Gluten-Free for a Week

There's a new fad going around the health-food world, and goodness knows I love a good fad.  So hop aboard the trend train and go for a gluten-free ride, right?  Gluten-free diets were originally reserved for those with Celiac Disease, which is literally a physical intolerance for gluten.  But somehow, "gluten-free" got popular and became the cure of choice for not only those living with Celiac, but for those experiencing frequent migraines, severe cases of attention deficit disorder, and those hoping to shake a general sense of grogginess from their bodies.  Well, if something is supposed to make you feel better- I want to try it.  So thus embarks my gluten-free journey.

What is gluten exactly?  And why might it be so bad?  The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers a pretty suggestive definition, calling gluten "a tenacious elastic protein substance especially of wheat flour that gives cohesiveness to dough".  That honestly doesn't sound like something that I would want in my stomach.

Why am I doing this? Apparently everyone who goes gluten-free (read: Miley Cyrus and one of my best friends, Brittany) RAVES about the wonders that the diet does for their overall health and energy.  But of course, there is no way to know for yourself, except diving right in and giving it a try.  Is going gluten-free just another fad, or does it really have health benefits?

First step: Raiding the gluten. Since the diet was only for a week, I didn't actually throw away my gluten-filled foods, I just hid them at the bottom of the pantry.  That means no graham crackers, pasta, or Honey Bunches of Oats :(

Gluten-filled food

Second step: Shopping. I already eat a lot of fruits and vegetables so a lot of my purchases were not out of the ordinary, but I did decide to throw in some other gluten-free staples, including brown rice, rice cakes, and gluten-free cookies.

All Gluten-free!

Third step: Live life! The purpose of eating is to fuel our bodies as we carry on, doin' what we do.  So what if you're not eating one component of nutritional makeup?  You still survive because there are still so many other things to eat... crazy!

So, here goes nothing.  For each day I outlined my food consumption for the day, my workout activity, and my general reflection on how my body was feeling at the end of the day.

Sunday
Breakfast: Latte and almonds
Lunch: Zucchini, onion, and mozzarella frittata
Dinner: ^more of that.
Snacks: Orange juice. More almonds. Open face turkey "sandwich" on a rice cake.

Workout: 1 mile warmup on the Curve treadmill, 30 minutes elliptical and 10 minutes stairmaster.  I feel super energized and totally fine.

Reflection: I feel no overall difference.  But it's only been a day...

Monday
Breakfast: Latte and a banana
Lunch: Stir-fry tofu and broccoli
Dinner: Boca burger, hummus, carrot sticks
Snacks: Chobani greek yogurt, honeycrisp apple, popcorn

Workout: Bulldog Burn class (ow) (Seriously, two days later.. ow.)

Reflection: I'm honestly feeling a bit hungry.  Kind of want a piece of bread.  I didn't splurge on gluten-free bread for the week (the stuff is like $7 a loaf!) but I'm kind of wishing I had...

Tuesday
Breakfast: Latte and a banana
Lunch/Dinner: La Pachanga- Muchos chips and salsa, pollo enchiladas, and a couple of margaritas
Snacks: a peach, practically half a jar of pickles, and some Swedish fish

Workout: 1 hour swim

Reflection: I'm so glad that I was able to enjoy the goodness that is LaPa $1 margarita night (we were seriously there for 3 hours, it's maybe my favorite place to be on Tuesdays).  Corn tortillas are good to go on a gluten free diet!

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Coffee and a honeycrisp apple
Lunch: Pumpkin smoothie (banana, pumpkin puree, milk, honey, protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla)
Dinner: Homemade stuffed peppers (Green bell peppers with brown rice, chicken sausage, corn, tomatoes, and red beans)
Snacks: Just a ton of coffee. So much.

Workout: 4 mile run

Reflection: I felt so energized all day. Possibly because of the coffee. But I was so productive and easily able to focus.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Coffee, banana, chobani yogurt
Lunch: Spring mix salad with boca patty
Dinner: Popcorn and a diet coke (during night class- and I was starving by the end of the 3 hours so I ran home and reheated a leftover stuffed pepper from Wednesday)
Snacks: Rice cake with pb and raisins, milk, soynut trailmix

Workout: Core strength class and Hip Hop cardio class

Reflection: I'm feeling a little crabby.  I would kill for a bowl of cheerios or some pasta or some cookies.  Rice cakes aren't cuttin' it.

Friday:
Breakfast: Egg and cheese omelette, hashbrowns
Lunch: didn't really happen. Too full from breakfast!
Dinner: Sush birthday dinner- I had a salad, california roll, and sake martini
Snacks: Honeycrisp apple

Workout: 3 mile trail run... WE WERE BOOKIN IT.  A hard workout for such short distance.

Reflection: My tummy hurt all day today. I think it was the breakfast (which was from Hyvee... it was tasty, but sort of questionable.

Saturday:
Welllllll about Saturday.  So it was DSP initiation.  And I definitely had a donut for at the alumni breakfast. It was calling my name.  I guess if I had a real wheat allergy I would have to develop a stronger willpower.  But seriously, it was DSP initiation which means I wanted to eat whatever I wanted, especially since we had a Candyland themed party that night! So many cooooooooooookies!

