Elimination Diet, Day One (Written around 11:30 this morning when Livejournal was sucking)

[kitchen_kink]

Okay, so I won't actually be journaling about this daily, at least not until I get to the food challenge part. (I love that: the first part of the diet is called Induction - like I'm being initiated into some sort of secret society. The second part is called the Food Challenge - which sounds like a bad Food Network game show.)

But I wanted to start off with some thoughts.

First of all, for those of you who don't know, the Elimination Diet is a program by which you find out what foods you're sensitive/allergic to. Since my symptoms (fatigue, depression, anxiety, digestive issues, headaches) haven't responded completely to environmental controls and allergy desensitization drops for year-round allergies, I figure there's something foody going on here as well.

What you do is get rid of a whole bunch of foods from your diet - the ones that people are most frequently sensitive to: wheat and other gluten grains, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, shellfish, citrus, yeast, chocolate, coffee, sugar, peanuts...sigh. Yes, the list does seem to go on, doesn't it? You do that for about, oh, three weeks, or until your symptoms clear to the point of plateau - they're not getting any better. Then, one by one, you reintroduce the foods and see which ones you react to.

So yesterday was my first day on it, and I was determined to make the best of it. The last thing I need if I'm going to make it through this thing is to feel deprived. So I started the day with brown rice crispies, almond milk, blueberries and cantaloupe. Around lunch I had carrots, an apple, some more cantaloupe, rice cakes and almond butter. And at the Diesel, I tried a new thing: Wu Wei tea, which I'd recommend to anyone who likes rosehips and yummy spicyness. For dinner I made salmon with onions, garlic, olive oil, tarragon and sliced green zebra tomatoes (Thanks, hissilliness!), brown rice with onions, garlic, and walnuts, and salad with spinach, heirloom tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and fresh avocado. Oh yes, satiation was mine.

By 10 pm, though, I was exhausted to the point of lack of motion. I just needed to see a pillow, immediately. This morning I dragged myself up at 7:30 to have breakfast with imlad, but then found myself needing to go back for an hour or so more. Writing this, I still feel groggy and vague, and I have to teach a class in two and a half hours. Luckily, it's the first day of the semester, so I can summon some fake chipperness for a little while, then sit there and zone while they do their 45-minute diagnostic writing test.

Hopefully this cleansing phase, of which I was warned, won't last too long...

Comments

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

It took me about five days to feel better. But boy, did I ever feel better at that point! (If you don't, it means something you haven't eliminated is the problem...)

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. I'm still feeling pretty shitty, and my sex drive is gone! But it's day four, and I think I'm a slow detoxer, so I'm waitin'...

Hey, between your Atkins and my elimination, we could have a nice dinner together. :) Wanna?