Monday, November 24, 2014

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.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

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!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

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.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

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.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

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.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

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.




Wednesday, November 12, 2014

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.
 






Tuesday, November 11, 2014

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.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

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.

Friday, November 7, 2014

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!!



Monday, November 3, 2014

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...




Sunday, November 2, 2014

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!