The Healthy Food Diet

So I'm slowly starting to realize that I might have reached a place in my life where I have to eat healthy food and only healthy food. For some that might sound like a good problem to have. But for someone who has devoted far too many nights to finding dinners at 7-Eleven or Rite Aid, having to feed myself entirely from wholesome, whole, non-preserved food presents a big and scary challenge.

Last night, I went to drinks after work with one of my (relatively new) friends. It was to celebrate or commiserate about how my interview went earlier in the day. It was a "drink no matter how it turns out" night. We went to a beautiful restaurant in Farragut Square with a bar that on Friday nights serves a bar menu devoted to autumn. It was such a cozy scene. All the drinks were made from apple cider and came with a tasting menu of autumnal food - venison chili, pumpkin puffs with maple cream, sweet potato samosas. Mixed with great conversation and a beautiful atmosphere, it was a good way to end the week.

Unfortunately, I ended up with a migraine this morning. I'm not sure how much of it was because I'd eaten crap for lunch (clam chowder, bread, and an apple turnover). I started getting a headache soon after lunch. Was it the milk in the chowder? The wheat bread? The sugar in the turnover? Who knows. But I'm guessing the food last night didn't help. Or the alcohol.

So this morning I had to get back on the anti-headache diet. But it's so frustrating...yesterday I basically ate good food - or at least well-prepared with wholesome ingredients, even if they were not low-fat. But they still gave me a headache. I don't know. Maybe I'm going to have to just adhere to the headache diet 90% of the time and then just splurge every now and then.

If only I could be more like this blogger: http://teach77.wordpress.com. She clearly has a love affair with good, wholesome food and is a darn good cook to boot. I love reading her entries. Plus, I secretly want to be Scottish :) You should check it out too.

You Can Always Tell a Compulsive Eater...

I read something yesterday that said you can always tell a weight loss blogger is a compulsive eater when she (or he, I guess, but let's be real - most weight loss bloggers are women) posts for a few days or even weeks, talking about how well their plan is going, and then disappears for a month, only to reappear for a couple more weeks, full of confessions about diet wrongdoing and ice cream snorfed. It made me wonder. Do I fall into that category? I hardly qualify as a blogger yet, having logged in very few entries so far. I do tend to post and then not post, as described. But most of the time I didn't post in the most recent non-posting episode I was actually eating quite well, and other things just made it hard for me to blog (job got busy, people in town, studying, etc).

That said, I think I probably am a compulsive eater...certainly an emotional one. And I have an unhealthy relationship with food. Take today, for example. I knew I had to get back on track from the weekend after suffering a migraine post-bad-food extravaganza; it was patently clear that my head problem, at least that day, was the result of poor eating. So I did well yesterday but then today I stumbled. Or fell flat on my face. After getting up really early to go to a job interview, I had a healthy (non-headache-inducing) bowl of oatmeal and strawberries. But then the interview didn't go too well (they're not supposed to have you out in less than 45 minutes, I don't think), and all I could think after was "man, food would make me feel better. I deserve to eat something delicious because I suck. And hell, the interview probably went badly because, let's be honest, who would want a fat person representing your company anyway? So I might as well eat and fulfill all their assumptions."

Hellloooo emotional eating. So I had a chocolate donut and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. And now I have a bit of a headache. Figures.

So now I'm blogging about eating badly. I'm not sure if that makes me a compulsive-eater-weight-loss-blogger or not. It definitely makes me a guilt-ridden one. And one prone to despair about my future. Ugh.

That said, there is a bright note here. I have a couple of new friends for whom I am extremely grateful. One texted me to wish me good luck before the interview, and another inquired about it immediately after. And they're taking me out to drinks tonight (whether it goes well or not). They're so sweet and good for me. I can't help but wonder why they like hanging out with me. I'm kind of a downer right now. How's that for self-confidence, huh? But I guess that's a topic (a long one) for another day.

