This diet should be called “The Restriction Diet”. I am constantly craving the foods I cannot eat. It pretty much goes against everything that I preach to my clients (Aside from the pure aspect of the diet. I mean, this diet is obviously very healthy and natural). I’m talking about how I tell my clients not to restrict anything, but to listen to their cravings and enjoy their “treat” foods in moderation. With this diet, clearly that’s not possible.
I used to be fine with just a piece, or two, of my Lindt’s 90% dark chocolate, but now I feel as though I could eat an entire box of chocolates and still want MORE! That’s what happens when you restrict yourself from the foods you love. I could say the same thing about cheese. I keep seeing it in the fridge, and watching Nick eat it….I want it so bad!!
Here are some of the things that have bothered me most, thus far:
– Corn is in everything. Yeah, yeah, I already knew that. On this diet I am not allowed to have corn. All I want is one small piece of candy, or something sweet, but everything has corn. I am allowed to have agave nectar on this diet (because it’s “natural” I guess….) but since it’s 90% fructose, I can’t have it (FODMAPs). I’m going crazy. I sound like an addict.
– There are no yogurts that don’t contain either dairy or soy. Unless, that is, you know of any. Anyone?!?!?!?! I am just not that into almond milk, and the cultured coconut milk is good, but it would be much better with some…..unsweetenend cocoa
– Stevia is gross. I hate it. It has that bitter taste like aspartame.
(**Speaking of aspartame, I received a couple comments about it on my last post. As it turns out, it’s in my Flintstone multivitamin. A couple people wrote comments about the dangers of aspartame. I agree we shouldn’t eat a lot of it, and I always tell people to mix up their artificial sweeteners instead of sticking to one and only one (I use Truvia, Splenda, and I guess…aspartame. I use very little, maybe one or two packets of either of these sweeteners each day) . I just want to point out that there are also plenty of studies that show bad affects from natural sweeteners, like Stevia. There is a downside to everything. This is why I always say eat everything in moderation. I don’t think a Flintstone vitamin will hurt me. I prefer the chewable vitamins because the nutrients are absorbed better when broken down, then swallowed, in my professional opinion.**)
Ok that’s enough complaining for today. Oh wait, one more things, I’m not feeling any better, or different. I’m guessing this might take more than 2 days!
Now let’s take a look at few of the things I ate.
I am still only doing about 200 mg caffeine per day, which is down from my usually 300-350 mg. I’m feeling just fine. I plan on sticking to this, and actually working my way down eventually.
I had my gluten free oats, pureed pumpkin, and crunchy almond butter for breakfast. I used almond milk to cook the oats.
Today I was on the road because I had to teach a diabetes class in Toledo, which is about 2.5 hours away.
In the parking lot I ate this cultured coconut milk with a handful of my homemade granola (molasses, gluten free oats, almond butter, and almonds). The coconut milk has not caused me any bloating issues. On the low FODMAPs diet I should not consume coconut, but the milk (cultured) seems to be just fine.
I enjoyed this salad in the car too (don’t worry, I’m a safe driver!). It’s a spinach salad topped with quinoa, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette.
For another source of calcium I steamed some fresh kale. Kale contains less oxalates so more calcium is available for absorption from kale in comparison to spinach, which contains many oxalates.
I steamed the kale and topped it with a dash of salt and a ton of pepper. I then sliced some butternut squash on top. I had about 4 ounces of organic chicken for my protein.
I’ve been snacking on plain rice cakes and nutritional yeast at night. Does that sound strange? It’s actually very tasted. The rice cakes are lightly salted and perfect. I have also been eating my veggie chips, which are a new favorite snack.
Strangely, I haven’t missed my popcorn. I am too busy missing my chocolate. Nick has been very supportive and has even given up ice cream this week (something else I’m missing) to make it easier for me.
I’ll be back on Thursday or Friday. Thanks for reading! I’m about to go snack on some rice cakes and nutritional yeast (or “nooch” as some of you say…).
