The Best Thing?

The very best thing about following this well-defined food plan has come to light. Finally, finally, finally travel without the bloat.

It's so easy to put weight back on after a diet. Establishing a way of life and never straying is amazing. I've had people suggest that Christmas or my birthday would be a good time to stray... the answer is no! If I change what I do then the results will change.

I thought it was great going on vacation without gaining any weight. It's even better going on a road trip for over a week and not gaining an ounce! Not only that but I drove 3800 miles and went into countless greasy spoons without any G.I. symptoms! Does it get any better than that?

Cracker Barrel - On the Road Favorite

The national chain, Cracker Barrel, is a great place for me on the road. Not only can the be found all along the interstates, but I can get vegetables. More importantly I know what I can eat without the horror of getting symptoms on the road. For sides I tend to get the turnip greens and green beans. I go for a double order of green beans as they are just so darn good!

There are a large variety of meats to choose from including trout or steak and sometimes turkey (on Thursdays I think). Just stay away from gravies and other carbs such as biscuits and cornbread or starchy sides. They really do give us a delicious way to feel like we've had a real meal while traveling (or when you just don't want to cook). It's about twice as much as a fast food stop... but often provides a much needed respite.

Read Up!

My new favorite book is Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter. It is rather eye opening in terms of brain health in relation to the foods we eat. I find the recommendations in this book to be compatible with The Body Ecology Diet (BED). Dr. Perlmutter recommends eliminating grains and concentrated sugars.  In terms of differences it involves limiting carbohydrates more than BED and does not mention probiotic foods. I read the Kindle version of this book on a Kindle app on my smart phone - it was a good way to read this book

I recently watched a PBS special featuring Dr. William Davis, the author of Wheat Belly. In his talk he discussed the reasons that modern day wheat is the culprit in so many modern disorders. It was very interesting. Dr. Davis recommends eliminating grains and concentrated sugars and does recommend taking probiotic supplements. Again I believe BED is compatible with Dr. Davis's recommendations.

The Paleo Diet is another diet that is essentially compatible with BED, Dr. Perlmutter and Dr. Davis. In Paleo grains, sugars and other processed foods are avoided. Because each of these approaches to food come at the problem from a slightly different perspective the recommendations are also slightly different. On balance I find the essence of each to be in line with each other.

To purchase on Amazon, see links below:

On the Road Again

I am on day four of a road trip. The two biggest challenges I face are internet access and eating on the road. If you find yourself in this situation may I suggest vigilance.  I brought sprouted nuts and seeds to help get me going in the mornings along with a few berries.

I experimented with both kefir grains and a kefir starter culture. This meant two jars of milk andone for each method. I am sad to say the grains are not performing well (though this may be because they were frozen before the trip and need to be revived). Good news ... the culture starter is stellar. I started with one pack in a quart of milk in a mason jar and am using a bit of the kefir each day to start a new batch. I am working hard to keep them warm enough while "brewing" as December is cold almost everywhere. A cooler is a must!

For fast food I generally get a plain side salad (hold the croutons, cheese and dressing) and some kind of animal protein -- like a burger or chicken sandwich (hold the bun, cheese, ketchup and onions). Its fast cheap and decent. Try not to have expectations about the perfect meal. Enjoy the journey and fuel yourself the best you are able. Oh, and don't forget the water... Staying hydrated is half the battle.

Crazy Hungry

I used to get sort of crazy hungry. That doesn't happen anymore. It was like the food was controlling me. Stress or fatigue always meant reaching for sugary foods and refined carbohydrates. Then whatever I purchased I would compulsively eat until it was gone and I felt worse and worse. Interestingly the worse I felt the more I wanted to eat that junk.

