6 weeks! extending it....

Officially 6 weeks into the elimination diet.

So far I've been pretty good about eliminating all the possible aggravating ingredients, but I have let myself "cheat" a few times and I'm wondering if I'e really messed it all up?

I just terribly miss some of those foods. The other day I had half a soft pretzel (gluten). Then at a picnic I ate a small slice of cake that I knew had honey in the batter, and a soy milk based icing. That night I was in TERRIBLE pain... doubled over from the stabbing feeling of being so so so bloated. I do feel like it was either the honey or soy  milk. But not really sure... too many variables!

I've decided to extend the elimination for 8 weeks and hopefully that'll help me clear up again?

I've also been thinking about getting in touch with a dietician for the reintroduction phase. I just don't want to leave anything to chance and do it wrong, then have all of this other effort to waste.

I DID identify some issues though in these past couple of weeks...

- coconut milk/creme --- very gassy
- 90% dark chocolate --- I guess too much fiber??
- possibly baby carrots --- guessing too much fiber


I also made some delicious new recipes:

*Asian grilled chicken --- chicken breasts, cubed or in thinner slices. Marinate for a few hours in chopped ginger and scallions (green part) and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

* Asian chicken stir fry --- stir 'fried' brown rice, mixed with one egg and 2 egg whites scrambled in, minced ginger, green scallion parts, and diced baby carrots (not too many!)

* Ginger-bread Oatmeal --- quick oats mixed with half smashed banana, minced ginger, cinnamon, and lactose-free milk

Fritos were a bad choice

Ugh. Never eating Fritos again.  Whole corn is not allowed on the elimination diet, but processed corn products (corn chips, cornmeal, polenta) are allowed in moderate quantities since I guess the corn is broken down enough that you can digest it easily.

So yesterday we go to a friend's house to watch Sunday night football. I picked up snacks that I could eat to take along, and grabbed a bag of Fritos since I figured they'd be good 'junk' food.

Definitely ate WAY too many handfuls of them getting excited that I could have some junky food and dear god I was nauseous the rest of the day and night, into most of the day today!

Not typical IBS symptoms but just sooo nauseous.

FODMAP free does not = eat unlimited quantities, and ignore typical health status ideas :X


back to normal now finally, but NO more Fritos in my cupboards!

The proof is in the POOF (or lack thereof)

I'd been meaning to post this for a while and kept forgetting...

So I took pictures of my midsection the day before starting the FODMAP elimination diet, just to demonstrate what a typical evening of bloating looked like. This would be most nights, not every night. But often, and would also often be accompanied by gastric pain and just general feeling of uneasiness and gas.


The first picture is night before FODMAP elimination vs. 1 week later on FODMAP elimination

The 2nd picture is 3 weeks into FODMAP elimination

I've been experiencing consistently long periods of time without GI issues like before, and when I have had them there was usually a pretty obvious culprit (white wine, too many plantain chips).


so I'm pretty happy about all this :)

Left: before FODMAP elimination  / Right: 1 week into FODMAP elimination

3 weeks on FODMAP elimination

week 4 - new recipes

Week 4 is over, it's been pretty great!

getting a little frustrated about having to be so careful with certain foods but its not bad. I've been eating things I wouldn't have eaten in the past (french fries, sweet potatoes) from fear of too many carbs. Of course, I'm not eating french fries super often and only nice quality ones at restaurants, not fast food. I don't order them, if someone gets them and they don't look greasy and they don't have any added spices then I'll have some. And its funny... no GI issues from them, and I'm still in great shape!

I've been trying to eat more a little bit later in the evening so as not to lose too much weight. I lost 5lbs the first week I did this just from so many issues and being so limited. Now I gained about 2lbs back, which I'm fine with. I've been eating, I feel energized, and I'm trying to vary it up as much as possible so as long as that's where I'm at I'm OK if I dropped just a few pounds. What I didn't want to do was lose a lot because of the diet... because I know that's not the healthy way to lose weight and could also lead to some negative thought patterns. If I lose any weight, it'd be just a few pounds, and I'd want to do it because I was trying to focus on it.

Anyway, some new recipes I've tried this week that have been great!

Raspberry chia "jam" --- mashed up a bunch of raspberries to a pulp, then mixed in 1 T. chia seeds. then you leave them overnight in the fridge and it sort of gels up like jam. Not nearly as sweet as jam, but does the job :)

Vanilla Almond "ice cream" --- blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 fresh banana, 1-2 T. almond butter, splash of lactose free milk, 2 tsp. vanilla, and then I added a dash of cinnamon. suuuuper creamy and decadent, it was SO good

Beef 'taco' Lettuce Wraps --- sautéed ground beef (without onion or garlic :(  ), then scooped into romaine lettuce leaf. Topped with diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, minced cilantro and lime drizzle.

*** I have noticed that sometimes when I eat a lot of lettuce I'll start to get bloating or gas build up later in the night. I'm thinking I'm going to eliminate this for the next 3 weeks and test it during reintroduction phase. I feel like that tough rib part of the romaine might be the issue.

Another thing, I had some drinks this weekend --- a couple glasses of red wine did not feel great. I'll have to limit my red wine, or at least not have it if I've had anything questionable that day. I'll need to plan this out better for next time to see if its the red wine or the fact that I was eating a lot of lettuce and iffy things that night.