Phew!  I have exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes left of my 30 day Gluten Free challenge and to be honest, it hasn’t been that bad.  I’ve had two cheat days- one was for charity and one was a hens day high tea.  Yes, I made the most of it and had high tea, pizza and McDonald’s all in the same day because well, if you’re going to fall off the wagon, why bother drinking light beer.  I’m not missing any foods really and I feel pretty good and am feeling slimmer and trimmer.  It could be my imagination but I’m pretty sure it’s true.  Lots of athletes- Novak Djokovic for one-  have switched to a gluten free diet because they swear it’s made them fitter, healthier and a better athlete.  (See here for an article) Well, I probably won’t win Wimbledon or the US Open any time soon, but I’m glad I’ve given the gluten free thing a go (again!)  because I do feel pretty good.  It’s surprisingly easy to follow and hasn’t really affected my daily eating habits- especially since I’m not a big toast eater and at home we’ve subbed gluten free pasta for normal pasta.  It’s definitely something that I may continue with longer term– although I may have a chicken schnitzel sandwich or bowl of pasta tomorrow– just because I can!

Sadly, October’s challenge is not going to be as easy.  For October (drumroll please!) I’m giving up dairy foods.   Yep, that’s right, no milk, cream, cheese, custard, gomme, yoghurt (frozen or not), gelato, kefir, lassi, etc for the next 30 days.   I’m going to avoid butter where possible but without being the crazy lady who interrogates the waiter in a restaurant to find out whether the chicken, fish, beef, etc is cooked in butter.   I’m not going OTT, but I’m challenging myself to avoid it as much as possible.  Two things I’m worried about the most:

1) My daily breakfast of yoghurt and berries

2)  My coffee.  Sometimes soy just doesn’t cut it.  

3)  Cheese.  I LOVE CHEESE!

I’ve cut out cow’s milk in the past and it wasn’t too bad– mainly because I was having sheep’s milk yoghurt and lots of goats cheese when the craving set in.  This time I’m going all the way.   And cutting out everything…. see the list here.  If Wikipedia says it’s a dairy product, I’m going to do my best not to eat it.  Sigh……  tempted to have one last cheese and ice cream binge in the next 69 minutes but I don’t think that’s the best idea ever.  

The Runner is doing a 30 day green smoothie challenge which I’m not officially doing but all the recipes make enough for two so… am having mini smoothies as well.  I’m also starting to run- which I hate.  But that’s a different topic all together.

For now, I’m going to go and spend the next 62 minutes foraging for a milky treat before I kiss it all goodbye for the next 30 days! 

No, Sorry for the next 30 days, I don’t.