Guest Article: FDA defines Gluten-Free on labels

FDA defining what 'gluten free' means on food labels

Mary Clare JalonickThe Associated Press

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8 hours ago (8/2/13)

WASHINGTON -- Consumers are going to know exactly what they are getting when

they buy foods labeled "gluten free."

The Food and Drug Administration is at last defining what a "gluten free" label on a food package really means after more than six years of consideration. Until now, manufacturers have been able to use their own discretion as to how much gluten they include.

Under an FDA rule announced Friday, products labeled "gluten free" still won't have to be technically free of wheat, rye and barley and their derivatives. But they almost will: "Gluten-free" products will have to contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten.

That amount is generally recognized by the medical community to be low enough that most people who have celiac disease won't get sick if they eat it.

People who suffer from celiac disease don't absorb nutrients well and can get sick from the gluten found in wheat and other cereal grains. Other countries already have similar standards.

Click here to read entire article on NBC news. 

Update 7-29-13

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, so I thought why not post today? I can report that

I’ve been doing pretty well on my vegetarian journey—for the most part. I have to admit that I have not done much exercising, unless you include tons of house work, remodeling and yard work. I will be taking August 1^st – August 31^st off for some much needed “me-time.” During this time, I plan on starting a vigorous exercise regimen—something I can stick to.

I’m so proud of myself. A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a meeting/BBQ for one of my Toastmasters group. When we originally planned it, we were going to just throw something on the grill. But when I tell you these members came with food, they came with food. I mean there was chicken, burgers, bratwurst, potato salad, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, salad, dips, chips and all sorts of other goodies. I had my veggie burgers so none of it bothered me—except for those bratwursts. I absolutely love bratwursts. The person that made

them made sure she told me how she made them; sautéing them in beer and raspberries. The constant “mmms” and “oh this is so good” comments didn’t help. I really thought about jacking a few people for those bratwursts. However, I held strong and although they barely made it out the door, I made it without eating one. But I’d have to say, that was a close call.

I’ve pretty much done well for myself . . . that was until this weekend. Hubby and I ordered our normal Chinese food. I had the fried rice and he had his usual. However, this time, he ordered chicken wings. And if you’ve ever had fried chicken wings from China Garden, you know it’s the best chicken wing ever cooked (with the exception of the lemon-pepper wings from Wing Stop in Dallas, Texas). As soon as hubby took them out of the bag, the smell hit my nose and at that point, there was no way he was making it out of the

kitchen without giving me one. I took the first bite and I just wanted to melt. After I devoured the first one in thirty-seconds flat, he offered me a second. Oh, Em, Gee. Those wings were so good! I know, I know. I had a moment of weakness. I’ll just make sure it won’t happen again. *wink*

Besides the chicken wing fiasco, I’ve been doing pretty good. Although I’m not eating meat, I’ve been doing a little dairy. I absolutely have to have creamer in my coffee. I tried the soy creamer, but it just doesn’t taste the same, so I do have a tablespoon of flavored creamer. I also eat a cup of yogurt a day for digestive reasons. Right now, it seems to be the best way to receive probiotics (I think that’s the word) and maintain a decent digestive system. I love cheese a whole lot, but I have been doing good and have not had any since I started my journey.

One of the issues that I am running to is that I had to have everything I ate, that wasn’t sweet, spicy. But I’m finding now, I can’t take it as much and I get heartburn a lot.

I’m still new to this. It’s been a little over a month and it gets easier and easier. Did I mention how expensive it is? I now live in Earth Fare and Whole Foods, and I have found tons of uses for tofu. I also now buy vegetables from various gardeners. As soon as I get the time, I am going to start my own raised garden out back and start growing my own vegetables. Now wouldn’t be a good time anyway, not with all the rain we’ve been having.

I’ve started a vegetarian board on Pinterest if you’re interested. If you have any ideas, tips or tricks for this baby vegetarian, I’d love your input.  http://pinterest.com/ymjauthor/boards/ 

Until next time, Eat all your vegetables.

PS: Did I mention that my new best friends are hummus and sweet potato chips? Yum, Yum!

Day 2 of My 365 Day Transformaton

I just wanted to check in quickly and say that things are off to a rough start, but they’re off. I was out of town for a couple of days, completing a bit of training. And, of course, as with many of these catered events, there are not many vegetarians choices.

