Rice diet - I am insane.

As I write this blog post, I'm SO hungry. A little background: I decided to do a two-week rice diet, nothing but white rice (no flavorings or seasonings, not even salt) and water for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I ran it by two neurologists to make sure it was safe, and they said it may not take a full two weeks, but I should be fine. I'm doing this as an easy way to eliminate migraine triggers - there are so many that it's easier to only eat rice, in my opinion. Or so I thought.

I went to Costco and got a ginormous bag of rice; then I made a big batch. I'm on day three of my rice diet. Brushing my teeth is the highlight of my day because my taste buds actually get some flavor (toothpaste)! The rice tastes so plain, I'm actually craving foods I don't even like. Since it's rice enriched with iron, my burps taste like metal. (You're welcome for sharing.) I thought after doing a gluten-free diet that this would be a piece of cake (ooh cake, yum...), but it's hard always being hungry but not wanting more rice!

I'm also frustrated because I'm still getting bad headaches/migraines so now I'm thinking maybe food doesn't trigger them after all. So I've decided to redo my plan a little. First I'm going to finish my rice, so I'll do the diet another one to two days. I'm doing a lot of research to find out what foods I can and can't eat (book review coming soon) and I'm going to start adding in some foods that are NOT known to trigger migraines.  Then I'll add in common migraine triggers, one per week.

Since it's a new year, and last year sucked on so many levels, I wanted to share my resolutions. I generally do not make resolutions because I always thought they were pointless, but I want 2010 to be awesome. So here goes:

• Eat healthier. I'm considering going completely organic, but I think that's a little too ambitious (and expensive). But I'm going to try to eat as fresh as possible. I got a food processor for Christmas so I'm hoping that will make it more fun to chop veggies!
• Exercise at least four times a week. A typical resolution, I know. I drove by a gym the other day and it was PACKED. Lucky for me I have a gym in my condo's clubhouse, and it's hardly ever in use, so I have no excuse. Even when I have head pain, I'm planning to at least walk for 20 minutes.
• Read through the Bible. Not really headache-related, but my Bible study group at church is doing it and I'm actually really excited about it because even though I'm a P.K. (preacher's kid), I can't say that I've read every word in the Bible.
• Don't stress! Work gives me a lot of stress. Not because it's all that stressful, but because there are always articles to write, projects to manage, deadlines looming, etc. and I think about them constantly, even when I'm not working. I need to find a way to leave work at work and enjoy my free time.

P.S. - here's one resource on the migraine diet if you want to try it. The food lists are not all-inclusive based on other things I've read, so I'd do additional research, but it's a good way to get started. Note that I have never visited the clinic it's from, but a friend shared the link with me. Also note that I'm not sponsoring the rice company from the picture in any way!