Free February: mid-month check-in

Picture from blog.foodnetwork.com

Is anyone else doing Free February?  I've been practically wheat-free all month.  I went to The Meatball Shop with a friend for lunch yesterday, where I suspect there were breadcrumbs in the delicious meatballs.  Last night I felt achy and tired.  Coincidence?  Possibly.  Otherwise, I've resisted pizza, pasta, and bread.  At the restaurant yesterday, I could have had my meatballs with pasta, but the polenta and risotto options actually sounded more appealing.  I wasn't even tempted to eat the slice of focaccia that came on the side.  Progress?  Yes!

What's been hardest is when I need a snack at work or even when I'm out with the kids.  So many of the shops and delis sell only bread products.  Our go-to snacks with the kids are 75% flour-based.  Think goldfish crackers, pretzels, animal crackers, even most of the cereal bars.  My usual favorite snack, a pretzel and peanut butter bar from Clif, is made with pretzels, which are made with....wheat.  Even Sun Chips, which is my usual vacation treat, is made with wheat! 

I've been a little less successful on the alcohol challenge.  For some crazy reason, I'm in 3 book clubs.  The most recently-joined club was scheduled to meet this week.  Only the organizer and I showed up, so we had a glass of wine to commiserate/celebrate/discuss/try to figure out why no one else is coming.  I think we deserved and enjoyed that wine.  And of course, it's just wrong to go to a restaurant like Aureole without having a carefully selected wine from a carefully selected wine list to go with spectacular food! 

I'm not sure if I'm feeling any benefits yet.  I had a great run tonight with a friend, but that could just be my one great run for the month.  A co-worker told me it looked like I was losing weight, but that could just have been my magic pants that are so flattering they could make anyone look better (Banana Republic denim trousers in case you're curious).  My tummy is still grumbly and I still have the occasional red spots on my face.  It could be that I'm not being as careful with my label-reading as I should be.  I'll do a longer post on what to look for when going gluten-free later this month, if anyone's interested.

What about you?  How are you doing?  Do you feel any better?  My brother-in-law has lost 11 pounds by not eating bread, desserts, eating 1/3 fewer calories overall and getting 7 hours of sleep a night.  Maybe I should be working on getting more sleep, too.

Scooped by the New York Times

I was researching and preparing a post about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, but today's New York Times has a great article that says just about everything I was going to say.  Check it out at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/gluten-free-whether-you-need-it-or-not/?hpw. 

At the last two big dietitian conferences I've been to, there have been hundreds of companies marketing gluten-free this and gluten-free that.  Celiac disease diagnoses are on the rise, and everyone knows someone who is gluten-free either because of celiac or autism spectrum disorder or any number of other reasons.  Knowing people who have true wheat and gluten allergies, this proliferation of gluten-free products definitely makes their lives easier, but it's not necessary for everyone.  I appreciate that the journalist makes clear that a gluten-free diet is not necessarily healthier, especially if you don't have a gluten-sensitivity or celiac disease.  The journalist also highlights research that makes a pretty compelling case for a true gluten sensitivity.  It isn't all in my head. 

As for my own gluten-free experiment, I confess to having half of a grilled cheese sandwich on Saturday (and a small glass of wine -- oops!), so it's only been 3 days of "clean" living for me so far.  I haven't noticed any changes yet.  February is a pretty hard month to give up wheat and alcohol.  I was probably the only person in American not drinking beer while watching Beyonce and that little football game on Sunday.  Then there are the Oscars drinking games.  Valentines Day.  Holiday weekend away with friends.  You get the idea.  I haven't figured out what to do about my youngest daughter's birthday, which is at the end of the  month, either.  She'll want a cake of course. I've made wheat-free cookies, but I don't feel ready to tackle a wheat-free birthday cake.  She's old enough now to be more discriminating in her treats, so she'll not be happy with a substandard substitute.

What do you think about the gluten-free movement?  Is it a trend?  Or is it another example of activists being ahead of science?  Any good gluten-free birthday cake recipes to share?