In case you have been wondering...

Fall. It is hands down my favorite season; it is also my least favorite. Go figure. It is funny how one can look forward to and dread something all at the same time, but I do. It is a struggle every year.

I love the crisp air, sweat shirts and jeans, bonfires, the color change, the smell in the air, the food...oh sweet warm and comforting food and fall produce, just to name a few.

I hate (and I don't like to use the word lightly) the short days, fall allergies, depression, my car (oh wait that isn't just because of the fall) and those sneaky winter like days. Granted this season is feeling a little worse due to my continuous flare up (yeah, yeah it may get to be a little TMI but it is my blog right? Right.) It is causing me to be a little more bummed then normal and is literally draining the life out of me. Not to mention it is also putting a damper on my personal and work life.  The mornings are hellish, and I must admit as cute as it is, it bothers me that my almost 3-yr old is concerned about me.

I have talked about changing up my diet before and I have gone through periods of time doing so. But this time is more of a need then a want. I don't like that I will need to give up certain foods or change at all but I am at a loss. Medication alone isn't helping enough. So with the support of my wonderful family I am going to eliminate things from my diet, and hopefully slowly introduce them back to see if and what may affect me. Worse case, I will be on a quest to make bland food not as bland. I know this isn't going to be easy, and will take a lot of planning on my part so I don't deprive my family of what they want.

Knowing I am going to struggle with this, I at least know I have great support; which I know is really important. Of course I am also doing this close to the holiday season, so temptation is going to be knocking all the time! But I need to listen to my husband and think before I just grab. "Think about what the effects will be, is it worth it?" the words of my wonderful husband.

So my plan for this weekend is to go through what we have in the house already. Make a "Catherine" spot, a place I can keep any special food, my snacks (in both the cabinets and fridge). Make some lists, and come up with substitutions for some of our regular dinners. I currently try my best to plan dinners but there are still days that we forget to take out meat from the freezer or just run out of time and opt for something quick and easy. Since my husband is the one who usually makes dinner {love him!}, I need to make sure whatever changes I make doesn’t affect his schedule and is or are easy to incorporate with whatever else he is making.

My mom told me she bought me a book, so hopefully it will be here soon and will have some other ideas to make the transition a little easier. By the way, if you are my friend…try not to offer me any food. I am really going to be working hard on not just giving in. I thank you in advance! I just needed to get this all off my chest and I am sure I will keep posting about my progress along with some of the recipes that I have tried or altered. But, for now I am going to end this with something that I look forward to trying!

Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup from The Gluten-free Goddess, see the recipe here.