The Purple Almond

Here’s a short refresher, in case you’re new or missed my last few logs. For the past 4 weeks, I’ve been doing an elimination diet to get rid of some chronic symptoms. When I started the diet, I had chronic psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, sinus congestion and headaches. The elimination diet got rid of my psoriasis and arthritis. My daily morning sinus headaches did clear up. However, I continued to have daily congestion and occasional sinus headaches. So, I continued to search for foods which could be causing my sinus problems. I added some foods to my elimination list which are known to contribute to headaches.

After I posted my last log regarding my elimination diet and the continuing struggles with my sinuses, Michelle, from BAREFOOT AYA, suggested giving up gluten, and all other grains. Since I have been gluten free for more than 8 years, I wasn’t sure this would help. But, I had been eating other grains, including: oats, rice, and quinoa.

After doing some further research, I realize that the proteins in all grains are very similar, even if they aren’t gluten containing grains.. My body could be reacting to the proteins in non-gluten grains, the same as gluten containing grains. This is something to consider if you are gluten free, but still experiencing symptoms.

 I added grains to my already long list. If you missed it last time,  here is my elimination list.

• Dairy products (lactose and casein)
• Wheat (and other gluten containing foods)
• all grains (and pseudo-grains)
• Corn
• Eggs
• Peanuts, tree nuts and almonds
• Shellfish
• All citrus fruits and juices
• Nightshades – potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, bell pepper)
• oats
• honey and maple syrup
• lentils
• legumes
• sauerkraut, pickles, olives and fermented foods
• red plums
• citrus fruit
• prunes
• cherries
• avocado
• broccoli
• beets
• spinach
• onion
• cranberries
• raspberries
• raisins
• figs
• jam/jelly
• canned meat/fish
• MSG
• Caffeine
• Sugar
• Chocolate
• Refined/processed food
• Coffee
• Black tea
• Alcohol
• Soy
• Artificial sweeteners
• Yeast
• Trans-fat

Now, this really limits what I can eat. It’s especially difficult, because I have a carbohydrate efficient metabolism. This means that my body digests carbohydrates more efficiently than fat or protein. The bulk of my calories (65%) come from fruit, vegetables and starchy carbohydrates. I’ve been eating a lot of sweet potatoes. (I’m really sick of sweet potatoes) I did find a good sweet potato flat bread recipe though. (I’ll share in a future journal).

I have some good news and bad news… The good news-my congestion and sinus headaches finally cleared up. The bad news – I had to give up grains to do it. 😩

My sinuses felt really good, so, I decided to be adventurous today. I have finally begun phase 2 of the elimination diet- the reintroduction phase. I was SOOO sick of sweet potatoes, that I had to have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast this morning.  The result: about 2 or 3 hours after breakfast, I became congested and my headaches returned! Oats are now the second item on my “food sensitivity” list. (The first item is gluten). I’ll take tomorrow off from phase 2, then reintroduce something else on Wednesday, probably rice. (I really need another carb! I just can’t keep eating sweet potatoes all the time! )

I need to confess something…I absolutely HATE exercising! Ok, I feel better now. 😎
Because I struggle so much, I’ve changed up my exercise goals. I’ve been doing HORRIBLY on my current fitness goal – WALKING 5 MILES PER DAY by the end of August. I am currently at about 2.5 to 3 miles on the days I walk. I am horribly inconsistent. I decided to work on my exercise consistency before I continue on with my 5 miles per day.  I will be formally writing a S.M.A.R.T. goal for my new fitness goals for next week.

For now, I will be attempting to exercise 1 hour a day 6 days a week.

• SUNDAY/TUESDAY/THURSDAY
  • – 30 minutes cardiovascular exercise
  • – 30 minutes of resistance circuit exercise
• MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY
  • – 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise
• SATURDAYS – OFF – NO EXERCISE

We’ll see how that goes for the next 4 weeks. (I’ll share my formal SMART goal next week)

My progress over the past 4 weeks

• Total weight loss- 4.8 pounds
• Pounds of body fat lost – 7.03 pounds
• Pounds of muscle gained – 2.74
• total inches lost – 4.75
• Body fat % loss – 3.12%
• My resting pulse dropped from 83 to 63
• My fasting blood sugar dropped from 115 to 93

I am so thankful that I measured my body, fat loss and muscle gain. If it weren’t for the above numbers, I may have given up. I really expected to lose more weight over the past 4 weeks. I did gain some muscle and lost a total of almost 5 inches over my body. This is after gradually increasing my caloric intake from 1400 calories per day to 1800 calories per day. So I’m eating MORE than before, but I’m slowly healing my body, losing body fat, increasing muscle, and improving my metabolism. I just need to be patient, consistent and stick with it.

If you’d like to see my food journal for this week, follow this link: AUGUST_1_2017_TO_AUGUST_7_2017