Now I don't get psycho with hunger anymore. If I wait too long to eat I still get attracted to carbs. I have a few strategies that keep me on track
1) I absolutely do not eat sugar or grains, so if I wait too long to eat and get overly hungry I won't go
    really crazy with my choices.
2) I plan and bring snacks with me, snacks with fat that fill me up
3) I have a game plan for fast food places, things I can eat without getting off track. If I run out of
    snacks, I am hungry and far from home I have a plan.
4) I eat things that taste sweet, but are not sugar or artificially sweet. Stevia is my friend. Just
    bringing Sobe with me can make all the difference.

Be good to yourself and have a game plan!

Suspect Foods

When you cannot keep it simple or be your own chef, there are a number of things to watch for on the label... or just plain avoid in a restaurant.  
Note-- I do note touch most of the things on this list, but if you are still indulging be afraid, very afraid...

Suspect Foods  
ale, baking powder, barbeque sauce, beer, breads, broth, casseroles, cereals, chocolates, chocolate bars, coffees (flavored), cookies, crackers, condiments, deli meats, drinks (flavored), gravies, grilled fish, grilled meats, hamburger patties (unless stated 100% beef), hot dogs, ketchup, lager, licorice, meatballs, potato chips and french fries, ice cream, imitation bacon bits, imitation seafood, marinades, meats, medications (check with your pharmacist-- even for topical medications), pastas, processed meats, processed foods, sauces, sausages, seasoning blends (herbs, spicing, and other agents), salad dressings, sauces, sausages, seasonings, seasoning packets (generally have thickening agents with hidden grains), spice mixes, stews, stir fries, soups, soup bases, soy products, soy sauce, syrups, taco seasoning, teas (flavored), Worcestershire Sauce.

Blog Restructure

Change is sometimes painful, but needed for growth. This blog has been re-structured a bit to reflect how I am doing things now. The page links are now moved to the right and will no longer be found at the top.

All of the Low FODMAPs resources are now under one page called Low FODMAPs. I promise it's all still there. This Low
FODMAPs page has all the resources that were previously on separate pages, including:

• restaurants
• books
• recipes
• websites
• stores

I am beginning similar resources for the Body Ecology /Paleo /Ketogenic page. This way you can click into the page that reflects where you are at in your journey.

Additionally there is a new page that for now has my before and after pictures, with the plan to add others as they succeed through my new 30, 60 and 90 day challenges (coming soon).

All the Best -- Lisa

Straight Up Sugar

Sugars are hiding everywhere... lurking in all those crazy processed foods that we love so much. (Beware... be very ware ;)
 

Sugars:
agave, agave nectar, barley malt,blackstrap molasses, blue agave,brown rice syrup, cane sugar, cane syrup, corn syrup, dastatic malt, dextrose (sweetener made from plant starch generally corn, rice, tapioca or wheat), diastase, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit concentrate, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate (apple, pear, grape), dextrose, galactose, glucose, glucose syrup, golden syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), lactose, malt, maltodextrin (sweetener, filler and binder from rice, corn, tapioca or potato starch), maltose, molasses, panocha, rice syrup, simple syrup, sorghum syrup, sucrose (half glucose and half fructose), syrup, treacle.

Sneaky Sneaky Grains

Watch out!! Hidden grains are everywhere, especially in processed foods. Single source foods are of course the most safe (you know, a zucchini, spinach, an egg). Here are ingredients that are of concern.

