To Cheat or Not to Cheat

... that is the question.

I've seen a few friends and family members go through the elimination diet. Some don't really find out what they can and can not eat. If you do the elimination diet half way it doesn't really tell you anything. By reducing FODMAP content in your diet you may learn that there is something to it... but you won't know what you eat safely, what you can't and where you can fudge in the future without feeling lousy.

I had a co-worker who bought the book and said she was seriously on it, then three days later she was eating pizza for lunch. She said, "I'm still doing the diet, I'm only eating one piece." A couple days later it was, "Just half a bagel with a little cream cheese." That doesn't cut it!!

The thing that really helped me was carrying around two lists. One list with everything I could eat and another of everything I couldn't. I found it helpful to break them out by food category (fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.) When you try an elimination diet I suggest that you are very careful.... it may just change your life for the better.

Don't be a Baby -- Just do the elimination diet!

I've talked with a lot of people about their GI troubles... the world seems full of IBS!  The thing that continually surprises me is how many people seem unwilling to try the FODMAP elimination diet. According to the dietition Patsy Catsos who wrote IBS Free at Last, 75% of people who have straight forward IBS respond to a low FODMAP diet. Why not do something that can impact the quality of your life? Why?!!

It is seriously worth 3 or 4 weeks of a challenging or boring diet. The FODMAP elimination diet brought me many surprises...
1) I had no idea I could feel this good.
2) I had no idea how bad I had been feeling, as I was simply used to it.
3) I had made many incorrect assumptions about foods that bother me and foods that do not bother me. (I actually was able to add a number of foods back into my diet that I had given up years ago!)
4) Finally, I have some measure of control. I can travel, go to parties, go to restaurants and just be out of the house without fear of what my stomach is going to do.

Be brave and give yourself this gift. The strict part is less than a month. You can eat simply for that long. Heck, I think I could eat nothing but lettuce for a month-- and believe me I LOVE to eat. It gets easier after the elimination phase. It can even be fun, figuring out how to make it interesting and learning new ways of cooking.