Apology to My Gut

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Dear Gut,

I owe you an apology.

I am sorry that I pumped foods into you for 44 years that made you congested, bloated and very unhappy.

I am sorry that I was a sugar addict and might have permanently endangered your structure.

I am sorry that I like alcohol and you have to deal with that as well.

I am sorry that I am a carb Queen and that I never met a potato that I didn't love.

I am sorry for all those times I sat on the bed watching a TV show and eating Cheetos.

I am sorry that I never liked vegetables much.

I am sorry for all the pastries.

I am sorry for the chocolate, too. I really love chocolate.

I am sorry most of all that I ignored my "gut instinct" for too long.

I hope you will forgive me and that you are willing to give me a do-over.

If you are, I promise you that I will:

• eat whole, real foods

• eat no food that has more than 5 ingredients in it

• never knowingly eat gluten, corn or dairy casein again

• give you daily probiotics and Omega Oils

• boycott sugar, in all her forms

• avoid alcohol and caffeine

• spoil you with ginger and green teas

And my most important promise, I will listen to my gut.

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Sick Again!

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One of the most difficult things on my journey to health is having a set back. It happens all too often and all too easily. It is beyond frustrating to stick to a very strict gluten, corn and casein-free diet and still wind up sicker than a dog. It can drive you down right mad.

I am been retracing my food intake over the past 3 days to figure out just why it is that I became so very ill over the weekend . . . . my husband did too. We eat mostly at home and had eaten many of the same things and since we were both ill (digestively speaking), it was a little easier to track down.

At first I suspected it might be the deli turkey we got from Sprouts Farmer's Market. I called Sprouts to inquire and they confirmed that it was definitely gluten free. Then I looked at the dried banana chips we both love from Sprouts and noticed the ingredients included "coconut oil OR vegetable oil." Coconut oil is fine, corn oil would be NOT okay. I called Sprouts back but they had no idea what oil was used. I will call the corporate offices today to inquire and the banana chips were tossed into the trash.

The only other two possibilities were the herbal cleanse I had started on Thursday. However, I felt fine on that and my husband wasn't doing the cleanse and he felt sick as well, so that let the cleanse off the hook, at least a little bit.

Here is what I think might be the culprit: garlic. We enjoyed a wonderful Mahi Mahi fish dinner made at home on Friday that called for 4 cloves of garlic. That's a lot of garlic! We do eat a fair amount of garlic but perhaps since our guts are in the process of healing from food allergies, it proved to be too much. Or perhaps we both have a leaky gut and we are now both allergic to garlic. I really have no idea but in two days time we were both back to feeling great.

For the time being, no garlic for us. And I have decided to stop the detox for now. I have been reading up on detoxes and I am going with the theory that my gut is just not ready to handle that, yet. And it seems like people either think they work wonderfully or they are a complete hoax.

Meanwhile, my energy level is outstanding this morning and I am happy to feel "normal" again. I haven't lost anymore weight but I haven't gained any either. I am still at 178, which is a loss of 10 pounds since last Wednesday!

Can the Weight Loss Continue?

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As you may have read here yesterday, I lost 8 pounds in ONE DAY. I did it (I think) by using commando eating tactics to nearly guarantee I was not ingesting any gluten, dairy (casein) or corn. I am going with the theory that one of my not fun reactions to ingesting any of those items makes me bloat up and feel fatigued and some might even say grouchy. I am trying to get to an ungrouchy and thin state of being, or least get to a non-bloated state of being.

I have to say that my energy is OUTSTANDING today! I feel healthy! The scary thing is that who knows how long that feeling will last since it seems that I have a pattern of gaining energy and then losing it all too quickly. I also wonder how long I can continue to be this disciplined with such a strict diet. I will never knowingly consume the foods that I know I have an allergy to but I do have some yummy gluten free treats in the pantry that are calling my name!

I did not lose another pound overnight, but I don't see the need to get greedy. :-) I also didn't gain any weight. I did add in a few brown rice crackers and a brown rice protein bar last night. I am now starting to wonder if anything like rice or potatoes will cause me to swell up?

Don't worry, I won't bore you with telling you what I eat every day but so many of you have asked and I am on a quest to figure out once and for all what is making me feel so bloated and if it helps you on your path to healthyville, I am happy to share this struggle.



Here is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast

• big Red Delicious apple

• almonds

Snack

• gluten-free deli turkey

• black olives

• almonds

Lunch

• Chicken Stir fry with onions, green peppers, water chestnuts, and pineapple. YUM!

