Food Sensitivity Test - When You Actually Have Proof

"People who love to eat are always the best people" - Julia Child

You know that feeling when you eat something and your body just isn't having it? But yet it tasted so good that you ignore it anyway? Yeah, that's how I've been lately. There are foods that I eat, because they're obviously delicious (like cheese), but afterwards I'm just not feeling the greatest. 

For more than two years now, one of my very good friends (who is also a personal trainer) has been telling me to take the Food Sensitivity Test at Life Time Fitness, which is the gym I go to. I never did it because I didn't want to buy in to it, literally. It's a fairly costly test but kept thinking I could do it (lose weight) on my own. Recently my gym bff did it and said she was surprised by the results.  After having long conversations about it, I decided to do more research into it. I searched through the Life Time site, I Googled reviews (which were mainly blog posts), and anything else I could find. Life Time's website read:

Belly fat that you just can’t get rid of. Trouble building muscle or losing muscle tone. Eating like a bird and still gaining weight. Sound familiar? You’ve likely tried many ways to lose weight without lasting success. Lab testing can be the easiest, most cost-effective, scientifically validated way to find out why you haven’t been achieving the results you want.

Yeah, yeah, fine. Take my money. I mean, I always knew that I wasn't doing well with dairy but didn't want to admit it. I just reached the point that I was so sick of not seeing results so I threw the towel in on this one. Maybe, maybe, there was something I just didn't know. 

The process was easy. I paid for the test and they handed me a box. The box contained vials and some information that I needed to take to LabCorp to have them draw my blood. Stopped by a LabCorp with no appointment just a few days later and went on my merry way. Then a few days after that the results were in.

OH MY GOSH. Seriously? My mind was blown by the results. "No way," I thought.. but I guess my blood/body don't lie. There it was, on paper, my sensitivities -- a lot of them.

How it really works: Your blood is run against 96 of the most common food items. Sensitivities are listed 0, 1, 2, and 3. Zero meaning there is no sensitivity and a three meaning you have a severe sensitivity. They also do a CBC (complete blood count) test to evaluate overall health. Included in the test is a meeting with a registered dietitian to go over results.

I met with her, she gave me a color coded spreadsheet and then she broke my heart.

Class 0 are listed in alphabetical order while the others are listed by severity with the result in parenthesis. The foods with results listed next to it in Class 0 are ones that are close to being a Class 1. Class 0 = 0-.199. Class 1 = .2-.299, Class 2 = .3-.399, Class 3 = .4+

This means no gluten, dairy, or eggs for me. That's so tough. I feel like that's most of what makes different foods so delicious. While, yes, some items are across the board, because there is a part of it in severe, I was told to avoid it. For the next three months I am avoiding (at all costs) the above mentioned. I'm trying to keep away from Class 2s and just watch my Class 1s.

I'll periodically do updates on how this is going. I'm planning on starting a new post series with different recipes and foods I can eat. I don't want to make this post excessively long, so if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll respond to the best of my knowledge. Until next time..

New York, New York

“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” - Tom Wolfe

the bride with me creepin behind in the backseat.

One of my very dearest friends, Vikkie, is getting married in two weeks. For her bachlorette party we decided to do a weekend in New York City and boy was it amazing. I'm one of those people who wholeheartedly loves NYC. I truly believe I belong there so when I step foot on city grounds, I'm happy as can be. 

We didn't do anything over the top but we still had an amazing time!

Friday: Drove from DC to NYC and of course, sang the entire way up. We relaxed  once we got there because we knew it was going to be our one "crazy" night. We sipped mimosas, took forever getting ready, and just chatted before heading out. The night held dinner and drinking, Distorted Diznee, and karaoke. This was my first time doing karaoke and it was a lot more fun than I thought. I guess the liquid courage really helps.

I do want to take a minute to tell you about Distorted Diznee. Oh, my, gosh was it the most hysterical thing I'd seen in a long time. Four drag queens dressed up as Disney Princesses singing Disney mixed with modern day songs. If you're up in New York, you need to see these queens. Their shows rotate and they're actually almost done with Diznee but they do have others that seem like they'll be just as fun: Valentines, Broadway, Halloween, and Kristmess. I was planning on going up in December anyway so I'll definitely be adding this show to my to-do list. I will say as a warning that this is not kid friendly.

Saturday: Brunch at this adorable diner that was also very good. Roaming the city and Central Park. Everytime I go to NYC, I go to Central Park but have never explored it the way I should. We went through the entire park and had so much fun. Walking through certain parts all I could think of was, "Whoa. This is where Something Borrowed was filmed and same with Big Daddy, and pretty much every other movie ever!" I know, cheesy and don't ask why I thought of those two specific movies, but oh well. Later in the day I took my friend, the bride, to get a blowout from Drybar. For dinner we went to Agave a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar. After we went to Marie's Crisis Piano Bar for a bit and had a blast. Saturday is Showtunes so of course my friends and I loved it.

the beautiful bride - second from the left.

the only group shot we got and it's perfect!

