Update: I’ve decided to use Wordpress for my long posts, and to use Tumblr for my shorter posts.
If you’ve been following so far, you know that I’ve finished the first three weeks of the hypoallergenic diet. I’ve been in the reintroduction phase for the past two weeks. I thought this was going to be the easier part. It isn’t. In the first phase, I was following a set of guidelines, aside from knowing that I have groups to introduce, there’s no set guidelines on what a reaction is, so I just have to pay extra attention to any changes in my body or symptoms I develop. I’m afraid that I’ll have to say goodbye forever to a food group I love (especially dairy, wheat, egg, sweeteners). So it’s been a bit of an emotional journey too.
There are 16 groups to introduce and I have to eat the reintroduced group twice a day for three days straight and monitor my symptoms. If I react, I’m supposed to exclude the food group until I’ve reintroduced all other food groups and then reintroduce again. 16X3 = 48. That’s at least 48 days of reintroduction and more if I have a reaction and have to reintroduce again. Before introducing anything I spend time thinking about what to reintroduce first (I get to choose both the group and the order).
During my last weekend of the restricted diet, I really missed cupcakes (funny thing is, I rarely have them) but I had this immense craving for sweets and cupcakes came to mind. When I looked up vegan cupcakes, they required sweeteners and I couldn’t have sweeteners yet, so my cupcake would have to wait. I missed pizza too, so I decided I’d reintroduce based on ingredients in pizza and in cakes.
Veggies: Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Peppers, Potatoes
Tomato sauce. Soups. Stews. Before even introducing this group I missed cooking with tomatoes and mushrooms. These are always part of my shopping list. My first meal was brown rice rotini pasta with a tomato sauce including: zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and onions. It was my first time using brown rice pasta and it was a little tricky getting it cooked just right - first it was al dente, then it was a bit overcooked. If at first you don’t succeed, try again right? :)
Dairy
Yogurt - one of my favourite snacks, I can’t believe I went as long as I did without this one. I also missed cheese - especially cheese and crackers or cheese on toast. However, since I didn’t introduce any gluten breads (and I couldn’t buy gluten-free breads - it was either the price or an ingredient).
I went a little crazy here, I had an individual cup of balkan yogurt and three slices of cheddar from a 250g block for my morning and afternoon snack for two days. I felt stomach pains at the end of each of the two days so I decided I’d stop with dairy. I’m still hoping this is a one time thing and when I reintroduce again, I’ll be fine. I sound like I’m in denial right? I’m leaning towards wishful thinking (dairy is in most desserts and breads that I like). Next time around, I’m going to introduce organic milk instead of yogurt. Although I don’t like drinking milk, I’ll give it a go.
Wheat
Toast. Pizza. Pita. I bought a half loaf of country grain (sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, millet, barley flakes, oat flakes, rye flakes and whole wheat goodness) from Cobs. I was so hungry after grocery shopping I couldn’t resist helping my self to a slice during my commute home. It was so fresh, so soft, moist. Yum. When I got home, I spread almond butter on a slice and I cherished every bite. That night, I felt pain in my stomach on the first night but talked to my doctor who suggested I continue for another two days and I felt fine afterwards. Few days later however, I bought two whole wheat sandwich buns and I’m embarassed to admit but I ate them both within the span of a few hours - and my head felt funny - like how it feels when I have caffeine. Yeah, I’ll never do that again.
Posted on 02/15/2010
My Diet: In the past three weeks, I have been preparing all my own meals (except one - I went to Fresh last weekend). I would normally eat out about 1-2 meals during the week but it didn’t seem worth it for me to do that on this diet. The first time I went shopping was one day before the diet began. I spent about two hours grocery shopping for pantry staples: brown basmati rice, vegetable broth, brown rice porridge, no-sugar juices, almond milk and spices.
I learned the importance of reading ingredient labels thoroughly and to not be afraid of improvising in the kitchen. I made two mistakes of picking up items including ingredients I can’t consume during the diet. I accidentally picked up two “original” flavoured almond milks which contained carageenan (an ingredient that I was supposed to avoid) along with the “unsweetened” almond milk. I also picked up vegetable broth (which included organic tomatoes). I didn’t pick up on this mistake until I was making Borscht. I was upset, since I had purchased four vegetable broths, thinking I could make soups quickly on nights when I’m strapped for time or when I don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. So what did I do? I got upset at first, Crap! I can’t use this!! But I knew I couldn’t waste time being angry, since I would be hungry in the next hour so I had to make this meal now with whatever I had on hand. I decided to use the ingredients on the vegetable broth carton as my broth guideline and made my own broth out of ingredients I had on hand: filtered water, sea salt, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, carrot, celery, onion, garlic and it turned out wonderful.
Had it not been for this experience, I don’t think I would’ve ever gone out of my way to “make my own vegetable broth” because it’s so readily available. This diet has given me no choice but to rely on myself rather than premade, frozen and canned foods. It’s pretty hard to find recipes that are made specifically for the hypoallergenic diet. Although there are other elimination diets out there, I’ve had to make modifications (something I never had to do) or improvise (something I wasn’t as comfortable doing before). These days, I find I’m improvising more often and am having tasty results.
The first time my ND talked to me about the diet, I was excited. Although I could tell from the way she was telling me, not everyone feels the same way. My excitement started to dip a little when I read the diet guidelines: no tomatoes? no mushrooms? how will I ever cook without these ingredients?
