Gonna fight to stay whole.

[VivaLaMeredith]

@J9er WOW I'm so out of touch!  We definitely don't have that type of drivers license in New Brunswick.  I'm going to have to read up on the perks. I feel it would definitely be beneficial to have one. I typically enter into Maine the busiest crossing however, the longest we've had to wait is maybe 45 minutes but that was an extreme occasion. I went to a private school in Maine and had to cross the border every day it would have been nice to have a Nexus card then but they weren't a think yet that was back in the previous century! 
 

The gas is a big draw and we also get a lot of amazon.com items sent to a post office there so we save on shipping. I typically find the price of organic food there is the same price as regular here. Perhaps slightly more but certainly not as expensive as it is in NB. 

[J9er]

Well, things are plugging along over here. I am ready for fall  

I am really wanting to get in to a functional medicine Doctor. I've been saying it for awhile, but I really need to get on it. Finding the right person is the challenge and I've been procrastinating. 

I just don't really feel quite right. I haven't for a couple of years now. Whole30 has definitely improved my quality of life but I can't help but feel like something is still off and I'm not really sure where to start. 

I feel like it could be any number of things - SIBO, FODMAP intolerance, candida, something else - some sort of hormonal imbalance? Could just be a continuing leaky gut that I need to heal. I could take the time and probably figure it out on my own, but it would just be nice to have someone to work with and maybe they will be able to point me in the right direction, faster. Or maybe it's none of these things and I'm just overthinking everything  -- I which case it would be great if someone would tell Me that too - but it's kind of a gut feeling....

I have been eating well - with occasional off roads - nothing major - for quite some time now.  I exercise 5 days a week. I am seeing some small changes in body composition, my arms and legs are looking more toned, I do feel stronger. But my stubborn mid section is not improving. It really hasn't budged. This leads me to think something is off. It is all abdominal fat, and it just feels stuck. I do have some bloating off and on, but there is definitely a spare tire there. I have stepped on the scale a few times. Honestly the number doesn't really mean much to me any more so I know I can't rely on that to tell me anything. Or do I just need patience?  Continue on - maybe throw in another whole30 and continue to heal?

Energy levels are generally good, but I do feel as if I have to push myself to get things done, and do wonder if I've just grown used to having low energy. 

Goal for the week is to make an appt by Friday -- I deserve answers and I feel like it is too much for me to delve into in my own. 

[J9er]

Have I made my appt? No. But I'm working on it. 

Was awake a lot through the night with a break out of eczema. I have felt this one brewing for a few days, but was hoping it wouldn't come. I'm lucky it is just on one hand, but annoying just the same. 

So, will continue keeping it strict. How many times will I let the reigns loosen before I learn?  I DID enjoy myself, was it worth it??? Well, mostly.  It is getting easier every time I travel and I don't go off the rails, so I have hope this will pass quickly, and it's a lesson learned for next time, and a choice I'll have to weigh out. 

I am betting it may have been some sneaky gluten and the one beer I had when I was in Montreal. I am not convinced dairy is a problem for my eczema, although I know it bugs my tummy - the last dairy was icecream in Montreal. It's such a delay between ingestion and breakout, it is hard to pin point, but I am so looking forward to a whole30 once my travels are over in October. It will have to be a super slow roll reintro because of the extreme delay. I probably won't bother with gluten as I know it is the main source of my skin issues. But I do wonder about everything else. I am hoping this bout will pass quickly as I have been compliant since returning home, the sleepless nights are what drive me crazy. 

My stomach is still off and on. It's nothing terrible, it's just an underlying annoyance. But I do have to wonder if it doesn't feel quite right, if it could be leading to the eczema as well. Doing my best to decrease FODMAPS - I'm hoping not to have to eliminate them completely....I'm just lazy I guess -- sometimes super frustrating that with all of the changes, I may have to make more. But I do know that's the way it goes sometimes, and I'll get there, slowly. 

After all my complaints about my belly and not losing the belly fat, I threw on a pair of jeans today and they were pleasantly comfortable. So, more patience may be in order . 

