Going Down that Path...

I've been continuing with the acupuncture on my quest to "better" my health and I've actually really been enjoying it. Surprising huh? I expected it to be something that I would grit my teeth and just deal with because really, who wouldn't rather just be getting a massage?

Anyway, I've started to look forward to the trips. Each week I go in, she asks me how I'm doing, what I'm feeling and I tell her if I'm stressed or tired or tense or emotional or whatever. The placement of the needles is then based on how I'm doing that week. She's also recommended various herbs and supplements to treat various symptoms. While it's too soon to say how effective they are, I've appreciated having someone to discuss it with. I'm not big on antibiotics and drugs and will avoid them if at all possible but it can be majorly overwhelming trying to research and figure it out all on your own.

I find that after I leave there, I am much more levelheaded and at peace with things. I've often wished that my Dr was like this instead of always being incredibly rushed and prescribing drugs at the drop of a hat.

Completely unrelated to the acupuncture visits, Hubs and I have been exploring the world of gluten-free. Inspired by a number of posts by Amy, I decided I wanted to take a look at what all we've been eating and see exactly how much gluten were consuming. Other than the fact that it would appear that gluten appears in small amounts in practically everything, it wasn't that bad. In fact, right now the only switches that we're talking about doing are subbing in rice pasta and corn tortillas for their flour counterparts.

Just doing those 2 things will cut it back a great deal and I'm curious to see if either of us notices feeling any different. While I realize that we may not notice a change at all since we're not cutting it out completely, I figure at the very least, we'll be getting more fiber.

Mostly, neither one of us wants to give up our occasional homemade bread, muffins, pizza crust and other baked goodies. I've heard that there are some great alternatives out there and that you don't have to give those things up completely but for now it's an area I want to take my time exploring and testing out.

I've also decided to cut back on the amount of sweets I consume. I definitely wasn't eating a ton, neither of us do. My norm is maybe a couple of star-bursts/ tootsie rolls/chocolates at the end of the night or an ice cream treat a couple of times a week in the evenings. These last few weeks I've decided to cut it back to sweets on the weekends only and so far it hasn't been too bad.

I'm not making any of these changes to diet. In fact I've been more carefully monitoring my weight lately to make sure I'm not loosing. I've read that both gluten and sugar can cause inflammation in the body and I figured it couldn't hurt to see if I notice a difference.

I also recently read an article that said it's not recommended for woman to consume more than 20 grams of sugar each day, including natural sugars and sweeteners found in items like fruit, honey and pure maple syrup. On average, one serving of low-fat fruit-flavored greek yogurt contains 17-21 grams of sugar, already putting you at the limit. Once you count the sugar put in cereals, breads, condiments, fruit and all the rest of your non-dessert foods, its common to be consuming double-triple the amount of the daily sugar recommendation. And you haven't even had dessert yet! Crazy isn't it?