Sunday: Starbucks and a drive home. Although we did stop at White Castle. I've never been and had only seen it in Harold & Kumar. We all wanted to make a pitstop so we did. More of a fun experience than for good food.

we weren't high but Harold & Kumar did inspire us.

Overall it was a super fun weekend and I'm glad Vikkie got to enjoy it with her favorite and best gals. I can't wait for my next trip up, I'm hoping for December. Until then, I'll leave you with this wonderful reminder, "a bad day in New York City is still better than a good day anywhere else."

Through The Years

"True friendship isn't about being inseparable, it's being separated and nothing changes."

I have some of the greatest friends  around. I know most people think so, but I do too. We've been friends since middle and high school. Our group truly, truly got closer once we graduated HS. Every year since we graduated in 2007, no matter what, we've gotten together for an annual holiday dinner. Some of my lovely ladies have moved, gotten married, had children, or had some other life changing events happen, but we still do a great job at getting together. I believe last year was the first time someone was missing from our dinner so we just FaceTimed her instead. Yay technology. 

(2010)

(2015)

(2016)

Over the weekend I had the chance to be reunited with my girls and per usual, it was a blast. I love that we can all be spread across the country (and since the last photo, across the world) but yet nothing changes when we talk/see eachother. So this post is for nothing more than to appreciate my girls. :)

I Jumped Out of a Plane

"If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try." - Seth Godin

No, really. I literally jumped out of a plane. For my birthday I took the entire week off. I mean, I didn't exactly do it in the way that it sounds. My manager had the week off already and it just seemed easy enough to match my vacation to her week off and the timing just happened to be perfect. I had a staycation where everyday this week I did something different to fully enjoy my time off. I'm not going to go through all of it but I was blessed enough to have family from Charlotte come surprise me. I was so, so happy.

My big moment was going skydiving. I've been thinking about this and planning this for a while. I mentioned it to a friend I made through work a couple months ago and he was all about it. I purposely waited until I made my deposit before letting my mom know. Once I did, she FREAKED and rightfully so. I'm actually petrified of heights (mainly the free fall) to the point that I can't go near the railing at the mall.

The desire to do this stems from my desire for "more" and "adventure". I haven't traveled (without the purpose of visiting family or a bachelorette party) in I don't even know how long. I don't do anything super exciting with my life and that makes me sad. I had a moment where I thought, if (God forbid) something happens to me right now, would I be happy with the way I've lived my life? I need to fill my life with more excitement, adventure, and happiness. So since I promised to make 27 my best year yet, this was how I wanted to start. Skydiving celebrated four things for me: my birthday, facing my fear of heights, crossing an item off my 30 Before 30 list, and new beginnings and adventure.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing the experience was. I think it's important to try something that really pushes you out of your comfort zone. The freefall was a rush of adrenaline like no other, and the parachute down was just breathtaking. I was able to look around and see perfectly blue skies, gorgeous green mountains and grass, and my surroundings in a way that can't be explained. 

I will definitely be skydiving again. I even want to try it in another country like New Zealand or Dubai (UAE). I dare you to try something new, to step outside your comfort zone and follow the quote, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." This experience made me realize that that quote is more true than one would think. Until next time, take a risk. :)

27, I'm in My Late 20s Now

"Happiness comes out of being willing to do your work in your twenties to find out who you are, what you love." Candace Bushnell

It's been a while, a long while. Why? Because I was lost. Lost in the sense of I didn't want to blog unless I was going to be good at it, I felt like I could only blog about one thing, I wasn't as good as I thought I was when it came to prioritizing my time, and so many other reasons. I even posted, probably a year and a half ago, that I wasn't going to force myself to a specific topic and I was just going to write. That obviously didn't turn out well and admittedly, I still had this idea in my head that made me feel like if I wasn't going to blog well (to my unnecessarily high standards) that I shouldn't blog at all. I give up on that, all of it - mainly because I know I need to get out of my head and just do what I like.

Now I'm 27, well I will be on Tuesday, and I am all about new beginnings. Being 26 was the first full year I had in my twenties where I was single. I also used this as a time to try and "figure myself out". I met new people, a lot of things changed for me, and all of it has been a wonderful learning experience for me but I'm not done yet. I'm nowhere near fully knowing who I am and everything I want, which is why I'll be using 27 to REALLY figure myself out. To go along with this, I even rebranded my blog so here we are, "TBD Tina - A twenty-something trying to figure it out". 

This will be my trip of a lifetime - finding myself, self-love, and everything in between. I'm excited for you all to join me on this journey. 

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