Yesterday, for lunch, they did serve salad and that’s what I ate. I was proud of myself until that evening—I ate at On the Border Mexican Restaurant. Although I didn’t do too bad, I ate fish tacos. What’s so bad about fish tacos? Well, not much if I was eating meat. So, the fish and the actual taco shell were a complete no-no.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the watermelon margarita I had with dinner. I know, I know, I’m hanging my head low.

I started off this morning with a strictly protein breakfast from the hotel. I ate scrambled and hardboiled eggs . . . then came lunch during training. On the menu were various types of deli sandwiches. I ate ½ of a ham sandwich with white bread and ½ of a chicken and feta wrap with white pita bread. On top of that, I think I drank like three diet Cokes.

For dinner, I reclaimed my position by eating a cabbage salad with mushrooms and almonds, however, I finished it off with a diet Coke.

Whew, I did say it wasn’t going to be easy and this is day two. Pray for me on day three.  

Day 1 of My 365 Day Transformation

So, today is day one of my 365 day transformation. I turned 44 years-old yesterday and for a while, I have been planning this transformation. I realize it is going to be hard, but I promised that if God allowed me to live that long, age 45 would be my healthiest and best year ever.

How am I going to do this? Will trial and error of course. What’s going to be different? Well, my determination and more lifestyle change than diet. In the last few months, I’ve tried diets like the 900-calorie diet, the Shred diet and the 3-Day Military diets. Of course, they have their place, but not for life-style change, at least not for me.

Another thing I will be doing different is I’m going to try the Vegan lifestyle.  After watching animal show, after animal show with my dear husband, I just felt that I did not want that inside of me—for personal and spiritual reasons. When I saw how animals lived, what they ate, and how they were killed—or the fact that they were even killed for human nourishment and pleasure—made me a bit nauseous.

In addition to what I named above, many are aware of the heart disease,

high cholesterol and diabetes I have been diagnosed with and have been live with for years now. Now, I would never suggest this to anyone else, but after repeated trips to the doctor and having her constantly put me on this medication and that medication, and having those meds take a little out of me each time I took them, I stopped taking them flat out. I do have insulin on standby, just in case I need it, but I was sick of making the hospitals, doctors, medical insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies rich, and I was of allowing them to make me sick. Taking one med to stop something when it caused another ailment, only to have to get a prescription to help with that ailment, when most of the time, the side effects of those medications were the reason I was taking the medications in the first place.  I’m going to have to take my God with me all the way on this way.

Since I’ve purged myself of the meds, I feel much better. I spend less days in the bed feeling sick, nauseous, puking my brains out and just plain old feeling like I was going to die.

Enough of the small talk, here I go. Today I weighed in at 187.6, which surprises me as I thought I’d weigh about 200+ pounds. A while back I lost 20 pounds doing that 900-calorie a day diet using MyFitnessPal, and although my weight has yo-yod, it seems as if I been able to keep most of that weight off. Yay me.

My goal is to lose 60-pounds and drop a whole lot of inches. I will post my measurements as soon as I can figure out what I did with my tape measure.

Do you think I can lose 60 pounds in a year? I think I can. And again, it’s going to be hard, not for just the obvious reasons, but because I have a husband and a family who likes to eat—things like meat, sweets, etc., and drink beer and soft drinks and juice and all that other stuff that has made me fat over the years.

Oh my word, please pray for my willpower. I’m trying out tofu, so if anyone

knows of any good tofu and vegetarian recipes, please let me know. Starting out with the vegetarian diet, I will be using eggs, until I can guage other permanent ways to get protein without having to down awful protein powder several times a day. But, there will be no meat and no dairy. I’ll tell you though, If my skin starts to break out and I start to get blotches and discoloration on my face and body, I will be re-introducing dairy products back into my diet . . . I mean my new lifestyle.

So here goes . . . did I ask you to please pray for me? J Let the transformation begin!

PS: I’ll only be here on Blogger until I get my new site www.weightchasingdiva.com up and running. I own the domain, I just have to find time to create the website. Hopefully I can help you, while I help myself in this journey. Thanks for following me. I've also posted a few photos that I took yesterday. 

Trying to Get Back on Track is Hard Work!

It has been a while since I’ve posted. And, in my absence, I’ve noticed that when I’m off track, I also am working nearly 20 hours per day, stressed out and getting no rest.

