a little inspiration

Hello!  I've been a whirlwind of summer fun the last few weeks and so I am late getting this update. Wheat week (woot!) went by with no symptoms at all.  Then this week I am on nightshades.  Thank goodness!  That is a long time to go with out tomatoes.  I think I am going to be fine there.  Next week- Added sweeteners!!  We already have a date planned for French Broad Chocolate .  Because people- it has been 3 months!!

This week I've added gluten back in.  No wheat, just other sources of gluten.  Because barley is a little harder to have in the house and not share with Emerson I chose to get a loaf of rye bread to experiment with.  This was the first time in two months I could eat a sandwich.  I'm not even going to explain how big that is for me.  My favorite things to eat have always been sandwiches.  I even had to get used to the idea that John does not consider a sandwich dinner except occasionally. What??? Took me years to figure that out. This last few days have been a real pleasure.  So far, no side effects.  Now I have to wait four more days without it and make sure.  But next week is wheat.  I'm interested to see how that goes.  Corn is definitely out for me.  I'm so glad I'm doing this, no matter how hard it has been.  I had suspected corn a little but never eggs at all.  And for months I've been avoiding gluten and ...

Soy seems to have been okay, though I will admit to not eating as much of it as maybe I should have.  I had one serving a day plus tamari on anything I could think of... Today is the first day of corn and already I feel bloated and a little gross.  I did have corn three times today so maybe that was overkill for any day... But I couldn't resist.  Corn is such a big substitute for all things gluten and snack like. Anyway, I'll give it a couple more days to judge.  Yesterday my lovely mother in law got married and I spent the whole day running around with her and eating nothing but fruit and cheese(when we ate at all.)  It was a wonderful day and everyone had a splendid time.  I wore the Hawthorn dress I made from Colette Patterns.  I even got pictures for you!  I'll share later this week.  Can you believe how many things I've made the last few months?  I don't think I've been this productive since Emerson was born. Speaking of t...

Last week I re-introduced eggs.  At first I thought things were going well but as the week went on I noticed that I didn't feel very well.  I'm a little surprised by that and plan to try them again at the end of adding in all the other things.  Adding them on vacation was probably not ideal.  The reaction was strong enough to keep me off them for the time being at least.  I am glad I went back to the doctor and it came up! Our trip was wonderful though, enough beach time for everyone without getting sunburnt and even some down time for the grownups due to the hotel's camp program.  I'll never stay at another hotel for more than one night with out this feature again.  Talk about brilliant.  The cousins got to play and the parents and grandparents kicked our feet up for a few minutes without worry.  Ahhh.  It wasn't so hard to eat now that dairy has a green light.  I did have a protein smoothie at least once each day (but I have...

We are off on a little vacation this week and I am using it to practice a few things: 1. A capsule wardrobe.  I've been sewing up a small storm here and just finished a dress I've been trying to make for ages.  A shift dress you can nurse in!  I'll get action pictures this week with the beautiful beach backdrop and share more about it later.  But I will tell you now it is a hack of Dress A from the Stylish Dress Book . 2. Minimalist packing.  I am the queen of bringing an extra everything with the excuse that I have kids.  This time I am bringing a small amount of clothes and some detergent instead.  Only two things I am bringing are store bought and I'm feeling pretty proud of that. 3. Traveling while still on a fairly restrictive diet.  This week I added in eggs and dairy is back as well.  I'll be able to eat eggs for the first two days of the trip and then they'll be off limits for the rest of the week again. What I am not bringi...

So far dairy has been great.  It has felt wonderful to reintroduce something I really like and felt strongly wasn't the problem first.  I'll be back to avoiding it the next four days and watching for any signs of a negative reaction. Next week we go to the beach for a very long awaited (I don't know the last beach trip we made...) family vacation.  It should be interesting trying to eat out that many days in a row with this many restrictions.  I'll be packing a small health food store's worth of food. But at least I am fairly sure dairy will be back in the mix and so at least there is that. You should see the list I've started making...  I already today the other members of the family I don't mind bringing a smoothie for meals out if it looks like that will be the only option for me.  (Or the best one...)  Of course, we'll have to go places that have gluten free options anyway because of Emerson and we are vegetarians but for goodness sakes, ...

I'm trying out reintroducing dairy this week.  So far, wonderful.  Oh cheese, I love you.  I'll let you know if I still feel the same at the end of the week. xxo

Four weeks people- FOUR.  I'm still a little surprised.  The last week has been the hardest for some reason with strong urges to quit and have a doughnut or whatever I wanted at that moment.  An iced mocha. A caprese salad.  A cookie of any sort.  (After seeing this list perhaps I can blame hormones?) Anyway today, on the last day of week 4 I messed up.  We were out running errands and up against a schedule and I hadn't brought anything with me, not expecting to be out so long.  There was an Indian restaurant that I thought would be safe.  Not one menu item without a nightshade veggie... Not one.  John had already gotten a plate from the buffet by the time I figured it out and so I just went with it.  Dairy is the first thing I am introducing back in so I chose some palak paneer and saffron rice and pakoras and just enjoyed it.  We'll see how it goes.  I was so hoping for a perfect record and have been diligent.  Tha...

