I just thought I'd touch base and give you all an update on my wheat and dairy-free diet. It hasn't quite been two months. While I've had some slips and setbacks, I'd say that I'm doing pretty well overall. It really hasn't been that difficult adjusting to the things I'm able to eat and making substitutions. In fact, I kind of enjoy it. I feel a real sense of pride in knowing that I'm doing something good for my body and that I'm also working toward a healthier weight.

I haven't exactly reached the goal I had hoped for at this point. This past weekend, I went out of town to visit with some girlfriends. My goal was to fit into my regular button-up jeans. No more elastic or drawstrings for me. Well, I almost made it, and that's something to be proud of. Here's a couple pictures of me. The first was taken about three weeks ago, and the second was taken just a few days ago. The jeans I'm wearing in the "after" picture are not the ones I was hoping to fit into, but they are a pair I didn't fit into comfortably at the beginning of my diet. I can now wear them, and they fit pretty well.

I don't think you can really see a difference in the photos, but I can feel a difference. I fell off the wagon a bit during my girls' weekend, but that's okay. I'm not going to feel guilty about setbacks. I intend to focus, instead, on my successes. I've been able to make changes in my eating, and I feel confident that I can continue making those changes. The weight will come off with time. I must say that I'm feeling pretty good about my progress.

Have you made significant progress toward a personal goal? Let me hear about it! Leave a comment.

I'm still eating wheat and milk free. It's been nearly two weeks, and I am noticing a difference. My pants are fitting a wee bit better. My guess is that I'm losing water weight and bloating more than anything else. But it's something at least. And I have to keep reminding myself of my baby steps philosophy. It certainly won't come iovernight. Baby steps.

I'm pretty proud of myself though. Not eating ingredients that are in everything is pretty hard. I sorely miss my chocolate and cheese. Recently, I've realized that my good intentions are being sabotaged by some very sneaky snacks. Some of the snacks foods I've allowed myself, thinking they are free of wheat and dairy ingredients, have surprised me. You'd be surprised what foods contain wheat and milk.

I've told you about ingredients like casein and whey that you need to look for in the ingredient labels. These are milk derivatives contained in the flavorings of many products. But let me tell you about some of the surprising foods I've found to be culprits containing wheat and/or milk.

• Licorice - Who knew that licorice has wheat in it? Oh, yes, it does! Check out the ingredient list of your favorite licorice products like Twizzlers or Good N' Plenty. They have flour in them. My guess is the flour helps to bond the other ingredients.
• Honey Roasted Peanuts - They contain milk. Yep. At least the ones I bought last week do. I had no idea. I thought this would be a good choice for a sweet, salty, and crunchy snack. Oh well, it's probably more sugar than I should eat anyway. Bummer.
• McDonald's french fries - I so love McD's fries. Yum. But, alas, they have both wheat and milk in them.  Last I checked, anyway. Has anyone heard differently? If so, let me know!

These are just a few of the big examples coming to mind. I know there are so many others I need to be careful of. I can't avoid all traces of wheat and milk, but I'm sure trying. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting here in Panera Bread typing this blog post. And all I ordered was a coffee. No yummy, crunchy bagels. No pastries. I'm so good. Aren't you proud of me? I do have some incentive, though. My goal is to be able to wear jeans with snaps by February 20th when I go with my girlfriends to visit a member oif our group who lives across the state. I think I can do it.

Photo courtesy of evelynishere from flickr

It's official.  I didn't win either of the contests I entered over at MomDot.  But that's okay, the kids and I did have tons of fun doing them!  I was entered into a random drawing of five finalists for the blog header contest, but my number wasn't picked.  You know what, though?  I actually do like my flowers.  My blog doesn't look like anyone else's, and I think that's cool.  I was pretty bummed that my hideous earrings didn't win me the cute Little Windows jewelry.  But check out the winner - her earrings deserved the ugliest jewelry ever award!

Now onto what I'm NOT losing - weight!  The email tips from Self.com are not at all the motivator I expected.  I thought I would get a daily exercise and diet tip, but what I received was a how-to for a particular exercise move.  Not that I can blame my lack of willpower and willingness to get off my butt on Self - that's all me, baby!  But I HAVE been focusing on my writing and on making contacts in the media world.  I'll update you on that soon!  Maybe once the kids go back to school NEXT WEEK, I can start trying to improve my diet.  It's hard to resist when they're coming to me every hour saying, "Can we have a snack?  We're STARVING!"

Well, I've been working on my goals for about a week now.  And, actually, things have been going quite well.  Okay, moderately well.  My biggest downfall has been that dirty four-letter word, my diet.  Food is my weakness.  Especially sweets.  My husband swears I'm going to become a diabetic.  He's probably right.

But at least I'm aware of my food issues, and I've taken steps to nip them in the bud with my favorite strategy, finding a book about it.  And I've found a fabulous book.  Not the traditional weight loss program we've all tried (Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, yada yada yada . . . ), and you know you've tried 'em, The Writing Diet: Writing Yourself Right-Size   by writing guru Julia Cameron (author of The Artist's Way) actually seems different.  I'll admit that I haven't finished it, but just reading the first few chapters has made a difference already - I can't wait to read the whole thing.  When I do, a complete review/progress report will follow.

This book doesn't make you count calories or points, measure your food, or cut out everything even remotely tasty.  Cameron focuses on using the creative outlet of writing to tackle your food issues.  Lord knows I have issues.  The chapters I've read so far are "The First Tool: Morning Pages", "The Second Tool: The Journal", and "The Third Tool: Walking". 

The three tools alone are just the "baby steps" I needed to get me motivated.  If you'll remember, I'm allergic to wheat and milk, which makes eating right darn near impossible.  But it's not impossible with some creative planning and tactical grocery shopping.  So after filling the cupboards with foods I can eat and looking through my wheat and dairy-free cookbooks, I was ready to tackle the tips given in the book.

The Morning Pages are basically a free-write you do each day.  The premise is that letting the words flow onto the page will lead to insight into your daily struggles and problems.  My writing led me to see that I'm really struggling with a loss of identity since leaving my job as well as feeling a bit lost due to lack of structure.  So I'm focusing on my new job title of aspiring freelance writer and sticking with the routine I set up in my goals.  The Journal is basically a food journal.  But you don't just record what you're eating; Cameron encourages you to write about your feelings or thoughts regarding the food.  This leads to more insight.  Per her suggestion, I've also taken out my journal when a "Snack Attack" hits.  And it's actually helped me to avoid bingeing on the yummy things I shouldn't have.

My favorite part, so far, is Walking.  Just twenty minutes a day, according to Cameron, will not only improve your body, but also promises to lead to a flow of creativity.  I was skeptical about this.  I've always enjoyed walking.  In the past it's helped me to clear my head.  But by focusing on creativity rather than all my worries, I was actually able to come up with the idea for a whole new format for my blog, which I will unveil next week.  I mapped out the whole thing while on a quick, twenty-minute walk.  I totally recommend checking out this book.  It's a whole new way of looking at weight-loss.