Whole30 with M.S. & plenty of GI issues; attempting autoimmune & Wahls protocols as well

[ferricderric]

Quick backstory: I was diagnosed this past July. Also, I was attempting the Whole30, but then moved back to school and just completely bombed. I've had gastritis for ~2 years now, and was recently diagnosed with IBS. I'd like to get at least some of this under control, as you may imagine.

 

The Wahls' diet is basically: eat 3 cups of green/cruciferous vegetables. 3 cups of brightly colored veggies, and 3 cups of other veggies/fruits,, along with ~4 oz. of animal protein (I'm a fair bit younger than Dr. Wahls, so I'm going to probably eat some more. However, I'm lucky enough to live by some grass-fed farms, so I'll definitely be eating only high-quality meat). I think this should be pretty easy to incorporate into my Whole30, since it's basically just saying "make sure to diversify what you eat", rather than 

 

My log is actually starting on Day 3 (yesterday's food), because I didn't think to join the forum before then. Ah well, better late than never!

 

(Note: I'm underlining the actual food/exercise parts if you don't wanna read through my full log. Thanks for reading!)

 

Morning: ~200-300g of kale and some strawberries + banana in a smoothie. I like doing a smoothie for 2 reasons - (1) I'll get my appropriate quantity greens in that way (2) Medical school doesn't leave me with loads of time, and if I'm spending a little less time cooking I can spend a little more time studying.

 

Afternoon: Sauteed red cabbage (in ghee and coconut oil - I just noticed the AIP says no ghee, so I'm going to have to stop buying that. Which kinda makes me sad, because when I was growing up, my mom cooked a lot of stuff in that so it has strong sentimental value. Oh well, I know why I'm doing this - because health is the most important thing we have!) and an orange bell pepper. Also ate 2 grass-fed beef burgers (~8 oz).

 

Evening: ~200-300g of kale and some strawberries in a smoothie. Ate some more of my sauteed red cabbage and orange bell pepper mixture.

 

Exercise: From what I've seen, for MS patients exercise is even more important than the population at large. However, I am incredibly out of shape (have been for a while) and hate doing things like running for the sake of running. Luckily, one of my classmates invited me to play some basketball, and we probably played for 1.5 hours. I was dying after 30 minutes - I could barely move. However, it was a step in the right direction! I'm pretty excited about that.

 

Thanks again for reading! Any suggestions or support is incredibly welcome =)

[Tom Denham]

From your log, it appears that you ate a big serving of protein at your afternoon meal and none at your morning and evening meals. You need to eat protein at all meals during a Whole30. And you will have a much better day if your morning meal includes protein. The composition of your first meal is incredibly important to how your whole day goes. 

 

Smoothies digest faster than whole foods, so you cannot get the same satiety effect from a smoothie as you do from eating whole foods. You set yourself up for problems every time you substitute a smoothie for whole foods. And the idea that you cannot afford the time to wilt kale because you are a busy student doesn't fly. You said you spent 1.5 hours playing basketball. You can spend 5 minutes wilting kale in some coconut oil. 

 

Speaking of basketball, that is a really smart exercise plan. If you don't like running you should not run. There are lots of things to do in life, so you should choose something you actually like. Congratulations on letting play be your exercise.

 

We do not recommend following the AI protocol for your first Whole30. Unless you know you have specific food sensitivities - and it sounds like you don't - it is best to just do an ordinary Whole30. There is no need to make things harder unless experience demands a more rigorous protocol.  

[Bet]

Hi, if you do have IBS, you may want to look into having less cabbage and peppers. Even cooked they can trigger IBS flares in many people. In fact, cruciferious vegetables are very high in FODMAPS:

 

Wheat, onions, and cabbage: Also an oligosaccharide, wheat contains a type of sugar called a fructan. Fructans are found inulin and other common foods such as Jerusalem artichokes, cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower, onions, scallions, garlic, and avocados.

 

http://bodyecology.com/articles/ibs-and-digestive-issues-5-categories-of-fodmap-trigger-foods-could-cause-countless-symptoms#.Ugoyw8q1rYs

 

I think kale is ok. I concentrate on greens like well cooked spinach, bok choy (a good substitute for cabbage, especially the baby ones, they are very tasty) broccoli rabe (not broccoli, that is also a FODMAP), green beans.

 

With your MS, you want to make sure that you are not upsetting your digestive system and missing out on nutrients you need.