Grains, Grain Ingredients or Likely Grain Ingredients:
artificial colors, artificial flavors, baking powder, barley -flakes/flour/pearl, binders, blue cheese, bread, breading, bread stuffing, brewer's yeast, brown rice, bulgur, bulgar wheat, cereal fillers/protein/starch, cheese -grated (if anti-caking agent used), citric acid, coatings, colorings, colors, corn, corn starch, dextrins, dinkel, durum (it is wheat), dispersing agents, emulsifiers, excipients (in prescription medications), farro/faro (type of wheat AKA spelt or dinkel), flavorings, flours (barley, corn, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, tapioca, wheat), food starch, graham flour, grated cheese ((if anti-caking agent used), grain alcohol (ale, beer, bourbon, grain vodka rye, scotch), hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed wheat protein, kamut (type of wheat), malt, malt extract, malt flavoring (barley malt, malt vinegar), malt syrup, malt vinegar, malted milk, matzo, matzo meal, modified food starch (from wheat), modified wheat starch, maltodextrin, natural flavors, rice, thickening agents (dextrin, corn starch, modified food starch, etc.), mono-glycerices, di-glycerides (made using a wheat starch carrier), natural flavorings, oatmeal, oat bran, oat flour, oats, oils (wheat germ oil and others with gluten additives), preservatives, rye bread, rye flour, seitan (vegetarian protein made from wheat gluten), semolina, spelt (type of wheat AKA dinkel, faro, farro), semolina, spelt (type of wheat AKA dinkel, faro, farro), sorghum, soy sauce, spices (if anti-caking agent used), starch (modified food starch, edible starch), textured vegetable protein (TVP), triticale, vegetable gum, vegetable protein or starch, vinegars (white, or malt), vital wheat gluten, vitamin e oil, wheat bran, wheat flour, wheat germ, wheat starch.

I have probably missed a few things, be vigilant!

6 flights of stairs

Who me? I walked six flights of stairs at work yesterday-- what?! My limit before all of this was two to three flights... which was not pleasant. So unpleasant... I basically decided never to do it again.

However, yesterday I needed a movement break from my desk job and ran down the six flights of stairs from my office to grab a Sobe at the gift store. Then I thought, "Hey, maybe I'll try a flight or two up and take the elevator the rest of the way." I figured I would get out of the stairwell when I could no longer breathe.

It wasn't until I finished the fourth flight that I even thought about it. I stopped briefly, recovered quickly and decided to keep going. Then I popped up the next two flights and got off on six hardly winded.

Just before thanksgiving I picked up a 28 pound turkey for a friend and did get winded before I got to my car after taking the elevator down. I thought about how I used to carry around 50 extra pounds all the time. No wonder I got winded on the stairs... apparently that was a lot of work!

These Tastebuds They are a Changin'

It's so challenging to get started with a new eating plan. Especially when we think it's going to be difficult or boring.

I've learned something though. If you change how you eat the things you like to eat change too... REALLY!  It doesn't happen in a week or two... but it happens.

When I talk about my diet people seem to think it's not something they would be capable of accomplishing. They say things like, "You're so good." or "I don't know how you do it." I have a big secret though.

I am not being good. I never suffer or sacrifice. My tastes have changed. I love what I eat now. Things I did not like initially, I look forward to now. Did I suffer initially? Yes!

At first I did not like what I was eating and did not feel well at all!  After two weeks I began to feel better. Slowly since my new foods became more and more appealing. I enjoy the food I eat now more than I ever enjoyed my food before changing my diet.

I spent endless amounts of time seeking out substitutes for wheat and came up with some good tasting things. However, nothing compares to how things are now. I have no desire to go back, none!

Ah Ah Ahhhh

Be careful about overdoing it when you eat a meal. There's no quicker way to set off IBS symptoms than to stuff yourself. Stick with small meals and give yourself permission to eat more later when you are hungry again.

I was reminded of this the other night when I just didn't want to stop eating. I was so hungry and it was just so very good. Shortly afterward the suffering began. Hours of gastrointestinal distress that could have been avoided by saving half for later. I told myself to stop in my head, but did I listen? Nooooooo.

I guess I need to be reminded of some lessons from time to time.

Winner Winner Dinner Dinner

At dinner my plate has a lot of non-starchy vegetables (Body Ecology recommends 80%). I generally like to make two different non-starchy vegetables for variety. Then I combine that with a little of one of the following (Body Ecology recommends 20%): starchy vegetables or grain-like seeds, or animal protein.

