gluten is not my friend...

gosh it doesn't seem like it has already been 3 weeks since I last blogged about valentine's day and such.   jan, feb and march have gone by so quickly this year.  this time of year is usually a hard season for me considering work gets incredibly stressful and christmas is over but spring is long awaited.  my spring break is in less than a month, which is crazy soon and wonderful.  i mentioned in my previous post that i was training for a half marathon in hopes of crossing it off my bucket list as well as giving me something to be disciplined about.  not to mention it would be good for me to run on a regular basis!  well, i am happy to say that the training has been going great!  i can say i am starting to really love the long runs.  i have about 2 months before the half so i am hoping to keep powering through training!

i also learned a few more things about myself last week.  as many of you know (or any of you that read this blog, ha) i have wondered about the function of my thyroid for some time now.  i went to the dr and got the "welp your thyroid tested great, no probs just watch the cholesterol" spiel.  that got me no where except continuing to deal with fatigue, headaches, and other symptoms that i swore were due to hypothyroidism.  well in my struggles i happened to talk to a few people that referred me to insight family health in wilmington.  they take quite a different approach, more holistic i guess you would say.  as i was filling out the "new patient" forms i realized i was going to like this place.  i felt like they were already listening to me and i hadn't even gotten there yet.  i filled out a bazillion forms asking all about my symptoms and then met with the NP.  she immediately ordered a food allergy/food sensitivities test as well as saliva to test hormones/cortisol levels.  much to my surprise my thyroid came back fine (even with the 6+ tests she ran) but then she showed me my food sensitivities.  not my allergies but sensitivities.  i had no idea really that there was a difference.  oh but is there.  my sheet was half red, meaning i had some sort of sensitivity to those things ranging from 1-3.  now, i know we all have sensitivities and our bodies are resilient but i sank when i saw my 3's consisted of gluten, yeast, cow's milk, malt and yogurt.  bam.  high sensitivities to stuff that is probably in EVERY meal i eat and has been for the last 29 years.  she suggested i go for 30 days without ANY of the items in red (which let me tell you is next to impossible) simply because that included all of the above + soy, peanut, coconut, tomato, sesame, safflower oil, corn, and many others that also appear often in my daily diet.  she suggested i follow the maker's diet to cleanse if i wanted.  i have only been at this for 2 weeks but i definitely feel a huge improvement with no gluten.  i was also very low on Vitamin D and semi low on iron so i am taking supplements for that which i think are contributing (along with some digestive supplements and probiotics).  the no yeast thing is really difficult and no gluten or yeast combined means only meat and veggies basically.  it can't hurt to go for a month with only meat and veggies until you realize that means homecooking every breakfast lunch and dinner.  with working in the schools, its difficult to have much of a lunch but i have been pretty successful with bringing leftovers.  i have also found some yeast and gluten free oatmeals (with delicious honey or pure maple drizzled) along with rice cakes, some fruit, black bean hummus, sunflower butter and guac.  im definitely excited to possibly have found a solution to my fatigue and migraines.  i haven't had either really since i started, hallelujah!

so, this new journey should be interesting.  bread, beer and cheese call my name daily but i am hoping to stay strong and stick with it considering what i am already seeing.  i am having to be a little creative in the cooking dept because many of my beloved recipes are not gluten free but i am trying new things!

we also finally got our floors done!  my phone is out of commission due to one crazy mutt and a glass of water so i don't have the pics on my camera but i am hoping to have a new phone by this weekend.  ill post pics soon!