Day 1 grain free.

For my final act as a gluttonous gluten eater, last night I satisfied my late-night munchies by devouring a huge plate of leftover French toast. Ungh, back up. Not just any French toast... SALTED CARAMEL APPLE FRENCH TOAST from one of the best brunch spots in my city. They use real maple syrup and slices of apple and it's all infused with caramelly goodness. It is honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten and I'll probably never have it again, oof. :(

But! I had been mostly grain-free all weekend since I was at my (paleo/primal-practicing) mom's house, and I was feeling really good. Then I ate this French toast, and woke up today feeling so OFF. I was wide-awake and feeling physically fine for once on a Monday morning, but I just couldn't function. Making conversation was a struggle. I couldn't seem to find the right words (not such a good thing when you're a copywriter by trade). I couldn't focus on anything and I kept forgetting what I was doing. Now, I'm totally just trying to psych myself up for this diet, but I really feel like it was because of the gluten binge after a couple solid days without it! Mental clarity is one of the biggest benefits that people point to when it comes to gluten-free diets.

So, anyway. For lunch I had some quinoa with vegetables that my mom had made and a little bit of chicken. Grain-free and healthy as fuck: A-plus! I was researching wheat belly/grain free diets and writing down recipes all day at work (since I couldn't concentrate on working) so by 4 or 5 I was starting to get really hungry and the realization that I basically couldn't eat anything in the vending machine was starting to really depress me, but then I discovered that Smartfood cheddar popcorn is GF and I had a bag of that.

For dinner, I totally improvised and I'm quite proud of myself! Sorry I have ugly plates and not a real camera and I didn't really try with this picture because I wasn't sure if I was really gonna start this blog or not...

I took haddock fillets and coated them in egg white, but instead of using bread crumbs, I made a crust of parmesan cheese and black pepper. I pan-fried them with olive oil cooking spray and they crisped up pretty decently, and had a nice flavor (if a bit fishy-- I think this was my first time cooking haddock and I didn't realize what a strong fishy flavor it has). I had an avocado that I wanted to use before it departed the realm of edibility, but I couldn't figure out how to work it into this meal so I just sliced it up with some fresh tomato, drizzled it all with olive oil and shook some feta cheese over top. Originally I was gonna top the fish with this, but I got worried that it would be gross so I put it on the side. Next time I'll definitely use this as a topping, it was the highlight of the meal and went great with the fish! Finally I paired it with some brown rice-- not cool with wheat belly, but at least it's not gluten.

I need to figure out more of what I can eat, and buy a lot more ingredients, and start planning ahead better. For my first day I don't think this was so bad, but I have a lot of room for improvement. Of my two fails (popcorn & rice) I feel worst about the Smartfood, because another motivating factor for me with this diet is that I want to eliminate GMOs from my consumption, which is next to impossible to do if you eat processed snack foods. I am planning to make my own grain-free granola bars to prevent future snacking dilemmas.

I did not exercise today, because I felt the new diet was enough of a challenge and also I usually give myself a free pass on Mondays. UGH EXCUSES EXCUSES. I will go tomorrow! I'm running a 5K in a couple weeks so I gotta keep up with my training for that.