I love pretzels. They are my comfort food, my fall-back food and my first choice for snacking. I love pretzels so much that I actually hate Rold Gold for seemingly forcing all over pretzel manufacturers out of the market. I like my pretzels slightly buttery, I like them lightly salted and I like them in bulk.
I want to open you up and put you in my mouth.
I’d eat pretzels for breakfast in a pinch, for a mid-morning snack, for lunch, sometimes as a dinner substitute and always as an evening snack. In my heyday, we’re talking about nearly a normal-size bag every 24 hours. I have a pretzel problem.
And then Katie realized I was getting sick all the time. Frequent sinus infections, lots of stuffy noses and a general feeling of congestion issues every few weeks, no matter the season. At first I thought it was because of the rapidly changing temperature and humidity and then I chalked it up to overtraining. I mean, I’ve had sinus issues my entire life and I’ve eaten a lot of pretzels my entire life, so how could they be affecting me nowWAITAMINUTE.
Whether it was the enriched flour, the gluten or the massive amounts (it wasn’t the salt, as I sweat a ton when I run and am extremely watchful of my sodium intake, so the pretzel salt was actually a necessity) but it was the pretzels that my body didn’t like. Just like I finally accepted that my stomach aches seemed to happen a lot after I consumed dairy products (lactose intolerant from drinking 3-4 fresh gallons a week at home and now less than that a month) I gave in to Katie’s idea that pretzels, or possibly gluten, was the culprit of my sinus issues.
As a chunky kid, I used to carry pretzels, in a ziploc bag, in my shorts during basketball practice after school.
-Every time someone passes me on the freeway, I get mad because I think I’m breaking the rules enough by going ten over. I want to be the fastest guy on the road, but I’m not willing to always take the risk. Why should it bother me that anyone else does?
-I constantly compare myself to my peer group and often point out the advantage someone else has (more money, age, experience, education) as the reason for their success. Perhaps they just work harder (likely).
-I say yes to everything and finish almost nothing. While me having a finger on the community may be great as an info source, it does absolutely nothing for me. Finishing a few projects completely is better than starting a lot.
In the past year, I’ve given up drinking, pretzels, drinking milk regularly and normal shoes. While I can’t say it was a banner year for me professionally, it’s often more important to know what to leave on the table instead of what to take from it.
Anything you’ve given up lately?
8 Comments on “Why I gave up my absolute most favorite food”
Tyler- an absolute great read. It almost shows your ‘softer’ side (gasp!). And, I like it because I can relate to the food experimentation. Good of you to share… so many people don’t have a clue!
http://tinyurl.com/26qhgx4 You’re welcome.
I tried gluten-free pretzels. Three kinds. Same result. I’m not convinced it’s the gluten.
You clearly have an all or nothing personality. (I’m a little like that. I call it ‘passion’.). Is Katie a mellow counterpart? (Nosy. That’s my name. Jason’s my mellow counterpart. I tried dating other passionate people before I met him and it was disastrous. Clearly I needed someone to be my calm center while I vibrate around like a maniac.)
Yes, she complements me splendidly. Yin and yang. Love it.
I broke up with cheese. After years and years of eating it, I just had to cut it out of my diet. It was making my stomach ache and making feel REALLY sluggish after munching away on Gouda. I miss it, but I do not miss how it hurt afterwards. I also gave up beef and poultry. My stomach decided it couldn’t handle that either. So, now my diet of lean protein (mostly fish or plants) has helped me really become mindful of what I eat.
I love pretzels too; but if they’re threatening your livelihood, those suckers gots to go!
I have noticed when I eat pretzels I get nauseous. Every single time. But I can eat other wheat based products and be fine. It’s interesting that you talk about being sick because I am constantly getting sick as of late but I couldn’t possibly blame it on pretzels as I don’t get them all that often. But maybe that is the reaction to all other wheat products. Something to think about for sure.
That can be confusing, for sure. Best of luck figuring that out, it definitely might be something else.