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. 

The Format Era

Do you know who that is?

You know, they wrote that catchy song...

...it was featured in a Chevy Sonic commercial during Superbowl XLVI...

]

...leading to explosive popularity.

They're a band named 

...and they've been around for a few years. 

The few years before that, this guy...

...Nate Ruess, the lead singer of Fun,

...use to look more like this:

...and he was the lead singer of another band.

 The most amazingly *perfect* high school indie-POP band of all time. 

Which lived a charming life. 

All was going well;  A whale of a time.  And then...

This post is an overdue ode.  The Format was a formative part of my youth and a cornerstone in my high school experience.  Lyrics became anthems and kitschy tunes became dance parties.  

The Format got me through my totally awk high school times.  

***WARNING : The most embarrassing high school photos I could find ahead

 

THESE TIMES.  So awkward, so embarrassing.  Referred to (dearly) as "The Format Era".

Looking back on my obsession, I feel no shame.  Only appreciation for what is, was, and will always be.......

The first song that every Format fan needs to know is self-explanatory.

"The First Single"

I've been waiting all this time to be, something I can't define
So let's cause a scene, clap our hands and stomp our feet or something,
yeah something I've just got to get myself over me

This isn't my favorite song by far.  This one might be:

"Dead End"

Hold on, there's a hole in my heart 
everyone can see right through me 

Everyone loves a good sock puppet to lighten up the mood.  This continued to be a common theme in Format videos...

"Dog Problems"

'Cause words like girls get bored and run 
c'est la vie
I say "I've got so many better things" 
I've got nothing

Melodramatic perfection.  But no matter how many songs your write for us silly girls, expressing your frustrations and pain, you'll still walk away, shaking your head, saying...

"She Doesn't Get It"

All the girls pose the same for pictures
All the boys got the same girls' hair
I am bored 'cause I feel much older
Look at me, as if I've got a reason to stare

Hm, sounds like to me that you have...

 "A Mess to be Made"

 What a mess that I make of my days 
Then there's you, you're a mess to be made


You know, a total ticking...

"Time Bomb"

Tick tock, you're not a clock
You're a time bomb baby
You set the watch
You're just in time
to wreck my life


And just when you feel like you're heading down a slippery slope of negativity, you have the following gem, and you realize that maybe life isn't so bad after all...

"Snails"

Snails see the benefits,
The beauty in every inch...

These songs are all great in their perfectly dramatic glory.

But as I glide through my senior year of college, I find myself listening still listening to The Format, and one song in particular.  I find comfort in the folksy melody and jumbled lyrics of leaving something behind in anticipation for an ambiguous, yet promising, future...

"Give it Up"

"So give it up, throw your hats in the air

And change just as they land 

Sayin, 'We'll get outta here'

But something tells me that you're too scared to go"

I use to listen to this song on repeat during my senior year of high school.

In high school.. I was definitely not too scared to go.  That's different now.  Life is bigger now.  Moving... changing "just as they land"... that's a bigger deal now.

How will I ever manage?

:)

An Update to My Previous Rant on Consumerism

The last time you were here, you probably witnessed my rant about the evils of "fast fashion" and my pledge to go clothing purchase-free for 6 months.  That was almost a month ago (forgive me, I am in 3 writing-intensive classes this semester, which leaves little motivation for blogging) so I thought it was about time to check-in and update you on how this little project is going.

For those of you that know me pretty well, I bet you're expecting me to tell you that it hasn't gone so well,  that I've bought ALL the clothes...

Well, WRONG-O.  It's actually been going quite swimmingly.  Since my initial reading of Overdressed, my interest peaked in the subject of American consumerism and sustainability (both from a human labor and environmental standpoint).  In fact, I've extended the challenge to not only include clothes but to include all "unnecessary" purchases... at my discretion of course.  Hey-- my game, my rules.  The point is, this is a practice in "conscious consumerism".  Sort of like a diet, it's not a quick-fix, but a learning platform to practice new habits for a healthier life.

So how have I been doing?

Well, in the past month, this is what I've bought:

-Groceries
-Postal stamps
-Nail polish remover
-Undies from VS (This one is questionable, but I had a giftcard, which I consider a sunk cost, and there was a spectacular sale going on- 7 for $24!)

So I didn't go 100% puritan and buy absolutely nothing frivolous, but I was able to receive daily emails from a few of my favorite retailers and practice self control.  I really can't believe I missed Target's boot sale.

Target Style FB page: "A great pair of boots can add polish to almost any Fall look."

Me: "Uh, I know. And I'm really missing my brown riding boots that fell apart after trekking through London that one rainy day." 

I'm not bitter.  I'm not bitter.  I'm not bitter.  But I do really want some boots.

Fortunately, knowledge is power.  And luckily, I was able to align a couple of my big research projects this semester with the topic of conscious consumption, so I've been doing a lot of preliminary reading and research for those classes.  Ah... Overlapping personal interest with education... it's a beautiful thing.  I think that this constant stream of information on the topic of living more simply has encouraged me to hold myself more accountable to this personal endeavor I'm on.

