This Is What Happens When You Think You Have A "Plan"

I thought I had my dietary life figured out.  I was done with Atkins and ready to resume normal eating.  And I was.  Shredded Wheat for breakfast.  Some multi grain crackers with peanut butter for a snack at work.  Still eating yogurt and fruit for lunch.  And I was eating bread--the good kind, dark whole grained.

And, I was swelling up.  My ankles were swollen.  My blood pressure was high.  Last Thursday, at dinner, I couldn't sit with my legs crossed.  I couldn't get one leg up over the other.

The next morning I had only fruit for breakfast and packed more fruit for lunch.  Dinner was vegetables fresh from the garden and some fresh cheese.  I repeated this for two days and my ankles looked less swollen.  I made vegetable soup from garden produce.  I ate that.  My ankles are now regular size.  I'm working on being able to cross my legs at the knee.  I think that is mostly due to weight gain from eating so much wheat based food and not water weight.

Eating wheat products again---well, now I know I can't.  And not because of low carb.  And my food cravings came back.  I was always wanting to eat something and never satisfied, so I would eat MORE.  I think it's an allergic reaction and not a hunger based one.  And that is something I have had since I was very young.  All the foods I ate too much of were always wheat based.

Now I know.  And I have to do research to see what other grain products may cause these problems. And I guess I am now "wheat free".  Does that mean "gluten free" as well.  I hardly know.

While being "swollen" I finished the book "The Boy In The Suitcase".  I sure hope the second book is ready to be published.  I enjoyed it very much.  Thank you for the recommendation!!!!  I have another Norwegian mystery ready to read--perfect for this very wet and dark Labor Day.

The local ice cream shop closed up on Saturday at 5 pm.  G and I drove up at 4:30 and got to pick our cones from the last five varieties left.  I got strawberry cheesecake and G got this orange mixture like a Dreamsicle.  Lots of later customers left without buying anything since their favorites were gone.

The rain is pouring down on the new parts of the roof.  No leaks.  We're now waiting for the new custom made windows to arrive.  The new electrician found out where the mystery wires ended up--right where a fan will go up in the ceiling where we don't have a skylight anymore.  Love it when something goes right.

Our carpenter discovered all the original house nails are hammer pounded.  So he knows exactly who built this house (we knew but he never asked).  This guy builds them all using only a hammer and he builds great houses.  No power tools.  In fact, I watched him build a house a few summers ago, while walking Riley in the subdivision across the road.  He even did the roof himself, with just a hammer.  It must be a ZEN thing.  And very satisfying.

A good though to have on Labor Day.