Eating out is tricky!

Eating out can be very tricky and even food that looks safe may not be for me. i was out on Saturday night and one of the ladies brought a yummy looking cob loaf dip. You all know the ones I mean!

Looked fabulous! I asked how it was made: sour cream, spinach, onions etc. I took a chance and had a little bit - yum! I ended up having 3 scoops then got all the ingredients - which included a packet soup mix. I spent the next hour hoping it wouldn't affect me too badly, I only had 3 small dips after all.

No such luck, my head was pounding by the time I got home and it felt like my eye was being skewered by something. Instant migraine! Yay! 48 hours later and I am feeling myself again.

So how do you avoid additives when you're out? If you are at friends places - ask! Ask them what's in their amazing dip. Avoid crackers unless you know the brand is safe. If the packet is still there, discreetly check out the ingredients on the back.

Eating at a restaurant is a bit like playing the lottery. I have eaten at 5 star restaurants and been ill for 3 days afterwards. I've eaten at small cheap restaurants and been fine. Avoid sauces/dressings and stick to meat and vege/salad where you can see the items.

My Journey So Far

December 2012 - Feeling and looking very unhealthy

Sometime in my early 30's I started gaining weight, only a little to start with. I was also having problems with constant headaches and indigestion. At 37 I had an accident at work and over the next 10 years coping with that didn't think about the rest. I put the headaches down to constant painkillers and the indigestion to taking anti-inflammatories. i attributed the weight gain to the meds I was taking and that I'd given up smoking.

Then in about 2011, when the headaches were getting extremely severe, I started researching. At that stage I was getting about 2 migraines a week. I found a short article where the author had been researching ongoing migraines and discovered she had a sensitivity to MSG. 
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/msg.htm

*Light Bulb*

Also, what did I have to lose? Anything was going to be better than spending half my time lying down in a dark room. Or at work, pretending to be fine. So I started avoiding the obvious forms of MSG and kept researching.

My headaches were less. Amazing!! I kept studying and found an article on the toxic effect of Factory created (man-made) free glutamates.

http://stemcell.md/diets/glutamine_free.pdf

That was an eye opener and then I found websites that listed every item that contained glutamates and started getting far more serious about avoiding them. My headaches literally vanished. It was so profoundly good.My energy levels went up. 

My husband and I went to a Thai restaurant for my birthday in 2011 and no I didn't really think about it. I came home feeling headachey and that developed into a 3 day migraine.

So I went on a mission to completely remove anything that had glutamates - MSG is 78% free glutamates. 

I make my own stock. I make my own bread & jam. This site is to help document my journey so it can help others.

The best and most awesome part of eating clean has been that I started losing weight. I concentrating so much on just eating natural foods that I didn't even notice. until I went for a doctors appointment - was weighed in and had lost 5 kilos ( 11 pounds). as of today I have lost a total of 20 kilos and feel fantastic. its only 2 weeks since this photo below was taken and I've lost another kilo.

November 2013 Loving Life Eating Clean

Links page coming soon with more sites to read and research.