[ferricderric]

Day 4

 

Thanks to both Tom Denham and Bet for the wonderful Day 3 feedback! I'll stay off of the AI protocol then. Tom, your point about eating is definitely not wrong - I guess if I'm going to be honest with myself, I just don't know if I'll be able to actually eat that many greens. The upside, though, like you said, is I end up consuming less food overall most likely and end up getting my signalling mechanisms working properly. 

 

I'll certainly start incorporating easy-to-eat animal protein during my mornings. I  think I'll buy some eggs, then, and try to make those pretty regularly in the morning, since they're so simple.

 

Bet, thank you for that website! I'll definitely be utilizing that resource from here on out. I've already cut out grain and dairy - I'll be careful with my fruit intake and which veggies I use from now on. Hopefully that'll make a difference.

 

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One thing I have noticed is I have a bit of a challenge eating bigger meals without starting to get a lot of discomfort in my abdomen, along with kicking up my reflux. Also, I forgot to mention this last time, but I'm actually on 40 mg omeprazole daily right now for my gastritis (I've had gastritis ~2 years now). I end up eating more than 3 meals as a result, which I know is suboptimal, but I don't really know what else to do.

 

Morning: .25 pounds beef heart, sauteed cabbage and orange pepper (from yesterday) with turmeric and cumin. 

 

Early afternoon: .25 pounds beef heart (with turmeric, cumin, and coriander) and mushrooms (with turmeric, cumin, and coriander).

 

Night: After looking over the Whole30 guidelines again, I realize I ate this meal way too late (probably about 30 min before I am going to bed). I also didn't end up following the "don't drink your food" recommendation for this meal (I will start tomorrow by wilting a ton of kale though!), and drank a kale filled smoothie with some strawberries and a banana. I also had 2 eggs, sunny side up, friend in ~2 tsp coconut oil. Something interested I noted - I definitely got a little bit of discomfort after the smoothie, and as I think back, that's something that's happened other times as well. I think there may be too much stuff for my gut to handle with the smoothie (b/c I'm able to pack so much more food into a smoothie than I would be able to eat), so I've got some added motivation to eating, rather than drinking, my nutrient intake.

 

Goals for tomorrow: Eat your greens via cooking, rather than smoothie. Also, eat a palm-sized portion of protein with each meal. Any other things I should be doing? Also, is there anything I can do to improve my log?

 

Well, that's all for the day. Please leave any feedback you have, as I am implementing the feedback I get ASAP. It's been great stuff so far. Thanks for reading!

[Bet]

Looks like you are getting the hang of it. Since I came to W30 with digestive issues, I also had trouble eating full meals in the beginning. It will get better. And I struggle with greens too, but that you get used to too.I also used to be on omeprazole. I decided after reading a lot about it, I decided to stop taking it. I know it's hard because it makes you feel better, but it can actually make gastritis worse.  Here is an article about it that may interest you:

 

http://chriskresser.com/how-your-antacid-drug-is-making-you-sick-part-a

[ferricderric]

Day 5

 

Musings

 

In terms of my goals from yesterday: I did not drink anything save water – instead of shakes, I just wilted kale in coconut oil (which takes an incredibly small amount of time – that was awesome to discover!) and rather than putting fruit into the blender, I just ate it whole. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. One thing I realized was I'm not very mindful when I eat – I eat in front of the computer way too often. Tomorrow, I'm going to make a point to eat one meal mindfully – no distractions. Baby steps, baby steps =).

 

My questions: anyone have particular whole30 meals they really enjoy? I actually need to incorporate more non-cruciferous veggies into my diet to do hit my Wahls diet quotients (examples include  peppers, avocado,  summer squash, okra – I actually have the latter 2 in my fridge, in case anyone has tips on cooking them other than sautéing in some spices  I need to get at least 3 cups of those along with 3 cups of nice brightly colored fruits/veggies as well (though with blueberries and strawberries, that becomes a bit easier to do).

 

I've also noticed I'm either (a) hungry after my meals often or ( hungry way too soon after a meal. I think this is a function of having reflux/gastritis/IBS so not being able to eat that much - I think I'm going to try and jump off the meds eventually, but I've had gastritis for ~2 years now, so I'd rather let the acid stay low and let my stomach heal a bit while I also heat healthy foods that I hadn't been eating in the past. Then, when my prescription runs out, I'm going to wean myself off of PPIs rather than get another one. Thanks to the wonderfully supportive people here and my way-better-approach to the Whole30 this time around, I really believe I'll make it to that day =D.

