Confessions

It's no small secret that Whole Foods has a warm and fuzzy place in my heart. It probably stems from that being the only store in the 1990s that had gluten-free products and treats that would "mainstream" my limited diet in a small way. Since then, my affinity for the store has blossomed into a strong, loyal, and ever-lasting relationship and last night, my love for the store deepened even more.

Much like in April, I knew I was going to be venturing to the DC area's newest Whole Foods. It just so happened that my laptop was ready and the new store was on the way to the Mac store. Lucky me :)

The outside is very nice and I, of course, nerdily got excited.

The baskets can roll, just like a carry-on piece of luggage, which is great when the few things you have to pick up are heavy!

An extensive olive and antipasto bar:

And most exciting for me: allergy-friendly shopping made easy throughout the store!  Not only was there this whole section of gluten-free goodies in the cookie aisle,

other eating styles were also kept in mind. I noticed that the dairy cases were organized into 3 sections: one for regular yogurts, etc, one for vegan and dairy-free alternatives, and then lastly, eggs and organic products. It made looking for those items easier than all being squeezed into one big refrigerator case.


There was also a dedicated aisle of gluten-free products, filled with the usual suspects as well as some new-to-me products. I even got to sample these wafers - they taste just like the (gluten-filled) ones I used to eat as a kid!

I had a great experience and can't wait to do more regular shopping there. The only downside is I have to take the metro as opposed to walking to get my groceries.


My second confession is related to Monday's post on awareness of what I'm eating and the extras I'm taking in. Yesterday, since I was anticipating not being able to blog, I decided to do a little project. I tracked the calories for the things I ate yesterday and made 2 discoveries. 1) Overall, I take in an appropriate amount of nutrients and calories throughout the day but sometimes foods don't hold me over as well as I'd like. 2) the pears I buy are 2x the size (and calories) of what I had been assuming in my head!  Last night's pear clocked in at almost 12 oz, at least 5 oz more than the size of an average "large" pear. That could be one place I'm taking in more than I need to at a time, plus there's the extra sugar in the fruit (and a hearty 10.3g of fiber!).

I'm back to my normal eating, photo taking, and blogging today and will be back later with a regular post. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for those 2 culprits though!