Rosie's 'real food' adventure!

I just reread my last post - clearly I was very tired when I wrote it! So where is the diet now? I’m actually feeling pretty normal! It’s been 6 months and I’m finally getting to a point where my diet isn’t dictating my life anymore. The rice, soy sauce and seaweed seemed to go down ok at the time, but I later had to retract the soy sauce as it seemed to trigger me. That is very sad because soy is in EVERYTHING! I haven’t gone crazy with the rice since either, my gut health wasn’t crystal clear at the time and I have a small suspicion that it might also be a mild trigger. Going back on the basics diet when you’re just starting to taste freedom is ALOT harder than first starting it. It also sucks more if you’ve reintroduced carbs again and have to go through that withdrawal. I had another planned slip in control, unsurprisingly with the same friend I went to Vienna with. It was her birthday and I travelled to be there. The plan was afternoon/cream tea and then cocktails. I really didn’t want to be the stick in the mud and be awkward with the food (that had to all be prebooked etc). I decided since I’d been a little shaky, following identifying soy sauce as a trigger, I’d have a ‘wheat weekend’ and cut back to a stricter diet when I got back. And this is how it went down... I had a train station sausage roll (starving, in a rush) - felt fine. Had the afternoon tea (scotch eggs, pork pies, sandwiches, scones, shortbread and fudge cake) - felt fine! Had cocktails (avoiding rum) - felt fine! I was so chuffed, but didn’t want to push it, so when we went for end of the night snacks, I chose a ‘safe’ chicken and chips option - felt ill. GREAT! They weren’t even good chicken or chips, I felt so cheated. Thankfully I just felt ill and it didn’t trigger my ibs but it serves me right for eating anything from a scabby chicken stop in the first place. The strange thing was, the next day I actually felt better than I had done before the trip. I wound up eating some more wheat and decided to turn it into a reintroduction the following day when I was out for another friends birthday meal. So now I can eat wheat! (White wheat, I haven’t tried wholemeal etc) The diet is pretty against wheat since it’s so processed and not that nutritious, but I’ve actually been feeling quite good with it and it’s made everything SO much easier when eating away from home. On a sad note, if it turns out I can’t have soy at all that essentially means I won’t be able to go back to being vegetarian. I got quite upset about that at the time, it just drove home the message “things will never be as they were before”, but if I can have my health back then I’m perfectly happy to make that trade. On an exciting note, the final wheat reintroduction day I ate pasta at an Italian restaurant. Although it didn’t mention it on the menu, the first bite was far too delicious and I was certain there was garlic in it and as I kept eating there was possibly some onion in it too. Just incase you, dear reader, are unaware, garlic and onion are terrible triggers for IBS and in the FODMAP diet they are the only things that it’s recommended you cut out 100%. Which is difficult - they’re hiding in EVERYTHING. So I was fully anticipating an IBS flare up later that evening but.... nothing. Not a peep. WHICH IS VERY EXCITING INDEED! Currently I’m reintroducing tomatoes on their own, following this will be garlic. Hopefully things go well as that will make my trip to America later this month much easier!   

