Yesterday, Sunday March 14, marked the end of my week-long experiment of eating wheat- and gluten-free.

I knew I would be able to do this for one week, but at the start of the process I was not sure how long I wanted to continue it, mostly because it can be challenging to eat gluten-free.

By Tuesday, Day 3, I knew I wanted to continue on this path.

My body, especially my digestive system, felt at peace. My mind was more clear and focused, and while physically I sometimes felt tired, my spirit seemed to have more energy...if that makes sense.

On Thursday Chicago Man and I began reading "Eat Right For Your Type" by Dr. Peter D'Adamo. (www.dadamo.com). I had first read the book in the late 90s, and Chicago Man read it in around 2005.

Twelve or so years ago, I took some of the information to heart--I quit eating chicken (not good for my type), and tried to elminiate tomatoes from my diet. Have you ever tried to cook without tomatoes in some way? It's hard! Spaghetti, pizza, meatloaf, vegetable soups, have all been dietary stapes of mine. Plus, I love tomatoes!

Anyway, all those years ago I really didn't pay attention to the book telling me that wheat is bad for my type. I just kept eating it, because I felt it was too hard to change. (translation: I felt like I was not worth it!, but I didn't recognize it as that at the time)

Now that I am off of wheat, I don't want to go back feeling the way I felt before.

Plus, I lost a pound! My weight loss had been stalled since the end of January when I began consuming more wheat and having more digestive problems. So it was exciting to lost that pound, especially since I did not get much exercise last week (overdid it on the BL Cardio Max DVD and hurt my back).

Dr. D'Adamo states that once a person whose blood type is incompatible with wheat, the person will start dropping weight, and I believe this.

I felt full and satisfied all week, felt like I was eating more than usual, and still lost a decent amount of weight. I finally got into the 220s...yay!

It was a challenge, though. Pasta is easy; there are lots of gluten-free pastas available for decent prices. Bread, however, is another story: expensive, and hard to find.

For whatever reason, Saturday was the most difficult day. I had terrible food cravings, and felt like if I did not get some bread and tomato soup I could eat (my old standby, Campbell's, has wheat and also HFCS--high fructose corn syrup--which I am trying to avoid as well)that I would go crazy!

After a fruitless trip to The Turnip Truck, we finally wound up at Kroger in Inglewood. I did not find any gluten-free bread there that I wanted to try, because the ones they had contained methyl cellulose, not easily digestivle, but I did get some gluten-free waffles by Van's Foods (www.vansfoods.com). And some organic tomato soup.

So that was my dinner: two waffles with a little syrup and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and organic tomato soup. Yum. I felt like those waffles saved me!

I could go on and on about all the changes that happened in the past week, but this is enough for one post.

I want to close by showing a sample menu for today, which is gluten-free, wheat-free, and for me, what also constitutes a healthy eating/weight loss menu.

Breakfast: smoothie made with fresh strawberries, frozen peaches, organic Stonyfield yogurt, a splash of almond milk, and vegan rice protein powder. Delicious!

Mid-Morning snack: banana

Lunch: 2 Slices of GF bread (which I finally found Sunday at Kroger Green Hills), two slices of Hormel Naturals turkey, Swiss cheese, a spoonful of artichoke/kalamata olive hummous as a condiment, and celery sticks.

Afternoon snack: pecans, and an orange

Dinner: vegetable lasagna made with GF, rice noodles, green salad using organic greens and homemade dressing w/ olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and for dessert, one GF chocolate chip cookie and half a cup of Chicago Man's Soylicious vanilla ice milk! Or, I might substitute some more of the fresh strawberries with a bit of yogurt.

Happy Monday, and bon appetit!