crackers and cheese.  Yes, I did.  And I had the cheesecake dessert.

My son's girlfriend sent over some Christmas cookies, and I ate enough of those to be able to tell her how delicious they were.

And today I ate my favorite snack:  Nutella on a tortilla shell.  Yum.

Finally, I gave each of the kids some Starbucks hot cocoa, and one didn't like it.  So I had a couple of cups of that.

Otherwise, there really isn't anything I'm craving.  That's what I like best about not eating carbs.  I get to feel sated.

Though I might have just one more bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats.

A Stormy Fall

We had a lovely summer here in the Seattle area, but now that fall is here, Mother Nature is taking revenge.  We've had one rainstorm after another, and each one has given me a migraine.  The low-carb diet that seemed to work wonders in the pleasant summer sunshine is no longer protecting me.  I need an abortive.

I've gone so long without taking any Axert that I can't get a prescription at Group Health.  Today I got up (very late, had a headache) and logged on to the site so I could choose a new personal physician and schedule an appointment.  Whew!

I'm concerned because I am about to start a long-term sub assignment at a local middle school.  I'll be covering for a teacher I really admire, and I want to do my very best work.  My best work includes arriving each day on time.  Which I can't do with these constant headaches.

A quick note about Thanksgiving:  I ate whatever I wanted on Thursday and Friday and Saturday AND Sunday.  Then I went back to lo-carb eating on Monday.  I think it worked well.  I enjoyed candied yams, stuffing, a fabulous sweet-potato pie baked by my son, grandma's apple pie and pumpkin pie, and a nice little scoop of ice cream.  And when it was over, I happily returned to my lo-carb diet.

Barometric Pressure

I don't know the exact relationship, but when the clouds roll in and it begins to rain, I've typically gotten a migraine.

For a while we had one of those hang-on-the-wall weather information plaques that told me whether the barometer was rising or falling, but I never quite determined which weather bothered me.  Was is the lowered pressure?  Was it the change to the pressure?  Was it something else entirely?  I don't know.

Well, the clouds have rolled in and my magical lo-carb diet continues to protect me. 

I should be clear about something, though.

I'm still taking 50 mg of Nortriptyline each night.  And a handful of vitamins and supplements.  The diet isn't my only weapon here.  I intend to experiment a bit by adding in a few carbs (I want some fruit juice!) to see if I notice a change in the headaches.  I also need to spend some time working to see if I can successfully pack a lo-carb lunch.

But I've cut my Nortriptyline in half.  And I've got the energy of a normal person.  I like it.

So what do you eat??

My biggest worry about eating no carbs (and let's clear one thing up right away:  I have been eating some low-carb fruit.  I'm eating *virtually* no carbs.  But it's extremely difficult to eat *no* carbs.)

Where was I?

Right--my biggest worry about this eating plan was that I didn't know what I'd eat for my meals.

Breakfast was a challenge.  I had been eating natural peanut butter on whole wheat toast for ages, and was reluctant to give it up.  A friend happened to mention that she ate frozen blueberries on cottage cheese, so I tried it.  I love it!  And eating it each morning is no more or less boring than eating peanut butter on whole wheat toast.  While they are in season, I'm adding fresh raspberries and strawberries.

I usually eat some leftovers for lunch, but worried I wouldn't have enough leftovers.  We keep frozen hamburger patties on hand, and these make the perfect lunch.  I cook mine in my Cuisinart grill (I love this thing), top it with cheddar cheese, and eat it with a sliced tomato or a packet of edamame.  This is so filling and satisfying that I often don't want dinner.

For our dinners, my husband and I are eating many of the same things night after night.  But that's OK for now.  We'll grill some steaks or some salmon (thank you, Costco) with sauteed onions.  Some nights, we throw chicken breasts in the Cuisinart and eat them with peanut sauce.  We are glad we can continue to eat my home-made Caesar salads (my dressing is lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, garlic, parmesan, salt, and pepper).  We keep field greens and tomatoes on hand to make salads with our leftover meat.  Recently I made Beef Stroganoff and served it without the noodles.  Wonderful!  There are other meals that we normally eat over rice or mashed potatoes or pasta that we can still eat:  Chicken Marsala.  Garlic Chicken.  The possibilities are endless, and I expect we will eat them when the weather cools.

