Happy Halloween! The last day for "Getting Off the Health Wagon"

If any of you are like me, you are one of those people who say you are going to commit to your lifestyle change (by the way, I don't believe in diets...they are only a temporary fix for until you can fit in those size X jeans, only to go back to the sugar/fat binge and gain back twice the weight), and then after only a month, you are back to where you started...the story of my life, until tomorrow, November 1st, 2011, All Saints Day.

My co-worker one day asked me if I wanted to do a sort of "Biggest Loser" for the office.  I was totally game because the incentive is a better me AND money!  We got more people in the office to do it, and looks like the prize will be $100 in 6 months (3 categories to win in:  Weight (lbs), Weight (%), and Inches Lost).  $30/person and we got about 10 people in it.  I am so excited!  I'm already on that journey, but to keep me more motivated and focus, I got more people to support me and do this along with me!  We even set up weekly Group Walks every Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.  This is great because I already know what my body can and cannot have as far as food.  This quest for the Biggest Loser prize starts 11/1/11 for 6 months.  Now if only I can convince myself to give all that "bad food" up so that my body does not feel like $h!+....which brings me to my next topic:  Gluten Intolerance/Celiac Disease

 What is Gluten Intolerance/Celiac Disease


Well, I could give you a Wikipedia definition, but instead I will give you a definition based on what I understand from it because there is too much medical jargon in the definitions to go through and I am in no position to summarize it! (LOL).

So, gluten is a protein found in processed foods made from wheat and most grains.  Gluten helps bread rise, make the dough elastic and gives bread its chewy texture, just to sum it up.  People who are gluten-intolerant have difficulty digesting this protein and have symptoms such as bloating, gas, indigestion, headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and infertility, to name a few...kind of like an allergy (I'm not surprised..I am or was allergic to shellfish, certain types of weed, mesquite/kiawe wood, smoke, dust, dust mites, and certain types of pet dander...I'm glad I'm not allergic to my pet kitten Oreo).  I mention only these symptoms because those are my symptoms.

After going on this new lifestyle change (I'll mention it later what that specific lifestyle change is), I've really discovered what my body can and cannot handle.  I have to cut out all wheat-based food, including pasta!!!!  And of all foods I love, pasta and pizza are my most favorite of foods.  I had really severe symptoms (see above list).  To top it all off, those who are gluten intolerant are also lactose-intolerant.  So once I cut all the gluten and lactose-containing foods out of my life, I was fine!  TMI, but I was never gassy, no headache, etc (I was always really gassy before until this change).  What an eye-opener!

But alas, life, friends and family come in the picture, asking you, "Why aren't you eating?!," as if you've committed the ultimate sin.  I have to admit, this past weekend was the worst.  There were two Halloween parties and a birthday party this past weekend.  The first party had pasta as their main course, with the garlic bread, and all kinds of baked goods.  The second party was a Pirate-themed party (loved it, BTW), involving lots of food and alcohol (yes, alcohol has gluten too...sigh).  Yesterday's party wasn't so bad, but because I had given in to temptation, I chose to eat the bad foods....I've never felt so sick in my life!  I loved the food, but man oh man, talk about non-stop headaches that won't go away, bloating, constipation, etc. all of the above for 3 days!  I don't know why I do that to myself.  On top of it all, I gained weight :(

Enough with all this crap, right?  I gotta stop before I get more sick!

The holidays are hear, and my goal to achieve optimal health is going to be hard to accomplish for the next few months.  But I am willing to decline all those foods so that I don't feel like how I'm feeling now.  I'll just save those foods for everybody else.

Okay, so what is Celiac Disease?  Again, I'm not a medical guru, so I will just put it like this:  you can have severe symptoms like I listed above, where you can also have a coma or die (yes I'm being blunt) if you ingest or come near gluten.  On the not-so severe end of the spectrum, you can become malnourished when ingesting gluten because your small intestines cannot absorb gluten, and will keep you from absorbing other nutrients.


I don't have Celiac Disease, but I am told that anyone with gluten intolerance should be tested for this disease...it's on my To  Do List.


Moving Forward

I may not be perfect, and may even get off the Health Wagon a few times along the way, but I pledge to myself that I will try my best to stay committed to my new life.  I will learn to embrace my short-comings because it lets me know that I am only human, and I will learn from my mistakes.  Don't let anyone put you down for your short-comings.

