Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lent and Gluten

Steve and I decided to give something up for Lent. No, we're not Catholic, but some of our friends and family (go Mary!) do it for fun, and they aren't Catholic either. Sometimes I think it's silly, but I like having an excuse to push myself to do something I wouldn't normally do. (Or something that I probably should do, but don't have the willpower - like my Lent goal a few years ago of giving up sweets. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, but I was frustrated that I hadn't lost an ounce of weight.)

So, we're giving up gluten. That's right. For the next 40 days we're going to be eating gluten-free. (If you're not familiar with "gluten-free", it's basically giving up everything that has wheat flour in it, as well as barley and rye, but we don't usually eat much of that anyway. A lot of people have gluten intolerances and either give this stuff up or get sick.) Not that gluten is a bad thing . . . we're just curious to see what it would be like. We're already eating a lot less bread and pasta to cut out some carbs, so I don't think it will be torture. What might be tough is cutting out pizza. And cookies. And our weekly pancakes/waffles (or at least changing them drastically).

I'm anxious to see if this will allow me to drop the remaining 10 prego-pounds I'm carrying around more quickly. Probably not if my ice cream consumption increases as my gluten consumption decreases.

P.S. Mary, I didn't even notice until now that you weren't on my blogroll. Forgive me, cuz

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Good luck! I'd have a really hard time with that, I think. If you ditch the gluten and pots and pots of clear broth soups (no cream broths!) I'm sure you'll lose the last of your baby weight. I made a pot of chicken and veggie soup every week while I was trying to lose my baby weight and I went from a size 16 to a small size 6 (nearly a 4!).

You can do it!

Marsh Mayhem said...

Just so you know, Alton Brown just featured a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe last night. Can't wait to find out how it goes!

Sarah Junsay said...

You would give this up willingly??? I'm forced to do it and hate it. I end up eating all sorts of unhealthy gluten-free things. I have a pancake/baking mix that I love that I am willing to share! Let me know & good luck!

Natalie said...

Marisa - That is a HUGE jump in sizes! If I get down to a 10, I'll be in heaven :)

Elizabeth - I love Alton. I may have to look that up if I need a fix :)

Sarah - I thought about that.... what you said about unhealthy gluten-free things (hello... chocolate). But, knowing you has made me think more about the whole gluten-free thing. If anything, it'll expose me to more dinner options that don't include bread and noodles. I think the rest of us "gluten-eaters" could stand to eat a less of that. :)

Sarah said...

OOOH We must discover how to make the gluten-free cookies my mom always got from this pastry lady for Sarah. OH SO GOOD. Pecan macaroons.

Kathryn said...

good luck with that! I can't seem to give up anything... argh.

Andrea said...

I wish you a merry "lent"mas!! We're trying to get over Karneval weekend. You know...the big stuff your face go crazy weekend before Lent. It was awesome!

Danica said...

Good for you! It seems like to much work so I will happily eat those things that you can't. :) I have a good friend whose mom (raised in a very strict Catholic household) gave up Catholicism for Lent!!

Dr. Fox said...

Well, I am definitely a nit-picky person when it comes to spelling. I knew there were things we needed to fine-tune with the site. The guy who put it together re-typed parts of it, and there are indeed a few typos. I honestly haven't looked at it for a week or two, so maybe the debut could have waited! Thank you for the heads up - I do appreciate it!

Mary said...

Hooray! I'm excited to hear how it goes!

And no worries about the blogroll. :)

Irene said...

Healthy foods look so good but somewhere in the back of my mind I want to sneak and get the crunchy, sweet and delicious foods. I am fooling only me and my health.I can o a diet for about 6 days and then give it up...good luck