Taste of Home is sponsoring a company weight loss program based on our new cookbook, The Comfort Food Diet. I asked one of the participants, Associate Web Editor Heather Gergen, to share with us her journey to a healthier lifestyle.
Last week was the final week of the Comfort Food Diet club at Taste of Home. The good news is that I lost 15 pounds, about a pound a week. The bad news is that my 40th birthday is next week and I am pretty sure that I am not going to make my original goal of losing 40 pounds before I turn 40.
I’m not too broken up about it though. I’ve lost enough weight that my friends and co-workers are starting to notice, and that’s a good start. I’m able to fit back into clothes that didn’t fit last Christmas.
Our group of 60 people lost a total of 649 pounds! Not too shabby. Our top male winner lost 65 pounds. Our top female winner lost 28 pounds.
My weight loss journey has not ended altogether, it has just taken a bit of a different turn. A little over three weeks ago, after a series of blood tests, my doctor diagnosed me as gluten intolerant.
I have been following a gluten-free diet for three weeks now and I think it is helping. Luckily, I am not at the point where I have celiac disease, so if I make a mistake, it doesn’t have serious implications.
I am learning as I go. There are several blogs popular right now about living a gluten-free lifestyle. I’ve visited many of them and found them to be very helpful. I will write about my favorites in a future post.
I am going to the Gluten-Free and Allergen Free Expo presented by Living Without in Chicago this weekend to learn more about living gluten free. If you don’t live near Chicago, there is another expo scheduled for Dallas in October.
I’ll be blogging more about this lifestyle change for Love & Homemade Recipes, so I hope you’ll continue on this journey with me.
What I Made This Week:
I made a batch of these Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chip Bars the first weekend after I was diagnosed gluten intolerant. The whole family loves them, especially the kids. They request them now. I use all chocolate chips since I am not a big fan of butterscotch. Watch out, they aren’t low-calorie, but they are big enough that just one is pretty filling.
Get this recipe: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chip Bars
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I am also gluten sensitive, my daughter a celiac so keep the recipes that we can enjoy coming, big fan of all the Taste of Home magazines.
Heather – I also have gone gluten free. I found a substitute that can be used in place of regular flour in ANY cookie recipe! Just mix 3 parts brown rice flour with 1 part potato flour (not potato starch) and it works great. This way I can use all my favorite cookie recipes and not feel deprived whenever the craving strikes!!!