Going Gluten and Chocolate Free in Chengdu

Going corn chip crazy in Chengdu.

I think today is my fourth day going wheat free, unless that licorice I ate had wheat in it. I should probably look up the ingredients in a German dictionary just to make sure…

Fortunately, the diet here is more rice based than in the Northeast. Also, it is easier to get corn products here, yea, yea I know mycotoxins are in the corn. I really need to get over my feeling of corn deprivation already.

D. has been sick for a few days, don’t know if it is a cold or allergies. I have a bit of a sore throat right now. I’m gonna chop up some raw garlic and see if that helps. It did the other day.

Despite everything, my diet has been lousy and D. hasn’t been eating much at all. Just checked with him. Nope, still not hungry.

Oh yea, I have to congratulate myself. No chocolate for 4 days now. How about that? Going chocolate free is probably one of the better ideas I’ve had in a while and let me tell ya, Chocolate is everywhere here. No kidding! Really, every Chinese store sells Dove bars and/or Hershey bars and Ikea sells huge chocolate bars for only 8 quai and they sell this absolutely divine chocolate mousse too. OK. Enough chocolate talk. I sound like a drunk talking about booze already!

So how about that. No wonder I’m such a mess. I’m going through chocolate and wheat withdraws at the same time. Oy Vey!

Edit – OK last night I ate some pasta and today I had  2 coffee chocolate bars and a piece of carrot cake at Peter’s Tex-Mex.  guess I kind of blew it. Oh well, I think I need to be kind to myself and look at what I have accomplished as opposed to beating myself up about how I blew it.

What do the Macarena & Herb Alpert Have in Common?

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

I listened to… It started out with a Herb Alpert type of brass sound, then went into a James Brown sort of montage. Next came a popcorn techno beat followed by a thinly veiled Macarena theme. I got as far as the rap swing segment before I was done. I listened to 52 minutes total, out of 65 minutes.

I must have been running with my shoulders up around my ears because I could feel the inflammation in my neck. Mental note – I ate chocolate yesterday.

I walked about 1.2 miles and probably ran about .6 miles for a total of 1.8 miles. I tried a shot of Starbuck’s expresso with soy milk on ice. It didn’t tear up my stomach as bad as I thought it would. I may have to try it agin, but I still had a caffeine buzz going at 3PM.

This time, after my run, I made a point of stretching out my hamstrings, calves, quads, hip flexor and iliotibial band. No soreness today. Is it because I didn’t run that much or because I took the time to stretch out? Its the former, I think.

Chocolate is anti-inflammatory?

Organic chocolate is just as toxic as the commercial stuff.

I ate a bar of organic chocolate. Yes, it was gluten free, but you know, I was driving down the road and I could feel that familiar arthritic stiffness in my spine creeping back up on me after I ate it. That felling has pretty much been a thing of the past since I’ve been gluten free. Hmmm…I wonder if the chocolate (or maybe the sugar in the chocolate) triggered the inflammatory response? Anyway, it is worth making a mental note for future reference.

No running today. I walked in the parking lot of FHP this morning. I had a little argument with myself about going today and I did decide to go after all, but it was too late to do the entire length of the causeway, so I walked in the parking lot, which is .4 miles. I went around twice so that was about .8 miles total. Plus the ‘ol stomach wasn’t 100%, so I decided to be near the car or the restroom (which ever one was necessary) just in case of an emergency.  Now, I’m beginning to wonder why I ate that chocolate bar in the first place. I can forgive myself because it was only 2 oz. instead of the giant Symphony bar I was eye balling last night in Wal-Mart. Not to mention the curry soup from the health food store was really greasy. Not a good combination. Greasy soup and fatty chocolate. Ugghhh! I think I’ll remember that the next time I’m in that store. I really wanted to go to the Indian restaurant, but it was too early. They weren’t open yet.

Edit – It is now an hour later and I can feel my blood sugar creeping up. I have to take a Metformin.  My ankles are starting to swell up too.

Note to self – Clearly the short them benefits of eating chocolate just aren’t worth it.