At the same time, this diet has forced me to change my eating regimen (which I was getting sick of) but I didn’t really know where to begin. With the diet, I had to give up a lot of my go to foods and focus my attention on legumes, leafy greens, vegetables, and alternative snacks (brown rice crackers, brown rice cakes).
Before this, I only ever attempted to make brown rice last year - brown rice and lentils actually (on the stove). It was a complete disaster so I never tried it again. I’ve had brown rice almost every day during this diet and it’s really starting to grow on me (I used the rice cooker).
Doesn’t really matter how the end result will be, I’ve learned a lot about myself and about my cravings for sweets (baked goods, chocolate) and salty snacks (chips, cheese) and my favourite fast foods (pizza and french fries). I tend to crave these things on the weekend or when I’m feeling stressed or upset. Which I now know happens quite frequently, although, I’ve had a lot of self control over these past three weeks. I found the first week the hardest since I was still craving and missing foods I used to eat. In those moments, I think to myself, I can’t have that right now or I’ll ruin this diet and 21 day challenge. There’s nothing worse then feeling disappointed in yourself that you let yourself down.
This past weekend, I’ve been thinking about the order of foods, I’d like to reintroduce. Tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, and peppers are at the top of my list. I’ve stayed away from all meat/seafood (including chicken, turkey, wild game). So this will be interesting! I think this is the longest I’ve ever purposefully stayed away from animal and animal products.
Fitness: I’ve learned that it’s better for me to exercise earlier in the evening (right after work) rather than right before bed. I am mentally tired after work but not physically. I’ve focused on doing sit-ups daily since it’s the part of Eva’s class that I have the most difficulty. I am already feeling the results when I go to class, I feel stronger than I did before, so exercising on my own is paying off.
Eva suggested a mantra to use whenever we need to be reminded of why we’re doing this: Mine is “I need this, I want this, I’m doing this for a healthier, stronger new me, and I’m worth it.” I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this mantra, it has helped me during my most difficult times - Especially in the first week, it was very tempting to quit when I was exercising alone. Eventually, I got used to it and counting out the reps helped as well. My evening ritual included exercising and journaling about it.
I am really proud to be able to say I’m done the 3 week fitness/diet challenge. Now, I’m onto phase two of the hypoallergenic diet - phasing in foods I was avoiding. I’ve lost 5lbs and 2.2inches. As challenging as this experience has been, I’m really glad that I got through it and am able to share it with others.
Happy new year! I spent the last two weekends of 2009 enjoying savoury breads, baked goodies, and hot chocolate - that was only three weeks ago but it feels like such a distant memory.
I’m really excited to share that I have started on two challenges which I’m hoping will lead to new habits, and a stronger, healthier me.
The first challenge that I’m taking part in is the hypoallergenic diet. For many years, I’ve experienced digestive symptoms in varying degrees from time to time. My visits to various doctors left me dissatisfied as their suggestions only provided temporary relief from my symptoms. I started seeing a Naturopath Doctor (ND) in hopes of uncovering what might be the reason behind my seemingly unexplainable agony. My ND has suggested I go on a Hypoallergenic Diet and I’ve been on it since January 11, 2010.
The second challenge I’m taking part in is through the fitness classes I’m taking with Eva Redpath. I’ve been attending fitness classes with Eva Redpath for one and a half years now. Besides taking classes with Eva, I don’t do any other exercising other than running during spring and summer. I’ve seen results from her classes, but I know I’m capable of doing more, I just haven’t made the time or commitment.
The two challenges are the Hypoallergenic Diet, and the Real Women’s Lifestyle Challenge.
The hypoallergenic diet consists of 2 phases: The first phase gives your digestive system a break from foods that may be aggravating it, the second phase reintroduces the foods excluded in the first phase.
Phase 1: The elimination phase spans 21 days and eliminates all foods that are common food allergies (foods that may be triggering symptoms or may aggravate the digestive system).
The diet does not allow:
All foods are either raw, steamed, baked, or steam fried. The diet includes all types of spices and fresh organic produce.
As for fluids, filtered water, green teas, herbal teas, rice and nut milks (without carrageenan and sugar-free juices are allowed.
Phase 2: Reintroducing foods excluded in phase 1 - monitoring reactions and excluding foods I react to until all foods are introduced. After all foods have been introduced, I then reintroduce foods I previously reacted to. If I react again, my consumption of these foods will either be excluded or limited depending on the severity of the reaction.
Real Women’s Lifestyle Challenge
My fitness instructor, Eva Redpath, has challenged her students to take part in a 21 day fitness and nutrition program. Eva picked 21 days for her challenge since it takes 21 days to form a new habit. The challenge includes:
Why am I doing them at the SAME time?
Either of these challenges would be hard enough on their own, but I’ve decided to do them both at the same time because the Hypoallergenic Diet meets the same diet requirements (more restrictive though) as the Real Women’s Lifestyle Challenge, so I figured I might as well be living a healthy style and exercising while I’m at it. It was interesting timing too as my ND suggested the hypoallergenic diet one day prior to Eva announcing the challenge.
Eva’s challenge has reminded me that at the end of the day, it’s all about ME, and it’s all for ME, and I’m worth it.
At the end of the Real Women’s Lifestyle Challenge, I’ll hopefully have developed a new habit of exercising and eating right that I’ll continue with.
What challenges have you set for yourself in the new year?
