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
Friday, October 21, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
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!
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!
Thursday, October 6, 2016
The proof is in the POOF (or lack thereof)
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 |
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
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.
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.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
good day... but I miss pizza :(
It's been great lately. Little to no GI issues. A little upset recently and I'm pretty sure it was bagged spinach from the grocery store. As soon as I stopped eating it all slight issues were gone. I'm so so so happy to be on this discovery path!
Went out to dinner tonight, THAT is definitely a challenge. I REEEEALLY miss garlic and onions. I really miss those flavors, and they are also in everything I love to eat!
I also really really really crave pizza right now. I typically only eat pizza once or twice a month, and good pizza... the brick oven type with the puffy crust at a nice pizza place. No Domino's junk.
A few days before starting the elimination diet I got a craving for a nice brick oven crusty pizza, but my boyfriend had had pizza a couple times that week already so we went elsewhere and got salads and chicken. Delicious dinner... but now my craving has continued!!! I didn't satisfy it and now I miss that pizza SOOOOO bad!
I'm looking forward to hopefully not having issues with gluten and at least making homemade pizza with a sauce that does not have garlic & onion (as I do believe these were contributing to my issues). I want to try that asafetida powder I read about that gives foods an onion powder flavor. And then I can also use garlic-infused oil in the sauce and on the crust to get that flavor too.
MMmm....... pizza....
today's meals:
Breakfast: Chocolate Dragonfruit overnight Oats - 1/2 a mashed dragonfruit, 1 T. dark cocoa powder, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 T. ground flax, small drizzle maple syrup. Mixed and left overnight
Snack: plain rice cake, 2 T. peanut butter, sliced banana
Lunch: 3 egg whites, cheddar cheese stick, 1 cup cooked baby carrots, 10 almonds, rice cake
Snack: 1/2 cup lactose free milk, square 85% dark chocolate
Dinner: (at restaurant) Seared salmon with crabmeat, fingerling potatoes, roasted carrots
I had to have them leave out the farro side since I read it has gluten, and of course I could not nosh on the bread at the table :(
Dessert : flourless chocolate cake -- from the restaurant. I only ate a few bites. It was made with eggs, sugar, dark chocolate, and cocoa. But it was dense and I didn't want to have too much on account of them probably using a higher-dairy chocolate in the cake. Also it kind of tasted like shit.... they added salt on the outside, which I usually love salted chocolate. But it was overkill and tasted like they accidentally used salt instead of sugar in the batter!!!
Went out to dinner tonight, THAT is definitely a challenge. I REEEEALLY miss garlic and onions. I really miss those flavors, and they are also in everything I love to eat!
I also really really really crave pizza right now. I typically only eat pizza once or twice a month, and good pizza... the brick oven type with the puffy crust at a nice pizza place. No Domino's junk.
A few days before starting the elimination diet I got a craving for a nice brick oven crusty pizza, but my boyfriend had had pizza a couple times that week already so we went elsewhere and got salads and chicken. Delicious dinner... but now my craving has continued!!! I didn't satisfy it and now I miss that pizza SOOOOO bad!
I'm looking forward to hopefully not having issues with gluten and at least making homemade pizza with a sauce that does not have garlic & onion (as I do believe these were contributing to my issues). I want to try that asafetida powder I read about that gives foods an onion powder flavor. And then I can also use garlic-infused oil in the sauce and on the crust to get that flavor too.
