AIP Forever, Whenever, Whoever Group Log

[Moluv]

I feel pretty good about deciding against the coffee- especially now that it's afternoon and I had a productive afternoon of yardwork before coming in for ablate eve with clients- I know I would have crashed hard and needed props. Thanks for the advice ladyM, and like beets mentioned on her log (where I accidentally posted) caffeine withdrawal being classified as a mental disorder. Sheesh, the LAST thing I need!

[Nadia B]

I am so proud of you (shedding a tear). I was struggling hard today especially having after wine condition. I didn't have coffee either. One choice at a time and it builds up, I believe. 

[Beets]

Now I feel bad about my coffee. Ack. My daughter slept for three hours while my son was at a play date and I got some good photo editing in. I also just resisted the urge to eat dark choc w sea salt (fave) that's in the freezer and ate more cabbage and brisket instead. Calling that in my favor.

[Beets]

--in my favor on balance of having coffee but not chocolate after five days of wobbly eating.

[Moluv]

Um, Beets you may not remember all the garbage I was eating post-trip, Starbucks- which I'm pretty sure may have corn syrup. You are rockin' steady girl. And Nadia- wow you've come a long way to be off the coff too- I remember talking to you about it a couple months ago and you were holding on for dear life. Oh, and back to Beets, I bought a big bag of shredded cabbage and have been sautéing or roasting it with ginger as per your idea. Gromgromgrom.

[calee]

Sautéed cabbage is a favorite meal of mine!  If I could eat potatoes with it, I would.  Instead I just eat it for breakfast every morning.  This morning I threw it into my turkey bone broth with some of the tender meat.  Boring and fab all at the same time.

 

I started having an 8 oz cup of decaf about a week ago.  I realized yesterday that I really appreciate the delicate flavor of Jasmine green tea more than the harsh decaf.  I won't allow myself caffeine coffee now that I'm about over my Ambien addiction.  I'm also not keen at all on black coffee which makes this easier!

 

Beets, you've been doing great with all of your choices.

 

Nadia, sorry for your struggle.

 

Mo,  here's to life with no props!  Does that include training wheels? 

[Nadia B]

Beets, oh please. You resisted chocolate. Superpower hehe. 

 

Finally I feel in a some kind of control over coffee addiction. Since I've started our mini AIP I had two cups. I am happy about it. I still miss it, as they say "I don't have a problem with caffeine. I have a problem without it". 

 

Guys you have to make slow oven braised cabbage from nomnom. I used to make it with red cabbage. It's my favorite of all times. Too bad I can't eat cabbage for now.  

 

Mo, I was thinking about histamine foods and scaling way down on booch. Today I had a bottle in the afternoon and I am all itchy. Maybe histamine intolerance is a real thing. I am scaling down to small glass a day too. Have you noticed a difference? Maybe I've missed it in the logs. 

[LadyM]

I have made that cabbage recipe, Nadia. Very tasty!

 

No cabbage even cooked? Is this a FODMAP thing?

 

Congrats on kicking coffee!

[Nadia B]

Cabbage upsets my stomach to a socialy unacceptable degree I love it dearly and my Dad eats it now after i've made that recipe. it is a Fodmap.

[Beets]

I do like that recipe for braised cabbage a lot, and I'd made it via Molly Stevens before and loved it, but it's feels wintery to me now. The lightly sautéed cabbage still has a bit of crunch. But it's not raw so is easier to eat. I would be very sad without cabbage.

Today I was so up and then my energy was drained. Coffee! Going to wean off, get back to tea. No end of day withdrawal from that. Feels cleaner in my mouth and doesn't take over my day.

[Beets]

Oops. Posted in wrong thread.

[Moluv]

I guess my AIP/IBS protocol has entered "unscientific reintro" phase YET AGAIN as I have had both unsoaked raw almonds and cocoa powder today. I'm thoroughly enjoying the homemade Wallerbars though I gotta say, and I'm still finishing my w30, just having a hard time with the nagging "do I really need this restrictions or what" thoughts. Still can't stop thinking I want to drink BP coffee tmrw. LadyM- do you use the Upgraded Bulletproof Coffee brand?

