Break

I am still forging ahead with the "no sugar."  I hit the pool this morning with a bad attitude-I did not want to go!!  Five days in a row, and  I have had it.  Going to take a break tomorrow and go to the Northville Farmer's Market.  They are supposed to have Michigan strawberries in and a feature called "Chefs at the Market sponsered by Providence hospital where they feature and cook a  healthy recipe.  I have a few more flowers to buy to "fill in"  (ha ha) as that is what I tell Donaldo I need to do.  Never mind....he does like my handywork and I know he loves to sit on the deck and look at it all.  We put some new deer repellent bags out and coated everything with chili powder.  So hopefully that works. It's no fun planting when bugs, deer and bunny rabbits make dinner of your plants.

A Spoonful of Gluten

Still thinking about the gluten connection because I keep reading about it-like it is the new diet fad or something.  Donaldo doesn't want me to go back to the headache clinic because in 3 years, they haven't helped me.  They just refill my prescriptions that don't really help unless I take enough to make me sleep.  Sigh...had some gluten-free pancakes this morning.  The were ok-but have more carbs in them then the whole grain.  I also had pasta tonight and feel really full and a little head achy.  So....a new neurologist was mentioned to me; he isn't really new because I saw him several years ago, but maybe he has learned some new things :) 
 Been getting into the dark chocolate again...limited but not helpful to the diet. 
 Kristen mentioned in her comment on discipline "it takes 3 weeks to establish a habit." I must be slow because I think it took more like 4 weeks, and I still battle the urges for something sweet.....and something bready (ha ha,I made that word up and spell-check doesn't like it).  Since I eat rye crisp every day-I just found out they are included in the list of things that have gluten.  More to ponder.....

Discipline

It seemed fitting somehow, when I went to church today that the pastor started a new series on Proverbs and the first verses were on discipline.
"Prologue: Purpose and Theme of Proverbs
 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life doing what is right and just and fair..."  Proverbs 1:1-3 

Shy

After a great swim this morning I weighed in and I am 1/8 of a pound shy of losing 8 lbs.  Not bad, I said to myself.  I thought about the word discipline, I didn't look it up but just thought it means "keep at it."  We can have discipline in many things and I think one discipline leads to another.  It is about making choices; good ones over bad ones.  It is hard and many times it is not easy but the rewards are worth it.  I am thinking here in terms of physical and spiritual disciplines and I am training in both areas. 
And you have to always remember....that pride goes before a fall. 

Menu De Jour

*Got back on track...woke up with lo-carb toast, pb&j and coffee.
*We skipped swimming-mega headache all day
*Made myself some gluten-free pancakes; added some flax seed and blueberries
*Lunch was egg and cheese panini with some corn tortilla chips and some salsa
*Afternoon snack was 2 rye crisp with cream cheese
*Dinner was an assortment; rice crackers, Havarti cheese, red peppers and a chicken brat; no bun.  Donaldo ate the tortellini salad left-overs. 
*One dark chocolate
*Dessert: frozen banana with dab of chocolate sauce

The deer munched on grass until they headed for dessert; my roses.  We chased them off; they are on a no-sweets diet!!!

                

It Doesn't Take Much......

                                                            

to get off track with a diet.  Not that I have eaten anything overtly sweet, I have not been careful with my carbs.  After  another small bowl of  "Trader Joe's Shredded Wheat" last night before bed and two pieces of low carb toast, I ended up pounding headache after swimming this morning.  Lunch was the summer chicken salad at Panera with a couple bites of the sour dough bread-not much mind you but a lot of sweet carbs.  After sleeping the headache off this morning, it came back after lunch.  This is why I am thinking of a mostly gluten-free diet.  I found out from someone that there is a blood test to see if you are sensitive to gluten; it is called an Igg test.  I am going to pursue it.  I think the shredded wheat upsets my stomach which would be another indication of gluten sensitivity. 
Isn't interesting when you follow a plan for 5 weeks and think it is the best eating plan for you and you are so convinced..........it is so easy to fall off the wagon.  That "bear claw" at Panera for 99 cents with a drink was veeeery tempting!
So back to basics tomorrow. 

Under Pressure

Did I crack under the pressure and stress?  Well....kind of.  After dinner last night I had my banana, peanut, drizzle of chocolate sauce and a squirt of whipped cream dessert.  Long day; my daughter-in-law and I were both hungry last night after the girls went to bed. And Kath, she liked it:)
At 11:00 p.m. she checked on her little sick one and she had a temp of 105.3 so we ended up in the ER.  When we got home at 3:00 a.m. we both were hungry and had a bowl of cereal before finally turning in. 
I had a pancake this morning...and realized "yep, I am using food for comfort here." I had a lot of carbs going on.  But you know, I gave myself a break...
Tonight Audrey made a yummy cold tortellini salad from http://www.myrecipes.com/ It was so good and perfect for this hot weather. 
I hope I can get up tomorrow a.m. and "slice" the water.  A good swim is what I need!