MMmm....... pizza....
today's meals:
Breakfast: Chocolate Dragonfruit overnight Oats - 1/2 a mashed dragonfruit, 1 T. dark cocoa powder, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 T. ground flax, small drizzle maple syrup. Mixed and left overnight
Snack: plain rice cake, 2 T. peanut butter, sliced banana
Lunch: 3 egg whites, cheddar cheese stick, 1 cup cooked baby carrots, 10 almonds, rice cake
Snack: 1/2 cup lactose free milk, square 85% dark chocolate
Dinner: (at restaurant) Seared salmon with crabmeat, fingerling potatoes, roasted carrots
I had to have them leave out the farro side since I read it has gluten, and of course I could not nosh on the bread at the table :(
Dessert : flourless chocolate cake -- from the restaurant. I only ate a few bites. It was made with eggs, sugar, dark chocolate, and cocoa. But it was dense and I didn't want to have too much on account of them probably using a higher-dairy chocolate in the cake. Also it kind of tasted like shit.... they added salt on the outside, which I usually love salted chocolate. But it was overkill and tasted like they accidentally used salt instead of sugar in the batter!!!
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
and today marks 3 weeks!
Today marks the day that I've been on the FODMAP elimination diet for 3 weeks. I plan to do the elimination for 6 weeks (though I might extend it to 7 or 8..) and then begin the reintroduction phase to test the groups.
It's been going SO well... I can't remember the last time (EVER) in my life I went so many days in a row without digestive / GI issues. I tell my boyfriend this and he's appalled that that's an exciting thing for me... and its not his fault to react like that! To people who deal with IBS or any chronic digestive issue (or any chronic issue at all!) it's just a given of their day-to-day life.
I often would look at him grocery shopping or prepping his food and wonder what it felt like to just eat whatever and not worry about what it was going to do to you. I still do feel that way, but a lot less. I'm SO so so so happy I've started this elimination diet. I just feel relieved knowing that there's a systematic way I can figure out what's really at the root of my issues and just avoid that thing (or minimize it... or at least know when to expect it!)
I have a sinking feeling garlic & onions are going to be revealed as culprits :(
this makes me sad because I LOOOOOVE to cook with garlic and onions, and I also LOVE to eat at restaurants and try all sorts of cuisines. I'm definitely a foodie, and restricting garlic and onions will put a damper on my foodie spirit. If it does come out that they're at fault for some of my issues, I'll obviously avoid them for the most part. But I'm hoping I can find a minimal amount that is tolerable so that if I really want to try something at a restaurant I can at least have a taste!
That's one great lesson I've learned from this process : PORTION SIZE MATTERS.
I've realized that I was totally portion ignorant. I get really excited and "into" certain foods and inhale them like there's no tomorrow. Healthy and not! I'll get totally obsessed with baby carrots, or cottage cheese, or raw celery with salt sprinkled on it, or roasted peanuts, or frozen watermelon chunks, etc. etc. And I'll just nosh on them so with abandon. I've realized even when its healthy foods, your body sometimes can't take all of that at once. So knowing that some of these things could be troublesome, I've realized I can slow my roll and decrease my portions and still enjoy them without the pain. But that's to come once I do the reintroduction :)
Anyway, I have figured out a couple things that do seem to bother me during the elimination diet and I'm staying away. Plantain chips are too starchy I guess for me. I found online that plantains were listed as low FODMAP, but each time I ate them I'd have stomach pain and bloating later in the day. Could be because I probably had 2 servings instead of 1.... again... get really "into" foods sometimes..
But I decided to just eliminate them for now and I'll test them in a small amount later.
I have been drinking alcohol here and there, and it's been OK. It definitely does irritate my digestive tract, but it doesn't do what the foods do. And I'm staying completely away from rum, fortified/sweet wines, and for the most part any beer. Beer seems to be one of those things that some say is OK and others don't. But to be honest, even if its OK.. it fills me up a lot and I'd rather just have a cocktail :)
I'm careful to order cocktails only with things that are allowed and to check that they don't include simple syrup or any other sweetener. Even though simple syrup would be OK because its just sugar, I don't want an overload of sugar at any time. Plus I like my drinks on the less-sweet side so it works fine.
NEW RECIPES:
Overnight PB&J oats : smashed 5 raspberries, mix it with 1/4 cup oats, splash of lactose-free milk, 2 Tablespoons PB2 peanut butter powder. Leave in jar in the fridge overnight and enjoy the next day with some crushed almonds sprinkled on top :)
Banana-PB Ice Cream : froze half a banana, pureed with a tablespoon of peanut butter, splash of vanilla and splash of lactose-free milk, then re-froze for 15 minutes. DELICIOUS!