Examples:

• Broccoli, some green beans and a red potato.  
• Zucchini, yellow squash and a small piece of salmon or cod. 
• A quarter of an acorn squash with butter, cinnamon and stevia with spinach, red bell peppers and broccoli on the side
• Fajitas - made with all veggies or a meat with a mix of non-starchy veggies.
• Eggs with non-starchy veggies
• Curried non-starchy veggies with chicken or by themselves
  
  It's also really good to add cultured vegetables to each meal. You can find them at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section or make them at home. Just mix and match with the choices you like.... look at my post with all the choices available. Have Fun!

Peckish in the Afternoon?

I do tend to get just a bit peckish in the afternoon. I call this second lunch. I generally pack up something like a little bag of carrots, a couple of cultured pickles, a couple spears of red bell pepper. Sometimes I bring a few vegetables left over from dinner the night before.

Other ideas would be a couple boiled eggs or 1/2 an avocado with salt and pepper.

At other times I just save a little of my lunch and have that for second lunch.

Lunch Time?

 For lunch I typically have a big salad with lots of lettuce and a few starchy vegetable combined with a small portion of animal protein, like boiled eggs, a piece of fish (insert protein here).

 On some days I have vegetable soup made with a combination of starchy and non-starchy vegetables. I don't use the strong vegetables that I used to use for soup as I cannot tolerate them-- (onions, parsnips, etc.). I make soup from carrots, celery, a potato, then whatever non-starchy veggies I have on hand. For seasoning I use onion powder, a bay leaf, salt, pepper, and the secret ingredient a dash of Tobasco sauce or better Chipotle Tobasco. No, I am not one of those people who love Tobasco on everything... but in small doses it has a great way of giving soup just the right flavor, without going bananas with the salt.

Another option is cooked non-starchy vegetables with an animal protein. Pick the things you like.

I make this my biggest meal of the day.

Breakfast Ideas

I start the day with berries and water. If the berries are sour I sprinkle with stevia powder or use a miracle berry tablet.

When I started out I used to then wait about a half hour or so and then on a typical day have eggs cooked in butter and also spinach with a few pieces of red bell pepper cooked in olive oil and seasoned with a little garlic powder, onion powder and salt.

On work days I packed up the eggs over the spinach in a thermal container and ate at work. Typically I ate half when I got there and the other half at mid morning. I call this first breakfast and second breakfast (you know like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings).

Later I started building tolerance to homemade kefir. Now I still start with the berries, but then I have a cup of kefir and after that sprouted almonds and/or sprouted sunflower seeds.

At mid-morning I have another cup of kefir and then more almonds and/or sunflower seeds.

For a while I was having homemade vegetable soup and/or salad at breakfast.

Another idea would be bacon or gluten free sausage or just classic bacon and eggs... combined with some kind of sautéed non-starchy vegetable.

But... what CAN I eat?

Say you've figured out FODMAPs you cannot tolerate and you know what to avoid for Body Ecology. You might ask, what can I actually eat. It really helps to make a list of foods that are allowed by category.

Since one key is to eat lots of non-starchy vegetables start with a list of those and line through anything you know you can't tolerate from your FODMAPs elimation diet.

Non-starchy vegetables (have just about any time)
asparagus, bamboo shoots, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, burdock root, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, collard greens, cucumber, daikon, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, garlic, green beans, jicama, kale, kohirabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, onion, parsley, red radishes, red bell pepper, scallions, shallots, spinach, sprouts (except mung bean), swiss chard, turnips, turnip greens.    Please note that I cannot eat all of the vegetables on this list, I include them in case others can tolerate them.

Oils (stick with unrefined oils) (have just about any time)
Sunflower, flax, pumpkin seed, olive, butter, ghee, cultured butter, walnut oil, coconut oil.

Sweetners (anytime)
 Lakanto (monk fruit) or Stevia

Grain-like Seeds (have only with non-starchy vegetables)
Amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet

Starchy Vegetables
acorn squash, butternut squash, lima beans, corn (fresh), water chestnuts, artichokes,  red skin potatoes.