I went on vacation back on July 25^th—to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and every since I’ve found it hard to get back on track. I’ve tried and was successful, for maybe ½ a day, and once even an entire day.

But that is all in the past. Today is a new day and I declare today “Back on Track Day.” Before I went on vacation, I was down to 177, that is a 24-pound weight loss, but this morning, I weighed in at 184. I think that’s good, considering I’ve eaten fried chicken, pizza, Taco Bell (my favorite), Bing cherries, butternut squash, Doritos, bean dip—okay let me stop right there. You get the picture.

I was shocked to find out yesterday, after nearly devouring an entire butternut squash, that those things have 16 grams of carbs for ½ cup. I was flabbergasted. So I guess the next time I have butternut squash, it will be on Thanksgiving, when I make my famous Butternut Squash Soup.

I’m not looking for a great amount of weight loss this week, but more of a cleansing. But, after that, I plan on dropping the weight like flies. My overall goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds and that will put me around 120 pounds—by my 45^th birthday. I’d like to think I’m still on track. I have to admit that I haven’t done much exercise. By the time I close the door in my office, it’s between 4am and 8am. I take little power naps during the day, but I know I need a full 8 hours sleep at night.

One positive thing I can report is that my sugar count has been under 125, usually ranging from 95 – 118. This is awesome, considering what my sugar numbers were, (400-650). As I’ve reported in posts past, I refused to take any more insulin. It was messing up my system and furthering my fatigue and sickness. There were days I couldn’t, our shouldn’t have gotten out of the bed, because I was so sick from that insulin. And I was on two types. All I have been taking is Janumet—one before bed, and watching my carbs. So, I am very excited about that.

I’m currently looking for forms of motivation to get these pounds off and get completely off meds, while implementing exercise as my regular daily routine.

Until next time, make it happen!

The Weight Chasing DIva's Weekly Update 6-18-12

So, I’m sitting here watching Shawn T on Dr. Oz. You know, the handsome instructor of The Insanity Workouts. He is giving exercise pointers from his videos and his 15-minute workout. he said something interesting about carbs. He says that the bulk of your carbs should be eaten at lunch and the least amount should be consumed during dinner.

The breakdown is as follows:

Rule #1: Taper Off Your Carbs

Eat carbs at the beginning of the day, when you really need the energy. Later in the day, your body needs less and the carbs you consume are more likely to be stored as body fat. This rule does not only apply to your meals – but also your snacks. If you want to lose weight, it is important to eat every 3 hours to keep your metabolism engaged. Be sure to choose healthy foods. Shaun T’s morning snack has more carbs than his afternoon snack, and so on.

If you were to abide by this rule, carb-loading earlier in the day and minimizing your carbohydrate consumption as the day goes on, your meals would look something like this:

Breakfast: 40% Carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat (600 calories)

·        Whole wheat bagel and 2 tbsp of all-natural peanut butter

·        5 egg whites with a half-cup of bell peppers

·        3 slices of lean turkey bacon

Lunch: 25% Carbs, 45% Protein and 30% Fat (450 calories)

·        Open-faced roast beef sandwich

·        ½ tbsp ranch dressing

·        whole wheat crackers

·        5 oz of low-fat Greek yogurt 

Dinner: 15% Carbs, 55% Protein and 30% Fat (350 calories)

·        Spinach salad with half-cup of fresh tofu and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

·        ½ cup cooked zucchini

·        ½ cup cooked asparagus

·        Half a salmon filet

Rule #2: The Secret Ingredient for Success – Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse food that also fills you up. A 4-ounce serving of sweet potatoes will provide you with vitamins A, B and C, fiber, potassium and magnesium. Shaun T recommends eating two servings a day. They are versatile too – bake them or mash them. Eat them as a snack or as healthy side dish. Because of their naturally sweet taste, you don’t have to add salt or butter as you would a regular potato. Sweet potatoes have also been found to reduce cancer risk, thanks to cancer-starving properties.

Rule #3: Eat Foods That Expire Within a Week

This is a good rule to follow to help you steer clear of unhealthy and processed foods. If you only eat fresh foods that expire in a short window of time, you can avoid excess salt and preservatives. For example, eat fresh fruit and not fruit cups – these are full of added sugars and syrups.  Instead of flavored instant oatmeal, which has added sugar and salt, try Greek yogurt with fresh fruit. And don’t fall for packaged veggie chips, full of preservatives and minimal nutritional value. Instead, try kale chips, rich in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese and fiber, which you can even make at home. Click here for an Oz-approved recipe.