Still Kickin'

Helllooo! On the off chance that anyone is reading this, I thought I'd start with a proper greeting and pretend that all my loyal readers missed me...that sounded a bit cynical, didn't it? It isn't, really. I just know that the chance of anyone finding my blog randomly is very small :)

So anyway, I have news! I think I solved my headache problem!!!!! It's amazing and exciting and I'm cautiously optimistic that I will pull through. You see, my friends, it really does seem to all come down to diet (seriously, is there any part of my life that doesn't revolve around food? Ugh). But no, really. To recap, I started following the headache prevention diet using recipes from the Headache Prevention Cookbook (I'm sure there's some official credit I'm supposed to give here, but I'm kind of lazy). I also eliminated dairy and wheat, on the off chance that I have developed some kind of allergy to those products in the last couple of years.

This restrictive diet has done four things for me: It has given me the chance to explore the vast and heretofore untapped world of rice milk, rice pasta and natural thickeners such as arrowroot powder; it has made me a better cook (seriously, you have to make things taste good just with meat, vegetables, and herbs and spices - not easy for this culinarily-impaired person); it has made me healthier - I actually have energy! And I lost weight; and, most importantly, it has gotten rid of my headaches. I should also note that I've stopped taking any medications, including Excedrin, and am treating any pain with ginger (a natural anti-inflammatory) and am taking Migrelief, which is a mix of B vitamins, and tumeric (another natural anti-inflammatory). HOWEVER, while these natural herbs are likely helping, they are not the source of the pain relief because a couple times when I have eaten things that are not in the anti-headache diet, I have developed a headache (interesting, no? Oh, it's not? Well, it is to me!)

At any rate, it's good news all around. The first week on the diet I lost 4 pounds to go down to 192. Then the Boy's parents came to town and it involved a lot of stress (marriage questions, blah) and eating out. So this Tuesday's weigh-in was not good. I was back up the 4 pounds I'd lost the week before (and had more headaches). So as of this morning I'm back on the anti-headache regimen. I think I'm going to have to try to do this regimen most of the time and then allow the occasional slip-up. We'll see. It's a tough prospect for someone who has so many Issues with food as it is.

Friday, Part 2

Apart from headache stuff, this should be a nice weekend. Relaxing, anyway. We're having beautiful fall weather here right now (I live in northern Virginia) and it's supposed to be in the low- to mid-seventies and sunny all weekend. Crisp mornings, just-changing trees, sunny weather! I definitely want to go for a walk this weekend!

Other than that, tonight I'm just going to take it easy. Cook a headache-free (hopefully) meal, watch The Office, which I missed last night because I was at the debate party, and possibly watch Elizabeth, which I have never seen but got on Netflix. I'm seeing a movie on Saturday night with a couple people at the theater about a block away from where I live, so I'm glad we're still staying close to home. Like I said, a relaxing weekend. I think we're also going to dinner beforehand, so we'll see what I can eat. Sunday I'm volunteering at a 10-mile race, which is fun, but I'm not so excited about working the early shift! I'm supposed to be there at 6 a.m.!

Other than that, I've got some class work to do for the Biomedical Ethics class I'm taking at the local community college. It's interesting stuff, but I think the professor is a bit nuts. I really do need to take the first test sometime soon, though. I think a trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's will also be on the agenda to get some preservative-free food and pick up a fryer chicken to make chicken stock with (I'll let you know how that goes! Never done it before!). I love going to stores like that in fall. They really get me in the fall mood! Browsing around colorful leaf displays, fat pumpkins, sunflowers, hay bales. It makes me want to go on a hay ride!

Anyway, that's the plan and all for now. Maybe next time I write I won't have a headache!

Bye for now.

Fabulous Friday

I'm going with the mind over matter concept with my title on this one. Not that it's a bad Friday...but it will involve a lot of work when I have a headache, which doesn't sound too appealing.

