Elimination Diet :: Day 11

Yeah. Here we are at Day 11. Crazy!!

If this post had a subtitle, it might be "True Confessions", or something like that. Sigh.

For the most part, things have been going really well. I've been eating elimination-diet friendly food quite happily, but sadly, it's been an entirely different story for James. It seems the diet, rather than eliminating irritating foods for him, has exposed some new ones. In addition to the need to avoid anything in the onion family (onions, garlic, leeks, etc.), we've always had to take it easy on the beans and legumes with him, as well as cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, to name just a few). When I started experimenting with quinoa for breakfast dishes as well as dinner dishes (remember how excited I was about quinoa in the last post?) this time around -- which we had had plenty of times before -- it seemed that was troubling him, too. Brown rice? Also out of the question for this guy.

Bean salad with a white wine/cumin vinaigrette. Yum!!

Are you kidding me?! After everything else we've cut out or strictly limited for him in addition to the foods eliminated on the diet, it really leaves very little.

So, he broke rank yesterday. He ate a cookie and then followed it up with some Sonic burger.

I'm still adhering to the diet (and feeling sooooooo much better), but not without my flubs for the past week and a half. One of the disadvantages of having done this before is a "Hey, I know what I'm doing!" attitude, and consequently, being a bit lax in reading labels. I put some vanilla extract in one of my quinoa breakfast experiments (which, by the way, was delish!!) which contains alcohol and sugar -- two banned ingredients. I might get away with the alcohol part by saying it was cooked away anyway, but the sugar? Yeah, even though it was a small amount I put in, not cool for the elimination diet.

And no, I still have not had ANY coffee -- not that I don't miss it. Sigh.

Some of you may be wondering about any weight loss since I mentioned in my initial post that that was a byproduct of my first experience with the diet. There has been some (2 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight -- yeay!!), but not much to brag about. I seem to keep fluctuating within a two-pound range of the same weight. I'm guessing the loss hasn't been substantial this time around because before we officially started the diet, I had already cut out the offending elements of gluten, dairy, and most sugar -- three major things that, if they're a regular part of the way you eat -- will cause a big change in your body if you cut them out completely.

I should also confess that I'm considering breaking rank a bit, too -- at least temporarily. If you read my other blog, then you know that my Mom and sister are in town (yeay!!) to visit that sweet baby Austen. We considered this ahead of time when planning to start the diet, but now that they're here, we're wondering how realistic it is for me to adhere to it the whole time they're visiting (one week). (No Sunday brunch at the Briarpatch? C'mon!!) So ... all that to say that I intend to remain faithful to the diet, but considering our company, I am not going to be too legalistic if it's going to be disruptive to our time together, or make for a less enjoyable experience.

I know, I know. 

I'd love to say that I'm going to be a die-hard elimination dieter, but if having a baby in the house for 3 months has taught me anything, it's that it's good to shoot for the ideal situation, but to be realistic too.

Sigh.