Food Alergies Could be Causing Weight Gain

I have already talked about my discovery about my dairy allergy in my previous blog post Could You be Allergic to Dairy and Not Know It?   I was watching an episode of the Doctor Oz show recently and besides the benefits of not feeling congested any more, I didn't even connect the fact that I had lost weight after my allergy discovery and changing what I was eating.  I had never connected the two before, but it made so much sense after hearing the medical explanation.

I found out from this episode that the most common food allergies are to dairy and wheat.  As many as 60% of people have allergies to dairy, and people can lose as much as 30 pounds of weight by just eliminating food allergens from their diets!  That's just crazy!  I didn't lose that much weight, but I'll bet it was close to 15 pounds.  The weight was just falling off without really trying.  I had first contributed it to not eating the fatty cheeses, ice cream, etc., but there may have been additional factors at work which I didn't realize.  Here is a link to the summary of that segment of the show: Doctor Oz's Anti-Allergy Diet  The experts were saying that one common reason why people plateau when loosing weight is that they are carrying around a lot of inflammation from eating foods that their bodies are having subtle negative reactions to and they are not even aware of it. This systemic inflammation is preventing further weight loss and causing bloating and other problems with digestion. 

This segment also discussed many hidden sources of dairy allergens, many which I had discovered through trial and error.  Other ingredients to avoid besides the obvious "milk" are ingredients such as cream, milk protein, casein, whey, lactate, etc.  These hidden dairy items can be found in some crazy places most of us might be really surprised to find them in, such as: deli meats, canned tuna, protein shake mixes, energy bars, baked goods, and bread, and other processed foods.  Read the labels on the foods you are eating or eat more natural foods without labels.  This link above also gives you a 3 week plan for removing the problem foods from your diet, repairing the digestive tract from the damage done by eating the wrong foods, and then slowly trying to add back possible foods after noting the subtle ways your body reacts to them through keeping a journal.

I hope this additional information about dairy allergies might help some of you be more aware of what might be preventing you from losing the weight you want and help you feel better in a long list of ways.

Plastic Shopping Bags Uses and Storage

I know many of you have already started using those wonderful reusable "green bags" when you go shopping.  But, if you are like me, sometimes I get to the store and realize I forgot them.  Or, you are just running in for a couple items and you forget them in the car or don't want to bother for such a small order.  You opt for plastic over paper and now you have some of those plastic shopping bags.  Most would maybe reuse it in it's original form to carry things once or twice, recycle it, or toss it, but I have found some great additional uses for these bags that save me money.  I also found a great way to store them so they don't take up too much room either.

1. Free trash liners for your bathroom trash cans.
2. If you have cats, they are perfect little trash bags for scooping the litter clumps.
3. If you are already recycling or composting, you probably don't have half as much kitchen trash as you used to.  Why do you still need the industrial size trash can in your kitchen?  Downsize to a 3 gallon/11 liter waste basket, roughly the size you might use under a desk.  The plastic bags fit perfectly so you don't need to purchase kitchen trash bags anymore, either. Just make sure the bag doesn't have a hole in the bottom or you might end up with a mess if you put wet stuff in the trash.  Mine fits perfectly under my sink, so its out of sight and the pets can't get into it.  With these smaller size trash cans, you might even have room under your sink for a separate trash and recycle waste basket.  This will make it more convenient to recycle, so you will be more likely to do it.  With a smaller trash container, obviously, it will fill up a little quicker than a big one, but you will be able to keep smells to a minimum inside your home since you will be taking the trash out more frequently.



Upcycled plastic baskets by bagsagain.etsy.com

4. This one might be a stretch for some of you to make yourself, but I have actually seen people cut these into long strips like yarn and knit, crochet, or weave them into rugs, beach bags, purses, place mats, baskets, accessories, and other amazing creations.  Check out some some of these very affordable items others have made out of plastic shopping bags that are for sale on etsy.com  They will blow your mind!!  Some Etsy sellers even sell patterns for those of you who might want to try to make some of these, and "yarn" that is already pre-made for these creations, if you don't want to take the time to cut it up yourself.

Now that I have you thinking a little differently about these plastic shopping bags, here's my trick to making them compact for easy storage.  

1. Stick a couple fingers of your right hand through the handles of the bag.  Keep your fingers in these holes the whole time until right at the end at step #4.
2. Using your left hand, starting near the handles, smooth and pull the bag into a long plastic strip.
3. Grasp the "bottom" of the bag with your left hand and with a twisting wrist action, roll the bottom of the bag up around two fingers on your left hand all the way up to the handles creating a little "ball" around your left hand fingers and twisting the bag around your right fingers creating a small "loop"
4. Flip the "loop" from the handles around your right hand fingers over the "ball" wrapped around your left hand fingers.  This will keep this tight little ball secured and compact for easy storage.  
5. A small box, basket, or drawer will hold a ton of them in this compact form until you are ready to use them.  Simply unhook the loop, unwind, and they are ready to use again.