Protein Fats
sprouted almonds, sprouted seeds, avocado

Acid Fruits
lemons, limes, cranberriers (unsweetened), black current juice (unsweetened)

Fruits for first in morning (have these by themselves first thing in morning
berries, pomegranite seeds, cranberry juice (unsweetened), black current juice (unsweetened).

Animal Proteins (only with non-starchy vegetables)
Eggs, meats, fish

 So now you have lists, so go forth and mix and match. I find it helpful to bring such lists to the grocery store and to restaurants. I used to keep a picture on my phone. Now it's all just second nature.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Because it's yummy and easy... that's why! This is an easy sugar-free lemonade recipe.

lemon juice (I put about a 1/4 inch in the bottom of my glass)
liquid stevia (quite a bit - I put two droppers full)
water
ice (optional)
a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

First the lemon juice in a glass, then stevia, then top the glass off with water and ice. I love it...so much. Soooo much.

Note that lemon is an exception to the fruit combining rules and can be consumed with anything.

 

Food Combining

You know how some kids (and some adults) don't like their food to touch. I mean nothing on the plate can touch the other things on the plate.

Well, I don't let certain foods come together in the same meal now. 
Through The Body Ecology Diet I've learned this art. I know now that combining certain foods together really doesn't work well for me. I don't know why it doesn't work, but it doesn't. Maybe it's just because I don't tend to overeat when I eat this way. Or maybe it's something more complex... whatever! It has helped me both lose weight and control IBS symptoms. Yea!!

The biggest rule is not to combine animal protein with carbohydrates in the same meal. So I don't have eggs with home fries. Now I have eggs with spinach and red bell pepper.

There are a few foods that don't combine well with most other things. Like dairy is pretty much a stand alone, though I have done okay with berrries or sprouted nuts/seeds with the kefir.

I've recently returned to Swiss cheese, which has not sugar (lactose). Though I don't have it with anything else. The only dairy I have now is either kefir or Swiss cheese. I keep them very separate from other foods. Meaning that I wait three or more hours to eat dairy after my last meal and wait at least 30 minutes before eating something else after consuming dairy.

It may seem crazy and challenging... but really it's more crazy and challenging taking a bunch of medications and not being able to leave the house because IBS is acting up. It's all about choices.

All Heart-- No Heartburn

Another symptom that went away with my new regime is heartburn. I had a few years taking omeprazole (Prilosec) every day... and still had heartburn on some nights.

The bummer about omeprazole is that once you're taking it everyday it's really challenging to get off of it because there is a rebound effect.

Once I managed to lose about 25 pounds I started working on getting off this tricky medication. I started by taking the omeprazole every other day and on the alternate days taking the highest dose of ranitidine (Zantac). Rantidine is a medication that is less strong than omeprazole. My understanding is that omeprazole blocks all three types of acid producers in the stomach while rantidine blocks only one type  (though I am sure this is a gross simplification). After I lost a few more pounds I dropped down to the lower dose of rantidine. Once a few more pounds were gone I finally dropped the omeprazole and took rantidine everyday. A few pounds after that and I dropped to every other day, then every third day. Finally I let it go altogether.

Now I never ever get heartburn and I'm medication free. It's such a great feeling. The doctor who originally prescribed the omeprazole said if I ever wanted to get off of it I should come back in for help in weaning off of it. I am not a doctor, but chose to wean off of it on my own. It took 8 or 9 months and it's all in the past now.

I do NOT Snore (anymore)

       Horror of horrors... about a year ago, my daughter told me my snoring was waking her at night. Before you ask, no she does not sleep in the same room with her parents. Apparently my husband was too polite to complain. And my true confession, it even woke me upon occasion (not kidding).
       I have poled the house extensively, and since the weight came off, the snoring went away... I mean nothing. Nothing!!

