The Diet

So as I said in the Intro my doctor ordered me to start an anti-inflammation/elimination diet. It starts out with the bare essentials and then adds foods back in as you go. It's a good way to figure out if you have any food sensitivities or allergies.

The way my doctor explained it to me was that I would be taking antibiotics to kill off the bacteria and following the diet to "provide a hostile environment that discouraged bacterial growth." The idea of providing a hostile environment for illness is something that has stuck with me. 

So I have been following the diet from Recipes For Repair since May 2012. 


Here are some pointers to get started:

Preparation

Give yourself about 1 week to prepare before starting the diet. Get your ingredients. Organize your spice rack (or get a spice rack if you don't have one). Throw away any bad food that's in your kitchen. Clean out your fridge & freezer. 

I read a great article several months ago that I can't find now to link you to. It was about changing how you think about food. We tend to eat food that makes us feel good emotionally. The key is to eat food that makes you feel good physically. Once you know the difference, you will crave the good stuff and forget the bad. 


Read Labels!!!

You have learn how to read labels like a hawk. Give yourself extra time at the grocery store for label reading. In the beginning it took me about 2 hours to read all of the food labels and get through the grocery store but it gets easier as you go. 

Education

Learn about the food industry. Once I learned about what I was eating, where it was coming from and how it was produced - it was much easier to make the change. Here are some good videos. Watch them. 

Forks Over Knives

Fed Up!

Decoding Your Produce

GMO Ticking Time Bomb


Cooking

Probably the biggest obstacle I had to overcome was learning how to cook. I was the most undomesticated person on the planet before all of this started. 

Supercook.com saved my life. The most fantastic website for the domestically challenged... you type in the ingredients you are allowed to eat and it tells you what you can make with them and how to make it. 


Time

It takes time to prepare healthy food. I plan 30 minutes to 1 hour before each meal for food preparation. Plan ahead and be prepared to take the time necessary to cook your food. Once I learned a few recipes I would cook larger batches of things at once to give myself a break. 

Seriously people, I used to nuke it or drive thru it for all of my meals. If I can do this anyone can. 

Food

I eat a lot of organic fruits and veggies. I eat raw foods everyday and I try to eat a variety of colors. Eat from the rainbow. I usually snack on nuts such as almonds or cashews in between meals. 

Foods I was advised to stay away from include sugar, bread (yeast), white potatoes, pizza, pasta, dairy, peanuts and alcohol. 

Intro

My mom says I used to be a "TV Dinner Girl". I had terrible eating habits. If it was fast and easy, it was for me. I was slightly overweight. I had no idea how crappy I felt. I was a nightmare in the kitchen. 

I got really sick in the Spring of 2012. First my hands went numb and I had weird facial twitches. My coworkers thought I was having a stroke and called an ambulance. The initial symptoms progressed quickly into shooting nerve pain and within a week I couldn't turn a door knob. The pain spread from my hands to my shoulders, back, neck and jaw. I'm only 37 years old, it was really scary. It felt like my body was revolting against me. 

It took 6 doctors and 2 months of testing to determine I have Lyme Disease. I was lucky really, most people don't get diagnosed so quickly. I have no memory of being bit by a tick or having a rash but they suspect I had Lyme for several years. I was told the treatment was about 1 year and was given antibiotics, supplements and vitamins. I was also ordered by my doctor to drastically change my diet. Easier said than done. 

There's much more to changing your diet than simply eating different things. I am going to give you recipes, resources and some helpful hints to show you how I did it. 

I'm not going to talk much about Lyme Disease here but if you're interested check out Under Our Skin. 

My symptoms have been steadily improving. I got the use of my hands back after about 4 months. I'll be continuing treatment until around July 2013 and my doctor assures me I will be cured. Bonus to being forced on a diet... I lost 30 pounds, 10 dress sizes and knocked my cholesterol down by 53 points. 

This is a blog about how I changed my eating habits. I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. Please always consult your health care professionals before changing anything. What I eat may not be right for everyone, but it is probably healthier than what you eat right now.