Before you take your doctor's advice, read the ingredients!

Source

Recently my mother had some dental surgery. Prior to the procedure, I was talking to her on the phone and she told me she had just been out grocery shopping to get some things to eat following the surgery. She mentioned the dentist told her to get some "Boost" – a meal replacement drink.

I was appalled. I asked her on the phone to read me the ingredients.

I ask you now, what in this list of crap is nutritional?

Water, corn syrup solids, sugar, modified milk ingredients, canola oil, high oleic sunflower oil, corn oil, artificial flavour, salt, soy lecithin, carrageenan, artificial colour, soy oil, (may contain potassium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid), minerals (calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate tribasic, chromic chloride, cupric sulfate, ferric pyrophosphate, magnesium phosphate dibasic, manganese sulfate, potassium chloride, potassium citrate, potassium iodide, sodium citrate, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite and zinc sulfate), vitamins (biotin, calcium d-pantothenate, dl-α-tocopheryl acetate, folic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, sodium ascorbate, thiamine hydrochloride, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin D₃). 

From what I can tell, you've got the following:

• water
• sugar
• sugar
• modified milk ingredients, as defined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: any of the following in liquid, concentrated, dry, frozen or reconstituted form, namely, calcium-reduced skim milk (obtained by the ion-exchange process), casein, caseinates, cultured milk products, milk serum proteins, ultrafiltered milk, whey, whey butter, whey cream and any other component of milk the chemical state of which has been altered from that in which it is found in milk (Source)
• a bunch of oils, from most likely genetically-modified sources
• artificial flavour, as defined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: one or more substances prepared for their flavouring properties and derived in whole or in part from components obtained by chemical synthesis (Source)
• some very processed thickening agents
• artificial colour, this shouldn't be news to anyone... they are chemicals 
• a bunch of added mineral and vitamins that are poor sources and often a type that our body cannot readily absorb (calcium carbonate, for instance is a poor calcium supplement choice, we absorb very little calcium from this source)

Feel free to help a nutritionista-in-training and point out the REAL FOOD, and therefore nutrition...

Still looking... thought you might.

Instead of Boost, here's my suggestion: easy, fresh, cheap, and is full of REAL nutrition.

• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• large handful of greens (spinach, kale, chard)
• 1 cup of mixed berries
• 1 frozen banana
• BLEND this goodness up and then DRINK this goodness up

Feel free to take it to the next level and add more nutritious superfoods using my two go-to smoothie recipes here and here.

Enjoy and be well!

Detoxing, fabulously

I've been absent... Life took over. If I wasn't at work, I was at school, studying for school or sleeping. That's been my life for the last few weeks. Things are on the up and up now though. Some big assignments for school are behind me, so a bit more free time. Hurray!

As I mentioned in my last post (that seems oh so long ago), I made some major changes to my diet over the last few weeks. But the best news is, that I'm having great success! My allergies have piped down a lot and my digestion has never been better! I still have room for improvement, but things are heading in the right direction – so that makes me smile (a lot).

I've been getting some interesting reactions when people find out what I've eliminated from my diet: "so where do you get your protein? your calcium?" My response... uh... plants, some grains and some meat. There is still SO MUCH I can eat that I'm not finding it overly cumbersome. Eating out, on the other hand can be a bit of an issue sometimes... ah well, I'm likely saving way more money by eating mostly at home anyway.

Last weekend, amidst the craziness, I was in Toronto for the weekend visiting friends and relatives. But the real reason for going this particular weekend was to attend a couple of workshops with the lovely Meghan Telpner! One of the workshops I attended was based on her successful Fab Uplift Detox program. Included in the price was also registration into her coached Fab Uplift Detox program that started this past Monday.

This detox is so timely to what I'm going through right now with food allergies/sensitivities and I thought it would be a great "reboot" button for my body. And so far so good! The first four days weren't a big change from the way I currently eat -- just cutting out the meat (which there wasn't tonnes of to begin with), so I didn't see big changes, but Friday marked the start of the real deal leading up to a juice and smoothie fasting for a day, which from my calendar looks like it will fall on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it and feeling great thus far.

I hope to post a few more times about some of the things I'm eating and how I'm feeling so you can follow along and maybe join in next time, but also for myself, so I can look back and see how far I've come.

Enjoy the ride. I know I will.

A lengthy list

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about how I conquered my allergies? Well I should have knocked on a lot of wood after I wrote that, because a couple days later the uncontrollable sneezing came back and never left. After one particular bad night where I couldn't sleep and then woke up in the middle of the night all congested and sneezing up a storm, I thought it best to seek some more help.