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LOG

 

Morning: At 7:30AM: 2 eggs (sunny side up – normal grocery store eggs), kale wilted in coconut oil, 3 strawberries. I noticed this gave me some left flank discomfort and a bit of burping, but both were less so than when I was drinking shakes. I think this is because I'm consuming less kale + fruit overall and my body is happier with that. I also take 1 tsp of Carson's fish oil (lemon flavored) straight. At ~10:00AM, ate a small amount (would probably cover my palm) of leftover sauerkraut. I found that I got hungry pretty quickly after this, and after getting home ~12:00pm I quickly ate again.

 

 

Early afternoon: around 12:00pm: 1 banana, a handful of hazelnuts (raw…I just happened to find some info about soaking/sprouting nuts on Marks Daily Apple. I'll try soaking some tonight and eating them tomorrow morning). Unfortunately, this did not really assuage my hunger, so at ~2:00pm, I ate a slightly greater-than-palm sized portion of grass-fed beef liver with some wilted-in-coconut-oil kale. This actually filled me up, and I think it'll keep me going for a few hours.

 

 

Evening: around 6:30pm, I was getting hungry and planning on going to play some basketball, so I ate about a half-palm sized portion of grass-fed beefliver. After playing some basketball (woo for exercise! I have been atrociously sedentary for most of my post-high school life, so getting some movement in is pretty exciting, even if it's as little as an hour of being outside and playing basketball).  After coming back home, I ate a palm-sized portion of grass-fed beef liver, 2 handfuls of blueberries, and a lot of kale wilted in coconut oil at around 8:30pm. So far, this hasn't caused me too much distress (a bit of mild left flank discomfit à way better than I was getting with the shakes, and even better than the of discomfort I got this morning. No burping this time, which is AWESOME.

 

[ferricderric]

Day 5 addendum

 

Turns out I was still hungry after that dinner. Ended up eating 2 eggs (sunny side up) fried in coconut oil at 11:30pm. Ideal? Definitely not. But man I was stupidly hungry.

 

Also, I just put down 2 mason jars of water, making me realize I definitely need to increase my water intake throughout the day. I'm learning a bit about myself already!

[ferricderric]

Day 6

 

Today was a bit of an interesting day. Roasted some hazelnuts (after soaking them in salt water for ~15 hours). They definitely taste better, and now apparently have less phytic acid levels, both of which are awesome. My hunger levels are increasing a bit, which I didn't expect, but I did play basketball today (after playing yesterday as well), and I usually do 0 physical exercise. I think my body is slowly trying to acclimate to a greater physical activity level.

 

So I had a couple bananas today (spaced hours apart), and the are really sweet. I wonder - should I just throw out the rest since it could reawaken the sugar dragon? They haven't made me feel the "oh man I feel temporarily better" feeling that sugar generally gives me (good lord I am addicted) & I didn't binge, but I'm really paranoid about messing that up. I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts!

 

I also probably ate more hazelnuts than I wanted to today - I'll have to keep that under control tomorrow. I didn't binge and eat the full jar or anything, but I would've liked to been limited to one handful/day, and today I probably at 2-2.5. Not worth starting the Whole30 over for, but certainly something to keep in mind.

 

Otherwise, I feel ok for the most part. Just surprised that I'm eating more than I'd have usually expected. Also, I definitely need to drink lots more water than I realized - I am pretty thirsty much more often now!

 

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Morning: Before class, made 2 eggs (sunny side up). I also ate a handful of blueberries. Since I'm on 40mg omeprazole, I think I'm going to start just making omelettes to lower my salmonella risk, but man I will miss the taste of raw yolk. In my kind of stupid moment of the day, I had wilted some kale, and then forgot to eat it before going to class -___-.

 

Afternoon: Here's an opportunity to brag about a victory today! A club I'm a part of had Samosas and chocolate bread during its interest meeting, and as someone who grew up with tons of samosas (for those wondering, they're an Indian appetizer - basically a fried dough triangle with peas, potatoes/meat, and spices inside. For me, I not only find them quite tasty, but also have a lot of childhood nostalgia wrapped up in them, so there's a whole emotional level that produces all sorts of potential issues as well. Really amplifies the temptation). However, I didn't have any the entire time, and I stayed for an hour to talk to new members and friends I hadn't seen in a while! I instead came back home after and ate the kale wilted in coconut oil I had made that morning along with (a little more than a handful of ) leftover grass fed beef liver from yesterday. After a couple hours, I was going to play basketball, so I also ate 1 egg (sunny side up). I ate a ton of eggs today.

 

Evening: Post-basketball meal was some more kale wilted in coconut oil, along with 2 eggs (I currently am defrosting some ground beef - I'm excited for some new meat sources, ha) and a handful of blueberries. 