Apply these rules to your lifestyle – and try not to look at them as part of a strict diet. There’s plenty of room here to customize the plan to fit your tastes and way of life – the key is using these 3 rules as your foundation, and taking advantage of Shaun T’s workout to maximize your results.

Of course, I copied this from Dr. Oz’s website. After watching this, you can best believe I’ll be working out before the day ends. I had stated in my last post that I would work out 3 times this past week—uh, didn’t happen. But this is a new day and a new week.

Just a few updates: My sugar is still not where I want it to be, but it’s now at 210 fast, down from 215-245. Although my doctor wants me on the insulin and the oral medication, I am going to just take the oral meds and see how I fare with that. I know the damage to my liver and kidneys the insulin can and probably already has caused. Besides, I do not like needles. That’s why if anyone ever tells you that I died of crack, you can debunk that lie quickly, because I don’t like needles.

My weight on the scale has not moved much. I’m up a pound from my 184 to 185, but I’m chocking that up to water retention, which I cannot seem to control, but I’m working on it.

My doctor has given me her latest opinion, when I asked her about diets like Isagenix, Arbonne, Slim Fast and other diet programs. She has voted against them at this current time because of my uncontrolled sugars. On one spectrum, I can shoot up to 600 (hyperglycemia) and on the other hand drop to 40 (hypoglycemia). Both are very dangerous and she is afraid that many of the diets will cause me to go into dangerous hypoglycemia.

So, I’m going to continue with the low-carb diet and start and continue a work-out plan. I know that’s probably 75% of my problem. About six months ago, I was able to lose 20 pounds in a month by going to a 900 calorie a day diet and extensive exercise 5 days a week.

Now, when I go to the store, I look at labels religiously. And, I cannot believe my eyes. Currently I eat sugar-free Jell-O, which has 0 carbs, but regular Jell-O has 8 carbs! And, don’t even get me to talking about Jell-O pudding. DIET JELL-O is 8 grams of carb! Why?????? 

I challenge you to go into your pantry now and look at some of the food labels. I bet, like me, you’ll be amazed at how many carbs you are consuming. A lot!

My goal this week: Work-out 3 times, (I have to start small), get that scale to say 180 and to get my sugar to 200, with the help of the Janumet oral supplement.

Stay tuned!

43 In 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .

Tomorrow I turn the big 4-3 an today my hubby took me to Red Lobster for dinner. Why Red Lobster? Well because I love seafood, and on my low carb diet I can eat all the lobster, crab legs and shrimp that I want. And I did. However, my “coach”, (that’s what I call her) is going to be disappointed to learn that Red Lobster brings you these awesome buttery biscuits with your diet coke. And since they brought four to the table, I didn’t think it was fair to let my husband eat all 4 of them so I had 2. But besides that, I was on my best behavior. I had a garden salad with blueberry vinaigrette and broccoli.

Tomorrow I start my 3x3 workout regimen. I’m starting with 3 days of cardio for an hour. I love to dance so I sprawl out in my master bathroom (it’s THAT big) and in front of the Hollywood Mirror and dance until my heart’s content. THEN . . . I will add 30 minutes of weight lifting three days a week, all, until I can work up to 5-6 days a week without killing myself.

So, the real reason, I wrote this blog post today, in addition to the one I will write tomorrow with my update stats, I wanted to show these photos my husband took of me today. They are a little blurry, because it was raining and they were taken with my cell phone. The photos don’t do the dress OR my figure any justice. But that’s okay, because I have no intention of stopping here. I have sixty more pounds to lose. Funny thing is, I don’t see the pounds disappearing much on the scale, or not like I’d wish them to, but I can tell I’ve lost inches. The dress shown in this photo on this post is a size 9.  I have not worn , or have been able to wear, this dress since 2005. A few months ago, I couldn’t even get it over my hips, let along zipped.

The photo (headshot) with the red background shows the last time I wore this dress and the others are from today. All I can say is Thank you Jesus,  and, size 7 here I come.

Stay tuned for my status report tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful evening.