Day 1 Gluten Free

So far so good. It hasn’t been any sort of effort at this point and my attitude is really great. My goal from both a health and financial standpoint is to not go crazy with the gluten free processed products. I really want to “clean up” my diet in the sense of focusing on whole foods. This is the direction my body is really craving – I want to feel better and clear out all the junk. That’s not to say I won’t take advantage of some of what’s out there when I want to. This is not about deprivation for me. I just don’t feel compelled to run out and buy stuff specifically because I’m trying to be gf. Most of the things I already like to cook will work out fine. I will slowly try new things as I come across them and feel the urge. I know that I’ll probably want to try some gf baking at some point – but right now I don’t even crave baked goods (which is crazy in itself!)

One thing that I am kind of stressing about is my daily caffeine intake – namely, coffee. I love the stuff but it hasn’t been loving me back. I have heartburn again today and I can’t imagine it being anything other than the numerous cups of joe I’ve been swilling. I’ve gone off of it many times in the past and always felt better. But, the Siren’s call pulls me back eventually. Maybe these cycles aren’t really a bad thing and that periodically going off of it is good. It’s not all or nothing, I guess. But just going on how I feel, I think it’s time to go off it again. It will be interesting to see if it relieves the heartburn, which I guess might not be gluten related, although just one day gf isn’t really enough to say for sure. I will be working from home tomorrow and then I’ll have a weekend – the perfect time to let the caffeine get out of my system. I plan to let myself sleep as much as I want and just be OK with being tired. I also have Tylenol at the ready!

The biggest concern regarding going off coffee is my energy level, which is LOW in any case. I think that in reality the caffeine is working at cross purposes. It works for awhile but leaves me crashing later on. I just want to even things out. And hopefully, with the elimination of gluten, the generalized fatigue that plagues me might lift a bit. To help with that, I’m working in a daily yoga practice. In addition to the two days of classes I do at work, I want to incorporate more at home time on the mat. This is not just one more “should do” thing on my list. This is something I’m viewing as a gift to myself. Yes, I *should* do strength training, but it’s just not lighting my fire right now. Trying to force it makes me resist it. Yoga has lots of strengthening components so if I did it every day, I would gain many of those benefits anyway. So the plan is to just get the mat out every day, when at all possible. Even if it’s just to do a 10 minute PM DVD like I did last night, it will be beneficial. I couldn’t believe what an impact that little bit had! I felt so relaxed when I went to bed. But again, it’s not something to beat myself over the head with – if it’s not every day, that’s OK. It's all about listening to my body. I'm the expert on how I'm feeling and what I need.

So that’s the plan going forward… The support I’ve gotten even in this short amount of time has been incredible. I have so many great online and in-person friends to count on! Thanks for making me feel a little better about trying this. Every bit helps!