So it’s been a very long time since I last updated - whoops! No excuse really, I just kept forgetting. There’s a lot to update on! I stuck to gamble groups, they served me really well in speeding up reintroductions and broadening my diet, not only increasing nutrition but making it easier to stick to. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing though! Nope nope! It all went a bit downhill when I started on the wine (doesn’t it always?). After the reintroduction on the 2nd day went down fine, and considering I was at a house warming party of a friend who shares my love of single malt scotch whisky - I decided to gamble group it up and add give that a go, since I’d never noticed a reaction to whisky before. Given that I hadn’t drank in a long time (even before the diet), was on a carb free diet and hadn’t eaten much that day I was expecting it to hit me really easily... But it didn’t. I kept putting them back, wanting to get at least “merry”, to easy my social anxiety in this party where I knew very few people, all of whom were drunk. Aaand I accidentally got the drunkest I have EVER been. I went from 0 - 100 in about the span of 7 minutes, told everyone at the party they were wonderful, cleaned my friends bath and fell over face first into a wall. Needless to day I was very unwell the next day (though it was surprisingly not the worst hangover I’ve had). Getting through a hangover on this diet is ROUGH! While my ibs didn’t really flare up (score!) my digestive system in general was very shaken and took about 2 weeks and reverting to the basic diet to recover. Which coincided nicely with how long it took my nose to stop hurting. Following this I had a streak of bad luck with my gamble groups. Aubergine, bok choy and tomatoes caused some bizarre discomfort free diarrhea (nice!) and grapes (white, red, black) caused some cramps. I managed to get back on track and was able to reintroduce some carbs - buckwheat and potato (individual reintroductions)! I cannot accurately tell you how GOOD it felt eating potatoes again! So fluffy and buttery and they felt so nice and solid in my tummy! It has also made eating out MILES easier. Eating out, since I have been able to, I stick to steak places etc as long as their decent quality (pub steaks are a no go). Also, the handmade burger company is now my favorite go to since you can order them bun-less and customise what toppings etc you have. The beef patties have wheat in them unfortunately, but they have a selection of chicken and some vegetarian options that work.  Also reintroduced was coffee and tea (individual reintroductions). Much to my dismay I discovered that without sugar, I actually prefer coffee over tea. A true shock to my British nature! I have since warmed more to tea if it has a tsp of maple syrup or honey in it though ;)  All these gamble groups and speed reintroductions were for a specific purpose - to get me ready for my holiday to Vienna and allow me to stick to my diet while I was there! When it came to it I was really psyched and determined to stick at least to “No wheat etc, be sensible” even if I couldn’t control the sugar and oil in my food. One look over the lonely planet guide book and learning of the famous “Sacher Torte” and my resolve flew out of the window.  After those months of prepping and stressing over it - I barely stuck to the diet at all. I just avoided the foods I had reacted to, nothing else. I ate wheat in the form of cakes, bread, cakes, burger buns, schitzel and more cakes. I drank coke and fanta, tea with sugar - whatever! I even ate at McDonalds! And I over the 4 days I was there I only got sick once. Briefly, 2nd day, at 3am. Felt a little unwell going to sleep, woke up later, quick D&V session, once it was out, felt totally fine, back to sleep. No problem. Don’t know what triggered it... don’t know what I ate! We went to a pretty fancy restaurant and all I know of what I ate was that they were “Traditional dumplings” “vegetarian” and delicious. I also had a cocktail containing rum - which I always forget is generally a bad idea for me. But even the oils things were cooked in, which was a real worry for me, didn’t cause any issue! The friend I went with, though undiagnosed, clearly has developed IBS-A. So we were IBS-A buddies on this trip! A trick I figured out when my IBS was at its worst helped prevent the holiday getting ruined for her - travel sickness bands! 100% recommend carrying them around with you at all times if you don’t already, don’t underestimate those little bands.  I decided to use the 3 days home before starting back at work to continue this “eat what I want treat” and went a bit overboard (burritos, Italian etc) and got a bit unwell.  And that’s basically where I am now! Back on the diet, taking a more relaxed attitude to reintroductions. Today I started an impulsive gamble group: rice, soy sauce, and seaweed. 3 guesses for why I’m reintroducing these! Day one seems to have gone down fine :) This whole experience has been very encouraging, it really does seem, as the diet book claimed it would, that my gut has been strengthened doing this and I’m feeling very optimistic about the future now! I have absolutely no regrets about sacking off the diet to eat the original recipe Sacher Torte.