Cheesey Oregano Chicken Omelette: egg whites, diced chicken breast, one cheddar cheese stick grated over omelette, sprinkled with oregano
Banana Bread brown rice : smashed half very ripe banana, mix with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, splash of vanilla, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, splash of lactose free milk, microwave for 1.5 minutes and mix well
It's been going SO well... I can't remember the last time (EVER) in my life I went so many days in a row without digestive / GI issues. I tell my boyfriend this and he's appalled that that's an exciting thing for me... and its not his fault to react like that! To people who deal with IBS or any chronic digestive issue (or any chronic issue at all!) it's just a given of their day-to-day life.
I often would look at him grocery shopping or prepping his food and wonder what it felt like to just eat whatever and not worry about what it was going to do to you. I still do feel that way, but a lot less. I'm SO so so so happy I've started this elimination diet. I just feel relieved knowing that there's a systematic way I can figure out what's really at the root of my issues and just avoid that thing (or minimize it... or at least know when to expect it!)
I have a sinking feeling garlic & onions are going to be revealed as culprits :(
this makes me sad because I LOOOOOVE to cook with garlic and onions, and I also LOVE to eat at restaurants and try all sorts of cuisines. I'm definitely a foodie, and restricting garlic and onions will put a damper on my foodie spirit. If it does come out that they're at fault for some of my issues, I'll obviously avoid them for the most part. But I'm hoping I can find a minimal amount that is tolerable so that if I really want to try something at a restaurant I can at least have a taste!
That's one great lesson I've learned from this process : PORTION SIZE MATTERS.
I've realized that I was totally portion ignorant. I get really excited and "into" certain foods and inhale them like there's no tomorrow. Healthy and not! I'll get totally obsessed with baby carrots, or cottage cheese, or raw celery with salt sprinkled on it, or roasted peanuts, or frozen watermelon chunks, etc. etc. And I'll just nosh on them so with abandon. I've realized even when its healthy foods, your body sometimes can't take all of that at once. So knowing that some of these things could be troublesome, I've realized I can slow my roll and decrease my portions and still enjoy them without the pain. But that's to come once I do the reintroduction :)
Anyway, I have figured out a couple things that do seem to bother me during the elimination diet and I'm staying away. Plantain chips are too starchy I guess for me. I found online that plantains were listed as low FODMAP, but each time I ate them I'd have stomach pain and bloating later in the day. Could be because I probably had 2 servings instead of 1.... again... get really "into" foods sometimes..
But I decided to just eliminate them for now and I'll test them in a small amount later.
I have been drinking alcohol here and there, and it's been OK. It definitely does irritate my digestive tract, but it doesn't do what the foods do. And I'm staying completely away from rum, fortified/sweet wines, and for the most part any beer. Beer seems to be one of those things that some say is OK and others don't. But to be honest, even if its OK.. it fills me up a lot and I'd rather just have a cocktail :)
I'm careful to order cocktails only with things that are allowed and to check that they don't include simple syrup or any other sweetener. Even though simple syrup would be OK because its just sugar, I don't want an overload of sugar at any time. Plus I like my drinks on the less-sweet side so it works fine.
NEW RECIPES:
Overnight PB&J oats : smashed 5 raspberries, mix it with 1/4 cup oats, splash of lactose-free milk, 2 Tablespoons PB2 peanut butter powder. Leave in jar in the fridge overnight and enjoy the next day with some crushed almonds sprinkled on top :)
Banana-PB Ice Cream : froze half a banana, pureed with a tablespoon of peanut butter, splash of vanilla and splash of lactose-free milk, then re-froze for 15 minutes. DELICIOUS!
