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sugar, gluten, dairy, and caffeine freeSubmitted by briefcandle on Sat, 05/31/2008 - 5:50am.
I'm going to try to eat sugar, gluten, dairy, and caffeine free for the month of June. Starting this Sunday. I'm going to try to blog about the whole experience, how it effects me, my nursling 6 month old, and the family, and anything else. I have never limited what I eat on a daily basis. The closest I've gotten was before my wedding I tried to eat just salads for lunch occasionally. I guess I've always had this complex system of withholding and rewards though, like if I finish this sinkful of dishes I can have a cookie; after I put the kids to bed I can eat ice cream. I have never ever gone on a diet, because within moments my desire for something specific to eat overwhelms me and I convince myself that I deserve it. I have had a long relationship with sugar. Not a day goes by without some kind of cookie or candy. Same with bread, it's part of my blood, heheh. I was at a dinner lately where a woman mentioned how clear headed she felt since being off gluten since November. The thought wormed in that I want to try avoiding certain foods to see how it can change me. I'm a very tired person. Yes, I do have a baby and a toddler and sleep deprivation plays a role. But my health has also been really shitty for the past two years, and I want to see if this will make a difference. I'm blogging about it because it will hold me accountable, because the desire to post about my success will keep me from cheating. I'm also fully prepared to put caffeine back into the game if necessary. Because I don't have a problem abusing caffeine the way I do with sugar (only one cup of coffee a day and occasional sips of dh's mexican cokes). And I'm too interested in seeing what avoiding gluten does to the system, as well as dairy. But caffeine, I feel that realistically with a baby and toddler I just might need my cup of joe back. Only without the sugar or cream, so that'll be something to consider. (bitter hot bean juice... instead of the creamy sweetness I'm used to.) I'm gearing up by making lists of foods so I feel that I have options when I get hungry. My bread cookbook has a section on gluten free breads, so if I get those ingredients I can try to make that. And I know that this food will be waiting for me on the other side of June, just as it's always been around. If you think of any helpful resources, please do send them my way. briefcandle's blog | login or register to post comments | email this page | printer friendly version
That's so cool! SGCD-free buddies! Yay! We can give each other food ideas too. Oh thank goodness, that's so nice that you'll be doing it at the same time. And I welcome any snack suggestions from other mamas doing parts of this same food plan.
I got turned onto Weston Price by a good friend. The website is pretty interesting. I've been cross-referencing it with the Super Baby Food book and trying to make a game plan for Jonah's first meals (Sorry to Hijack, I just got excited about WP). it often helps if you can get other kinds of sweet foods, that are more natural. As for the dairy, I think it's awesome that you want to stop eating/drinking it, cause the more I'm in school, the more that I see the pasteurized/homogenized diary causing problems for almost everyone. The trick though, is to keep eating butter. Most people with dairy allergies can still eat butter. Unlike other types of dairy, which are inflammatory, butter is anti-inflammatory, and helps keep allergies and asthmatic reactions down, it's great for your gut, and it's a healthy fat...So, that's my two cents, and I wish you luck! PS--about the coffee, I really had great luck with switching the Earl Grey after Ds was born. It has way less caffeine in it, but it's still a great wakeup. The bergamot oil is also awesome and I love floral things. Any flower that you put in your body is going to affect your heart, so Earl Grey really is a beautiful tea. I usually mix coconut milk and raw honey with mine. heheh, laughing at the beet thing. hmmm I really want a cookie. Wait, here's a fucking beet; fucking YUM! hahah. actually I do love beets, just as a direct substitute it seems funny. I think peanut butter will be my natural sugar substitute, I love dipping apples and carrots in it, and the only ingredient is peanuts!