So first things first. Yes, I still have a headache. It's not too bad but has been here pretty much consistently since yesterday morning (I had about a two-hour break around lunchtime yesterday when I seemed pain-free). But I'm continuing on with the anti-headache diet and just trying to pretend I don't have one. Went to the gym yesterday and then to watch the VP debate. Others at the debate party got silly drunk, but since I'm on a no-alcohol regimen, I had to stick to carrots. Woohoo! Crazy stuff, I tell ya.

Anyway, foodwise, I had the same thing for dinner last night that I had at lunch - more of the asparagus-beef stir fry - and I have leftovers again for today at lunch. That's a lot of beef (well, two lunches and two dinners over three days) but it was a lot of steak I had thawed! And I had my raspberries and plain oatmeal with rice milk (without sugar today) plus coffee with rice milk for breakfast today. Headache might be slightly better with the caffeine but not significantly.

Yay for NSVs

Today has been a good day so far. I woke up with only a small headache (which was a big improvement over last night, when I had a migraine - yes, the small headache after lunch just kept getting worse). I'm wearing a wrap dress I really like, which apparently is very slimming. When I dropped off my rent check, it was like it was "let's make Mags feel good day" and no one had told me. My apartment manager exclaimed, "whoa, you've lost a ton of weight!" And some random lady who I hadn't even noticed when I walked in because she was hiding behind the door added, "And that dress is so flattering on you - you look wonderful!"

It was a very nice way to start the day (having to fork over $1,000+ notwithstanding), and I felt great walking outside. Until the brisk fall breeze blew my skirt up. Stupid wrap design. But still...it's a gorgeous fall day out! And having these random women compliment me made me realize "hey, yeah, I have lost a lot of weight, and I'm looking pretty good!" I might not be done (in fact, only about half way done), but 50 pounds is a lot of weight to have lost, and I should be proud of myself, recent struggles notwithstanding.

Anyway, when I got to work, a couple girls at work complimented me on my new haircut (It's curly and a little sassy!) and my dress.

So I'm feeling good! The headache I woke up with seems to be easing a bit. I decided to have coffee with rice milk today because, historically, caffeine has helped my head, and I'd like to not get another migraine today. So we'll see. I'm still on the crazy strict diet (but I've lost 1.4 pounds in two days because of it - maybe water weight, but still!). Last night I had steak and broccoli stir fry over brown rice, which was actually quite good. I'm having it again for lunch today. And this morning I had plain oatmeal again with raspberries, rice milk, and a pinch of natural, organic cane sugar. Oh, and the rice milk coffee.

Not sure what dinner will be, but since I have steak still thawed, it will probably involve that. I'm thinking about looking into making some curries...I think I can have coconut milk!

That's all for now. Yay for feeling good!

Yeah, Still Have a Headache

So I had a headache (though a minor one) for most of yesterday afternoon, despite the supposedly trigger-free lunch. I was able to work out, though, after taking some Alleve. Headache stayed away mostly for the rest of the day and I had a trigger-free dinner. Chicken thighs baked with garlic cloves, fresh tarragon, and canola oil. Accompanied by zucchini sauteed in garlic, canola oil, cilantro and white rice with some kind of oil and cardamom (that could have been a problem- it was leftover from an Indian meal and I'm not sure what all was in there).

Was doing fine today until after lunch. Now I have a bit of a headache. So far today I've eaten an egg cooked with butter, some plain instant oatmeal made with rice milk and topped with raspberries, and some leftovers from dinner last night. Oh, and grapes.

I wonder if the headache I have now is somehow a blood sugar reaction to eating, period? Perhaps it's lack of caffeine? Either way, it's annoying. I suppose it could be psychological. But it's way too early to say that. If this is only day 1 (well, first FULL day on the no-headache diet), I can't really say it's not a food trigger.

Anyway, I imagine eating all this pure food will be good for my weight loss efforts regardless!