So it’s been 10 months since I embarked on my healing journey with food. I’ve come far, but I still have a far way to go. I won’t lie, I do get discouraged when others criticize me and comment on how I should feel better since it’s almost been a year that I’ve been on this elimination diet. But, Rome wasn’t built in a day folks! And my autoimmune disease wasn’t built in a day either. I officially was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis when I was in the hospital Dec 2012, but I’m willing to bet everything I have that it started rearing it’s ugly head when I was in 5th grade. Now, I do think it went into remission while I was in college, but for years I did nothing to address it. So realistically, I can’t expect that after 10 months I’d be 100% better and have kicked my #psa back into remission. But, I’m on a great path to getting there!
One major way to gauge your rheumatic disease is through blood work. Looking through my blood work results from the last 2 years it really tells a story. In the beginning my inflammatory markers were through the roof! They. Were. Bad. My last two rheumatology blood tests show a completely different picture of health. There’s no doubt that eliminating foods that cause inflammatory reactions in my body have helped. One thing that is really confusing to me are my test results from my most recent blood test. My results look soooooo good. On paper I look good, but in real life I don’t feel so well. The last two months my health has been so up and down . . . and that’s not even taking my digestive issues into account. My fatigue has been pretty bad lately. I can’t even blame it on the humidity of summer because it’s been so mild and perfect.
Over the last year I’ve learned more about health that I learned in my previous 28 years of living. I’m actually kind of obsessed with learning and obtaining health knowledge now. I’ve never felt like that about anything in my whole life. Every week I have a new module for school to complete and I just absolutely love learning about new dietary theories and ways to live a healthier life.
I started my elimination diet by following Julie Daniluk’s Meals That Heal Inflammation book. Through my journey I’ve found a few other resources that have been highly beneficial as well. In the spring, Julie released her Slimming Meals That Heal Book and as a gift I received Gwyneth Paltrow’s It’s All Good. I’ve started a great collection of recipes on pinterest and I’ve found tons of wonderful websites as well. The paleo diet is huge right now, especially because of the boom in cross fit, and can easily be modified to fit into the elimination diet structure.
Check out my lifestyle changes page for some great resources.
Here is the reintroduction schedule that I’ve been following. Even thought it’s been 10 months, there are a few reasons I haven’t completed it yet.
1. Since February I’ve been having a lot of GI problems. Some weeks I’m perfectly fine, while others I live on rice cakes and bland, gluten free, organic cereal.
2. I’ve been reading so many resources on how gluten can cause gaps in the cells of your intestinal lining. When you have a health GI track and no immune problems, these gaps can be repaired quite easily. But I not only have autoimmune problems, but I also have GI problems, so the longer I keep these irritants out of my system, the better.
[table caption=”Elimination Diet Reintroduction Schedule” width=”800″ colwidth=”300|300|300″ colalign=”left|left|center|”]
Food,Result,Comments
Banana Ripe,Headache,Retested a few months later & had the same reaction
Banana Cooked,Headache,Retested a few months later & had the same reaction
Tangerine/Orange/Grapefruit,No problems
Tomatoes Cooked,No problems
Tomatoes Raw,No problems
Red Peppers,No problems
Wine,No problems,Taking alcohol out & adding it back in makes you an extreme light weight
Sheep’s Cheese,Gas & bloating,Still trying to figure out if GI problems are related – I plan on retesting at a later date.
Goat’s Cheese,Gas & bloating. Also had extreme heartburn, Still trying to figure out if GI problems are related – I plan on retesting at a later date.
Ghee,No problems
Shrimp,No problems
Corn – Non-GMO,No problems,Now that I’m educated I will always look for non-gmo corn
Gluten Free Oats,No problems
Potatoes,No problems
Coffee,Stomach uneasy & cleared out my GI track,Julie Daniluk mentioned that I should try organic coffee. After trying organic it did seem to sit more easily with my stomach
[/table]
Foods I still need to test are:
Gluten Grains- Oats
Gluten Grains- Barley
Gluten Grains- Rye
Gluten Grains- Spelt,
Gluten Grains- Kamut
Gluten Grains- Wheat
Pork
Red Meats
Sheep’s Milk
Goat’s Milk
I believe our journeys are ever changing. We’re always evolving, we’re always learning something new, we’re always coming in contact with different environmental factors. Will we ever find the PERFECT solution? I’m not sure I can say that we will, but I know that if we want it bad enough we can definitely work towards finding a solution that works for us. Everyday I’m experimenting with changes – adding in, crowding out, trying new activities. I believe we need to look at our health journey as just what it is . . . a journey. It’s not something that we can figure out in a day. Some take months, some take years. I have a feeling my journey is going to take a long time, but you know what? I’m committed. And that right there is the key to your journey. If you commit to making yourself and your health a priority – you can’t loose.
Take my sister, for example.She started her journey in January. She was overweight, had allergies and suffered from stomach problems that forced her to take tums everyday. As of today, she’s lost a significant amount of weight, hasn’t had any allergic reactions and hasn’t picked up a tums bottle in months. Her healing journey took a much shorter time than mine has.
For me, It’s been almost a year and a lot has changed. Everything, I believe, has changed for the better – whether I knew it at the time or not. Don’t get discouraged if you’re not receiving the results you want right way. Don’t get discouraged if your friends make fun of you for being on a ‘kooky diet’ or think you’re making up a gluten allergy just to loose weight. Each of us has our own healing journey that we must take on our own.
If you’re not getting the support you need – contact me. Honestly, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’ll be your support.
Every week that passes I know that I’m slowly healing my gut with food. Some weeks I may make better choices than others, but you know what… we’re all human. We all live with temptations all around us. None of us are perfect and our diets will never be perfect.
Embrace the imperfectly perfect person you are!
We’re all in this together!!!!
Wishing You A Pain Free Day!
Want help on completing your own elimination diet? Check out my self paced, online eCourse!
Or maybe you’d love to work one on one with me?
If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, contact me to see about my next group coaching session! Contact me today!!!