16 April 2007

Modified Elimination Diet: Week 1

Back to the Garden
Sunday marked the completion of my 7th day on the Modified Elimination Diet. The contents of my fridge and cupboard were a veritable Garden of Eden, well-stocked with mostly organic and entirely whole (unprocessed, unrefined) foods: rice cereal, fruits, vegetables, salad greens, nuts, raisins, brown rice, potatoes, soy milk (which I've been a fan of for awhile now), and the like.

I have had to read food labels voraciously for ingredients: it is surprising to find how many foods contain sugar, eggs, peanuts, gluten, or dairy products. This means pretty much everything I'm eating (with the exception of brown rice bread) is made from scratch.

Typical Meals
My options are most limited for breakfast food, but even here I've been surprised at how much I've liked it. I was a diehard oatmeal or Kashi Go Lean Crunch girl for breakfast and wasn't looking forward to forfeiting my breakfast favorites. The hot rice cereal prepared with soymilk, walnuts, and raisins (added for flavor, texture, and a nutritional boost) is surprisingly tasty and gets me to the mid-morning snack a few hours later. Speaking of which, I didn't expect to like the brown rice bread. Toasted and topped with almond butter, I'm satisfied well until lunch.

Lunches and dinners look much alike. I've prepared salads with chickpeas, black beans, tofu or tuna, or simply had dinner leftovers. Some of my favorite dinners have been my experimental stir-fries. The stir-fry below was prepared with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence. In this mixture, I cooked some cubed extra-firm tofu, zucchini squash, and carrots. It was delicious!
My other favorite dish was one that Jordan has already asked that I prepare a second time. In a skillet, I cooked up diced boneless, skinless (organic & free-range) chicken breast with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. To this I added chopped fresh pineapple and red pepper. It was served over oven-fried golden Yukon potatoes that were also cooked with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and some chopped pineapple to add sweetness. We also tried it with extra-firm tofu in place of the chicken and served it over rice noodles; this was also very tasty.


Detoxification
In spite of all the wonderful food I was enjoying, the first four days (Mon - Thurs) on the diet were particularly tough. I felt sluggish and spent from the moment I got up until the blessed minute I fell asleep at about 7 pm. It wasn't until my chiropractor mentioned to me (on Day 5) that I was detoxyifying, and that was why I was so tired. I hadn't thought of it that way, but his explanation made sense. By Friday, I wasn't exhausted anymore, and by Saturday, I had energy enough to work out in the morning and do a thorough spring-cleaning of my apartment later that afternoon.

What's more, the diet and the Intestinal Repair Complex are working wonders. While not back to 100%, my stomach feels better than it has in the past year. Praise God! I am confident at last that I am pursuing the best possible course of treatment to ensure my returned health.

Stay tuned for Week 2 ...

8 comments:

  1. Kirsten, this was amazing to read. I chuckled every few minutes, every few sentences. I love the way you explain things here! I also smiled and nodded from time to time because so many of the ingredients you listed are the mysterious ones I've been reading about in the books at work. (I'd never heard of most of them before!)

    I am so, so encouraged that you found this information and are applying it to your life with such good results so far. Please don't hesitate to share more as you go along! I'm devouring every morsel you share!

    Love, Christianne

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  2. Thank you, Christianne! I am discovering a WHOLE new world of food and finding that these once-mysterious items aren't so hard to find after all. There are at least a couple local organic grocers here in town that stock these items regularly, but until now, they weren't places I would normally do my shopping. Now they are the places I need to go.

    Thank you also for reading. I know this material probably isn't so interesting to everyone, so I appreciate that you took the time to read & respond. :o)

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  3. this is good news, kirsten....reminding me of the phrase "eat to live"....i wish i ate healthier and have been trying to incorporate more whole and "living" foods into my diet.

    my husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy so i don't get to experiment much. that chicken and pineapple dish sounded yummy...might have to try it myself.

    great to hear your stomach is already responding and i'll pray this will be the beginning of complete healing!

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  4. Glad to know your tummy is doing better - I am dreading the day I have to go on an elimination diet -Because I have NO self-discipline, so i am not sure i could do it.

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  5. You bet I love to read about it! My favorite things to read are always real stories about real lives. This is definitely real life for you, and you describe it with such perfect detail and humor and heartbreaking honesty that I can't help but feel you on the inside of my own heart.

    Blessings on you, my friend. Your life will always been endlessly interesting to me.

    By the way, in case you don't get a chance to check back, I finally responded to your comment on my most recent post. Sorry it took me a couple days!

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  6. C - I cannot begin to tell you how very blessed I am by your tender & generous heart. Even if our interaction at present is limited to Blogger, I am fortunate to have it. I thank God daily that our paths have intersected once again. I marvel daily at how blessed I am in the people our amazing God has surrounded me with!

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  7. This is good news, and I look forward not only to week two, but to the entire year, as your health improves over time.

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  8. You are very welcome! And the feeling is indeed mutual.

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