Snack

• applesauce

• gluten free deli turkey

• almonds

Dinner

• big Red Delicious Apple

• almond butter and brown rice crackers

Snack

• Pure organic Wild Blueberry bar

• ginger tea

8-Pound Weight Loss in ONE DAY

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I went to my knowledgeable Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (DO) this week to complain yet again about my weight gain issues. I wanted her to rule out possibilities such as any kind of ovarian tumor or parasites or please just give me any reason why I am STILL packing on the pounds after giving up sugar, corn and anything with gluten or caseins in it. She felt I didn't have tumors or parasites based on an exam and previous blood work.

The doctor felt that I am having an issue with my thyroid meds. I am currently taking Nature-throid and it is true that my hair had returned to a brittle state, which is indicative of not getting enough thyroid, even though my blood work shows I am getting too much thyroid. So I am switching back to Armour Thyroid, though the compounded version to avoid any fillers such as lactose. Plus I did not do well on the "new" version of Armour last summer, which is why I switched to Nature-throid in the first place. (See Are You Switching to Nature-throid? Here's 10 Good Things to Know.)

I told my DO that I keep reading on-line that some folks do gain weight when they remove all the toxins from their diet. There are different theories as to why but one is the idea that I am only now absorbing nutrients properly and that adds up in weight. That theory confuses me a bit since all my previous bloodwork shows I had very normal vitamin and nutrient levels, though I have always been anemic. Another theory is that when you go off gluten, you tend to stock up on gluten-free breads and other high calorie, gluten-free foods. I did do that; it is hard not to at first because you feel sorry for yourself and you load up on what you can safely eat.

My DO suggested I try a two-week cleanse. I agreed to do that and started yesterday. The brand name is Life Choice RX. She also said I should try the HCG diet, the one where you exist on 500 calories a day and you give yourself a shot daily that tricks your brain into thinking you are pregnant. That sounded like mutant science to me so I declined that option.

When I went to the doctor on Wednesday, I weighed 188 pounds. I am tall so while I don't look obese, I technically am obese at the weight. Today I weighed myself and I weigh 180. There could be a few pounds difference in the scales but we have a very good scale at home. How in the hell do you lose 8 pounds overnight?

Here is how I think I did it: I kept to a very minimal diet yesterday doing my dead level best to avoid anything that I might have an allergy to. I felt that most of my added weight was water weight that felt very bloaty, which to me means that I was still ingesting something my body cannot process. I did also start the cleanse yesterday and the doctor says some patients lose up to 10 pounds on it; that is over two week however, not in the first day. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast

• Orange and banana

Snack

• almonds

• applesauce

Lunch

• gluten free deli turkey

• almonds

Snack

• half an orange bell pepper

• black olives

Dinner

• large steak

• green beans

• applesauce

• I also did not have my nightly favorite treat -- wine.

I seriously doubt that eating what I did could cause me to drop 8 pounds in a day. I do feel that by NOT ingesting any of the food toxins, I lost a lot of that bloat. I intend to eat this way until I feel the bloat is under control.

Stay tuned . . . and here's hoping that another 8 pounds falls off by tomorrow!

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I love, love, LOVE Sprouts

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I do love Sprouts!! Not bean sprouts, silly, but the grocery store chain called Sprouts Farmers Market. This place REALLY understands food allergies of all sorts, not just gluten issues. I found yogurt that I can eat at Sprouts! YOGURT!!!! It is a soy yogurt and it is YUMO!

There are so few things to get really excited about when you have major food allergies and you seemingly can't eat like the rest of America does, so I am jumping for joy now that I found Sprouts! A big shout out to my Texas friend Linda (who is actually a Yankee but that's okay, we Texans like Yankees these days, especially smart, funny and good food lovin' Yankees like Linda!) who not only told me about Sprouts, she brought over their very informative gluten-free brochure. Thank you, Linda.

I found so many corn-free, casein-free and gluten-free things that my husband and I can eat that I dropped $450 at Sprouts today. I plan on spending that or more every week because I want to stay healthy and Sprouts is the place that will enable me to stay healthy.

Even though I have praised Whole Foods in the past and even though it began right here in Austin, Texas, it is behind the times when it comes to providing enough choice with reasonable prices for the multitudes with food allergies. I even find Whole Foods to be pretentious.

Yes, that's right, I called a grocery store pretentious. I actually find the produce at plain ole' HEB tastes better than the produce at Whole Foods. They also have too many gimmicky things that aren't healthy for anyone there. The aisles were not made for shopping carts at Whole Foods, as though you are expected to go in and drop a small fortune but please only shop with a dainty basket. Well it takes me an hour to get to Whole Foods and I am coming out with more than just a basket's worth when I visit.

No matter, Sprouts has nice large aisles and there is nothing pretentious about that store. Love, love, love Sprouts!!!