Anyone else know the joys of a hiatal hernia? Most of the time it's not an issue, but this past week it has been acting up. With that comes nausea, midsection discomfort and enough burping for a dozen truck drivers. Wearing a sports bra is torture since the band hits me right there.
OK, enough -- you get the picture.
I live on daily Nexium so at least I don't have a bubbling cauldron of acid but that doesn't fix the gaping maw in my midsection.
And yes, I did have it officially diagnosed a few years ago, with the "take a Valium, then we'll stick a camera down your nose and lower it into your stomach; it'll be fun!" procedure.
But I know what will make it feel better -- yep, losing more weight. I'm not an apple shape, which would put a lot more pressure in that area, but any excess weight will aggravate one.
So this week, I'm going to eat by The Rule of the Fist: Each meal or snack should be no bigger than the size of my fist so my stomach can process the food without getting stuffed.
And then wait awhile -- no eating every two hours. I tried that yesterday and found that I felt much better when I let my system clear itself out.
Everytime I get the urge to eat when I don't really need to, I'll curl my hand into a fist and look at it -- then remember how much better I feel when I follow my rule.
Yesterday, for example, my afternoon snack was a rice cake (one of those health-food store "good ones") topped with a slice of Swiss cheese. Nice and small and filling.
Another thing that has been making me feel better -- avoiding wheat. I recently read the book Wheat Belly, by William Davis, M.D.. His contention is that the modern wheat plant and all that has come from it is what is making people sick and fat. He writes a convincing argument, so a couple weeks ago I cut out wheat. It was pretty easy to do, and, no, I didn't replace foods with gluten-free junk food. Instead I sought out non-wheat "real food" starches -- things like an occasional potato or brown rice and non-wheat cereals. But I also made sure to eat less of those, too, because too many starchy foods leaves me wanting more.
After that week, I decided to see what would happen if I added back some wheat products. And that's when the digestive woes started.
Coincidence? Dunno.
Anyway, that brings me to ...
An Attune Foods giveaway!
Attune Foods makes lots of yummy products, and one of its product lines is Erewhon, which has many gluten-free breakfast cereals. I especially like the Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice cereal as a little after-dinner snack. And tiny cereals are hard to snack on because shoving your arm into the box of cereal gets messy. I pour out a serving into one of our bowls from the Post-Toddler Collection (Teletubbies!) and I'm good for the evening.
If you'd like to try Attune's products, I have three free product coupons. Just let me know, in the comments section below, what Attune product would tickle your fancy. (Check 'em out HERE.)
Extra entries (not required but extra fun!):
- Follow me on Twitter: @its_gail (1 entry)
- Like Shrinking Sisters on Facebook (1 entry)
- Give @its_gail some +K on Klout (1 entry per +K)
Deadline for the gift card giveaway is noon ET on Halloween (Monday, Oct. 31) I'll choose three random winners and notify you then.
Disclosure: I received free coupons from Attune brand ambassador Anne-Marie Nichols for this post. Opinions expressed are my own. The giveaway is open to North American residents only.
