Day Nine +

Add back:
-Millet, tapioca, amaranth, and buckwheat
-Legumes, nuts, and seeds

Unfortunately on this day I had some leftover rice pasta and it definitely made me feel yucky.  I have eliminated all rice again and will try plain rice to see if I get a reaction, and also at some point I will re-enter the rice pasta and see if I get a reaction.  I'm a little sad because I want to be able to continue to eat rice pasta (and definitely plain rice!!), so I'm hoping for no reaction next time.

On day 10, I was officially considered "done," but have been reintroducing foods one at a time.  Here is what I have added back so far:
-Beef
-Chicken
-Eggs
-Poppyseed dressing (only new ingredient in it was sugar)
-Corn tortillas

I am anxious to get most food reintroduced quickly because on Feb 2nd Jake has a winter party for work and I want to be able to enjoy it! :)  I have also found it interesting to reintroduce food because I am looking even more closely at the labels before I decide to eat them.  I have found 2 things that I was eating regularly that had ingredients I was allergic to in them:

1. TACO SEASONING (milk)
2. CASHEWS (peanut oil)

How dare they do that!  I went to the grocery store and looked at all the taco seasonings and all of them have milk in them.  Rude.  Now we're going to have to find a different way to make tacos.  Also, none of the cashews at Walmart were made without peanut oil, but I did find some at Hy-Vee.  

Anyway, that was my experience!  I'm so glad it is (mostly) over.  I'm hoping in the long run it was worth it! :)

Day Eight

Gently add back fruits, vegetables, and white rice (only) to diet.
Decrease powdered beverage mix-2 scoops three times today.

This morning when I woke up all I could think was BANANA for breakfast!  I was so excited.  I was also really excited to have the leftover ratatouille again.  In addition, I also made something new (AND made a huge mess of the kitchen making it).

Sweet Potato Squash Delight

Man, if only you would have seen my kitchen.  I was very thankful to have Rachel's food processor for this one (also made me want a food processor in general!)  I tried the butternut squash and sweet potato mashed up at first and liked it.  Then I added the spices and it started to taste like pumpkin pie and I wasn't as much of a fan.  I'm kind of weird like that I guess.  Jake likes it though so hopefully he will help me eat the rest of it.  I was just so excited today to be eating things I hadn't had in a while.

Days Five-Seven

Continue eliminating foods listed for Days 1-4, as well as legumes.  Eat only those fruits and vegetables as listed below:
-Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussel sprouts)
-Raw greens (red and green lettuce, romaine, spinach, endive)
-Fresh apples and pears (whole or freshly juiced)
-Bottled or canned apple and pear juice (no sugar added)

Increase powdered beverage mix-2 scoops four times per day

On day five I decided to try to make and eat kale chips for a snack.  They were horrible.  I almost "lost" my snack as they are super bitter.  I decided not to have those again. :)  Since I was already not a fan of cabbage or brussel sprouts, I ate a lot of steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and salad for meals.  I also ate apples and pears for snacks and breakfast.

Emotionally, I was fine with my restrictions from this diet and not having too many cravings until day 7.  I really like steamed broccoli, but there are only so many times I can eat it before I am sick of it.  Three days of only eating a few fruits and vegetables gets rough.  Here's one thing I did make.

Green Smothie

I've had green types of smoothies before, but not quite like this one.  This one contained: 

Kale

Parsley

Apple

Pear

Water & Ice

Could it get any healthier?  Sheesh.  It wasn't horrible in flavor; I just wasn't a fan of the fact that it didn't really get totally smooth.  I'm sure I could have made it smoother if I wanted to add more water, but that would have diluted the taste to the point that I wouldn't have enjoyed it.  Anyway, DAY 8 tomorrow: I can eat different food!

Day Four

In addition to eliminating foods listed for Days 1-3,
Eliminate all:
-Remaining grains
-Nuts and seeds
-Note: You now should be eating vegetables, fruits, and legumes only

Increase powdered beverage mix-2 scoops twice daily

I again ate a lot of leftovers and ate more carrot fries.  Yum.  In addition, I tried a new recipe for dinner which both Jake and Jaron both graciously ate with me as well.

Bean & Spinach Soup

I wasn't super crazy about it but it wasn't awful either.  Unfortunately my headache got pretty awful as I headed to bed and I woke up in the middle of the night cradling my head.  Jake sadly also woke up from my restlessness and rubbed my head a little.  He's so sweet.  I'm so grateful to have him through this thing.

Day Three

In addition to eliminating foods listed for Days 1 & 2,
Eliminate all:
-Wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, and corn
-Note: You may continue to eat rice, tapioca, amaranth, millet, and buckwheat

Continue powdered beverage mix-1 scoop twice daily

I was thankful to be cooking less today and eating more leftovers.  I didn't really try anything new except I had a bit more variety in my salad.

I woke up with a slight headache so Jake and I went to the gym (so excited that we get that membership for free with our apartment!) and walked a bit, which did help.  I have been trying to walk more so that I can build up to running again; I would get shin splints if I just started to run now.  It was really nice to spend the day with Jake.  I always love when he gets home on Fridays and I can shout "it's the weekend!"  Man, we're getting old; I remember working jobs where it didn't matter if it was the weekend or not.

Day two

In addition to eliminating foods listed for Day 1,
Eliminate all:
-Dairy products and eggs

Start powdered beverage mix-1 scoop twice daily

Here's what I ate.

Rice Pasta and Beans

Minestrone soup (looks super cloudy but it was better than it looks here)

I didn't take a pic of my "milkshake" for breakfast cuz it didn't look (or taste) appealing.  For my mid-morning snack, I had carrot fries, which were super yummy.  For my mid-afternoon snack I had sliced kiwis and banana sprinkled with cinnamon.  Yum.

Sadly since I started taking the powdered beverage, some of the forewarned side effects of detoxing have kicked in as well (bad headache).  Oh well, it'll be worth it in the end. :)

What I've been up to!

So, here's what I've been up to.  We moved to Ames.  We traveled to the Quad Cities twice for the holidays.  We have been able to see family a lot.  It has been fantastic.

Now, I'm working on my health before I get going on the job thing.  I am doing a 10 day food elimination diet as recommended per my doctor.  I'm currently on day two.  Here was what I did yesterday.

Day One, eliminate all:
     -Refined sugars-anything with added sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, or alcohol (cakes, cookies,
     candies, pastries, beer, wine, liquor)
     -Caffeinated drinks (sodas, coffee, tea)
     -Artificial colorings, flavorings, and sweeteners (packaged and processed foods)
     -Flesh foods (beef, pork, lamb, poultry, fish, wild game)

Here's a few pictures of what I ate (most all of it is organic as well-expensive 10 days!).

I totally made that hummus from scratch.

Quinoa Salad

Ratatouille (my first time!)

I was pretty excited about my ratatouille.  I felt like I was on the movie or something.  I had no idea it's so good.  I also had a baked apple with homemade cashew butter for dessert but I forgot to take a pic of it.  I might have another one for dinner tonight if I have a sweet tooth because wowza, it was good.  All in all, I can't believe I've gone over 24 hours without eating any meat.  I'm kind of a hardcore carnivore.