Look Mom - (Virtually) No Eczema

Another benefit of my lifestyle change has been a marked improvement in Eczema. I have had eczema on my legs since I was pregnant with my daughter 18 years ago. It did not get better with just low FODMAPs. It improved about 50% after a few months on the Body Ecology Diet. It seemed to really start getting better when I added kefir to my diet.

Next, it took all of my bravery to stop using cortisone cream on it. At that point, it got worse again. I read in a couple of other people's blogs that there can be a rebound effect when cortisone cream is stopped. So I waited a few nail-biting weeks and then it started to settle down again.  It didn't completely go away so I tried one more thing.

It occurred to me that much of the Body Ecology diet is about getting rid of bad yeast for healing and that yeast is a fungus.  I tried using Nizoral (ketoconazole) cream on it. I also knew that the anti-fungal Nizoral shampoo really helps my scalp and the cream keeps seborrheic dermatitis away from my face. I figured chances were good it would help the eczema on my legs.

And the results are in...

Lab Values --Woo Hoo!

It's been a bit over a year since I started Body Ecology... and the results are in. This is the first year I did not receive a warning from my doctor about my borderline blood pressure and my high cholesterol. The first time in 28 years, my friends. My triglicerides went from 167 to 68 (normal is 40 to 100). That is the direct result from getting off sugar.

Based on reactions from friends and co-workers, most people think it is just nuts completely eliminating sugar from my diet. This is table sugar... note that I do get naturally occurring sugars from starchy vegetables and fruits, etc. But the lab values speak for themselves. It was horrible for a few weeks and is now effortless.

As soon as you can get yourself to do it... just bite the bullet and give that poison up!

IDK Why

People are always asking why I don't eat this or that. Why no tomatoes... why red peppers and not green peppers... why no apples or pears... why not combine starchy foods with animal proteins. I do not always have the answers to such questions at my finger-tips. I read a lot about nutrition and ways to manage IBS. If something makes sense to me, I try it and it works... that's good enough for me.

I retain what I need to do more than why I am doing it. If you need to prove it to yourself read the books. My two bibles are IBS Free at Last and the Body Ecology Diet.

Speaking of Sweet...

Speaking of sweet, you can turn fruit into a candy-like-food for your tongue for about 30 minutes at a time. Miracle berries come from a plant. They make tablets out of it. If you let them dissolve on your tongue, it makes some kind of coating that makes sour fruit taste super sweet. You can seriously bite into a lemon and it tastes like some kind of amazing candy.

I've read a small percentage of people can't get it to work. That can be due to a coating on the person's tongue and that can be remedied by brushing the tongue before letting the tablet dissolve. You can find these little gems at Amazon.

Just remember you can make yourself sick with too much lemon. If not for common sense that prevails after a time, I could probably pack away an entire bag of lemons. I once had to physically restrain my child from the lemons in order to save her from herself. Okay, okay the physical restraint part my be a bit of an exaggeration, but I am telling you she REALLY wanted those lemons.

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article about it, if you'd like to know more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum

One Good Sweetener Deserves Another

A little something sweet is critical to success. If you're running around craving sweets all the time you'll never stick with it. If you don't stick with it, you'll eat something to make you feel lousy. If you feel lousy you'll want to eat more sweets-- that's how it works. It is so worth making the effort to convert to natural low/no calorie sweeteners we are lucky to have access to these days.

 Another good sweetener is Lakanto, which is also known as Monk Fruit. It's nearly calorie free and delicious. Stevia is great for tea, kefir and other beverages and for sprinkling over berries. Monk Fruit is nice for more solid foods like butternut squash with butter.

Sometimes Lakonto is combined with a sugar alcohol called Erythritol. This is the one sugar alcohol that does not tend to set off people with IBS. I have yet to find a use for this combination. I get the sense it would be good for baking as it's quite granular and seems to take a lot of heat in order to dissolve. It's just that I no longer do any baking. If I think of something, you'll be the first to know.

