The Diet

Today marks the beginning of my first ever diet.

I have a loathing for diets - all that talk of eating nothing but lettuce and celery for weeks, weighing oneself, measuring quantities of food: it drives me insane. I don't own a set of scales and so I only weigh myself when required to by a doctor or the blood bank. I go more by how my clothes fit, or how I'm feeling. If my jeans are getting tight or I'm feeling too sugary from a daily chocolate intake, I know it's time to knuckle down and eat more healthy food. But I think of it as more of a 'lifestyle change' than a diet; a longer term adjustment to my eating and exercising habits.

So the start of this diet is a big event for me.

But by going on a diet, I'm not being hypocritical. Really, I'm not. This is a Gluten Free Diet, suggested to me by a Dermatologist. I am embarking on a three-month trial of a strictly Gluten Free life, with the hope of clearing up a skin condition.

I now have to think about everything that enters my mouth. Not only can it not contain gluten, it must not have come into contact with anything that does. For example, I have found some Gluten Free bread (not very nice, but OK as a quick breakfast or lunch). Anyone who knows me or has read past blog posts about my food habits will know that in order for me to eat bread, it needs to be toasted to its near death. But for the next three months, I cannot even use the same toaster as that which is used for glutenous bread (or Glutenous Maximus, as it has been declared by my husband).

I was told about this Gluten Free Diet trial a month ago, but decided to start it after Christmas. After all, what fun is Christmas if I can't even eat the pudding I made a few months in advance? During that time, I sampled a few Gluten Free goods - flour (appears to be fine in baking), crackers (not overly different), bread (not great, but OK if necessary), pies (yuck) and porridge (a huge error in labelling; it was more like Farex rice cereal, which is only worth eating if you're a baby who has never tasted anything better). I have also made a few goodies, the best being Donna Hay's flourless chocolate muffins. They are so good.

So I have a feeling that between fresh meat, vegetables, fruit (when desperate) and chocolate, I'll survive the next three months.