If we're not particularly hungry at mealtime, we often make up a batch of tuna salad and eat it with celery.  Of course, celery and peanut butter makes a fine snack.  We eat beef jerky or cheese or nuts.  These snacks are so filling that we seldom find ourselves wanting more.

I still miss juice.  I haven't had soda in ages, and had turned to lemonade and apple juice (cut with half water) to quench my thirst.  Right now it's water, herbal tea, or coffee.  Once I've lost some weight, I will try to add this particular carb back in.

But that's really all I miss.  And I don't miss the headaches.

Can you really live without carbs?

I think many people avoid this diet because it's so hard to imagine life without that familiar bowl of cereal for breakfast.  It's hard to think of a lunch sans sandwich.  And so many wonderful dinner entrees sit on a bed of pasta or rice.  Finally, there's that dessert.  We love our desserts.  Giving all this up sounds hard.

But you know what's hard?  Giving up alcohol was hard.  It's a social activity.  Whenever I got together with co-workers after work, they sneered when I didn't order wine.  They'd ask why I was drinking water or juice.  It feels weird.  But I learned to be brief.  "I have migraines," I'd say.  Then, they'd ask about the headaches instead of my weird beverage choices.

When I confirmed that soy sauce and processed meats really do give me headaches, I thought it would be hard to give them up.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, where we love our teriyaki chicken.  Our family probably got some form of teriyaki take-out three times a month.  Or more.  And giving up processed meats meant giving up those healthy Subway sandwiches that my children loved.  Well, guess what?  Not having headaches is pretty fun, too.

Having my period without the associated migraine is also fun.  And that's what I get from eating no-carb.  Virtually no headaches.

Sure, I miss sugar.  I mainlined hot tea with sugar for years.  But I can drink it without.  I miss my square of dark chocolate after meals.  But I can live without it.  And I really miss fruit juice.  That's going to be the first thing I add back in once I have lost some weight.  But I'm full after each meal.  And if I'm not, I eat a piece of cheese.

I'm not getting headaches.  I can live without the carbs.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today was my birthday but as it's a Thursday the full celebration is still to come.

On Monday two dear friends made me a lovely dinner.  I ate a piece of delicious artisan bread and had some three-bean salad but otherwise stayed carb free.  I happily ate a serving of strawberry shortcake, knowing one treat wouldn't destroy a whole eating plan.

Today I had lunch with my mother-in-law and daughter at a local Thai restaurant.  No Thai iced tea or coffee; the sugar can't be removed.  But my Swimming Rama was pretty carb free:  spinach, chicken, peanut sauce.  Though that sauce tasted pretty sweet.

The birthday meal will be served on Saturday when my son is home.  He's bringing my mom over and I'm hoping he'll smoke some ribs I got at Costco earlier this week.  And there may be a delicious dessert.

Otherwise, this eating plan suits me.  I'm not craving anything (except for fruit juice) and I don't seem to be getting any headaches.

Yippee!

After a week...

After one week of not eating carbs, I've gained a pound.

But that's not all bad.  I also started my period.

Here's what's good:  I haven't had a migraine during my period.  I felt minimal pain in the night once, got up and popped a couple of Excedrin, and went back to sleep.  That's it.

If eating no carbs means I can have headache-free periods, I'm all for it.

Another good thing:  typically, when I have my period, I'm tired and have awful cramps.  I'm not having any trouble with fatigue this time, and I've had really minor cramps.

Finally, one more good thing.  I've had more energy.  This could be a sort of psychosomatic thing, that I'm doing household chores to keep my mind off of food, or to prove to myself the diet is helping.  But I definitely feel like jumping out of the recliner more often.