When combined together Stevia and Monk fruit often make an even better sweetener. I put them together in kefir and Coconut Kefir "cheese" (a fermented food, that I use as a dessert, made with the soft meat from young coconuts), I also like those foods with cinnamon and (alcohol free) vanilla.

Sprouted Nuts and Seeds

The Body Ecology Diet recommends eating only nuts and seeds that have been sprouted. This involves soaking them in water for 8 to 24 hours. I have read that this makes nuts and seeds easier to digest. It seems to work for me, though does involve a bit of extra effort. If you want to try some before putting in any effort, pick up sprouted almonds at Whole Foods --they are quite delicious. Whole Foods has other sprouted nuts and seeds; however, I do not care for them.

Unfortunately, if you buy them already sprouted they cost about twice as much as garden variety nuts. Thankfully, making them takes only a bit of extra effort. I buy raw nuts and seeds, soak overnight, let them dry out for a few hours, and then roast on a low temperature until they are crunchy again. They get a little sweeter after soaking. I generally skip the salt, as I do not find it necessary even though I really love salt.

Detox

The first two weeks I followed the Body Ecology Diet, I felt simply awful. It was truly a detoxification of sorts. I was filled with overwhelming fatigue, headache, muscle aches, the list goes on and on. The book advised this was likely to occur. After the first week I was ready to give up, thinking, "It just isn't worth it!"

I decided to give it another week... hanging on by my finger nails.

At the end of two weeks I started to feel just a little wonderful. Weight was falling off of me. It's gotten better and better ever since. Join me, life is just easier this way.

Stevia, Stevia the Wonderful "Food"

Stevia comes from a plant. In the past I dismissed it as being rather bitter and well, mostly disgusting. If you give up sugar completely, stevia grows on you quickly... I promise. Please be aware there are different kinds of stevia. The quality really varies.

For the best, look for liquid stevia suspended in glycerin (alcohol is not recommended). My absolute favorite is Better Stevia. I buy it on Amazon, though I have found it in some healthfood stores. It is stupidly expensive, but hey, it lasts a long time.

If you buy the larger quantity (8 ounces), find a little bottle with an eye dropper to use for manageable serving sizes as it tends to come out too quickly from the larger bottle.

      

Magical Foods

Once I discovered magical probiotic foods, I really started to heal. There are many foods made in old fashioned ways that are loaded with probiotics. Not the level of probiotics that you take in a pill... I mean seriously loaded.

I began with cultured vegetables. I bought some at health-food stores (check the refrigerator case). My favorite cultured vegetables I can by are Bubbies pickles. These are pickles made the old fashioned way. Not made by pickling with heat that kills probiotics. Rather the cucumbers are slowly pickled on your counter. All cultured vegetables are sour as the probiotics grow by "eating" the sugars that are in the vegetables. I had to grin and bear it in the beginning and then they really grew on me.

Once I started liking them I started adding in more and more and learning how to make them myself. They start off as a kind of healing medicine and become something you never want to live without. I now love Kombucha*(fermented tea originating from China), Kefir (fermented milk similar to drinkable yoghurt), Coconut Kefir (fermented coconut water from young coconuts), Coconut Kefir Cheese (fermented coconut meat from young coconuts). I hope to discover many more in the future!

*Note the Body Ecology folks do not support the use of kombucha, as they have not researched it thoroughly and have concern that it may contain too much yeast that is harmful. Having said that, I love it and feel it brought me to the next level. Time will tell.

My Food IS My Medicine

When I started seeing results, from my simple first step of 80% non-starchy veggies and 20% animal protein or starchy veggies... my thinking began to change. I thought... my medicine will be my food. I will stop trying to make everything tasty and comforting and spend a few months healing myself.

