So, about this diet change...

Many of you have been hearing about my diet switch, but haven't gotten the chance to hear about what exactly I am doing beside torturing myself.  :)  About three weeks ago I went and saw a naturopath.  She was amazing.  We talked for nearly two hours about life, my expectations, and my general routines.  I have been having arthritis tendencies in my hands and feet for a while now.  It won't seem to go away on it's own, so I had to try something drastic.  Turns out, what we put into our bodies, determines how our bodies work and perform (shocker :) so the plan is to remove all of the "stressor foods" from my diet for a while and then slowly add them back in one at a time.  Now, the "stressor foods" for my situation are food that commonly cause inflammation.  These are:
all animal milks
all animal cheeses
all corn products
potatoes
tomatoes
commercial eggs (organic eggs are ok)
all wheat products
white flour
breads
citrus
all fruit juices
all dried fruit
peanuts
processed foods
fried foods
grain-fed meat
shellfish
caffeine
alcohol
and finally... SUGAR

Here are a few bags of stuff I CAN eat... honestly, I agree, it looks and frankly some of it IS birdseed.  I give you flax seeds, whole oats, quinoa, pinto beans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, basmati rice, and probably something else I have forgotten.  :)

So, initially I was somewhat in shock.  Although it is a list of a mere 20 things... these things are in almost EVERYTHING I have ever eaten.  The hardest part about it has been the little things... even in things like organic hummus or mayo, there is citrus.  In dressings and sauces there is often a bit of sugar or lime juice.  I used to live for fruit snacks or dried fruits rather than chocolate and I miss that like crazy.  It's strange to only be able to have water to drink... (although I sneak tea every morning (my sister says it's ok)... it's not my cup of coffee, but it works for now).  

Over the last two weeks I had to frost 24 cupcakes for Justin's birthday and 65 cookies for the kids on Valentine's day... and not lick my fingers... YIKES.

We used to go out to eat a lot and have basically had to stop doing that for now.  (although for Valentine's day last night we went to Eastland and I got the sauteed string beans with brown rice... I am sure that there was some sugar in the sauce they used, but I did my best.  :)  That trip out to eat last night was the first time I (assume) I have cheated at all... I've actually been very good.  

Now I have to give credit where credit is due... if it wasn't for Justin being around... I may have starved by now.  He has been my saving grace this last two weeks.  Making things from scratch and removing the bits of sugar and citrus for me.  It has been a true blessing.

Last Sunday we went to the store and then came home and worked in the kitchen for a couple of hours.

He made me homemade hummus, pesto, chicken noodle soup, and some amazing chicken salad.  It was the best set of meals I have had in a long time and none of it was bad for me.  :)  Not to mention that morning he made a batch of gluten-free oatmeal for me to have for breakfasts for a few days.

So, bottom line, this diet change is not fun... but it has been interesting and an amazing learning experience.  In two more weeks I will begin to add things back into my diet and see how it effects me.  I am both looking forward to this and dreading it at the same time.  What if my body hates cheese?  Oh the dread.  :{

I will leave you with an array of images of my food from the last couple weeks... bon appetit!

Organic eggs, zucchini, spinach, peppers, spices

Carrots, blueberries, rice crackers and water.  A snack I brought to a scrapbooking class.

Basmati rice with spices, and organic string beans.  (a standard favorite even before the diet switch:)

Peppers, spinach, zucchini, rice noodles, and homemade pesto... yummmmy!

Homemade hummus... perfect with rice crackers and makes even Wasa crackers taste good.  :)

Justin's famous Chicken salad... adapted for my diet.  Hands down favorite meal so far!  He has had to make two batches so far in the last week.  :)

And this is my creation... leading you again to take my word for it when I tell you I would starve without Justin.  This is a brown rice cake with almond butter, raw honey and bananas.  Looks better than it tastes, but it works.