I am an emotional, impulsive eater.
That’s the lesson I’ve gleaned from the past two days. As work stress overloads, I take it out on my tummy. After a long, frustrating day, I craved a snack - so I had a Tree Huggin’ Treats Crispy Cat, and then I went to the gym. Kind of counter-productive. For dinner, I had more leftover pasta salad with asparagus, mozzarella, and red peppers; and a few corn chips and salsa, followed by a little more chocolate. Oh, and a mandarin/lime soda. Sheesh! It was all about the crispy/salty/chocolaty today.
So to repeat: what have I learned in the last 48 hours? When I get busy, I don’t plan ahead, then I scramble for food, which usually leads me to less-than-optimal choices. Luckily, the GF experiment has forced me to be slightly healthier. Barely. Also: when I am stressed or highly emotional, I scarf, and my urge is to go for unhealthy snacks.
Next steps: get some more healthy snacks for those freakout moments. Fruit. Veggies with tasty (healthy) dip. Rice crackers and cakes so I can get crunchy and sweet with minimal calories. And, keep writing all my food down, because I’m learning A LOT. Slightly embarrassing to be putting this out there for the public to see, but hopefully it’s helping other people to see the process. I know your comments help me. 
So thanks for listening and chiming in.
Shannon said,
June 6, 2007 @ 6:33 am
Oh, you and me both, hon. Yes, GF can be much healthier. OR, you can still have an emotional/hormonal meal of chip and salsa and ice cream. Yup. Been there, done that.
Laurie Edwards said,
June 6, 2007 @ 11:30 am
That’s such a good point–once you go GF, you really have to think/plan ahead so much more. It’s easy to grab a sandwich or something on the go, much less easy to find something healthy and GF! That’s what I love most about the GF diet–I eat so much healthier, lots of fresh stuff…but it takes a lot more thought and energy, which is a def. downside when things are hectic. Long car trips are esp. hard in that sense.
For snacks, rice crackers are a MUST in my house–love ‘em! I crumble them onto salads, too, to replace those little chowmein noodles I used to put on top. I also like to have low-fat trail mix on hand..I put it on top of cottage cheese for a protein-packed snack that still has some “chew” to it. But I agree, chips and salsa do the job nicely when I’m craving salty food
allergic girl said,
June 7, 2007 @ 11:38 am
i make my own GF granola, very easy to make, and great to have around to snack on. here’s the recipe from the NYT:
The New York Times’ Crunchy Granola
Ingredients: (for 8 cups, at least 16 servings)
6 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
2 cups mixed nuts and seeds: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds or cashews, optional
1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut, optional
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
½ to 1 cup honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit, optional
1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all of the ingredients EXCEPT dried fruit. Place on a sheet pan and put in oven. Bake for 30 minutes or a little longer, stirring occasionally. Mixture should brown evenly; the browner it gets without burning, the crunchier the granola will be.
2. Remove pan from oven and add raisins or dried fruit. Cool on a rack, stirring once in a while until granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.
Yield: About 8 cups (at least 16 servings).
Ann Sweeney said,
June 13, 2007 @ 10:39 am
I was so happy to see that you were looking for a snack and you had a Crispy Cat!! Don’t worry, they actualy are healthy!! All the fat is the good kind and there is no refined sugars or any other scary stuff. Plus you need energy before going to the gym. They are the one snack I never feel guilty eating and I eat about 1 a day. I don’t usualy feel the urge to binge out on sweets because I eat a Crispy Cat daily so I never feel like I am missing out on “fun” snacks.
I like to freeze a peanut bar and a mint cocnut and then break them in half and eat half a peanut and half a cocnut. Sorta like a combo bar. Anyway good luck with your gluten-free adventures, we are cheering you on over here in the Tree Huggin’ Treats office.
Christie said,
June 13, 2007 @ 10:42 am
FOr the tree hugging treats, where do you get those and what is the nutrition info of them?
Jenni said,
June 13, 2007 @ 8:24 pm
You can get the Tree Huggin’ Treats bars from their web site, www.treehuggintreats.com/store.html which should be coming online soon. Or you can contact them directly and they’ll help you find a local vendor, which is what I did. I got my treats, and I got to check out a cool store I’d never been to, which was a nice bonus.