So once again, not wanting to just deal with suppressing symptoms, I made another appointment with my Naturopathic Doctor to see if she had any wise wisdom to share. To be honest, we thought we were dealing with a dust and mold allergy -- but I was doing everything possible to address that issue. So next on the list was food. She suggested I take a food intolerance test. It was a bit of a financial commitment, as it cost over $300, but we were both pretty sure it would reveal something that would be very hard to pinpoint on my own through elimination diets.

On Friday, I had an appointment to go over the results. And it was a doozy. I'm pretty much intolerant to most of the common food allergens. This doesn't mean anaphylactic shock, it just means by body is attacking itself in a way in response to these foods that it sees as foreign, because my digestive tract isn't processing them properly. Which all means that my digestive tract is somehow compromised and needs some healing time.

So the main culprits I am to avoid (in no particular order) are:

• gluten grains (I was already aware of this one)
• eggs
• dairy (cow, goat, sheep)
• potatoes
• yeasts
• almonds
• peanuts
• corn
• peas
• leeks
• mussels

Yikes, right! Actually, it's ok. I can deal. Believe it or not, my issue isn't so much the eggs and dairy, it's the almonds! No almonds, almond milk, almond butter or almond flour/meal. The flour/meal part is especially sad because it can be a key ingredient in gluten-free baking. Oh well, I'll be experimenting with some other nut flours such as hazelnut, walnut and pecan, in addition to all the other gluten-free flours.

I'm trying to stay really positive about it all. I mean there's no point getting angry or pitying myself. I already eat along these lines, so just a few adjustments to make and hopefully in a few weeks I'll start noticing changes in my body.

My dinner tonight: Thai Green Curry with Sprouted Tofu, totally made from scratch! A good weekend meal as it requires lots and lots of prep. But totally worth it, so yummy and so good for me (and you too!)

Why I went gluten-free – a summary I didn't write

I came across this little gem of a post on Meghan Telpner's blog this morning.

Many people ask me when I tell them I don't eat gluten: do you have celiac? My answer is always no, I just feel better and have better digestion when I don't eat it, so I choose not to eat it because I know it does more bad than good for my body.

I've posted a lot about my gluten-free journey here, here, here and here (there are actually a few more, but these are the main ones), but Meghan sums it up beautifully in her post. AND, she is starting a gluten-free cleanse online coaching program – so if you too want less gluten in your life (and feel like a million bucks), maybe you should hop on over and read all about it!

Gluten intolorant or a gut in need of healing?

I've always been pretty in tune with my body. My chiropractor knows this. I can usually tell her what needs adjusting before she even looks at me. But in the last year or so and especially since going gluten-free, I've been much more in tune with my digestion and my gut.

So back in May, I went on a mini-elimination diet to see if I could pinpoint what was making my tummy not-so happy. And I found it - the ever guilty gluten! And since that time, I've been gluten-free.

Until recently...

A couple weeks ago I went to a sushi restaurant and I usually bring my own soya sauce, because the normal stuff is laden with wheat. Side note: more and more restos I've frequented recently are offering GF soy sauce now! I could have went without but said to myself, oh well, I'll just deal with the effects for a day or so. But those effects never really came...

And then last night, I was helping my BF make a version of my mom's amazing meat pies that he fell in love with at Christmas. We used a biscuit dough to make the crust and there was a little bit left after the pies were made so I just shaped them into a few biscuits and threw them in the oven too. When they came out, well I couldn't help it. Warm homemade biscuits! Are you kidding me? Thoughts of my childhood came flooding back and I HAD TO HAVE ONE! So I did. Laden with butter, like they should be consumed. Again with the thought, that I would deal with the effects, but this was too good to pass up and it was only one. Twenty-four hours later, nothing - which would never have happened six or even three months ago.

This has lead me to believe that what I was really in need of was a period of healing. My gut needed a good long break to heal and now it can tolerate some wheat again (although my trials included a very limited amount).

Does this mean I'm going to start eating pizzas, pasta, and sandwiches again? No, because obviously my body couldn't handle it in great quantities and I do believe that an abundance of wheat and grains isn't great for the body anyway.  It is, however, interesting to find out that I can handle a bit, now that I've obviously healed my intestinal lining.

I find this all quite fascinating. And I stress once again what you can really learn about yourself by simply listening (closely!) and following your body's instructions! The human body is such an amazing piece of work - so treat it well!