Can you believe it?  Three weeks without sugar.  This mornings breakfast was sweet potatoes cooked with walnuts and cinnamon and then avocado on the side.  It was amazing how the sweetness of the potato came through.  I almost asked if someone have put sugar on it. I still miss nightshades the most.  I've found a few places to grab food when out and stopped freaking out about leaving the house without food.  I can be hungry or I can find something if I have to.  I'm not very nice hungry so I've always avoided it.  Now I am just practicing being with the hunger.  I say to myself, "You are hungry, it is okay.  You will be able to eat again soon.  There is no need to be angry or snap.  You are hungry, breathe deep."  

I'm not going to lie.  This week I am bored with my options and ready for some cheese or tomatoes or salsa.  I opened the calendar to June and wrote on each week what food is going to be re-introduced.  I am so happy that dairy is week one.   I saw the doctor today and am actually up a couple pounds which I am super surprised about.  He said it because I am actually absorbing the nutrients.  After talking about how I have been feeling he suggested also cutting out eggs.  So many foods to miss at one time!  The evening is when it is hardest. I always used to load up on calories after the kids were in bed to make up for what I missed during the day.  Now I just have my smoothie or a rice cake with almond butter, coconut and raw cacao.  The other night I drank four glasses of water after the littles went to sleep and did feel much better the next day. But- two more weeks and then the fun part starts.  Anything is possible!! (ps...

This weekend we went to the LEAF Festival and spent the day enjoying the weather and music and fun a huge festival like this can provide.  It was a good test for me in a couple ways: 1. Sticking to the diet with so many fun foods and drinks around.  2. See all the items for sale from vendors and not buying anything. In preparation for the diet challenge I packed a lot of food.  We planned to be there from lunch time till bed time and I wasn't expecting to be able to find anything to buy and eat for myself.  Emerson also can't have gluten so we always pack all his food (which is extensive as the boy is always hungry.)  Being the kind of festival it is and in such a food conscious place (seriously Asheville is about the best town to have a food allergy or sensitivity) I thought we might be able to find something but didn't want to take any risks. Somehow we all ate all day and only bought one plate of curry (the was eaten mostly by John.)  What a s...

Already it has been over a week since I started this elimination diet . I have felt well over all and not starving too much.  Although I haven't figured out easy things to take along yet (but really, what is simpler than grabbing a couple carrots?  It just seems so boring...) My mind, however, seems to be clearer, lighter.  I've been on cleanse type diets for this long before and had the feeling of lightness in the body but never so much clearness in my thoughts.  I'm eager to see what foods are responsible for the brain fog.  For years I've been blaming it on the children.  I almost feel like I should write an apology!  It's been amazing to see the brightness of the sky, the sparkle of the water this week.  Like I am coming up for air after too long under water.  I've been able to complete work and think through things with out getting bogged down, you see how much I've been writing! I miss tomatoes the most right now.  It mus...

It is funny to be doing a minimalistic diet in conjunction with a clear out of excess physical stuff in my home.  It has got me doing a whole lot of thinking, of seeing the cross pieces of my life as it currently is.  Looking at the change while it is happening in a very intentional and cathartic way. Yesterday I thought I was doing very well with the diet, I even attended my first food oriented outing in the morning with great success.  I attended a brunch where people have a very clean, holistic style of eating and living and so I wasn't too terribly tempted.  However, I could only eat from three dishes there and by the end I was hungry. When we got home I made kale chips and consumed them all (okay, I shared a few with everyone else, E in particular.)  John made grilled cheese for himself and Emerson and that was fine until I was sitting across from them and had a little cartoon like daydream of myself ferociously attacking them and eating their sand...

Good morning!  How are you all?  Is anyone still here?  The last couple months have been busy and then this last one has just slammed us all with many new things.  There are several that I'd like to share with you and then I am hoping to share the journey too.  At the same time, since it is not all about me, I need to maintain some boundaries (which I quite admit I am not great at.)  I hope you'll find the journey interesting and you'll share it with other friends who might be going through something similar.  I'd love to start an actual dialogue here instead of just hearing my own voice, so if you have a comment or idea or story to share, please do. The first big change is my diet.  You know I am trained as a Health Coach and many of you know that before my son was born I struggled with Ulcerative Colitis.  Pregnancy and nursing somehow delivered the perfect cocktail of hormones to stop the disease in its tracks but in the last few mon...