[J9er]

Had a pretty nice weekend. Lots of work around our house, a little bit of visiting with some friends we haven't seen in awhile and got some relaxing in too. 

The weekend was good food wise, but our weekend-typical bad timing and not enough veggies was apparent. It's kind of one of those things, I cook all week and just really don't feel like jumping up to get in the kitchen on Saturday morning. My husband usually gets up first and makes coffee and brings it to me, but he isn't so inclined to start breakfast right away - not that I blame him. So breakfast all three days was a little light in veggies, and Sunday and Monday we only ate brunch and supper. I found myself a little snacky, and while I didn't snack a lot, I was picking at some cut up fruit berries - not ideal. 

I had corn for the first time in ages - all three days this weekend. Some tortilla chips on Saturday, corn on the cob Sunday and Monday. All worth it, as it isn't something I care for on a regular basis. But it made me totally lazy and sluggish following. I had bought the corn as was craving  some good fresh corn on the cob, intending to have my one piece and call it good. We happened to be at a party in Saturday, and I decided to have the corn chips, forgetting about the cobs at home. Then last night I had a left over ear in the fridge, so added it to our veggies last night. 

So glad it's only a four day week, feel so good to start off on a Tuesday. Only one week till we leave for Canada, so I know it will be a busy week prepping for that. 

[littleg]

Tell me more about how you've gotten your husband to bring you coffee in bed on the weekends... 

[J9er]

4 hours ago, littleg said:

Tell me more about how you've gotten your husband to bring you coffee in bed on the weekends... 

 he's the best! It may or may not be residual fear from my nursey-shift work days Coffee=happy wife.....although it mostly still rings true. 

[J9er]

Have had a pretty good week. Weather is still HOT, although there has been some cooler days mixed in.

I went to my functional medicine appt today. I phoned on Friday and they happened to have a spot open up for today, so I snagged it. 

It was pretty interesting. She is suspicious for candida and possibly some thyroid issues. She took a thorough history and ordered a ton of blood work, stool analysis, and took a hair sample. She hooked me up to a thing called a bio scan. It was really cool. It does a scan of the body using some sort of radio frequency -- don't quote me. I thought it was kind of 'woo-woo' at first, but interestingly enough, all of the things we talked about, candida, thyroid, some skin issues, digestion, my scalp (had a major episode of hairloss, a while ago), and a few others, popped up. 

Its going to take me a while to do the testing due to my upcoming travels, so my next appt isn't for a month. She was pretty confident that I will get some definitive answers, and can stop with all the guessing after we get the results back. 

I'm super happy about it. Makes me feel so relieved that I got this going, so looking forward to finding out some answers and feeling better. 

Eating has been going well, no off roading this week....well there may have been a few squares of this amazing dark chocolate I found . I know my trip will have PLENTY of opportunities for that, so I wanted to keep it clean this week. 

I've made arrangements for the wedding dinner to be gluten/soy/dairy free. I'll have access to a raw veggie tray, but all of the salads won't be suitable, but that's fine with me. I am so excited about our food adventures there, there are so many farm to table restaurants in my home town, but we are going to visit one new one that has just recently opened, and one old faithful we can't pass up. The menu for that one will be created for us, there's nothing set. When I made the reservation I told them of my restrictions and they will make sure it's all compliant, but we won't know what we're eating until we arrive. All of the food comes from their property or within 10 miles! It's so awesome. 

Prepping food for our trip tomorrow. Raw veggies, pickled veggies, small container of mayo, tins of sardines to eat (prior to boarding of course! I won't be a fishy offender). Cooked chicken for the plane, a few olives.  Rx and epic bars, and one old expired Lara bar just in case - these have been riding around in my purse, bags etc - have made trips to Canada and back with them. But there if we need them. 