So I went gluten free for (almost) a week.  Overall feelings?  It was a good experience-- definitely an eye opening experience-- but not a lifestyle change that I'm willing to commit to without the presence of a legitimate wheat allergy.  However, I'm really glad that I did this.  It makes you realize how difficult it would be to have Celiac disease and it gave me just a glimpse of insight into the challenges that those individuals may face. 

Healthy, Yummy, AND Cheap: Clean Cooking in College

My number one favorite thing about living off campus is being able to cook for myself.  It's such an adventure (with the most amazing reward at the end: FOOD!)

There is a terrible stigma about college eating habits.  While there may be some students who live solely off of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Ramen, and beer... I don't actually know any.

What I do know is that it is important to fuel your body with healthy, whole foods.  And sure, I've been guilty of having the occasional Totino's party pizza for dinner...  But I feel 100x more energized and healthy when I eat lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy, and complex carbohydrates.  I try to limit my meat consumption (I had a 6 oz steak at Outback a couple weeks ago and that will probably hold me over until the summer) but I do occasionally enjoy tilapia filets, lean chicken breasts, tofu, and meatless "meat" products.

Some common misconceptions:
1. College students don't have money to eat "fresh" or "clean".
Too which I say:  Yes you do.  Shop smarter, make it a priority in your budget.
2. College students don't have time to prepare healthy meals.
To which I say:  Make it happen.  It takes 30 seconds to slice a tomato.

I'm not a chef, and I'm also not one for very complex meals or recipes.  The rest of my life is crazy busy so I want my time in the kitchen to be relaxing.  You don't have to "de-bone", "reduce", or "concasser" anything to prepare a quick, healthy, enjoyable meal.

Really, the key to eating something delicious is to start with whole, pure ingredients.  Ingredients are EVERYTHING:  Cook them sparingly, mix them consciously, and eat them slowly.

Healthy cooking starts with shopping: which is fairly pain-free in a small town.  My strategy?
1. Go to Aldi for basics (whole wheat pasta, bread, english muffins, milk, soy milk, eggs, cheese, basic produce)
2. Go to Hyvee (preferably after 9PM so it's not very busy) to buy anything I can't get at Aldi (diet coke, bare chicken breasts, eggplant, greek yogurt, coconut water, garbanzo beans, larabars, Ben and Jerry's, basil, etc)

...Then take those ingredients and cook!  Like I said, I don't usually follow elaborate recipes, I just put things together in ways that I think they belong.

Since I am *such* a nerd, I've been taking pictures of some of my food-things that I've created lately, just to show how simple eating can be.

Turkey bacon, avocado, tomato, and mozzarella cheese sammich

English muffin with peanut butter (w/o hydrogenated oil) and vanilla-honey greek yogurt

Romaine chopped salad with homemade black been chili 

Banana "ice cream" 

Spaghetti squash with spinach, tomato, and feta

Chinese stir-fry tofu and broccoli 

Spring mix salad with tomato, avocado, veggie burger, and parm

Spring mix with olive oil dressing, parm, and a turkey burger

Indian spiced pumpkin, cauliflower, tomato, and green pea stew - over brown rice

Pesto spaghetti squash with tomato and green beans

Zucchini-egg scramble with tomato and toast

Saffron risotto with turkey meatballs

So that was a random mess, but just a few of my typical eateries.  

I didn't really include breakfast because it's almost always this:

...with a banana and milk.  

I'm not sure what point this blog post is trying to prove, other than the fact that it is really easy to eat in a way that prepares your body to successfully take on the tasks of whatever your day contains.  I would definitely recommend it.  So healthy eatings, friends! 

Who you are is who you want to be

Hi, my name is Sarah and I believe that life is what you make of it.  That's why I'm making mine fabulous. 

I made a blog so I could talk about all of the exciting things that are going on in my life.  In the near future, I'll be training for a marathon, traveling across the pond for Spring Break, and moving to Minneapolis this summer for an internship at Target Headquarters. Unfortunately, today itself was less than exciting (I went to 2 classes: health and library science, and then worked at my internship at the Career Center).  So I decided to kick off the blog with a photo blast from the past, in hopes that it would provide the future of this blog with more context.  You have to know where you're coming from to know where you're going, right?  


So anyway, here is a little about me...

First of all, I like to climb things :

I have a slight obsession with penguins :

Dancing = yes please :

I have high aesthetic appreciation. Style, design, fashion...

I'm a sister :)

Black Friday is my favorite holiday :

I'm a "runner", or at least I try. After running a couple of halves, I signed up for a full marathon a couple of weeks ago :

Ke$ha? I think she's pretty cool :

Don't let this throw you off though, I like real music too :

People think I'm ditzy (?!) and always ask me if I was a cheerleader. Well, 

I grew up though and when I got to college, I joined an amazing business fraternity :

And I'm really excited for my future career with Target.  After gaining in-store leadership experience last summer, I'm interning in Minneapolis this summer as a business analyst :

I love the snow :

Planking and Owling?  Nothin' but a G-thang :

The opportunity to travel has blessed my life :

I have amazing friends :

Lastly, and there is no better way to put this, I am fabulous :

My interests span fashion, sarcasm, culture, literature, business, music, fitness, arts, humor, and food.  You will see all of these present in my blog, and I'll do my best to entertain.

Toodles for now!

Surrahh!