Day fifty..something.... I think? I tried reintroducing bananas. I wanted something carby so I could start exercising again. Sadly I reacted to them! I chose organic bananas, which were quite small. First day (1 banana) was generally fine except I felt a ‘shift’ in my gut. Second day (2 bananas) stabbing pains, headache and a mild IBS attack. Third day headache and general feeling of unwellness. I only bought them the day before reintroducing them, so they were quite green and I understand that can impact reactions. It’s a shame as I really like bananas, but at least they’re straight forward to avoid. I’ll revisit them with riper fruit next time! Gamble Groups I have booked a holiday to Vienna in August! I will also be off to America in November and to ensure I don’t starve, I’d like to reintroduce as much as I can before I go. This diet instructs that you reintroduce foods one at a time to be crystal clear about what you can and cannot have. I have decided to ignore this and speed up this process with what I have named ‘gamble groups’. It’s what it says on the tin really. I’m putting foods into groups of 2 to 4 for reintroductions at the same time. They’re grouped either on the type of potentially offensive food e.g. stone fruits are FODMAPS (Peach, apricot, plum = one group), foods which I suspect are safe (strawberries, kiwis raspberries) or just foods that are easily eaten together (kale, avocado, cucumber). I’m ordering their reintroduction by hardest to avoid etc. ‘High risk’ or suspected foods are still reintroduced solo.  Basically, I eat a group for the reintroduction and if all goes well, I’ve added 3 food items in 3 days rather than 9-12 days. If I react to a group I’m still saving time but the cost is that whole group gets shelved to a later date for solo reintroductions. This will make traveling an awful lot easier and also vastly expand my nutrition in a shorter space of time. Another strategic reintroduction I will be trying next is milk. I was lactose intolerant since my stomach infection, but a while before I started the diet I very much suspected that I had recovered from it. I didn’t switch back to dairy at the time as I was planning on starting this diet and didn’t want to rock the boat. HOWEVER! If I reintroduce milk first - which is arguably the worst offender in terms of lactose and casein and I am ok with that... Then I can essentially bring back all dairy rather than having to reintroduce them one at a time starting with the ‘least risky’. BOOM cheese would be back on the menu!   I’m very excited to start trying these gamble groups. I’m just a little bummed about the bananas.  

I don’t know what day it is - quite a jump forward from the last post! I have now happily reintroduced eggs, coconut, maple syrup and blueberries. This has allowed me to make coconut cakes and courgette breads which are amazing!! Everything has been fine, though I think that coconut in large quantities can make me a little gassy. This weekend I had my first “loss of willpower”.  I was super good up until this point and didn’t give in to anything. But there was a food festival in town which I went around with my friend. I had a couple of tiny samples of smoked pork and some cheeses. I also had the luck to come across a superfood wagon selling frozen coconut yoghurt. I had one with blueberries and pineapple - pineapple had been a safe fruit from the last diet and it went down fine. It was DELICIOUS!! SO damn good! I felt fine that day, thankfully :) No issues! The only issue I had was last week - I went out for my mum’s birthday, ordered gammon with a plain salad. I wasn’t sure if gammon was classed as processed meat or not since it’s salted, but it was my best option. I thought it would be grilled, but it looked quite oily. The meal itself was really good - the most satisfying meal I’ve had eating out since this started.... But before I’d finished I could tell something was wrong. And shortly after I finished I was getting sharp pains in my stomach, soon followed by a horrendous IBS attack (while still in the restaurant). We suspect it was perhaps the oil it was cooked in, maybe because it was cheap meat, but who knows. My attacks don’t normally start in my stomach like that - it felt like my stomach’s hissy fit triggered the IBS attack through spasms or something rather than the food (it doesn’t get to my bowel that fast normally). Plus my stomach was tender and I couldn’t eat much the next day without my stomach seizing up either - not normal for my IBS attacks at all. A grim reminder of why I’m putting myself through this diet. Other interesting notes: I went to London for an interview and found some pickled carrots in a polish shop (just carrots, salt and water) which are tasty and different! That same trip to London saw me buy £20 worth of sashimi for lunch and then a salad I could eat from a whole foods we stumbled on (I didn’t know we had those in England!). Today is the first day of a mushroom reintroduction - one of my absolute favorite foods. I really really really hope I can have them, since I thought they were a FODMAP trigger. It’s been hurting my heart to avoid them as I have. Check out the cake me and my friend made! We didn’t make the glaze in the recipe, I just mixed some coconut cream with a little vanilla and maple syrup to drizzle over it - lush! http://ourfourforks.com/classic-vanilla-coconut-flour-paleo-cake/

Forget the “2 day symptom free” part of the last post! No sooner had I posted that did symptoms return!!!

