I predict a lot of salads in my future.

Day 4 of feeling great - so far, so good.  I had a momentary panic about figuring out where to go to lunch today to celebrate something with a coworker, but then my smart partner in crime reminded me that sushi is fine.  So the coworker and I enjoyed a lovely sushi lunch in the park.  And last night after wandering around adult night at the local children's museum slightly tipsy and starving, PIC and I discovered a delicious rice chip type concoction which blew me away. 

Fake meat is not okay (sadness = no more 'chicken' salad from DC Vegetarian, no more Morningstar 'chicken' nuggets, no more tofurkey sandwiches).  But real turkey is good, and I secretly really love turkey. 

I ate half the package of turkey last night
(not eating carbs makes one pretty hungry!)

I also not-so-secretly love bacon which is totally fine.  Coffee is fine, whole milk cheese is fine, Breyer's ice cream is fine and as I already mentioned, wine is fine.  The jury is still out on whiskey, but I'm giving it a try tonight just to see what happens.  (So far, so good.)

But yes.  A lot of salad in my future.  Three cheers for Portland summer farmer's markets!

Lots and lots of tots. And then there were none.

Operation Get Healthy began with a naturopathic appointment to assess fatigue and chronic stomach pain a few weeks ago, a potato and gluten intolerance diagnosis on Thursday (plus no dairy within 4 hours of grains - I KNOW, right??), followed immediately by a blow-out gluten, potato and dairy/grain-filled weekend in homage to all the food I will not be eating for the next month while I try this diet out to see if it helps.

so long, tots... you will be missed -

but bacon? luckily, you got the green light

In addition to lots and lots of tots, there was Ken's Artisan Pizza (Bay Area peeps, think woodfire oven + Arizmendi) AND homemade woodfire oven pizza (not our woodfire oven, sadly but obviously), beer, egg tortillas, enchiladas and chips/salsa, and lord only knows what else.

There were also lots of vitamins and minerals: gluten and potato-free B complex (special order only), two times the fish oil, four times the vitamin D, cordyceps mushrooms for "frolicking" (doctor's words), thyroidinium 4CH drops for energy, and mineral replenishment via calc fluor cell salt "until it stops tasting good" (doctor's words).

this is just for the morning -
I'm gonna need one of those weekly pill boxes

After the blowout weekend, Monday morning I especially felt like crap.  A great way to start the experiment!  (I should probably note at this point that the doctor recommended this, in so many words - she is really wanting commitment and encouraged me to get it all out before starting the diet full force.)

I started Day 1 checking labels on everything and narrowing down my options.  Breakfast was a kale/spinach/peanut butter/West Soy soy milk smoothie (soooo good, trust me on this), lunch was plain black beans and rice, afternoon snack was Trader Joe's dried mango and dinner was a beet/tomato/goat cheese/walnut salad.  And wine.  Wine is OK, did I mention that?  THANK GOD, wine is OK.

as seen in Everyday Living, best $5 investment I've made all year

Monday night I made it through the Mountain Goats concert without yawning too much, and this morning I woke up without an ache in my gut for the first time in... I can't even remember.

Let me reiterate that last point.  I've read and heard stories about chronic pain, where people just live with it for years thinking this is how life will be, and one day they are relieved of said pain and it's like they've been given a whole new life.

I'm not saying I've begun a whole new life.  I'm just saying that this morning I woke up without an ache in my gut, and I can't remember the last time that happened, and I smiled. All day today I was very aware of having no pain.  It was interesting, and it made me happy and sad all at the same time.

Food today included an egg scramble of sorts this morning, yogurt/fruit/almonds for lunch, an apple for a snack (note to self: take a jar of peanut butter to work), homemade parsley hummus and veggies pre-run, and another beet salad type meal for dinner post-run.  And wine.  Of course. 

beet greens, stems, cumin/cinnamon walnuts, goat cheese... and wine - YAY wine

Something in the vitamin/mineral concoction made me a bit hyper-sensory today so I have a call in about that (I suspect it's just my brain adjusting), but gut-wise I still feel fine.  Totally fine.

Honestly, I don't think anyone I know, not even those closest to me, has any idea of the extent of my chronic discomfort over the years.  I'm excited to see what the next few weeks bring.  I hope for lots more energy - and lots of interesting new recipes!

Or three glasses. And a little help.

be crafty: part one
an old atlas, some photos
and a glass of wine

Summertime, when the 3Q goals are easy.

We're not quite at the end of 2Q but it's close enough.  To sum up the last 3 months:

• laugh more - check (helps when you live with someone who comes up with "a priest, a rabbi and a penguin walk into a bar - the bartender says, "what is this, a JOKE?"")
• cook more - check
• spend more time outside - check... enjoying the local scenery with lots of walks home from work, lots of running in the park and cemetery (is that rude? I can't decide, it's just so peaceful and pretty)
• anything on The List - not quite yet 

And a week early, I bring you the next 3 months:

• practice patience
• get healthy
• be crafty
• anything on The List

The first was developed after the aforementioned volunteer training.  I have a seriously low tolerance for people who monopolize conversations, think the rules everyone else follows do not apply to them, and have little or no respect for others.  Not only do I have a low tolerance, I have a non-existent poker face and no brain-mouth filter in these situations.  This is a problem in general.  I need to work on it.

The second is from a recent possible diagnosis of gluten, potato and combo-grain-and-dairy intolerance.  Did you know that potato is in everything?  EV. ERY. THING.  Including low-fat everything, which goes against the habits I've developed over the last ten years.  On the plus side, I now have a license to eat full-fat yogurt and drink whole milk; on the minus side, I need to build in an extra 20 minutes for each run.  I'm a bit sad about it but I'm trying to treat it as a fun experiment, at least for the next four weeks while I try it out and see if I feel better.  Worst case scenario?  I develop the most kick-ass recipe for gluten free soy cheese pizza this side of the Mississippi...!

The third is because every time I am crafty, I have a lot of fun. Period the end.

The unspoken goal is to blog more during my food intolerance experiment.  I've run across interesting and helpful blogs on food intolerance in other random searches, and I hope to be able to post some supportive experiences, interesting recipes and/or helpful information for the next diagnose-e. 

And here... we...  go!

Which leads me to 3Q goals.

class for volunteers
way too many know-it-alls
shut up already

spending two full days
with twenty chatty cathys
makes me crave silence

it's true what they say
patience is a virtue but
so is common sense

don't understand how
you have something in response
to everything said

A case of the Tuesdays.

waffling between
wanting recognition and
not giving a shit

not sure what is worse
working nine plus hours or
mandatory fun