Picked up my bridesmaids dress today from the tailor. Annoyingly, the alterations (simple) cost more than the dress. Ugh. I wasnt pleased, especially since it's a dang ugly thing and I have one just like it hanging in my closet already (ordered it without realizing my sister and my best friend have surprisingly similar taste, it's literally the exact dress). Oh well. Hopefully the last wedding I'll be in for a looonnngggg time...or ever  I'm getting too old for these things. 

 

[littleg]

Good news on the functional medicine front!  I'm interested to hear what they find and suggest.  Maybe ask if they have anyone in the UPSNY area they recommend

Safe travels and enjoy all the delicious food - if your trip to Montreal is any indication, you are a pro at doing just-enough off roading to enjoy yourself but also staying true to what you think is the optimal way to feed your body!

Don't think of us, stuck here in the suburbs while you are off galavanting in the mountains   You are planning on some galavanting right?!

[J9er]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do feel good about the trip -- uhhhhh should I tell you about my galavanting? Well I won't be climbing anything high. Nothing over 2500 feet! However: there are 3 mountains within a 15 min drive from one another that just have the BEST trails on them, with incredible views and on Wednesday I am going to do a 3 mountain day - I've only done it once before when I was training for a race and it was a grind. But I seem to think it's a great idea now for some reason. Then on Thursday morning I am going mt biking in my old stomping grounds, so that will be great too. The rest of the time is devoted to my dear sister getting ready for her day and dare I say, wearing the dreaded pink dress. 

Pics to follow! 

[jmcbn]

10 hours ago, J9er said:

wearing the dreaded pink dress.

My sister made me wear pink too. I'm really not a pink person..... 

Enjoy the trip! Looking forward to your updates when you get back!

[littleg]

Yes, tell me and post pictures of the trail.  I think I may be done with most galavanting for a while... so reading of other adventures is all I can do.  Turns out even my 1 mile warm up jogs are causing braxton hicks contractions (that I thought were bladder cramps all along... and are not too comfy) and while I read that some docs say "they're fine" other docs say "don't do things that cause them".  So I'm leaning towards erring on the safe side.  So until our little squirt can go in a backpack he/she won't be going up too many mountains anymore.  Got 5 of the 46 High Peaks though   Cascade, Porter and Whiteface 2 x each... so if you count total high peaks hiked it would be 8, but only 5 of the 46.  I was hoping to get to 10 or so while pregnant.  Oh well.  

I'm sure pink will look lovely   

 

Safe travels!

[jmcbn]

37 minutes ago, littleg said:

braxton hicks

Yeah, been there, done that - don't test the little squirt's boundaries...... 

[J9er]

Ok, I'm back! Whoa. 

The trip was crazy. Crazy. 

It was a crazy long trip there as our flight was delayed on the way causing us to miss a connection. This was detrimental as I am from an island off the west coast, and it is a MAJOR PAIN In THE BUTT to get there if that flight is missed. I'll spare the details.

I have a love hate relationship with going home. I am lucky to have a million friends andfamily who want to see me but it ends up being a marathon of visiting....tons of driving too. All of my plans for doing my amazing out door stuff went out the window with all of the running around for the wedding prep. I didn't even exercise once. The one day I was going to be able to get up early for a hike, my husband spent the entire night vomitting (bad burger we think) and I had to deal with him.

I woke up on the day of the wedding with the beginnings of a nasty head cold, similar to the one I got in the new year when I was home. 

All of my complaining aside, the wedding was gorgeous, stunning really. My sister was beautiful and appreciative of all we did for her. We did squeeze in a couple of quality visits, and I know those people really appreciated that. I have spent the rest of this week a bit jet lagged, coupled with being sick, so I've slept a lot. Finally feeling better today. 

Food. Did fairly well. I did choose to eat Thai food once that clearly was not gluten free -- so the magic 6 days passed and my hand has broken out with eczema. My choosing the Thai food led me to choose the (not worth it) pretzels on the way home, don't know what that was all about. I was beating myself up a bit the other day, but really if all I have to complain about is some Thai food and some pretzels....whatever. Meals weren't all template and veggies were lacking as they usually do on vacation, but oh well. We were back to paleo as soon as we stepped into the house. 