[LadyM]

I do, Mo, though I don't think I'll continue with his beans because they're ungodly expensive. I had a coupon for MCT+beans that I tried out. Love the MCT (and just ordered some collagen to try before bed) but will probably switch to tea or a local coffee bean when the BP beans run out. I also must admit I've been using straight butter, not ghee in my morning cup. It's nice to look forward to the ritual every morning (this is what I always miss when I quit coffee for a little while), and I find that without adding sweetener of any kind and limiting myself to exactly one cup first thing in the morning I don't have ill effects. But I don't seem to have a sensitivity to coffee or caffeine at this point.

 

Let us know what you decide and how it goes. The good news, as you know, is that nothing is a dealbreaker! However, it seems that people get most annoyed with themselves when they reintroduce too many things at once and can't discern what's causing problems, so I hope you don't do that.

[Moluv]

I will say that I had a chance to notice the difference btwn soaked and unsoaked nuts- I had success with eating soaked nuts and having no tummy upset, and most importantly. NOT OVEREATING THEM. The Wallerbars I chowed down last night were made with unsoaked almonds and they kept beckoning me to eat more as well giving me a bowling ball tummy. So cute and sad little belly. Otherwise (and besides the mishap with the BP coffee which I explain on my log) I feel fine. One reason for this is because I don't have a scale to give me a number to flog myself with all day. Another reason is that I have some damn cute clothes that totally mask this belly and so I'm wearing a handmade swingy minidress that my bf and I made together and it's kind of hard to hate on a body wrapped in so much love.

[dukunbayi]

Hi friends, I've been MIA for a bit but I'm back. Other than sticking with soaked nuts only, I am off AIP... ended up reintroducing everything while traveling, but stayed as paleo template as was reasonable without driving myself insane. 

In fact, I'm gonna make some mayo before bed  .

Nuts (soaked), sugar, binging tendencies. Making bone broth, ghee, mayo, booch, fermented veggies, my garden, meal template... those are my current foci. Will post my adventures in my log.

[calee]

Good morning! I want to check in that I've reintroduced three foods this week with apparent success.,only time tells if once or twice works but toxins might build for later reactions.

Egg yolk - great but 1 bite of white, sulfur gas.

Ghee - had a few teaspoons this week on sweet potato. No reaction.

Beef- had a grilled hamburger patty last night. Heavenly taste, would have another in a heatbeat. I love beef!

Decaf coffee - a cup in the morning. Oh how I've missed you! I think more than anything else. I want to not add caffeine offer because my sleep has been great. Don't want to ruin it. Green tea is my limit and that's before noon. Oh and booch, but also before noon.

None of these caused sleep disturbance which is where I often experience problems. Slept like a baby last night. No bloating. Flat tummy with almost a glimpse of abs. I'll see how my energy is this morning on my 5.5 mile hike.

I want to reintroduce peppers and tomatoes. One at a time. I wonder if cooked tomatoes are different than raw tomatoes? Antone have experience?

Happy Sunday everyone.

[Kirsteen]

Hi folks, sorry I've been AWOL things have been a little tapsalteerie (as we say here) for a while.   I think someone's *blessed* me with the Chinese curse 'May you live in interesting times'  I live in a 4th floor rented flat and it looks as though we're either going to made homeless sometime in the next few weeks (worst case but least likely scenario ) or (more likely) empty each room one at a time and put up with workmen pulling down and rebuilding walls for months Now, being a total packrat, each room already has it's full complement of furniture and I have a couple of  thousand books and 5 tall sets of shelves full of art material - aaargh!!

 

Add to that I'm chronically sleep deprived. We have a set of artists studios next to us and they have an open air entertainment area with a stage and sound system  in the second backyard to mine. Now it's summer they congregate there a few times a week. The music goes off about midnight but they sit about talking and spend ages clattering about clearing up and it's too hot to shut my window.  Add to that the local urban seagulls seem to find my window the perfect spot to have their daily 4am squabble - I never knew birds could be so noisy   then of course, my cat's awake, knows I'm awake and just doesn't 'get' how a human can be awake and not rushing to feed him then at 7am the workmen across the back start drilling and sawing metal pipes etc so I'm still trying to work out when I'm supposed to sleep

 

Anyway, I'm proud to say that through all this I'm still on the W30 AIP.  I'm allowing myself a black coffee every morning, I take it half caffeinated half decaff and, yes it's a ritual but one I really enjoy. I'm missing eggs because thy were such a cheap and easy protein. I'm eating a lot more sardines but they're not as versatile. I miss tomatoes, I ended up getting rid of a few meals from the freezer as they were cooked in a tomato sauce, but on the whole I've found it a lot easier than I thought I would. I think, with everything else that's going on just now, the simplicity of shopping and cooking AI is actually helping. Whether or not I'll feel the same long term is debatable but I suspect not. I can totally understand the wanting to find balance, being able to be social without stressing. I guess I'm lucky that I don't socialise much but I do have to go out for a meal in a couple of weeks. Since I neither like nor trust the restaurant, I can see me drinking  black coffee, while everyone else eats. I thought I'd stick to their salad bar but, even there, all I could have is iceberg lettuce, red onion and cucumber - everything else is either not W30 or not AI compliant.

