On My Health and Food in 2011
It has been over a year since I realized that certain foods were just not tolerated by my body. We found two levels of this. First there are the 'if I eat it I'll get an upset stomach, but that's it' foods: anything fried, greasy foods, any leafy greens, and peas. The fried and greasy foods I avoid except for very rare occasions as 'treats'. The leafy greens and peas I'll just limit how much I have in a week. I need the vitamins and minerals, even in the limited amounts I'd get compared to someone else.
The second level is my issue with corn. I'm still not sure if I have a classic allergy. I don't have a reaction where my throat closes, so it isn't that severe. But I do have a severe stomach reaction, my face breaks out, and I'll feel achy and just generally unwell if I eat any corn or corn products. The more I've worked to cut it out of my diet the less corn it takes for me to notice I've eaten it (vegetable oil at a restaurant, corn starch in bread). Eliminating corn has also been a huge challenge because it is in so many packaged foods. Beyond anything with high fructose corn syrup, corn starch is also used in many things (either listed as itself or in baking powder). Plus corn can be the base of many ingredients where they are not required to identify the source. My safest bet has been to make many foods from scratch.
The plus side of cooking from scratch more often is that I enjoy cooking and it pushes me to eat the way I should: eat FOOD, mostly plants, not too much (a la Michael Pollan). We've made some truly wonderful things both fancy and humble. Sometimes recreating an almost completely artificial childhood dish out of real food is more satisfying than making an entire elegant meal- my green bean casserole that my whole family loves, the french onion dip I make for Hu. However, constantly having to cook everything without any ingredient short cuts, making your own base items for more complex tasks (baking powder, vanilla extract), can get exhausting sometimes. I find myself cheating sometimes, saying 'oh, I can PROBABLY eat that', knowing that one of the mystery ingredients most likely is corn derived. And then I get sick and my face breaks out and I feel like crap for days. It is totally my own fault. So my overall goal for 2011 is to stop making excusing and just eat what I know makes me feel better. Only I have control of my health.
Beyond not eating 'dangerous foods' part of me would like to lose weight this year. But setting weight loss goals is, in my opinion, a recipe for failure. And beyond that I have a very problematic history with eating. As I've said in the past, I starved myself in junior high and much of high school. Throughout my college years I gained weight as I was first forced to eat and then learned it really wasn't so bad. Then in 2002 and 2003 leading up to my wedding I went on Weight Watchers. I counted points like a good soldier. I exercised every day. And I lost 35 pounds. But I didn't keep it off, gaining it back over the next few years. When I was on the topamax, then both Keppra and Topamax combine my weight fluctuated back and forth 15 to 20 pounds, settling at 10 pounds lighter than my starting weight. When I went off the Keppra I lost another 15 pounds in two months. That is were I've been ever since. I'd like to get back to at least were I was in 2003. It felt like a good size for me. But I refuse to diet. What I think I need to make some small adjustments over time. A magazine I read is doing a series in 2011 of '12 Habits in 12 Months' and it makes a lot of sense. It is simple things like 'eat 3 serving of veggies a day' (sure, you SHOULD eat five, but start by getting to three and make it a habit) in January. In February it is 'exercise three times a week'. That is reasonable too. Adding one good habit a month rather than dieting makes more sense and intuitively I believe I'll get the desired changes in my body. It will just take longer. But I'd rather go slower and have it last this time.
Beyond that, I'm trying to dose off the Topamax and seeing what happens with my migraines. Besides my daily zyrtec this would be the last of my medication. I would love it so very much to not have any brain meds. I cannot even adequately explain this one. So far halfing to dose hasn't given me the multi-day migraine I got the last time I tried this. And so my fingers are crossed that this will succeed this time around, a year and a half after I dosed off the Keppra. If I need the medication, so be. But I'd like so very deeply to not need it. So very, very deeply. We shall see.
That's eat really- no french fries, limited salad, NO CORN, trying my hardest to live better for my body, and cut out the brain meds. We truly shall see.
The second level is my issue with corn. I'm still not sure if I have a classic allergy. I don't have a reaction where my throat closes, so it isn't that severe. But I do have a severe stomach reaction, my face breaks out, and I'll feel achy and just generally unwell if I eat any corn or corn products. The more I've worked to cut it out of my diet the less corn it takes for me to notice I've eaten it (vegetable oil at a restaurant, corn starch in bread). Eliminating corn has also been a huge challenge because it is in so many packaged foods. Beyond anything with high fructose corn syrup, corn starch is also used in many things (either listed as itself or in baking powder). Plus corn can be the base of many ingredients where they are not required to identify the source. My safest bet has been to make many foods from scratch.
The plus side of cooking from scratch more often is that I enjoy cooking and it pushes me to eat the way I should: eat FOOD, mostly plants, not too much (a la Michael Pollan). We've made some truly wonderful things both fancy and humble. Sometimes recreating an almost completely artificial childhood dish out of real food is more satisfying than making an entire elegant meal- my green bean casserole that my whole family loves, the french onion dip I make for Hu. However, constantly having to cook everything without any ingredient short cuts, making your own base items for more complex tasks (baking powder, vanilla extract), can get exhausting sometimes. I find myself cheating sometimes, saying 'oh, I can PROBABLY eat that', knowing that one of the mystery ingredients most likely is corn derived. And then I get sick and my face breaks out and I feel like crap for days. It is totally my own fault. So my overall goal for 2011 is to stop making excusing and just eat what I know makes me feel better. Only I have control of my health.
Beyond not eating 'dangerous foods' part of me would like to lose weight this year. But setting weight loss goals is, in my opinion, a recipe for failure. And beyond that I have a very problematic history with eating. As I've said in the past, I starved myself in junior high and much of high school. Throughout my college years I gained weight as I was first forced to eat and then learned it really wasn't so bad. Then in 2002 and 2003 leading up to my wedding I went on Weight Watchers. I counted points like a good soldier. I exercised every day. And I lost 35 pounds. But I didn't keep it off, gaining it back over the next few years. When I was on the topamax, then both Keppra and Topamax combine my weight fluctuated back and forth 15 to 20 pounds, settling at 10 pounds lighter than my starting weight. When I went off the Keppra I lost another 15 pounds in two months. That is were I've been ever since. I'd like to get back to at least were I was in 2003. It felt like a good size for me. But I refuse to diet. What I think I need to make some small adjustments over time. A magazine I read is doing a series in 2011 of '12 Habits in 12 Months' and it makes a lot of sense. It is simple things like 'eat 3 serving of veggies a day' (sure, you SHOULD eat five, but start by getting to three and make it a habit) in January. In February it is 'exercise three times a week'. That is reasonable too. Adding one good habit a month rather than dieting makes more sense and intuitively I believe I'll get the desired changes in my body. It will just take longer. But I'd rather go slower and have it last this time.
Beyond that, I'm trying to dose off the Topamax and seeing what happens with my migraines. Besides my daily zyrtec this would be the last of my medication. I would love it so very much to not have any brain meds. I cannot even adequately explain this one. So far halfing to dose hasn't given me the multi-day migraine I got the last time I tried this. And so my fingers are crossed that this will succeed this time around, a year and a half after I dosed off the Keppra. If I need the medication, so be. But I'd like so very deeply to not need it. So very, very deeply. We shall see.
That's eat really- no french fries, limited salad, NO CORN, trying my hardest to live better for my body, and cut out the brain meds. We truly shall see.