Alcohol consumption was definitely increased for me. But holy....my husband and I really don't drink. We just don't. It blows me up like a balloon and I just feel gross if I do. Well this group of people....can they ever drink, whoa. I kind of forgot after being away from it for awhile. I just keep thinking "all that sugar!!!", never mind their livers. 

We leave in a little over a week for California. Another week, another wedding. we have all kinds of plans for hiking there of course, but I don't want to be disappointed, so I'm trying to let go of those plans. 

 

 

[jmcbn]

Welcome back J9er. Don't beat yourself up - I think you did well under the circumstances, and some times a little break from exercise is exactly what the body needs.... So a week to regroup & repack? Get you, you jet-setter!! And California, eh? It's positively Autumnal here now - I'm into thick tights for work. I'm holding off on the boots for as long as possible though!!

[J9er]

7 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Welcome back J9er. Don't beat yourself up - I think you did well under the circumstances, and some times a little break from exercise is exactly what the body needs.... So a week to regroup & repack? Get you, you jet-setter!! And California, eh? It's positively Autumnal here now - I'm into thick tights for work. I'm holding off on the boots for as long as possible though!!

You know, it really has felt good to rest. It's just funny where the old mind will go, I will say I have let it go way faster then I would have before, and there will be no over exercising to "catch up". I suppose I was a bit disappointed because I really consider those hikes in my home town to be medicine. There is a strong indigenous culture there and the mountains are sacred and spiritual. BUT, this trip really wasn't about that, it was about my sister and I think I did a good job of making her feel special and showing her how much I love her - we had a rocky relationship until somewhat recently.

I am also the type to have a plan and want to stick to it, so when things change I feel like it's all just "ruined"! Ha. Glad I'm working on these things now as we don't have kids and I KNOW I will have to breathe and let things go once we have them lol. 

Oh, I'm jealous of your tights and soon to be boots weather! I know it will come soon enough here, but I just can't wait. 

I'm  looking forward to the dry heat in California. It has been quite warm there (mid thirties most days), but it cools off during the night and is chilly in the morning. I will definitely be in shorts and tank tops. Our family wear jeans 365 days a year (I'm not kidding) and no doubt they will be in sweaters and fleece jackets by the time we come.

 

[J9er]

My jet lag? Has finally lifted. I can't believe how crappy I've felt since we've been home, and how only a 3 hr time difference can have such an effect. My energy has finally kicked back in today and I'm now in high gear making sure everything gets done for this next trip. 

Have finished my series of tests for the functional medicine Doctor, and look forward to seeing her when I get back. Really hoping for some answers. I had to go to my regular family doctor last week for a physical for my health insurance. He is a nice guy and I do like him but I did have a chuckle as I felt he thinks I'm a bit crazy. I have respect for him because he hasn't seen me in a year, and he did remember the issues I described last time and seemed to want to help. He was pleased with our diet changes and told my husband to keep up the good work as he's lost 30-40 pounds! I described difficulty losing weight and he gave me a lecture about "calories in vs calories out" blah blah blah, and questioned how hard I am working out....I really didn't feel like getting into it with him, so I just smiled and nodded. He ran the usual blood work, and I didn't protest as I know the blood work I'm having done through the other doctor will be much more informative. 

I did leave a little defeated and started to question some things - like my fat intake....is it too much?? And I eating too many carbs? Not enough? Too many calories? I know I train well, and have been working on the right balance of training and recovery for me, but his comments again, made me question that. I know I am on the right track, and I know the science, it's just crazy how a couple of comments can have such an effect. He commented that my mood seems down and that hasn't changed over the course of the last year. I agree and while I do have periods of feeling down I think there is a ton of factors at play here. And again, something like candida overgrowth could be affecting me. He suggested seeing therapist, and while I'm not at all against therapy, I think if my underlying issues are resolved, I will be fine. 