I read that if I stuck with it my tastes would change. I decided to SIU (suck-it-up) and at least temporarily give up some of my comfort foods and add in foods I found less appetizing.
I took a couple of big steps.  Grains and table sugar were eliminated from my diet.You read it correctly... no added sugar (glucose, fructose, sucrose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, tapioca syrup... nothing!)  With the goal to keep natural, calorie-free sweet tasting foods in my diet, I shunned artificial sweeteners and used only stevia as a sweetener. I will point out I truly detested stevia at that time. This was no small sacrifice.

Sobe Lifewater helped me make that first big leap. It was the one stevia sweetened thing I found that tasted okay, note it also has erythritol. It gave me something sweet at least. I like the Strawberry Dragonfruit, Fuji Apple Pear, and Black Raspberry varieties best. I admit they were a total crutch, but hey, it got me there. Now it serves as an occasional treat.

Starting Small

I spent a long time thinking of starting the Body Ecology Diet. I just could not bring myself to begin.   My friend, who got over her chronic fatigue with the diet, suggested starting small. I picked two small ways to start:
1) First, I bought the Kindle edition of the book so I would have it available on my smart phone. My friend suggested reading the book slowly as it is a bit challenging.
2) Second, I tried the most basic aspect of the diet.  I made 80% of my plate non-starch vegetables and 20% either starchy vegetables or animal protein.
It was an easy way to start and it got me going. It seemed manageable and after that point I decided I would think of my food as medicine... But, that's another thought for another day.

Believe It!

It's tough to get motivated to start a new diet. I worked toward motivating myself to lose weight for seven or eight years (I'm not kidding). It wasn't until I started believing that it could really happen that I got ready to move forward. Getting my IBS under more control with low FODMAPs really helped me see that changing my diet could change my body.

I decided to find an old picture of myself and put it in a place where I would see it frequently to get me started. I think this could work using a picture of someone you would like to look like one day. In my case I have pictures of how I used to look that showed how I wanted to look again.

I chose a picture from when I was 18. I knew I wouldn't look 18 again, but figured my body could look similar... after all it was MY body.

So I posted this picture onto the screen saver on my smart phone. Every single time I pushed my phone on I was confronted with this picture-- that's a lot of motivation!

Next I made a catch phrase for myself that I used like a mantra. It seems rather silly when I say it out loud or type it, but never-the-less, I said to myself (often), "I want to be a tiny little mother".  You know... those tiny little old ladies that are so cute people say "Awwww, I want to be like her someday", whenever she leaves the room.

When I look back on this time, this is the only difference between my success this time and my many failures or temporary successes of the past. I imagined, I visualized, I believed.

My Body Hates Sugar

One thing I learned from following a low FODMAPS diet last year --My body HATES sugar in pretty much any form. Many who do the FODMAPs  elimination diet find they can add some of the FODMAPs categories back into their diet. Not me, I failed every challenge. I am okay with that fact. Once I accepted that sugar just isn't for me it all got easier.

So... I've changed

It's been a year since I've blogged... a very busy year. In the past 9 months I've lost over 50 pounds with help from a combination of low FODMAPs and the Body Ecology Diet. I did not set out to lose, I wanted to feel better and lower my blood pressure a little as it was going in the wrong direction. After tweaking my diet one more time the weight started coming off and rather easily.




Lisa in Spring 2012

Lisa in July 2014

What a differnce a year makes, 2013

 

It's just so fun in 2014

My daughter sent me pictures of myself from a couple of years ago and I recognized that my appearance has actually changed. Today I will share.

Day to day I feel better and yet feel like I look pretty much the same. New clothing is a big perk, and I've had to get a new wardrobe 3 times this year. Not to mention healthy blood pressure and a healing gut.

I think I will start blogging tips again. First one... if you've already done an elimination diet with IBS Free at Last and are ready to try more, look into the Body Ecology Diet. There's a website; though I enjoy the book the most.  I keep it on my smart phone with the Kindle App.