One Week

Last Monday, I made a big change.  I did not blog about it, because I honestly had no idea what would happen.

One week ago, I went Gluten Free.

It has been suggested that eliminating (or severely restricting) gluten might relieve some symptoms of a minor medical condition I have.  I do not want to mention what this is or what sort of symptoms I have because I am not a medical doctor nor am I a nutritionist, and I don't want anyone to take this as advice in any way, shape or form.  I am just a casual blogger and runner trying to keep herself healthy - I'm not looking to be an example or offer medical advice.

So I went for it.  For one week now, I have been gluten free. And around the middle of the week, I started to feel a difference.

There have been challenges, especially with making my lunches.  I know there are gluten free restaurant options but I am trying very hard not to resort to that, opting instead to prepare my own fresh meals.  I hit one small bump on Tuesday and I'll be sure to share that story later (in retrospect, its actually funny).

I have essentially eliminated all processed foods from my diet.  And I like it!  I like that I can look at my meals and identify every ingredient.  I like that I've been cooking more this week (yes, using that silly crockpot).  And I like that my meals are more satisfying.

I don't feel restricted, to be honest.  I told myself this first week I wasn't going to stress about calorie counts, but to be honest, I haven't needed to.  I've actually lost a rather shocking amount of weight this week - most of which was probably just water weight, but still nice to not see the scale go up.

When I first made my decision, I commented to a friend that while I hoped it worked so I could physically feel better, I kind of didn't want it to because it seemed like such a chore.  This was a daunting task at the start.  But I'm feeling good about it now, I feel confident in my decision and while I do have a bit more work involved in meal planning now, I feel its totally worth the effort.

Have you ever made a big change to the way you eat?  Did it stick?  Why did or didn't it?