I don't think he's a bad Doctor, and I'm glad he seems to care, I'm just glad I have the chance to work with someone else who will respect the path I'm on. And my weight issues aren't super severe. If the functional medicine doc told me she could address my digestion and fatigue and that I may not lose weight, I wouldn't care. But I have a feeling if my other issues are resolved, the weight will follow. 

 

 

[littleg]

I heard on a (paleo) podcast that the average MD gets 9 hours of nutrition education in medical school... so I wouldn't put too much stock in what this doctor has to say about conventional wisdom in that regard (1800 calories a day of Twinkies... might be fewer calories in than out but probably not optimal).  You are on that right track  And you know you are  Remember that!

 

I have no idea where you are these days with your jet-setting ways... but I hope you and hubby are happy and safe!

 

PS - color in the ADKs is AMAZING.  I was up at camp for 3 days (walking the dog on nice flat, short trails...) and wish that my little iPhone could make the color look as good as it does in real life - I'd post some pics, but they all came out rather blah.

 

 

 

[jmcbn]

On 9/28/2016 at 2:55 PM, J9er said:

I did leave a little defeated and started to question some things - like my fat intake....is it too much?? And I eating too many carbs? Not enough? Too many calories? I know I train well, and have been working on the right balance of training and recovery for me, but his comments again, made me question that. I know I am on the right track, and I know the science, it's just crazy how a couple of comments can have such an effect. He commented that my mood seems down and that hasn't changed over the course of the last year. I agree and while I do have periods of feeling down I think there is a ton of factors at play here. And again, something like candida overgrowth could be affecting me. 

Stop right there. I agree with littleg - you probably know more about nutrition than he does so please take what he says with a pinch of salt. You're definitely on the right track, and you're doing great! And if you keep dwelling on the possible tweaks, and dialling down your fat intake, or your carbs, or your general food volume you'll be back to dieting and that gets everyone nowhere, fast.

We all have down days. And his comments probably brought you down fast. But to me you appear to have more ups than downs and that looks like success to me.

[J9er]

Thank you guys. 

Even though I know all this stuff, it still stings to hear it from these guys sometimes. 

I am still in California, 

Will post a big update this week, holy moly, it's been an interesting trip. VERY DIFFICULT EATING CONDITIONS. But have done ok (thought of you littleg, as I ate a piece of licorice today....my first red dye in quite some time...it was good ). Exercised 3 days and got an amazing hike in though! 

Anyways, more later! 

 

 

[J9er]

Ok. I'm back. I've been waiting to post because I wanted to post some pics from my computer, but of course the pics are on my husbands phone and he's sleeping....

We got back on Sunday and I've just been trying to get through the week -- west coast jet lag again. I've taken a nap every day .

I'm so glad to be home and have all of this wedding stuff behind us....except....BOTH of our siblings (my sister, my husband's brother) have now announced to us that they are expecting babies. Lol. Six weeks apart. Seriously?? So, I imagine there will be some more west coast travel in the near future.

The wedding week was insane. Just a ton of running around, dealing with ++family drama, dealing with Bridezilla ...we did manage to get out for an incredible hike. My husband used to maintain a section of the Pacific Crest Trail with his father, so he took me out to show me his old stomping grounds. It was an amazing day, with amazing views. I managed to get a couple other little workouts in, so overall felt pretty good about that. Eating was alright. Stayed gluten free and dairy free. I did a lot of the cooking, which was totally fine. My husbands family eat out basically every meal. At places like Taco Bell. I sometimes worry/complain about the changes I think my family should make....well they have nothing on this family. It's dreadfully scary. They seemed happy with some home cooking, and I was happy to do it. We did eat out twice at an AMAZING mexican restaurant. It was the real deal, and so worth it. One of the visits I had their homemade corn tortillas. They were amazing, but did leave me with a bit of a tummy ache. I skipped them on the second visit. The wedding meal was just not floating my boat, so I picked at my plate, and ate an epic bar and some other snacks from my purse. I did the same thing the night before at the rehearsal dinner as it was a big pasta meal, and was so thankful for the purse full of emergency food. 