Cheesey Oregano Chicken Omelette: egg whites, diced chicken breast, one cheddar cheese stick grated over omelette, sprinkled with oregano
Banana Bread brown rice : smashed half very ripe banana, mix with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, splash of vanilla, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, splash of lactose free milk, microwave for 1.5 minutes and mix well
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Week 2 - some slip ups and set backs
My second week on the FODMAP elimination phase went pretty well. I did experience some lower GI pain on two nights, and I'm pretty sure it's because of eating several handfuls of plantain chips. I found one or two websites listing plantains as low FODMAP, but then a few cautioning about them because of their starchy content. And I had no idea about plantain chips... whether that changed things or not. So either way, I'm going to stay away from them for the remainder of the elimination and I will test them at some point afterwards.
Other than that the low FODMAP foods have been agreeing with me very well. I've taken to making smoothies with frozen berries, ice cubes, and lactose free milks for a really refreshing and cool treat. I've also been enjoying a sort of brown rice pudding by cooking small amounts of brown rice with lactose-free milk, adding cinnamon, sometimes half a smash banana, and topping with just a couple of crushed almonds.
I've been waking up with a nice flat belly! Little to no bloating throughout the day. I'm still drinking coffee and sometimes that'll bloat me a bit but not much.
THEN.... came the dreaded poisonous sweet potato day. I'm not still sure what happened, but I cooked a sweet potato I'd harvested from my garden. There was a dark green part to the skin and I ignored it. I boiled it, at just a couple of small pieces and started having terrible nausea and stomach pain 15 minutes later. The rest of the night I was violently puking!!! Every hour to 2 hours. It was TERRIBLE. I looked it up and I think it was that the green part was producing a toxin called solanine. I've never ever just thrown up like that without getting some sort of food poisoning, so I know this was not some sort of IBS / FODMAP thing.
But either way, that really threw a wrench in things because for the next 2 days my stomach and GI system were extremely sensitive to everything. I didn't want to eat my usual foods, and then when I did have an appetite the main thing I could stomach was corn flakes. I read that corn flakes are ok on low FODMAP status but I think I overdid it with them once I found I could eat them. So I had a couple of days with bloating and stomach pain.
Now that its been enough time I am kicking the corn flakes out too. I'll reintroduce those later, even if they are low FODMAP in small quantities. I was doing really well just having unprocessed natural foods so I'd rather go back to that and then test the rest.
Other than that the low FODMAP foods have been agreeing with me very well. I've taken to making smoothies with frozen berries, ice cubes, and lactose free milks for a really refreshing and cool treat. I've also been enjoying a sort of brown rice pudding by cooking small amounts of brown rice with lactose-free milk, adding cinnamon, sometimes half a smash banana, and topping with just a couple of crushed almonds.
I've been waking up with a nice flat belly! Little to no bloating throughout the day. I'm still drinking coffee and sometimes that'll bloat me a bit but not much.
THEN.... came the dreaded poisonous sweet potato day. I'm not still sure what happened, but I cooked a sweet potato I'd harvested from my garden. There was a dark green part to the skin and I ignored it. I boiled it, at just a couple of small pieces and started having terrible nausea and stomach pain 15 minutes later. The rest of the night I was violently puking!!! Every hour to 2 hours. It was TERRIBLE. I looked it up and I think it was that the green part was producing a toxin called solanine. I've never ever just thrown up like that without getting some sort of food poisoning, so I know this was not some sort of IBS / FODMAP thing.
But either way, that really threw a wrench in things because for the next 2 days my stomach and GI system were extremely sensitive to everything. I didn't want to eat my usual foods, and then when I did have an appetite the main thing I could stomach was corn flakes. I read that corn flakes are ok on low FODMAP status but I think I overdid it with them once I found I could eat them. So I had a couple of days with bloating and stomach pain.
Now that its been enough time I am kicking the corn flakes out too. I'll reintroduce those later, even if they are low FODMAP in small quantities. I was doing really well just having unprocessed natural foods so I'd rather go back to that and then test the rest.
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