 

I also think cabbage and brussel sprouts are going to have to be off limits - I am just not socially acceptable after eating them - it's so bad I'm not even acceptable to myself   i saw the book you recomended about the AIP, FODMAP free and hummed an hawed about it. Now I wish I hadn't as it's unavailable and they don't know if they'll be getting it back

 

Being a packrat, I found the notebook I'd noted the results of food tests I had done about 4 or 5 years ago, the one where you take a few drops of blood, mix it in this vial and pore it into a tray, the foods that turn blue are the ones you're supposed to have antibodies or whatever for. It's funny my strongest reaction was to wheat and gluten, which I already knew, then rye, rice and yeast, then oats and corn, then eggs, tomatoes and soya then an extremely mild reaction to orange, lemon and grapefruit and a question over coco beans. (Who mentioned dark chocolate with sea salt - I've never heard of anything more tempting in my life)

 

It's hard to believe this is my 17th day. I totally get that this is a long term thing, not a quick fix but after the 30 days, I'm really tempted to try egg yolks so I could have mayo - we'll see. Anyway, although i hadn't replied i have really enjoyed everyones posts - you're all absolutely awesome.

[Nadia B]

Hi all, check out newest shopping lists! I like that they've done it. http://whole9life.com/2013/06/expanded-iswf-shopping-lists/

 

Calee - so FREAKING excited about the beef. 

Mo, send me some of your belly masking clothes, I need it desperately. 

Kirsteen, I am glad you are doing well with AIP. 

 

I am a wreck, because I've got gluten and dairy (I am sure) as well as nightshades and God knows what else with the food at that damned stupid wedding (no options for anyone, one menu for all, how inconsiderate). I was eating around everything I could, but with first appetizer (suspect eggplant was there) I got reactions (red face, stuffed nose, breakouts (yes 15 min after) and all that jazz. My tummy is screaming and now I've learned the new level of pain and  digestive distress. I couldn't get any decent sleep for 10 days in a row (3-4 undisturbed hours tops), I am in a complete zombie mode. No coffee, but chocolate happened. Lack of sleep make me want all the sugar in the world, I am eating fruits all the time. I want bananas. All I can think about is eating bananas. Hello 7lb. I can't stomach anything (TMI! Food is simply comes out undigested). Other problem it doesn't really come out. TMI again, sorry peeps. I have weird cravings (mad fat cravings like eating coconut oil straight from the jar). It is understandable, because I am not absorbing anything. KP is crazy inflamed. Itchy skin, rashes on the insides of my hands. Sore throat on top of that. Awesome. 

 

Plan. 

 

I am trying to take a day off and just lat flat on my bed and sleep all day if my body will allow me.

Making veggies list again (low FODMAP, AIP etc) and doing 4-5 days of strictest perfect AIP to get inflammation under control. If the only veggies that will remain will be squash and zucchinis, so be it. 

No booch for these 4-5 days then slowly reintroduce. 

 

I will deal with weight after. I hate the feeling of clothes being more tight and I hate being a big bloated lady in summer, but I have nothing better to do than to deal with it. 

[Kirsteen]

Nadia, I am really sorry, I sooo hope you're feeling better now.

 

I'm still on the AIP but having a few issues. I used to get eczema on my shins but haven't been bothered with it for years. On day 15, out of the blue, it really flared up, no idea why, fortunately it's subsided again. I've also realised I have definite issues with at least some FODMAPS.

 

Right now, with everything else that's going on, I can't face trying to do a complete AIP and FODMAP free at the same time (do I sound like a whiny brat - smack me upside the head someone ) so I'm sticking to AI and just cutting out other things as I realise they're upsetting me. Cabbage and brussel sprouts are the first to go I absolutely adore leafy greens so I'm struggling a bit here.

