Elimination diet take 2

Last year, my doctor recommended an elimination and challenge diet. The idea is to elimination a bunch of stuff for 3-4 weeks, and see if you feel better. If you do, then you “challenge” one item at a time to see if your symptoms come back. This is mostly for digestive issues.

The first time around, I figured, let’s do the whole list, that way I don’t have to do it again if I do only the top 5.

This is the list:

  • gluten
  • corn or corn products
  • eggs
  • soy
  • dairy
  • alcohol
  • caffeine
  • refined fats and oils
  • sugar, HFCS, artificial sweeteners
  • nightshades
    • tomatoes
    • potatoes
    • peppers
    • eggplant
    • cayenne
    • paprika

Let me tell you, that was a hard 3 weeks. But I felt a lot better! Then, as I added things back, well, once you add certain things, that opens up a lot of options for eating out. And I went from eating a very healthy diet of veggies and lentils, rice, beans, to eating nachos, pizza, etc.

The conclusion? I felt yucky again, but didn’t know for sure what it was, except maybe the overall quality of what I was eating post elimination. I felt sure it was gluten or dairy, and thought about a repeat for just those two.

However, my doctor feels strongly that there’s often more than one cause, and that at a minimum, the top 5 should be eliminated and challenged.

So, I was going to do it earlier this year, but got sidetracked, then it was vacation time. Not wanting to be on a restrictive diet during my vacation, I thought I’d do it when I got back. Then came the quarantine, and I thought “no, no no, I don’t want to do that NOW.”

I’ve been putting it off for too long. So starting this week (yesterday actually), no gluten, corn, eggs (which I already don’t eat), soy, or dairy. I’m stocked up on lots of fresh veggies, lentils, beans, quinoa, corn AND gluten free taco shells….

The problem? It’s 100 degrees. No way am I going to be roasting veggies or cooking stir fry. I’ve been living on carrots and smoothies. The smoothies are great, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sooooo craving some chips or cheese and crackers. Thankfully, I ate most of the off limits foods before starting so there wouldn’t be temptations in the house.

2 days down, 19 to go. Wish me luck!

Tonight’s dinner – mango banana protein smoothie bowl topped with coconut

gluten free 2 week challenge

I decided to challenge myself to eat gluten free for 2 weeks. I have found lately that I often feel icky, bloated, etc around dinner time or after eating. I thought I would see if this improved or not if I eliminated gluten for awhile.

I have to say, I did pretty good! The first mishap was that I failed to think about dinner at the Maroon 5 concert. Food was included but it was barely vegetarian, let alone gluten free or vegan. I had bread and cheese for dinner on day 4. I did well until a week later, when I absentmindedly ate one of those little mini pretzels. The last mishap was day 13 at a company offsite. They had a vegetarian meal for me — a gluten filled veggie burger, bun, pasta salad, garlic bread, and cake. I skipped the cake, but I must confess that I had 5 pieces of garlic bread (they were small pieces!!!)

Officially, yesterday was my last day. On two of the days I had gluten, I felt really crappy in the afternoon/early evening of the next day. Oddly, the day I had the most gluten, I felt fine the next day. What I realized is the first two days where I had gluten, I also had a LOT of cheese. I eat vegan about 75% of the time (or at least, I try to) so I wonder if it was the cheese.

Guess I know what the next dietary challenge will be!