Needless to say, we were both so happy to get home to our own kitchen and cooking. It was also a bit annoying having lots of questions asked why we weren't eating the junk. We tried to be discrete, but that's hard sometimes too. It was mostly hard because they have zero understanding. They don't even really know what gluten is...but anyways....

So I had my appt with the FM doc on Wednesday. Was super interesting and illuminating.

As suspected I have a yeast overgrowth - with possible parasites present, and basically zero measured probiotics in my gut. She deems me at high risk of Crohn's due to some inflammatory markers. I have heavy metal exposure and chronic liver inflammation. The levels of heavy metals are frightening. Also have a mold exposure and pituitary dysfunction and some hormonal imbalances. The list goes on....immune insufficiency with a possible exposure to Lyme's disease, mycoplasma lung infection, blood sugar instability with high fasting insulin and glucose levels, pre celiac (a couple of markers highly elevated, but of course my gluten intake has been very low for many months, and I'm not interested in doing a gluten challenge or having a biopsy), and last but not least, some anemia and vitamin deficiency. Yikes. 

It all sounds really overwhelming, but really I'm just happy to have some answers, and I know that a lot of this stuff is stuff that people live with forever, and just accept that they feel poorly. I'm happy to know all of it is pretty easily fixable, but I know it will be a lifelong work in progress for me....I'm just excited to know what I have to do to work towards the healthiest version of me. The good news is that my thyroid seems to be functioning pretty well and she said she could pretty much rule out Hashimoto's.

So I'm pretty much whole30ing now. I'm following their 30 day gut reset but with a whole30 spin. Their protocol allows some non-cow dairy which I'm not interested in, and they allow honey and maple syrup...These things aren't really an issue for me, but I think I'll continue to leave them out. Some of the supplements I'm taking wouldn't be compliant due to alcohol in the tinctures, and one has ricebran powder or something like that. Smoothies are sort of encouraged (although other breakfast choices are totally fine too), which I'm totally not into either and I've made that pretty clear. Other than that, it's basically a whole30. I'm breaking up with my scale again. It has somehow drifted back into the house, and I've been weighing often. What's worse, is the number now more than ever means nothing to me. I have no concept of what I should weigh - the number hasn't budged in months, but really it means nothing. So there is no point in weighing, I just need to get rid of the dang thing, again (I blame my husband )

The plan for dealing with all of this stuff is fairly lengthy. It will take a good 4 months to get my liver cleared and get rid of this mold, and yeast and she figures up to a year, to get to a good baseline. Again, just happy to know what I'm dealing with and really looking forward to feeling well again.

 

[littleg]

Holy moly, that is some list... if you don't mind my asking how was all of that diagnosed?  I wonder how many problems are linked to some gut dysbiosis and will be fixed with improved gut flora... seems to be the hot idea these days "the gut controls all"... I sure hope that you aren't just on a bajillion supplements and that the doc helps you find a way to deal with some issues via food!  And kudos on just leaving the scale behind for a while - focus on making food choices that will improve your health vs detract from it and get some satisfaction from that for a while  

Super impressed with how well you've been able to handle so much travel and still eating so well.  I usually leave my wagon home when I travel and eat all.the.food...  so good for you!

 

 

[J9er]

Yeah, it is quite the list. I had a comprehensive stool analysis, a wack of bloodwork, and a hair analysis, along with a pretty thorough history and physical. 

And yes, a lot of it is stemming from gut dysbiosis for sure. That is the first thing to correct, it's the hope that some of the other things will follow. 

Diet is huge. 30 day gut reset, maybe longer. I will be taking a supplement to help remove the biofilm a bit faster (can't remember what it is). Then a systematic reintroduction (sound familiar? ) of all removed foods, including nightshades. I'm off night shades for now too - which I've been struggling with a bit. I didn't realize how much I eat them!

 She thinks all of this could all take 3-4 months. During that time we'll also test some foods that are cross reactive with gluten. Coffee is one of those foods, who knew? I've started decreasing it, and the diarrhea I was having through out my Whole30s and other recent digestive distress has resolved. The other offenders aren't things I consume regularly and quite a few are non gluten grains which I don't  eat anyways.