Late evening: This was post-nut-roasting, so I had a 2-2.5 handfuls of roasted hazelnuts. Not that happy with my consumption of them, but I am aware that these have some danger now, so I can be careful when I'm around them. Also, for some reason I stll felt kind of hungry (I don't know if it was physical or psychological), so around 10:00 pm I cooked another 2 eggs (sunny side up) and ate them. I'm quite full with minor left flank discomfort now - I'm a bit disappointed it I got it today, and it definitely came from the potential overeating with the eggs. Looks like I'll have to keep a closer eye on the psychological VS physical hunger thing. And get used to eating more at my meals.

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So tomorrow, I've got a date that I'm excited about. Even though we're meeting at a bar/restaraunt that serves "organic beef", I think I'm just going to stick with water (or at max, a salad). I understand that it could look like bad form, but I am way more excited about the potential healing of a Whole30 than anything else in my life right now, and thanks to cues around me that are promoting success, my chances of completing it are definitely higher. I feel like I not only can complete my Whole30 right now, but that I will, like without any doubts. It makes me pretty happy =) Only thing I'll need some help with is questions like the psychological V physical hunger question, and my question about bananas that I posted in my preamble to the food log. However, that kind of thing lets me really understand the whole "this is the beginning of a journey" aspect to the Whole30 and this new approach to eating - I won't know all the answers initially, and it'll take some time to figure it out.

 

Cheers, and thanks for reading! See you wonderful people tomorrow

 

[Bet]

Bananas used to be my go to mid morning snack. I tried having them on W30, but a half a banana with breakfast and maybe the other half with dinner. The fruit serving is two a day, so having a few bananas a day would be too much. What I did find that were great were baby bananas. They are about the size of my thumb, so I can have 2-3 with a meal and it's one serving. I do think bananas are high on the sugar scale, so I do limit my intake of them.

 

Have fun on your date!

[ferricderric]

Have to restart! :(On my date today,I got a salad and had some dressing but forgot to ask to see the ingredients before eating it. Then I asked after going if be lucky...and I was not. My stomach actually feels kinda of shitty now, which is surprising to me. Key thing though: I'm not going to just let loose to my sugar Dragon for the day (banana wants me to eat it even though I don't need it? Fuck that shit). Also not eating my home roasted nuts just to feel better. I will hold strong to the 30 like I don't have to reset, then just stay from day 1 tomorrow. This was a pretty important learning experience: I have to be "that guy" when I go out to eat. Even with stuff that I thought would be fine (I asked for olive oil for the salad and she asked if I wanted like a vinegar and oil mix to which I said yes, thinking it would literally just be a mix of those two. When I saw the ingredients, it was the standard mix of 50 things, the majority of which were things like corn syrup), I have to be vigilant. It does kinda suck I have to restart, but now I won't forget this for the rest of my life. And when I finish this Whole30 a month from now, it will be all the...week not sweeter...let's go with savory. It's going to be fucking awesome. LET'S DO THIS

[Bet]

I don't think you have to restart. It's not like you cheated, you just ate something you thought was ok, but it wasn't. It happens a lot. I would just maybe add a day at the end if you wanted to.

[ferricderric]

Hi Bet,

 

I know you're probably right, but I feel like for myself, with all my health issues, it's probably a good idea to really get a full 30 days in. Plus, it'll make the eventual victory a little more awesome knowing that it didn't come without a bit of a challenge. I just started a new log to commemorate a fresh start;. http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/12847-currently-on-first-whole30-and-had-to-restart-currently-have-ms-gastritis-and-ibs/

 

I'd love if you kept stopping by - you've been a wonderful source of encouragement so far. I'm going to stop posting in this one from here on out.

 

Cheers!

[amberino21]

I can understand you may need to eat smaller meals more frequently, but you seem to snack a lot - more "grazing" than meals.

Can you plan perhaps 4 meals a day, making sure all of them fit the template? You mention being hungry a few times, I think it's often because your meals don't have enough protein or fat! Both will help keep you feeling satisfied for longer.

When you have eggs, go for however many you hold in your hand - for most people that's 3-4!

In terms of ways to add more vegies,

grilled zucchini/eggplant/mushrooms/capsicum are delicious,

roasting is easy - sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, beetroot, Brussel sprouts - and you could do a lot in one go.

Stir fries are quick and easy - you can include a rainbow of vegetables!

Ratatouille is an easy way to prepare a lot of vegies - include what you can have/like in a tomatoey sauce