Healthy Journeys

 

 

And now for something different. . .

For several years now, I've had mild digestion issues.  I'll spare you the details, but E. & I have decided, since we are currently stuck at home with time hanging heavy, now is the opportune time to try an elimination diet.    To be clear, the goal here is not to lose weight (though that would be an awesome bonus), but to figure out what's been irritating my insides. 

I've looked at several sets of guidlines for this and some are far more strict and time-consuming than others.  Also, some focus on elements that I'm 99.99% sure are not my issue (like peanuts & shellfish) while ignoring things that could, in fact be a real problem--like caffeine and sugar.   I have some ideas about what my trigger foods are, but I've never tried cutting out those elements for any decent length of time.  So, I'm customizing a diet to address what those things are.  Here we go.

Stage 1: Eliminate gluten, dairy, soy, & eggs for 14 days. 

I've mapped it out in my bullet journal/day planner and done all the shopping.   

For breakfasts I am allotting oatmeal w/ fruit or smoothies made with coconut or almond milk.

For lunches, tuna salad (made with chutney, not mayo) or turkey wraps (either lettuce or corn tortilla)

Menu (8/3-8/17): 

M-- Roasted Chicken w/ corn & potatoes

T-- Salad w/ chickpeas & pomegranate vinaigrette

W-- Leftover chicken breast in tacos (corn tortillas, no cheese)

R-- Sole w/ black olives, brown rice & green salad

F-- Porkchops w/ corn & roasted sweet potato

Sat-- Taco salad (avocado, tomato, pinto beans, lime vinaigrette)

Sun-- Baked potatoes w/ left over pork chops & peas

--So far, so good.  My husband is finding this more difficult than I am, though he is only participating in solidarity.  He finds the menus rather boring I think, even though he helped write them.  I think that for us both diets are more difficult psychologically than anything else.  We have fallen into the habit of seeking comfort in food and that just doesn't jive with a diet--more's the pity.  I AM longing for a chocolate cupcake, but that is nothing new.  

 

I don't know if it is a result of my natural body rhythms, the summer, or the fact that my sleep schedule has been screwed up since the quarantine, but I haven't been hungry until noon.   This means that I've instead of breakfasts, I've been indulging in two cups of coffee with coconut milk & a (very) little bit of brown sugar.  I guess this means I am also inadvertently intermittent fasting.  How trendy of me.