Everything is in limbo at the moment. A few days after the egg reintroduction I was still getting serious symptoms, which was very unusual.  Later in the week I had to go home from work as I was feeling actually sick (glands swellings, raised temp etc) and there is definitely a bug going round at work. This throws two things: - more confusion as to whether my reaction was actually to the egg yolk - a big spanner into the general progression of the diet. I am 2 days into being symptom free though - so fingers crossed I can get back on track! Being sick on this diet SUCKS! Sore throat - want a lozanger? NOPE. Cup of tea? NOPE. There’s legit options for “get better” food like chicken soup, but I have not had the energy to make it (I’m out of bone broth) - I put all my energy into making a double batch of cupcakes for a charity bake sale. Priorities!  I also hopped on the wii fit for the first time since before the diet started. I just did the body test, not any work outs! I have lost 13lbs! Almost a stone in just under a month! My BMI has dropped from being classed as overweight to in the ideal range. This is without any exercise, I really don’t have the energy to any kind of work out beyond walking home.  This is a really good sign as when my IBS was a constant issue I simply could not shift any weight. My body had always reflected my health habits quite directly but at this point eating healthy all the time and exercising every day was having little to no impact. I read that this was actually a sign of chronic low grade inflammation of the bowel - lots of fun! But hopefully now it means everything is healing and can start working properly again. I just really really really really want a cup of tea, 

So for the past five days I’ve had little to no symptoms and I was very excited for the chance to start reintroductions a week earlier than I had originally anticipated! I had an egg yolk today! Boiled and separated from the white - it was DELICIOUS! The joy ends there though! Symptoms returned!! With quite a punch! :( !!! I am very sad! I am going to make sure of this by postponing reintroductions for at least another week, just incase this was just my gut having a delayed play up (the elimination phase needs to last at least 3-4 weeks, so I’m really on the shorter end of the scale at the moment). There are also two other factors which may be confounding things. 1. We ate out for dinner today. It was just plain steak and salad leaves with lemon and olive oil, but you know - I wasn’t in total control of the food so. 2. My boyfriend is sick (wonderful timing since this is a bank holiday!) He started feeling bad some time last night and part of that has been digestive upset. So there could be a bug or something we ate. So I’m re-starting the five day timer and will wait until at least next week to try another egg yolk. I’m kinda used to the diet now though, so it shouldn’t be too painful waiting. In other news we just roasted a ham hock and made our own crackling - it is amazing! I’m imagining my life without egg right now and it’s making me very sad because eggs are great. I’m giving them a second chance.

Breakfast: Salted and fried pork belly Lunch: Roast brisket salad, snacks: Lime and mint jelly Dinner: Fried liver and carrot chips Symptoms: Essentially none Cravings: EVERYTHING Feels rating: 8 I’m feeling good! I’m still easily tired and need a lot of rest but I’m not feeling sick or having any ibs symptoms. I still get headaches sometimes but I’m pretty sure that’s due to my terrible posture which I’ve slacked in improving recently. If this keeps up I will be reintroducing egg yolks this bank holiday monday! I had a dream over the weekend that I was eating all the things I wasn’t supposed to and it reignited all my cravings. I’ve been torturing myself with cake decorating tutorials and I’m really pumped to try them when I can eat them again! I made a batch of jasmine tea jelly (a recipe from the book) but it was unfortunately over-stewed and bitter. Plus I think I really prefer to drink my jasmine. So I made another batch stewing mint leaves with some lime juice and the result is very tangy! It’s super easy to make and I’ve found it serves as a great snack to stave off hunger (plus I’m supposed to eat the gelatin). I had my weekly liver meal today (ox liver), I just fried it in coconut oil with some herbs, like a steak. It was difficult to eat though, it’s just so rich and the texture is just a bit off. I got through half the liver by having a bite of carrot with every bite of liver, and to be fair I think half the liver was a regular portion - that thing was huge.  Things are all looking good! Fingers crossed!! 

Breakfast: salted & fried pork belly Lunch: pureed vegetable soup (Pretty nice!) Dinner: Tilapia and steamed veg (tilapia is great). Symptoms: None really :) Cravings: Carbs and baked goods, tea Feels rating: 8 Today was a good day! The sun was out, it was a stressless day at work, I liked the food I ate and I didn’t really have any symptoms! The changes like my skin clearing up and weight loss have been noticed by other people, I wasn’t expecting such a positive change so quickly. Though to be fair the first week was awful! I have a double order of cupcakes to make this week, and I made the icing today. It wasn’t too hard to resist since I don’t lick anything if I’m making them for someone else but still - go go self restraint! I’ve been thinking about cakes a lot today - I love to bake. Once I have introduced enough foods back into my diet I’m doing to try to make some “real food” cupcakes! Watch this space! 