There's a birthday in the house

Would you believe this here little blog of mine is 1 year-old? I find it hard to believe myself. But it's not about how much time has passed; it's more about how my life has changed (so much!) in one short year.

Last year at this time, I had just started my journey to better health. Last December I was paying much more attention to what I was putting in my mouth and my body began responding -- my waist shrunk without much effort and the unneeded pounds melted off. I still eat lots! The key here is that the quality of the food changed!

These changes in my body lead me to enroll in the Canadian School for Natural Nutrition's Holistic Nutritionist program, which I am LOVING.

And it didn't stop there, I also learned that my body has trouble breaking down gluten proteins. I also want to point out that I figured this out through listening to my body, not by subjecting myself to unnecessary blood tests. I'm adapting to a gluten-free lifestyle quite easily as well as a healthier lifestyle in general and enjoying its benefits.

But mostly this year has given me a remarkable appreciation for health and how to stay healthy without the need of pharmaceuticals and vaccines, but through nourishing my body with what it requires! The human body is such an amazing instrument and unbelievably resilient – but remember to treat it well!

I honestly believe that this year, which also marked a milestone in my life with my 30th birthday, has been my best and most life changing yet. I'm so glad I started Everyday Rae to capture some of these moments.

Happy 1st Birthday!

xoxo

My favourite wellness and nutrition blogs, Part 2

Early on in this blog's existence, I posted a little summary of some of my favourite healthy living blogs. Spurred on by a request, I thought I'd add to the list, and maybe revisit a couple, because they are what I consider the best of the best (that I've come across, thus far).

My New Roots
A Canadian holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef living in Denmark. Great blog, lots of lovely recipes.

Cook Bake Nibble
Kristin is a natural food chef. She has great recipes, pretty much exclusively gluten-free and many grain-free.

Joyous Health
Joy is a holistic nutritionist based out of Toronto. She's got lots of great stuff on her blog, including recipes, healthy living ideas, and the mind-body connection. She's genuine; you can tell.

Gluten-Free Goddess
Karina seems to be the queen of all things gluten-free. She has a large following, especially in the Celiac community. Amazing recipes. Not the easiest mind you, but if you're more than a beginner baker, I'm sure you can pull her recipes off.

Inside-Out Nutrition
Josh is a clinical nutritionist. He knows the ins and outs of it. I've had great "aha" moments reading his posts. Things just make sense.

Comfy Belly
The blog of a mom with a sick child. She chronicles the recipes she's created to heal her child -- all gluten free!

Eat, Spin, Run, Repeat
Angela, based in Kitchener, Ontario, writes a daily blog about healthy eating and exercise. She's young and fun and so is the blog.

Ok and I have to mention again my healthy blog staples. Such amazing stuff here:

Making Love in the Kitchen
I'm such a Meghan Telpner fan. I read her blog religiously everyday. I can't get enough -- I even went to Toronto for a weekend to take in some of her healthy living/eating classes that she offers. So amazing, so inspiring!

Oh She Glows
Angela from Oh She Glows is the most amazing food photographer; she can make anything look good. But she doesn't have to because her stuff is so amazing on it's own. She blogs about a completely plant-based diet. I've tried many of her recipes, and no complaints here! Again, super inspiring Canadian woman.

Elana's Pantry
Elana has the simplest recipes I've ever come across. Very few ingredients, but maximum flavour. Her recipes are all gluten-free, but also grain-free as she eats according to the paleolithic diet. She also has a couple cookbooks, if you're so interested!

Please share with me your favourite blogs. I'd love to add more to my roster!

I won a giveaway!

I won my first blog giveaway! From one of my most favourite blogs!

A few weeks ago, Meghan Telpner from Making Love in the Kitchen held a giveaway for a great gift basket from Prana.

Prana is a fabulous little Canadian gem of a company, based in Montreal, that make great snacks (sweet and savory) from healthy and organic nuts, seeds and fruits.

I found out about the 'win' on a Monday, and by Tuesday my package had arrived. Now in my usual excitedness about getting packages in the mail, I tore it open before I even thought to take photos. I tried to stuff all my goodies back into the basket to take a photo but I couldn't do it justice; so just pretend everything is in the basket and it's all wrapped up in cellophane and some pretty ribbon. You'll also have to imagine I took nicer photos where I've taken care to make sure the background is clear of say Dyson vacuums. But at the time I didn't care about the quality of the photo, I wanted to EAT these goodies!

My loot!

Included were:

Sumsuma Sesame Squares
Ignore that the bag has already been
ripped opened in this photo

Chia Oil
.
.