 

I'm also in a bit of a dilema. My daughter is flying in for a visit on the 26th and staying til the 1st. She has PCOS and I'd love her to try a W30. I sent her the book which she swore she'd read once she finished her thesis but I hae ma doobts, as they say I know she'll insist on her toast etc for breakfast but I thought this would be a golden opportunity to cook her some W30 compliant meals and show her how enjoyable they can be. However, knowing her, the AIP is a step too far. If I'm cooking separate meals for us, she'll insist on having her usual pizza, pasta etc. whereas she would happily eat chocolate chili, thai curries etc if I'm having them.

 

Half of me sees coming off the AIP on day 26 as a total failure and the other half sees staying on it as wasting an opportunity to help her. I plan on going back on it anyway, or at least playing about with what i need to avoid. I guess if I have strong reactions, I'd be back on it quicker than planned. I'm still undecided but I have to make up my mind soon

[calee]

Nadia, I am really sorry, I sooo hope you're feeling better now.

 

I'm still on the AIP but having a few issues. I used to get eczema on my shins but haven't been bothered with it for years. On day 15, out of the blue, it really flared up, no idea why, fortunately it's subsided again. I've also realised I have definite issues with at least some FODMAPS.

 

Right now, with everything else that's going on, I can't face trying to do a complete AIP and FODMAP free at the same time (do I sound like a whiny brat - smack me upside the head someone ) so I'm sticking to AI and just cutting out other things as I realise they're upsetting me. Cabbage and brussel sprouts are the first to go I absolutely adore leafy greens so I'm struggling a bit here.

 

I'm also in a bit of a dilema. My daughter is flying in for a visit on the 26th and staying til the 1st. She has PCOS and I'd love her to try a W30. I sent her the book which she swore she'd read once she finished her thesis but I hae ma doobts, as they say I know she'll insist on her toast etc for breakfast but I thought this would be a golden opportunity to cook her some W30 compliant meals and show her how enjoyable they can be. However, knowing her, the AIP is a step too far. If I'm cooking separate meals for us, she'll insist on having her usual pizza, pasta etc. whereas she would happily eat chocolate chili, thai curries etc if I'm having them.

 

Half of me sees coming off the AIP on day 26 as a total failure and the other half sees staying on it as wasting an opportunity to help her. I plan on going back on it anyway, or at least playing about with what i need to avoid. I guess if I have strong reactions, I'd be back on it quicker than planned. I'm still undecided but I have to make up my mind soon

Kirsteen, here's my unsolicited opinion. How often does your daughter visit. If not monthly, I'd switch to template eating. Heck, template is great and how cool will that be to share this special part of your life with her! I'd definitely go for it. You're not saying you want to go on the pizza, baguettes and chocolate diet. You are never a failure. It's well ahead of the event and you are making a rational, conscious choice. Choice is good! Do not waste a moment fretting about this.

As far as your skin issues. I have a tiny patch of rough skin by my nose when I eat too much eggs, beef or oranges. I stopped those May 1st. The first 20 days the patch was much worse, then it started improving. I have had beef a few times in the last two weeks, and egg yolks last week with a break for a week. My skin there is a tiny bit rougher.

Have a fab time with your daughter!

[Kirsteen]

Thanks Calee. My daughter visits about twice a year and, you're right, it would be so much better to enjoy meals together than to make an issue out of each one. I'm already being awkward in that we're going out for a meal with the whole family on the Saturday and I'll be having fizzy water and black coffee. It's not even a W30 thing, it's that there's nothing in that restaurant that I would eat, since I'm always gluten and dairy free and, because of other's physical constraints, I can't change the restaurant.

 

So I've decided, most of my meals will still be AI compliant but I'll make mayo with egg yolks, chocolate chili and chicken with a tomato sauce. I won't actually be having anything that's not W30 compliant because, I don't really do that much anyway. One things for sure, if I have a bad reaction to anything, it'll make me even more determined to keep off it in future Thanks for your, as ever, excellent advice.

[calee]

Hi Kirsteen, I think you're making the same decisions that I would. The thing about AIP is that you can return to it the day your daughter leaves. You can't bring back your daughter. No regrets!

I'm on day 55 of being Whole 30 compliant. I will need to think on this and decide if I am in for another 30 or what. I think it might need to be at least 75 so that I can reintroduce nightshades, but not white taters, thoughtfully. W30 is just so easy for me right now that I hate to stop. I know tht I will come off for sure at 100 to dabble in dairy prior to a European trip at the end of August. Most likely another W30 after that two week trip. Just thinking out loud this morning.

Enjoy your daughter! Feel good.