Breakfast: Salted & fried pork belly (<-- created an acceptable breakfast food!) Lunch: Carrot spaghetti and beef/liver mince. Uck. Dinner: Fried tilapia with steamed veg (and a bowl of bone broth, which I’m supposed to have with each meal) this was yummy and prepared by my lovely boyfriend. Symptoms: Tiredness. Cravings: Fruity, fizzy drinks/ice cream (it was warm) Feels rating: 6 Today was lower in energy, I didn’t get as much sleep, but I don’t think I really had any symptoms today. It was difficult to tell at first, since I get both IBS and periods, what the ache down there was due to, but I think it’s the latter. So I hope these cramps hurry up and bugger off sharpish so I can tell how my diet is doing! Food, with the exception of lunch, has been nice today, but I’m starting to get frustrated with amount of time I have to spend just prepping my meals, since it’s all from scratch. Especially since I’m not even that keen on half the stuff I wind up making. Combined with a general lack of energy it hasn’t been the most fun times. That said, things so seem to be improving! I don’t feel nauseous, my skin seems to be clearing up and I’ve noticeably lost weight. I don’t want to jinx myself but I might be able to start reintroducing foods after just 3 weeks at this rate :) 

Work days have felt SO long this week, but I managed to make it through Friday (day 5) without much incident. I even had enough energy to go shopping afterwards for a little reward to getting through my first work week! :) I got a massage bar and face cleanser from LUSH. They smell very nice.

Saturday was food shopping and I spent £30 on fish and meat for the week... I also bought lots of bottled water for the first time in my life because the water at work is eurgh. Late Breakfast/early lunch: Golden chicken and carrots (so fatty, buh) Dinner: Rib eye steak and green beans (tasty!) Second dinner (I was so hungry): Pork steak and carrot chips. (Carrots were accidentally too oily) Biggest craving: Everything, or tea. Symptoms: Massive headache. Tiredness. Irritability.  Feels rating: 3 (1 = low, 10 =high). Overall mood - very grumpy I started cooking with ghee, which is an awful lot better than eating it as is. I read back over some parts of the book to discover two things.  1. I cannot reintroduce bananas early on as I had planned as they are carbohydrates.  2. I CAN have green tea. I can pretty much have any herbal tea, red tea etc as long as it’s not black tea or contains added ingredients. It was just accidentally omitted from the main table. I got SO mad. I’ve spent this whole week sadly sipping boiled water, or stewed mint leaves when I could have been having some of my favorite teas instead! It has been so stressful not having tea!!!!!!!  I also realised that I need to be adding more fat to my meals to feel less hungry, it’s a little hard to stomach, but it’s helped. Sunday has been a good day. Late Breakfast/ Early Lunch: Golden chicken and carrots (tasty but bugh, so fatty) Dinner: BBQed lemon & salt chicken drumsticks, 1/2 a BBQed rib eye steak, BBQed carrots and courgettes, all wonderfully cooked by my wonderful boyfriend. (It was sunny, can you guess what we broke out?) Biggest craving: None really, NOW I CAN HAVE TEA DSJdifbsdfghsihsdu Symptoms: Very slight headache in the morning. Odd singular cramp in the afternoon. Tiredness.  Feels rating: 6. Although I’m still angry about the main table leading me to believe I couldn’t have green tea.

I spoke too soon! I SPOKE TOO SOON! Feeling awful again. Yesterday (day 3) wasn’t too bad, but I had a massive drop in energy in the evening and felt like my whole lower body was filled with wet sand. The jerky turned out amazing though! As did the vegetable crisps. I think that will be what gets me through this! It was so wonderful to eat something that wasn’t the texture of mush. I also had the most satisfying meal last night for dinner - heart skewers and roast carrots. Today I couldn’t shift a nasty headache and after lunchtime I started switching between hot and cold flushes and got really nauseous, I had to leave work early (thankfully I have a very supportive work place who are fully aware of this diet, I forewarned everyone that I may well get sick over this period). I think I’m shifting out of the ‘withdrawal’ stage and am heading into the ‘die off’ stage. I wasn’t sure if I would, since it seemed a little hokey, but I’ve started taking activated charcoal capsules to hopefully reduce the impact of this.  I’m thinking of starting to write these in a more structured way e.g. meals, symptoms and cravings etc. This has been more emotionally taxing than I thought it would be.