Once I'm feeling better and have done a good examination of offending foods, then we will work on rebuilding my gut....probiotics, vitamins, etc. 

She has left hormone, adrenal, thyroid support until the end of the program because she feels that it may be corrected and I may not need it at that time. 

It does feel really good to have a plan in place. That was one of the things I was struggling with, not knowing where to start. 

I am super lucky to have most of my visits covered by my insurance, it will be just the supplements that I pay for - which can get quite spendy of course. 

In other news, we have a leaky pipe in our basement. Luckily I caught it while I was changing our water filter and it's just cracked nut that needs to be replaced. And not too much got wet. I could have fixed it myself, but the section of pipe is so corroded, I couldn't loosen one screw and neither could my husband. So we've had to shut the water off and we've been with out it for almost 24 hours as I had hoped my husband could fix it when he got home from work. Hoping a plumber can come right away this morning! 

[jmcbn]

Wow - I wasn't around much at the weekend & just seeing your post now. Sounds like you've a lot to be dealing with there, but great that you're getting to the bottom of it, and so so great that you aren't being fobbed off with pills & potions, and are able to treat most of it through diet.

See? You were always on the right track - you just needed a little extra guidance!!

[J9er]

One week of my gut reset done. I'm feeling well. I can feel the difference being fully dairy free and fully off of all sugars. 

I do feel a little bit daunted by having 3 weeks left, I'm not really sure why. Staying away from nigtshades has been a bit challenging - I made a fair amount of tomato based things like spaghetti sauce and chili. Peppers, I have never really cared for and usually added them to beef up veggie content or cooked them because my husband loves them. Same with white potatoes, I'm not the biggest fan, but my husband loves them. He hasn't said anything about them being absent though. 

But it's a chance for me to try some new recipes and not be dependent on my staples so much. I made a stew using sweet potatoes and beets for the base with ground turkey, and a bit of cinnamon for seasoning. It was delicious. We had taken it on our back packing trip and loved it, and it was just as good at home for dinner. Will throw that into the rotation for winter for sure. 

I'm really hoping my energy starts to pick up. My desire for a nap in the middle of the day has been overwhelming. I do need to be better about sleep hygiene and having a better routine in the morning - I know simply 30 days of clean eating won't fix it if I'm not getting enough sleep. 

I went out to a friends house today, she hosted a luncheon for a few of us (and a bunch of wild toddlers eek). There of course was a ton of food and nothing Incouldnhave, but I brought my lunch. It was funny because everyone commented on how good it looked, and it was just a throw together veggie, protein, fat, kind of meal. As good as all of the other food looked - it looked equally unappealing if that can make sense. The thought of an eczema break out is now almost too much to bear. I'm not sure I'll ever not want a cupcake, but it is getting easier to refrain. I enjoyed spending time with them so much, it was 80 degrees here today (or more) and the fall colors are really something else. We sat outside and ate and talked and I was just able to enjoy the company. 

 

 

 

 

[littleg]

I'm just curious - if you don't mind typing it out - what are the dietary restrictions you are trying now?  Besides nightshades  Do purple potatoes have nightshades - I assume they do (not the Japanese sweet purples, the ones that regular stores carry).  Have you checked out the AIP cookbooks out there - some might even be old enough now to be in your local library ?    

What is it in cupcakes that causes the eczema?  Just wondering - because life is a long time to go cupcake free - it would be nice to one day have one that you could enjoy and not have consequences.  I just saw a recipe from America's Test Kitchen for the "ultimate GF" flour - which got rave reviews... if its gluten that is the trigger maybe try googling that recipe once this gut reset is over...?

And can you post a link to that stew  ?  Hubs will hate it (cinnamon does *not* belong in meat!) but I love cinnamon!  We are renovating our kitchen starting Monday (argh!  2-3 weeks with no kitchen...) so this weekend will be the cook-up of all cook-ups!  In fact, any stew/casserole favs would be appreciated...