Saying farewell to the bachelorette diet

I know I promised a witty post, but nothing all that witty is going on...lol...maybe someday soon.

Let the healing begin! I started the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) on Tuesday September 7. (Basically the following is not allowed: sugar in any form, any grains, so no breads, pasta, granola, etc , no starchy veggies like potatoes, no RUM or chocolate…) It hasn’t been all fun and games let me tell ya. Well the week before was, though sadly so. I allowed myself to indulge in all the things I wouldn’t be able to have once I started on this diet. Plus I was NOT going to let go to waste my homemade perogies and cabbage rolls in the freezer. I cried a lot. I know that is SO pathetic, but with each last bite or sip of one of my favourite things I teared up. Mock me if you will but I love my food, my Starbucks Chai Lattes and of course my rum and cokes. I can’t imagine being without them for a year or two or three. Course there was the underlying issue of, “I just got back on my feet after the last bullshit, why is this happening to me?” Pity parties are allowed for a time but then at some point you have to put your big girl panties on and just deal with it cuz what else are ya gonna do?

I armed myself with knowledge of this SCD and even bought a couple of SCD recipe books. There are also tons of sites on the net with recipes and support. A real nice lady, Gail, even emailed me a tone of links. So many people have gone on this diet so at least I’m in good company.

The last two weeks have been a busy time of clearing out my fridge and cupboards of things I can no longer have, which was basically a good 99% of what was in them. Then I did a lot of shopping to restock things I CAN have. I also had to buy kitchen-y things like baking sheets, loaf pans, spatulas, etc for cooking these SCD recipes. I felt like a 20 year old moving out of the house for the first time. Okay I admit it, I was the bachelorette type. I was happy with just a toasted tomato sandwich for dinner or grabbing a couple slices of pizza on the way home, or even a Subway sandwich. “Cooking a meal” was something I very rarely did. I live alone, have only myself to cook for so why go through the hassle? There’re other things I would rather spend my time on than cooking. Sure occasionally I went all out and made those homemade perogies and cabbage rolls, but even then portions would get put into the freezer only to later be conveniently reheated.

But now? Not so simple. Everything I buy or consume, I have to think first “can I eat this?” Going out to eat is a thing of the past for now. And people have been laughing at my grumbling about having to cook now but this is beyond cooking. Everything and I do mean EVERYTHING has to be made from scratch. Bread (only with nut flour, no yeast), tomato sauce, ketchup, mayo, soup…. There is NOTHING out of a can/jar/container that I can have since it ALL has sugar in it, even something as basic as soup stock.

One blessing in all this is I can still have wine though it must be dry. But hey, while there is wine there is hope…