White Mulberries
Brown Manuka Raisins
Raw Walnuts

Sundried Tomatoes
Dried Apple Rings
Dried Cherries
Pumpkin Seeds

They also included a lovely note and a coupon for 20% off an order from their online store.

 

What a lovely gift! Let's just say the sesame squares were gone by the next morning. So good, but full of sugar, which is not good for maintaining a steady blood sugar, which then leads to cravings... So these will only be a treat.

The chia oil is lovely. Lighter in colour and taste than a flax oil, but both are very high in Omega 3 fatty acids (an essential fatty acid that the body does not produce on it's own). I used most of it in my morning smoothies, but I also made a salad dressing with it and it was lovely.

The rest of the loot (all the seeds, nuts and dried fruit) got poured into a big jar and shook up! Instant trail mix! I've been picking away at it for a few weeks. It nice when you get home from work and are hungry and need a little something to satisfy you while dinner is cooking. Due to the fact that there's a good blend of all three macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrate), it sustains and doesn't make you reach back for more and more. And plain and simple it's so darn good together. The different textures and flavours blend so wonderfully. One thing to watch for when purchasing dried fruits is that they are often loaded with sulfites to preserve them. Sulfites can trigger asthma and allergies in certain people. It's always best to eat the cleanest, most natural foods available. Prana delivers on this with all organic products.

I've been really impressed with the pumpkin seeds as well as the raisins and dried cherries. I think my discount coupon will be spent on stocking up on those.

Check them out and maybe order some items for yourself! Or find their products at a store near you.

Thank you Prana for your gift. I thoroughly enjoyed and am continuing to enjoy it!

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween

Until this year, I'd never cooked a pumpkin. But so far this fall, I've cooked two! And my oh my they are one delicious vegetable. I picked up my latest one at the Ottawa Organic Farmers' Market on Saturday.

Cooking pumpkin or any kind of squash is so unbelievably simple:

• Cut in two with a large knife (be careful, they're hard!)
• Scoop out the "innards"
• Lay face down in a baking dish with a bit of water (1/4 to 1/2 inch)
• Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or so (depends on the size) until it's soft

Roasted pumpkin. Ready to peel.

• Let it cool for a quick bit and peel off the skin
• There you have it, amazing, delicious, nutrient-dense pumpkin!

Depending on what you're using it for, the instructions can change here. I like mine pureed, so I cut the peeled, roasted pumpkin up into large chunks, and tossed it in the food processor to puree.

Pureed pumpkin.
Keeps in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it for later use.

Pumpkin is a great source of fiber, very low in sugar, an amazing source of vitamin A due to it's rich colour and full of lots of other nutrients that are oh so good for the bod, including vitamin C, iron, and B vitamins.

So now what do you do with your pumpkin... Well a few ideas for you. Some tried and tested, some recipes to come this week, to use up that gorgeous bowl of orange goodness.

Here's how they look. They taste AMAZING.

Chia Pumpkin Muffins! Mmm tasty. A few changes to the recipe, as I have a slightly different paper version:

• I used 2 tablespoons of ground chia, instead of one.
• I used 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 1/2 cup of quinoa flour to make up the 1 cup of flour.
• I used arrowroot flour instead of tapioca and only 1/4 cup.
• I substituted the agave for raw honey, still at 1/2 cup.
• I lowered the amount of maple syrup to just 1/4 cup.

 
Other great ideas for pumpkin (that I have tried or will be trying):

• Pumpkin soup, this is on my meal plan list for this week.
• Pumpkin pie overnight oats, these are so easy to make the night before.
• Pumpkin pie oatmeal, amazing for cold mornings.
• Butternut squash brownies, these are SO GOOD, just sub the butternut squash for pumpkin (or any squash really!)

Have you any creative and good ideas for using the very stellar pumpkin?

First Day of School, Part 2

Back in March I wrote here about my first day of school after enrolling at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition's Ottawa Branch. I was so pumped to get started learning about this wonderful world of holistic nutrition. And then I had to stop for a bit -- not my choice. It's a long story and completely uninteresting. But to summarize, I got to complete two courses (about 24 hours worth of class time) and since then I've been on a hiatus.

Until today, that is! Today I start back. And I'm as pumped as I was on the first day. In fact, possibly more excited as my feet got wet during the spring and I know with all my being that this is going to be the right field of work for me. I'm beyond passionate about it.

But you probably know that already too, because if you've been reading along with me here, here and here, oh and here and here too, you'll have realized my passion for yourselves.