Some of the books I've read in the past few weeks include:

 

And now I feel like I know a little bit too much.  Maybe ignorance is bliss.  Will I ever be able to enjoy walking into Forever 21 and buying 10 shirts again?  Probably not.  It might be a phase, or it might be a paradigm shift in my outlook towards consumerism.  You know.. buy what you need.  Don't buy what you don't need.  It really does make sense.

Overdressed

Finally, I'm able to incorporate a (somewhat) relevant music video into a blog post.  Listen at your own leisure.

Shopaholic is what they call 'em 

My addiction, my prescription

Gimme shoes and gimme bags

I'm fully aware that this song is ridiculous.  But it has a valid point.  Rihanna is a bad girl, because she shops too much.

First time in my life that I have anything in common with Rihanna.  I, too, have a slight addiction to shopping.  And what better way to cope with a personal struggle than to air it out on your blog?

This... is just a snapshot of my wardrobe:

And that's AFTER I combed through extensively to donate random things that I don't use anymore.

If you've talked to me in the past week, you probably know that I have been reading this book:

Overdressed, by Elizabeth Cline.

The whole premise of the book is to look at our consumption of clothing, while giving special attention to the rising "fast fashion" industry.  Companies like Forever 21, H&M, Zara, and even my beloved Target are being called out for promoting an unsustainable way of dressing.  Meaning that people are treating garments as a disposable product, useful for (on average) 2 years or less.  This is fueled by ever-changing and expiring trends and the much lower retail price of clothing over the recent years.


Here are some takeaways from Overdressed:

"Americans buy an average of sixty-four items of clothing a year, a little more than one piece of clothing per week"

"H&M produced 500 million pieces of clothing a year in 2004"

"Individual spending on clothing is now just under $1,100 a year."

"It's very wasteful.  If consumers weren't so focused on quantity over quality and trends over innovative design, the price of domestic production might not seem so exorbitant." 

"We oscillate through countless colors, prints, and silhouettes each year."

"Fashion is obsolescence.  Fashion is change."

"Our fashion choices do have social outcomes and meanings."

"We're completely in the dark about what fashion has cost the environment and American jobs"

"Apparel manufacturing was named one of the fastest-dying industries in America of the past decade"

"Clothes are an essential part of the economy and easily he second largest consumer sector, behind food"

"The demand for cheaper and cheaper garments has all but wiped out the American garment industry"

"Americans are so convinced that cheap fashion deals are fair that we often view designers who make a well-made product that isn't cheap with suspicion."

"It's been very difficult to deal with the change in mentality on the consumer level of what they expect for what price."

Overdressed, for me, was a completely shocking read.  Since clothes are cheaper than they've ever been before, there are SO MANY OF THEM constantly being produced and sold.  There are so many clothes on this planet that charities don't even know what to do with all of them.  Recycling is an option, but a lot of cheaper, man-made textiles are hard to reconfigure.  But we love our Forever 21!  And we love our deals!

And for this reason, American wardrobes are bigger than ever.  In the early 1900s, women owned maybe 5 dresses.  I have 29.

Which leads me back to my closet.  I decided to do some soul searching, rooted in cold hard facts.  And the numbers don't lie.

I own...
107 shirts/sweaters
21 skirts
29 dresses
17 pairs of jeans
18 pairs of (non-jean) pants
10 pairs of shorts
27 jackets/blazers/sweatshirts
5 coats

234 items of clothing.  That's not including workout clothes, pajamas, underwear, shoes, or accessories.

...And 64 of these items were purchased in the last 365 days.  (Ironically, I am spot-on with the average American's record of buying 64 new items a year.)


So where do I go from here?  It's great and dandy to talk about having too many clothes, but what am I going to do about it?  Obviously, a real change is going to start from a true mental shift.  I mean, I love shopping... I get lost in the wonder of aesthetic appeal, and on top of that I like a good bargain.  This is what leads to my ultimate struggle of quantity vs. quality.  I do like nice things, and I think I'm starting to realize that I would prefer to have relatively less "nice" things than relatively more "crappy" (for the lack of a better term) things.

But "fast fashion" is addicting.  In fact, it has even been compared to fast food.  Cheap, addicting, and slimy. It fulfills a need, but not for long.

So... the exciting part!  I'm embarking on a journey! For the next 6 months, I'm just not buying anything.  Really.  The rules?  No purchasing anything apparel-wise for myself. I can buy gifts for other people (Can you believe that Christmas is in 4 months?!)  but I'm going to try and be more mindful in those purchases as well.  This isn't just me fighting for a social cause, this is a practice in discipline and personal finance.

After this challenge has expired, I hope to develop a deeper appreciation for the things that I already have.  Style isn't about trendy clothing, it is about presenting your best (and most fabulous) self.

In the end, clothes are clothes are clothes.  They really don't matter.


Luke 12:15
"...For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Hebrews 13:5
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have..."