totally. I eat tons of carrots and fresh strawberries when I am craving sweet I gave up dairy last March (although there is some dairy in bread, pasta, etc.. I switched to soy as a *creamer* for coffee or cereal. The one thing I have noticed lately after giving UP one thing I increased another, yep, sugar. Now I'm trying to do as you are and give up added sugar/candy/ etc.... Wheat will be next. My family will eat differently than I and that's not easy. as a creamer, and it's really great (if you like the taste of coconut)... since it's already pretty sweet stuff, I add less honey than I used to. Not sure if you're into that... Also, I don't know much about hemp milk yet, but I had it in a chai tea the other day, it tastes like rice milk, but it foams up like soy milk...so that might be another thing you could try in your cereal. We usually do warm cereals at my house, like rice (congee), oatmeal, polenta or wheat farina. I can make those with coconut milk, (and mangoes!!!) so it makes me happy. "Fundamentally the markswoman aims at herself"DT Suzuki coconut mango oatmeal? I am so there! mmmmm
I can't get it to often, I have to mail order it but it's totally worth it Good luck with this, mama. I support you in your choice to feel better. We are eating the same! I'm vegan, wheat & gluten free. I'm considering the need to cut back on corn, too. Lets hope our babies grow out of this eczema. Bella's is still on the severe side but we are managing it as best as can be expected. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) Well, while I have a sophisticated palate in the sense that I can taste absolutely every flavor, even the most subtle, that go into my mouth... I don't have a very wide palate. I roast a lot of veggies, as I think they taste 100x's better that way. I eat fried potatoes (cubed) for breakfast, Puffins cereal, millet bread (which I may soon be cutting out because it has corn in it), and coffee. I use vegan butter but am starting to think the real butter the rest of my family uses is a better choice. I also use organic half and half in my coffee. I used to use rice milk or hemp milk until I started on the dairy again two months ago. A couple of weeks ago I decided I needed to go vegan again and am having a hard time doing it all at once. My half and half will be the last to go and I'm still debating the butter. Anyway, I eat quiona, rice (brown and white), rice cakes, sunflower butter (I don't do tree nuts anymore because Bella breaks out when I've tried), salads loaded with cucumbers, onions, carrots, sunflower seeds (raw), and anything else I'm in the mood for. I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar. When I'm off the corn, I'll go back to rice bread or no bread at all. I also have to really be wanting a sandwich to eat the rice bread. I can't do coconut oil because it is an allergen for Bella, so I eat avocados and other dense fruits (like mango) for fat. I use rice pasta and make my sauces homemade because I can't do soy - Bella's allergen. A lot of jar sauces have soy oil in them and I like for Bella to be able to eat off my plate. I eat lots of black beans and rice. Also, kidney and pinto beans. There are some great rice flour tortilla's that I use for burritos all the time. I eat chili a lot, too. I'm starting to look into different soups. I like creamy stuff so it will be a challenge to find recipes like that but I know they are out there! Hal just ordered the book, Gluten Free Vegan, for me. I do gluten and wheat free but I'm sure there are some great recipes in there. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Well, really, Hal cooks almost all of our dinner meals, so he also ordered it for himself! Even though him and Max don't eat the same as Bella and I, for dinner we all eat the same meal when ever possible. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) I'd be interested in hearing if you like this book. It sounds right up my alley. Well with sugar I just mean sweet snacks like cookies, adding it to tea and anything where it's a main ingredient. If I'm eating a gluten free granola bar that has cane syrup in it, that's fine, or if I'm making one of those breads and it calls for a tsp of sugar in the recipe then that's ok too. Or natural sugars like fruit are fine. I love agave, but I don't currently have any of it, so I probably won't buy it. Today I have to eat up all the dairy I bought in the house for myself at the last grocery trip. And as many cookies as I can handle to just have a last blast
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Wish me luck, I'll be back to post about it.
DH and I are in.
We've been talking about doing this for a while, and since we just moved, we have no junk food in our house (well, except for one little harmless bag of chocolate chips . . .) Anyway, he's already pretty much gluten and dairy free due to allergies. And of course dd is also gluten and dairy free. But I am not. And DH has been surviving off chocolate and coffee lately.
Anyway .. . while I'm curious about cutting out sugar and gluten, I am a HUGE raw dairy fan. It totally works for me. I make my own kefir, and drink about two cups of raw milk a day. Especially since I'm nursing. So I won't be cutting that out. I will avoid all pasteurized dairy and cheeses.
Here are a few things I've been trying lately that work to fill the gluten/sugar/dairy gap: coconut oil, coconut milk, stevia (liquid), raw lacto-fermented vegetables (pickles, carrots, and 'krauts are all really great for curbing sweet cravings) and soaked/toasted nuts (especially almonds). I've gotten most of these ideas from Nourishing Traditions (a cook book by Sally Falon), and Body Ecology (by Donna Gates). I don't like the marketing crap in the second book, but I like the ideas. It's all based on the nutritional work by Weston A Price, which is good work, but like anything, the modern day zealots can be, well, a little zealotist!
So, that's more than I meant to write, but dh and I will be joining you for the month of June, starting tomorrow morning (whoa) no refined sugar, gluten or caffeine (including chocolate). I'll try to join you in updating how its going. And thanks for the motivation!