P.S. I'm a crazy organizer, I spend a lot of time organizing my life. School, to me, is just as fun to organize. Staples is my friend. As is the coolest bright green laptop bag/brief case-y thing I found this summer. And so is Microsoft's One Note. I got a new computer earlier this year and once I found One Note as part of the Microsoft Office package, I fell in love. It's an organizing, school-going girl's dream come true!

P.P.S. I know I'm crazy and a big nerd. I've come to terms with it. You should too. ;)

21 days (plus a few more) later...

In my last post, I went on raving about Meghan Telpner's 21 Days To Health. Well the 21 days have ended and what have I took away from it? Lots! Let's recap.

So as a refresher the premise of the 21 days is to incorporate one new change each day and build until the 21 days are complete. This is based on the idea that it takes 3 weeks (21 days) to form new habits.

Now it's pretty hard to incorporate all of them, but I'm doing my best and I know many of the changes I have made have stuck so that in itself is something to be proud of. I'm not going to go through the full list of 21 changes, but I will touch upon some of the things I have incorporated and maybe bring a little inspiration to you!

My new habits!

• Drinking lemon water first thing every morning. This was the very first point in the book. Drinking warm water with a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (i.e. from lemons, not squeeze bottles) is a great cleanse for the liver. Meaning it flushes out the liver and gets rid of all the toxins that the liver works so hard at removing from the body.

• Meditating or sitting quietly for at least 15 minutes each morning. This is to stop the fidgeting and to bring calm to yourself and just focus on the breath. I was having a hard time at this one, but recently put together a little morning routine so that I made time for it in the morning. I now have put 15 minutes aside each morning to do this. I also drink my lemon water while doing this (always a multitasker!)
• Flossing - every time I brush my teeth. I've always flossed my teeth, but never with any regularity. I'd be really good for a few days and then slack off. But I can honestly say that in over a month I have flossed each and every day. I'm now working on doing twice per day -- morning and night. My dentist is going to be oh so pleased, I almost can't wait for my next visit!
• Getting to bed 15 minutes early. My old bedtime was around 11:00 p.m. and now I make sure I'm getting ready for bed by 10:30 so that I'm actually in my bed by 10:45. The extra sleep helps with getting up earlier for my quiet time.
• Brown bagging. I'm doing a much better job at bringing my lunch to work. I like how this affects my bank account.
• No more going for seconds. I now make a mental note to not eat a second plate of food no matter how good it is. One serving is all my body needs. The goodness can be saved for my brown bag.
• Cutting out all the refined sugar. I'm super aware of this now. By making your own food, this is super easy to do.
• Cutting out some toxic body products. I recently posted about my soap-making endeavours, but I've also recently changed my toothpaste, deodorant and have stopped using body creams and replaced them with edible oils, like coconut oil. Because anything that goes on the skin should also go in the mouth because it's all the same... either way it ends up in the bloodstream.
• Drink more H2O. I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water and herbal teas. Since doing so, I get a headache in the evenings when I don't drink enough water. Your body tells you everything you need to know if you listen closely enough.
• Meal planning! So important. But I had a head start on that one, I've been doing it for a while!
• Cut out the booze. I've drunk alcohol very sparingly for the last year -- just the odd glass of wine or cider here and there -- but it's a treat! And since going gluten-free I haven't had any beer. So check mark here too.
• Dry skin brushing. This practice is new to me -- I've only become familiar with it recently, but I'm doing it! So good for the skin and for the lymph. More to come on this in a future post, because it's an easy thing to do that I gather most people know nothing about. So stay tuned for that!

I'm pretty proud of what I managed to incorporate in just a few short weeks. Think about how much healthier a society we would be if we all just adopted one or two of these things!

What changes have you made recently to improve your health?

21 days to health

I'm a bit of a healthy living, nutrition blog nut follower. I admit it. Back in January, I came across Meghan Telpner's blog - and fell in love. I love her style, food philosophy, how she cured herself of an 'incurable' disease through nutrition, and how she turned her knowledge and passion for nutrition and food into an amazing and growing business. She's kind of my nutritionista idol, if you will.

A couple of weeks ago she started a 21 days to health challenge based on one of her e-books, appropriately named, 21 Days To Health.

,

Source

She describes the program as follows:

21 Days To Health is about incorporating very simple changes everyday for 21 days. By the end of those short three weeks, you will have tried out and gradually added more healthy living practices than you ever thought possible- and done so with virtually no stress and minimal effort. You will have broken old habits and established new ones.

