A week or so ago I put up a post entitled “Wish Me Luck!” because I was just starting a challenging 6 Week food elimination programme designed to support people with auto-immune inflammatory illnesses, including PMR.
I was so impressed by how many of you responded and so grateful for your brilliant support. Thank you!
It's all going well so far. The meal planning is challenging but I'm starting to get the hang of it.
I avoided all grains last week and increased healthy fats. This week I continue with that and also avoid legumes and nightshades, and add bone broth. I'm not vegetarian at the moment otherwise it might be harder to follow this nutrient-dense plan without lots of supplements.
The programme takes an in-depth look at general lifestyle habits too and one change I've made is to set a regular bedtime, with time allowed to wind down quietly before bed. I already had a regular waking time which I've kept. I’m learning to appreciate how vital good sleep and rest are with PMR. I'm already sleeping better and for more like 8+ hrs, and going back to sleep more easily if I wake in the night, which I often do. As well as pain this waking in the night could appparently be caused by blood sugar imbalance, which this way of eating is gradually addressing, so I’m hoping this might improve.
I've lost 5lbs, which I expected without any grains, and I definitely have less pain and stiffness around upper spine, neck and shoulders 🙂
So far so good! 👍
Next week Dairy and Coffee will be added to my Avoid list. That will be...interesting! 😝
(For more see: Wish Me Luck! Update #2)
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xdbx
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Well done you xdbx what amazing will power and what a positive preoccupation to have, heaven knows we need one. Feeling in control of aspects of this illness must give you a tremendous boost. I really am rooting for you, keep us posted. Be forgiving if you slip up though, these diseases are punishing enough.
The programme I'm following is very well organised with lots of support and good planning so I'e got the kitchen well stocked with plenty of delicious and highly nutritious things and so far I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything!
Fingers Xd though 'cos it might get a bit harder soon...and I agree about forgiving slips, thanks for the reminder. Very important not to stress about any of this...or anything else for that matter!
Oh no, not dairy and coffee? How would I get through a day - a morning - without those two???
Have you posted this new regime on here? Apart from the two mentioned above I might be able to stick to the diet, at least give up SOME of the ‘bad’ things. (😏😏)
Good job! Glad that you didn’t find it extremely difficult. I’ll be interested to see if you notice change in symptoms when you eliminate the daily. That would be a really hard one for me. Best wishes for next week!
Thank you! Yes its fine so far and I'm curious about what will happen without dairy too...
Well done....my willpower not do strong. I was reading some research yesterday that said you are more likely to become lactose intolerant if you cut diary from your diet as your body reduced the amount of lactase produced and lactase is required to process it. Just a caution if you reintroduce at some point.
Yes I've heard about this too and thanks for the caution. I don't know yet how long I'll be off dairy and obviously I hope that doesn't happen but if it does I'm told the key is to reintroduce lactose very gradually with small amounts and build up slowly. I plan to do that anyway because I want to see what difference it makes...
It's worth trying anything at least once in your life. I was vegan for 8 years and someone invited me for a meal and put cow's milk rather than soya milk in a sidedish. Let's just say I had a terrible night!!
My, too, for about that length of time. I was making sloppy joes for family that were visiting and the smell of beef, onion, and tomato lured me back. I found out very fast that digesting meat after you've been off of it proved to be difficult.
I had to go veggie after that as I started work at a place that just about offered veggie food but no one had heard of vegans. I would like to. Go vegan but at the moment being veggie will have to do. At least I am not the only one now. I have 2 adult Bruce's that are minimum veggie and an 9 year-old nephew who only eats things that don't look like animals but is a bit hit and miss bless him. He is a renaissance man...food art music. 😂😂 Cracks me up.
What is a sloppy joe? In S. Africa it means a very long, loose-fitting sweater, almost down to your knees. We wore them when I was in teens/early twenties...about 50 years ago!
Yes! Years of not eating meat and the aroma of those ingredients had me ‘just having a taste’. Bam! I was back to eating meat - from a glorified hamburger. I still get excited over them.
It's only the Cosmo but it might help if you have lactose intolerance if you go back to diary.
Ohhhh, that’s good to know. And ever better, a reason for me not to give it up. I could give up cream in my coffee (oops, that’s being given up, too), but the thought of no cheese would be depressing.
Dr. Oz just did a segment on this yesterday: to give up dairy or not. His recommendation was to find ways to lessen by incorporating non-dairy products such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk into the diet and keeping things like kefer and cheese.
But there seems to be a bit of chatter on to give it up or not. I’ll be interested to see,xdbx, how you fare.
Low carb high fat approach encourages cream rather than milk. Can't remember why. But I used cream a lot last year and full fat yoghurt and lost weight. Go figure.
Greek natural yoghurt. It's the fruit and sugar they sweeten it with that increases carb content. I would rather have my carbs as some soft fruits in Greek yoghurt. The 0% fat ones are good too so I mix it up.
Cheese is OK for lactose intolerant people! It has milk fats but not lactose in it! (Dietitian advice not me!) I am lactose intolerant and use lactofree milk but ordinary cheese and it is fine.
Admire what you're doing! I don't know if I would have the will power and determination to see the whole programme through . Will be interested to hear your results.
Good for you! Certainly foods affect us all in one way or another. My son an ardent health promoter says keep off Dairy and Grains. I try hard, but not so easy. So well done you.
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