Whole Foods – Providing a Quick Start

After a couple of days wandering through my local grocery stores trying to figure out what was gluten-free and low glycemic and what was poison, I got completely frustrated. Asking people at the store was useless and I’m not enough of a chemist to know what additives may have gluten in them. I gave up.

Then a friend told me the Whole Foods secret. If you go to the customer service desk at Whole Foods they will give you a directory for the type of diet that you are on. I went there and they gave me a 20 page printout by department of items in the store that are gluten-free. I found cookies, rice pasta, gluten-free soy sauce, and other items very easily. The most important part was that they had lists of SNACKS that I could eat that are gluten-free. They also have the lists ONLINE BY STORE for different dietary needs that you can use to preplan before your shopping trip. It’s a great way to get started.

 

Changing My Life

I went on a trip with a friend two months ago who happened to be a cardiologist in a prior life. At the end of the trip he pulled me aside and said that he wanted me to go see his doctor. I’ve been relatively active, working out several times a week and I’m not a big drinker or dessert eater. Yet my body has continued to change in ways that I don’t like. While my arms and legs are pretty muscular I tend to carry a lot of weight in my mid-section and my face (hard places to exercise). They were enough for him to encourage me to get checked – and I’m glad that he did.

It turns out that I have become insulin-resistant and have a fairly serious food allergy to gluten. Enough of a problem that I’ve become officially ‘pre-diabetic’. The doctor has begun working with me to alter my eating to get my metabolism and my endocrine system to a healthier place. Part of that is that I have moved to a gluten-free and low glycemic index diet.  The doctor also recommended Hormone Replacement Therapy and I decided to give that a try.  These were things that I hadn’t heard much about but after asking for a second opinion and getting the encouraging green light, I’m going ahead with it all.  I’m learning every day and this blog is just another step in documenting what I’m doing and locking in my habits. Along the way I’ll be posting things that I’m learning that others may wish to try or ask their doctor about.