This program has nothing to do with whether you should eat organic or not, or what’s the best kind of fish oil you should take. This is about 21 simple transitions that cover off the 20% of the effort that will give you 80% of the results. This is the important stuff. The changes in this book are not rocket science, they are things we inherently know we should do, but for whatever reason, don’t do.

So, spurred on by her challenge and my wanting to incorporating more healthy living tips into my routine, I'm participating (if you follow me on Twitter, hopefully now my most recent tweets make more sense). And it's awesome!

I've found that a few of her tips I had already incorporated into my routine, including meal planning and shopping with a list, and incorporating more natural body care products. However, I've begun new ones as well that I've been committed to, such as flossing daily (if not twice a day), drinking a large glass of lemon water each morning first thing to help cleanse the liver, alkalize the body and stimulate the acid in the stomach, getting to bed 15 minutes earlier each night and more.

It's a really great book, filled with lots of great recipes and ideas, all with one goal in mind. I'm hoping to get to Toronto one weekend soon to take in some of her amazing cooking classes too... I just can't get enough!

I'm a bit obsessed, but I'm ok with that.

Getting the most out of my food and my grocery bill

I'm an organized person, I think I've alluded to this before. I get a wonderful high from my house being in order and things having a place to call home. With school, I'm an über-nut, I won't even go into how I organize myself for school, because you'll roll your eyes and think I'm crazy.

I've recently redone my spare bedroom/home office to work better for me. I got so into doing it that I forgot to take some key photos before and after, but I'll post about it soon. My main bathroom is also undergoing a organization renovation, it still needs to be decorated and then photos will follow. My next task will be my kitchen, my tiny townhouse kitchen... drives me insane. My I've got a project up my sleeve to tackle that one.

The kitchen brings me to my subject for today. For about a year now, I've completely changed the way I approach food, which has brought some great results. One way I have done this is to treat food as essential fuel for my body, not as a comfort or something brought upon by boredom. Once you see food in this different light, you'll be amazed at what you will stop putting in your mouth... I roll my eyes with disgust at things I ate without question just over a year ago -- and it has MUCH more to do with the ingredient list than it does with the nutritional value chart.

You hear regularly people complain about the high prices for good food, REAL food. My solution is quite simple. I put my organization skills to use and I plan. I will NOT go to the grocery store without having a plan in hand. So before my weekly trip, I find out what I've got on hand, perhaps go through the amazing box of goodies that was recently delivered and come up with a meal plan - meals for at least 5-6 days (which leaves some flexibility) and that uses everything I buy so little goes to waste. I go to the store with a plan and I know what's in my refrigerator -- awesome for my health and my budget.

It has worked awesome. No more "what are we going to have for dinner?" questions when getting home from work, the answer is on a piece of paper on the refrigerator. The real question becomes, which of these awesome meals am I going to eat today.

Gluten-free: One month later

It was just about a month ago that I determined that I was what I'll call gluten-intolerant. So I've been living the gluten-free lifestyle for about four weeks or so now, more if you include the two- to three-week period that I was doing my elimination. So what have I learned?

1. Brown rice pasta and noodles are delicious. I can't get enough and could eat it everyday.
2. I miss toast with homemade jam on the weekends. Although I have a lead on a particular brand of gluten-free bread that might be good for toast.
3. Gluten-free baking is easy and fun and makes you feel very creative.
4. The internet is wonderful. While I do not have Celiac disease, it is more and more prevalent and there are so many lovely recipes and fantastic bloggers on the interwebs to keep me inspired.
5. I miss a good sandwich. I will work on ways to reincorporate – I need to investigate gluten-free wraps.
6. Best of all, I have learned that I feel fan-freakin-tastic! No more tummy pains, bloating, or gas for me!

Since January or so I have been eating real food, whole food, not packaged food, and along with some professional advice on adding some supplemental forms of vitamins and minerals I have never felt better. Pounds have literally melted off and my energy levels have soared. Eliminating gluten hasn't been a burden, but instead just one more small change that makes me feel fantastic.

And I for one will take feeling great over a slice of bread any day!

Healthwashing - Have you heard of it?

Lately, I've been reading a lot of food labels. I've always been a food label reader, but I used to focus on the nutrition fact chart, you know this one, that's on everything. 

Source

But more and more at the grocery store, I've started looking at that ingredient list first, and the nutrition facts chart second, if at all. Marketing can be a mean game and more and more company's are trying to sell their products based on their "low-fat" or "low-calorie" or now more and more "gluten-free" or "organic" labels. These companies are trying to brainhealthwash you!

