Body After Baby Revisited

I know it's been a while since I updated about my goal to lose weight and be consistent with exercise.  I struggled for a while when my depression and anxiety were at the worst to get myself out the door to exercise and to eat healthy.  There were days when it took all my energy just to get out of bed and my appetite was so messed up. 

A few weeks ago, my doctor diagnosed some digestion issues I've had for quite a while that have gotten worse recently.  (Seriously, just another in a long line of health issues I've had lately...) She suggested taking probiotics and exercising and, as I researched more information, I decided to change my diet too.  A lot of research I did suggested that gluten and dairy were the biggest trigger foods along with tomatoes, oranges, broccoli, beans, caffeine, and sugar.  So, I decided to cut out all of the possible trigger foods for 4 weeks to sort of cleanse my system.  At the end of the 4 weeks, I will slowly add one food back into my diet at a time to see what really triggers my symptoms.  So far, the diet has been helping tremendously with my indigestion problems, but I've also discovered that stress makes my symptoms worse no matter what.  And, being on antibiotics for the bronchitis I had a few weeks ago caused stomach aches regardless of what I ate. 

I feel like I have more energy though and just generally feel better physically.  It also feels good just to know why I've been having these symptoms and, as a bonus, I've been losing weight again.  Since I started the diet three weeks ago I've lost five more pounds.  And, I've been enjoying cooking again as I learn to cook without gluten or dairy.  I've been trying new recipes thanks to cookbooks from the library and all the resources available on the internet for gluten free and dairy free diets. 

I'm also thankful for all the foods I can find at the grocery store that are gluten free or dairy free.  Some of my favorite snack foods are Larabars, because they are gluten, dairy, and sugar free.  Plus, they have no preservatives and I actually know what the ingredient list is.  I've also discovered quinoa and rice pasta which help break up the monotony of cooking with rice.  There are even alternatives to butter and mayonnaise that have no gluten or dairy.  I love to use coconut milk and almond milk for cereal or recipes and it's easy to substitute dairy free and gluten free products in recipes we use every day.  We buy a LOT of fresh produce and it feels good to know I am helping my family learn to eat healthier too.  Of course, eating healthier has a price tag, but I am thankful my husband has a good job that provides us with more than enough to buy what we need.  I'm also looking forward to growing some vegetables again this year in our yard and using the farmer's market for our fresh produce. 

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard this list of ways to eat healthier on a budget.  One suggestion we've begun using is buying whole chicken instead of the individually frozen chicken breasts.  They are much cheaper, taste better, and are actually relatively easy to cook with.  I have a deep covered baker from my days of selling Pampered Chef products that makes it super easy to cook a whole chicken in an hour in the oven or even a half hour in the microwave.  One recipe I found suggested stuffing the chicken with onions and lemons and spreading a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic over the chicken before cooking.  The chicken tastes so moist and has a lot more flavor.  I may share a few other recipes here because I've loved learning how to cook healthier and would love to share what I'm learning. 

This past week I finally got motivated to exercise more too.  My hubby showed me how to attach the bike trailer to my bike so I could take the kids on bike rides.  We've taken three bike rides during the week - once to the Y to go swimming, once to a park to play and have a picnic lunch (which Ted even joined us for on his lunch break), and once to the Y gymnastic studio for open gym play time.  And I made it to the Y for a 30 minute workout on the elliptical on Wednesday.  It really does improve my energy level and helps tremendously with my overall emotional well being too.   And, of course, being outside gives me good healthy doses of vitamin D that my body craves.  And my kids LOVE going on bike rides, so it's been fun to be able to go out on little adventures with them (and not have to drive around in our gas-guzzling minivan either).