I will continue to practice a healthy lifestyle so I can enjoy my life...note that I said PRACTICE!  Happy Halloween Everyone!  No recipe today.  But I'm thinking up a few things to make for this holiday season.  I wanna try and make gluten-free pumpkin pies, pecan pies, etc.  Should be interesting.

First Blog...More About Me and a recipe for Stuffed Baked Chicken!

I started this blog because my friend keeps telling me I should make one since I write so much on my social network about eating healthy, being active and living better.  So here I am, trying this out.  So forgive me...I am a Virgin Blogger.  

More About Me...

I will mostly blog about my quest to healthier living.  I'm a 4'11" married woman with an 8a-4p work week, mostly sitting at a desk, and occasionally visiting my clients in their homes.  I was always on the bigger side (runs in the family) since puberty, and always struggled with image problems.  You know, the typical middle and high school drama.  Been there.  Done that.  And moved on.  Still on the big side post-high school, but during college I got really active (my college gym was free and next to my dorm, so there were no excuses) and was very fit.  Then my doc accidentally found out that I was born with a hole in my diaphragm (morgagni hernia), so basically my stomach was next to my heart.  I was fine after the surgery, but my core muscles that I spent a long time building became weak, and still weak today because, to make a long story short, I had my gallbladder removed (I strongly feel that it was because of this bcp that I was on at the time, which also made me anemic).  During all this time, I had also developed severe food allergies, asthma and my liver became fatty, causing elevated liver enzymes.  At one point, I also had elevated blood sugar levels (close to having diabetes).  Not to mention gaining more weight.

I think a lot of it had to do with when I started my first full-time job as a Case Manager, having to work 60 hours a week, but only getting paid for 40 of them, overly stressed and over-worked, and only having time to sleep and eat dinner after work.  Luckily I was smart to quit that slave-driving job a week before our wedding (you can say Bridezilla), because at least I was able to relax and take care of me....I worked at that place for nearly 4 years.  

Going to present day, I am happy and healthy.  I changed the way I ate, I am more active, and I have a job that I love that won't kill me (same pay, same job as the last, but manageable stress and no 60-hour work week!).  I am losing weight, and my labs have been normal for almost a year!...

I'm tired now, after writing this ha ha, so I will save the "More About Me" for later blogs.  But here's about today.  For breakfast, my husband made me a mostly-organic breakfast:  2-egg mushroom and onion omelet with turkey bacon, and if I'm still hungry, a Fuji Apple (my favorite apple!).  Mostly organic, because some of these ingredients are either not available or too expensive for us just yet.  And for dinner last night, I made this:

Stuffed Baked Chicken (yields about 4-6 servings):

4- 4 to 6oz Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast (I used Kirkland brand from Costco, but it should be organic)

2c Organic Spinach

6-8 tablespoons Organic EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Garlic Salt and Cracked Black Pepper (to taste)

8 slices of Turkey Bacon (I used Oscar Meyer brand from Costco)

8 oz. Organic Raw Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Dried Parsley (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil (or double it with the foil you have on hand so that you avoid making a mess of your baking sheet).  Butterfly the chicken breast equally in half.  Make sure its defrosted completely and patted dry.  Stuff the chicken with as much spinach as you like (I just gave approximate measurements under the list of ingredients).  Add 1-2 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese (or any cheese you like.  I think pretty much any cheese works.  I just used what we had).  Lightly sprinkle garlic salt and crack black pepper on the still-open chicken breast, then close it.  Wrap 2 slices of turkey horizontally so to secure the chicken breast, end side down on baking sheet.  Crack more black pepper on top of the chicken breast.  Lightly drizzle EVOO on the chicken breast, sprinkle the parley on top and bake for 30 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken).  

No need to salt the outside of the chicken breast, because the turkey bacon has enough salt.  Lightly drizzling EVOO on the chicken will keep your chicken breast and turkey bacon from burning since it has very little fat.  

I made the chicken with and without cheese, since I found out I am lactose and gluten intolerant (found out after making this lifestyle change).  I buy all the breads and dairy for my husband.  I also made roasted potatoes and roasted butternut squash to last us the rest of this week.  

Before battling the notorious Oahu rush hour traffic from town to the west side and baking this yummy, healthy dinner, I walked around Diamond Head Crater.  Who knew it was long (lol)!  Took me about an hour and a half to walk it, but I did it and loved the view.  Cheers to my first blog!  I hope you've enjoyed it :)