The very best example I have of this, comes from a fabulous nutrition blog I read daily, written by Meghan Telpner, a Toronto-area holistic nutritionist. In this post, she writes about guessing what the food is based on the ingredient list. You'll never guess. And furthermore, you'll never guess that this is being marketed to consumers as healthy! 

More and more we need to stop looking at the number of calories and pay a million times more time reading the ingredient list. If you find things on there that you don't know what they are, it's likely some sort of chemical that you really don't need in your body, let alone your child's. Just because something is "organic" or "gluten-free" doesn't equal healthy. Organic sugar is still sugar, for example, and hydrogenated oil of any kind is a trans-fat and should be avoided like the plague.

So all of this was brought on today, by a little visit into Shopper's Drug Mart. I was killing time out for a walk at lunch time and just popped in to see how much they charged for a particular item. While in the "Live well. Be well. Vitamins and Nutrition" section, I happened upon this:

 

 

What do you see? I see energy drinks and flavoured liquid marketed as water. Down in the corner just out of the frame are a few bottles of flax oil and 3 tubs of coconut oil – the only thing of value in the whole display.

Shameful... 

There are so many more examples of this everywhere. Got any good ones to share?

Gluten it is!

So for those following along on my elimination diet, you'll be happy to know that my culprit has been identified! Gluten has been found guilty on all accounts, not just wheat as I had hoped. Thankfully, dairy is ok – fancy organic cheeses here I come!

As a budding nutritionist, this has been a fascinating experience for me. First-hand accounts are always more interesting than reading about something. Seriously, food teaches something to me everyday.

So in celebration of all things gluten-free and that summer has FINALLY arrived in Ottawa, I will spend my evening baking these... with none other than coconut flour!

Courtesy of Elana's Pantry and Joy the Baker

Gotta love the amazing food bloggers out there for inspiration for maybe not a gluten-free diet, but most definitely a less-gluten diet!

The results are in (partly)

In my last post, I described going gluten- and dairy-free for ten days. Last Thursday was day 11, so I opted to reintroduce gluten into my diet that day. My naturopath told me to eat a lot of it to ensure symptoms showed. So my day went like this:

• Breakfast: My usual protein shake, but with it two small slices of spelt bread toasted
• Lunch: A wrap (whole wheat) sandwich with veggies
• Dinner: I kind of had two since I was traveling to Vancouver and my day was quite long. When I got to the airport I got a small dish of penne pasta with a simple tomato sauce and then while on the plane I got a veggie sandwich (which was not very good and I didn't eat all of it, but it was the only thing that didn't have cheese on it!)

And the verdict – symptoms returned! So obviously not good news. But I have a still a few experiments to do before declaring myself anything and permanently changing my diet.

First, because I cheated a bit while on my travels this week (not much mind you, but maybe a tiny bit of cheese and bread here and there) I'm going totally gluten- and dairy-free again for three days. Today is day 2. On Friday I will reintroduce dairy and see how I feel. Saturday, I will continue eating gluten-free, and possibly dairy-free as well if I have symptoms following my reintroduction the day before. Finally, on Sunday, my plan is to eat lots of gluten grains, but not wheat grains. So I'll be loading up on spelt, kamut, barley, and rye in hopes that maybe, just maybe it's only wheat that's affecting me.

More to come...

Easter weekend round-up

Happy belated Easter weekend to all! We spent the better part of the weekend in Georgetown, Guelph and Acton, Ontario visiting great friends and family. What a better way to spend the holiday! I got to spend lots of time with my newest little cousin, Kaden, who is now a whopping 9 months old and so much fun. Thanks to all who made my weekend spectacular. Love to all xoxo.

We also made a little side trip to Oakville because I wanted to visit their Whole Foods Market. What a beautiful store. We're getting on here in Ottawa in a few years. My review: Gorgeous and delicious food. The prepared food was so unbelievably appetizing it was hard to pick. Their cheese selection was superb as well. Lots of taste testing of products. However, you can find just about everything they sell already in Ottawa, you just may have to visit several stores to get it! Their dry goods could be mostly found at Loblaws in their Natural Value section. Good organic meats can be found at Farm Boy or Sasloves. And all the rest, including supplements, health and body care, and other dry goods can be found at great natural foods stores including Rainbow Foods and Natural Food Pantry. I will also note that their prices were more expensive than Loblaws pricing for the items that are carried there. Still a fun trip!

