- coffee
- alcohol
- wheat/gluten
- dairy
- red meat and pork
- citrus fruits
- peanut butter
- soy
- sugar and processed foods
- corn
That's the gist of it, although there's more to it. The goal is to reduce the "bad" foods to see how each food group affects you. After 14 days, you slowly reintroduce each food group to see how you feel. I was looking to just generally feel better. My daughter likes to eat healthy, so she jumped on the band-wagon immediately. On day 5 & 6, I felt amazing! More like my old self again - high energy, clearer thinking, just generally feeling better in all ways.
I know you're thinking, "shoot me now" when you read through the list of things not to have, but so far it's not been that bad. I thought it would be really difficult and that I would succumb to some of my worst vices, but so far I've done pretty well. I did not give up coffee, although I did cut back. I went into the 14 days, knowing I would stick to having one cup in the morning.
The key for me was to plan ahead - if you have nothing in the fridge or pantry, it would be challenging to find foods to eat. So I spent a better part of the first day (it was a Sunday) prepping foods which I then froze for lunches and dinners.
Here's a partial list of foods which I prepped ahead of time to eat:
- Tuscan soup (with beans, tomatoes, rice pasta)
- Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potatoe Soup (click here for link)
- Pad Thai (rice noodles)
- Roasted Chicken and Peppers
- Turkey Chili, with navy beans
- And of course, lots of salads (chickpeas, chicken, beans, etc.)
The hardest part for me was that I always have a muffin for a mid-morning snack and often cookies in the afternoon. The muffins and cookies are home-made and healthy, made with oatmeal, fruits, whole wheat flour, flax seeds, etc. But I couldn't eat them as they're made with flour, peanut butter, and sometimes dairy. So I had to get inventive. I made muffins made with Quinoa flour and boy we're they awful. They were so bad, that I had to throw them out, which I hate doing. So I came up with gluten and dairy free muffins and cookies chocked full of goodness which are actually tasty as well. I should have written down how I made them but unfortunately I didn't. I took two regular recipes and "massaged" them using the following:
Cookies: gluten free flour, xanthem gum (which you need with the gluten free flour), baking soda/powder, oatmeal, pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds), dried cherries (dried cranberries would work well too), raisins.
Muffins: gluten free flour, xanthem gum, baking soda/powder, oatmeal, mashed bananas, diced banana, applesauce
Here are some other ideas for snacks:
- almonds
- fruits
- cut up vegetables
- oatmeal cereal (e.g. Cheerios, etc.)
- almond butter & rice crackers (or apples, celery)
- roasted chickpeas
We're fortunate to have a local restaurant serving gluten-free, dairy-free, and organic food - http://www.kindfood.com/. I can't wait to work my way through their menu. For now, I've had their "World Peace" cookies and their "Happy Buddha" bowl. The Happy Buddha bowl, also called Buddha's Feast, is amazing!! I scarfed it down like I hadn't eaten in days, it was sooooo good! A very strange combination of foods which I would have never thought to put together (e.g. brown rice, tomatoes, sweet potato, pepitas, almonds, cilantro, red onion, sesame seeds, avocado, etc.), but it works.
For now, happy, healthy eating! Check back to see how I'm doing......
No comments:
Post a Comment