Today back to studying as my first course in my holistic nutrition program is wrapping up this week and I have two tests to study for. Back at it...

P.S. sorry for the lack of photos. I've got to get better at taking them. I've never been much of a photographer, but blogs without photos are boring, I know...

Chewing: The dilemma

My friends and family know all too well about what I call "my jaw issues". It's a condition I can't remember my life without. Painful, lock-open, lock-shut, side-to-side movement – generally speaking not what your jaw is supposed to do or how it is supposed to move.

The latter part of my university days and the first few years of living in Ottawa were especially bad. I've sought treatment for my pain and discomfort a few times. However, I've since come to figure out that unfortunately fixing a TMJ disorder isn't as easy as one might think. In fact I've come to realize that my jaw will never be the way I want it to be – and all I want is for it to open and close with out moving laterally and making all kinds of cracking/scratching/grating noises.

As an aside, consider yourself schooled that jaw problems are not called TMJ. TMJ is just the physical joint where your skull, specifically the temporal bone, and the jaw, also called the mandible, are joined. TMD, or temporomandibular (joint) disorders, are the "issues".

Source

Here are a few things that have brought me to a point where my jaw doesn't rule my life:

• I've had a few mouth guards, but the one I have now (and for the last 5 or more years) I wear on my lower teeth. When I first I got wore it all the time (because it's on the lower teeth it doesn't really interfere with talking, etc) to teach my facial muscles to relax and not let my teeth touch when in a relaxed state
• Infrared treatments - not sure why this was recommended, it was so long ago now, but it was part of my treatment plan
• Physiotherapy, which also included acupuncture treatments and ultrasound treatments - this was the turning point in moving forward
• Chiropractic adjustments on my jaw - this is part of my ongoing maintenance
• Massage therapy, and this week I'm trying acupuncture treatments via my massage therapist - again part of my ongoing maintenance

I also have to be careful about what I eat. Basically no excess chewing (i.e.,gum or bagels that require serious jaw power). Also, I have to be careful with apples, I'm not supposed to bite into them, but rather cut them. That's not always an option so I try to only take little bites instead of trying to bite off half the apple. Oh and ever try to yawn with your mouth closed?

It's an ongoing battle. I've managed to see a vast improvement. I'm no longer always in pain and my jaw rarely locks open/closed any more. And to me that's significant relief. However, my jaw still makes about six different crack/scratch/grating noises upon opening and about the same when closing – lovely, eh?

www.pur-gum.com

So what brought on this post? I want to win gum! Yes I know, I'm not supposed to chew it. But I'm always on the look out for good breath fresheners and they are a hard thing to come by if you don't want them packed with crazy chemicals. Enter Pur Gum,which is aspartame-free! So even the want-to-be-nutritionist in me loves it! So my friends should I win some Pur Gum, perhaps I'll share with you! And wouldn't you like that?

In the meantime you must take a peek at Meghan Telpner's blog, who is the one giving away the gum, I read it everyday. Very fun, nourishing mind/body/soul stuff.

Headlines catching my attention recently

A few things showed up in my twitter feed and on the front page of a couple online news sites today that caught my eye.

It would seem that super foods and whole body (holistic) nutrition is becoming more and more mainstream, as is the desire for wholesome local food.

First Huffington Post: Why Holistic Nutrition is the Best Approach, an interesting article on needing to treat the whole body and not individual symptoms with individual nutrients/foods. Exactly what we are learning in school after only two sessions.

Second, a new super food! And a yummy one too. Now I wouldn't suggest you go out and pour a jug of maple syrup on everything. In my opinion it still should be used sparingly. It's still a sugar, just a pure, unrefined one. I also read a follow up article that was quite negative regarding this story, but that's OK, because it gets people talking about good, natural, unrefined yummy food. As long as people stop buying the "syrup," aka corn-sugar and the even worse the "sugar-free syrup," which is simply jar of chemicals, and support our local producers, life will be grand.

Finally, is a story straight out of my home province and close to my heart. Local free range eggs. The story kind of "blew up" a few weeks ago when a local B&B owner who fed his visitors eggs from his own chickens was told to cease the practice because the eggs were not inspected. If you know anything about the food system you'll know that food safety issues do not arise from small local farmers, but from large-scale unnatural operations.

A great deal of resistance has risen out of this story, which quite frankly is amazing. Watching it from a distance and from a friend and local foodie on PEI, it's quite fascinating how it's becoming an issue that's been brought to the forefront of islanders' minds and perhaps might make people think twice when they pick up their next carton of eggs or other items at the grocery store.