The Low FODMAP Diet Experiment: Day #8

It’s been a week. I don’t know if I should be quite celebrating yet.

It had been rather difficult for me to fully embrace the new diet. There are so many things that I love eating and enjoying and now… I can’t. I’m still having symptoms because I keep cheating, so I’m thinking this week, after counting last week as more of a “transitional period,” I’m actually going to be strict.

My problem mostly right now is a handful of things-

#1.) Not enough protein in my diet. I’m not a huge “meat-eater” and while this isn’t really related to FODMAP, it’s still an issue in my dietary planning.

#2.) I love dairy. Ice cream/frozen yoghurt, milk, and cheese have always been staples in my diet. Giving them up is awful.

#3.) I used to always talk about how I wasn’t a huge carb eater… but now that I’m actually having to watch where my carbohydrates are coming from… wow. Pasta and flour tortillas were big for me. And in the month before (attempting to go) going low FODMAP, I had started eating these “sandwich thins” as part of my weight loss plan. And now, the first loaf of gluten-free bread I tried wasn’t as tasty. I finally found gluten-free crackers, but they’re pretty expensive and I’ve gone through them fairly quickly. I don’t want to eat potatoes because they’re SO high in carbs AND the vegetable spread I use with them is so high in fat & carbs, too! It’s just frustrating. The “gluten-free” part of this I would say is definitely the most taxing for me. My only major triumphs in this area are finding 100% Spelt Pasta, Glutino crackers, eating fruits with carbs.

#4.) APPLES AND ONIONS. These are two of my favorite fruits/veggies. And they’re gone. Along with broccoli and so much more… These were my staple fruits & veggies. And it’s somewhat hard to transition to eating new foods on a regular basis. Plus, I was reading more the other day that I shouldn’t be having TOO many fruits in a day. The excess fructose can build up. AWESOME.

#5.) Eating out. Granted, I’ve only done this twice (Monday & yesterday), and only because a good friend is leaving town and wanted to meet up for a few meals. But still, I found options that were mostly approved: grilled chicken breast, lettuce, corn based tortillas, rice, potatoes… But little things like too much cheese or being fried or needing a condiment I shouldn’t have… It makes it so difficult.

#6.) Planning out food EVERY MORNING is tedious.

#7.) Eating these certain foods, I’m having a hard time keeping to my low calorie plan recently because I’m getting hungry again so quickly. Despite the fact I’m typically eating a bunch of small meals a day, I’m trying to balance my carbs/fat/protein and just, not. Not doing it well. Ugh… It’s just frustrating.

 

So, there you have it. One frustrated little ginger who WANTS to give up, but WON’T.

THIS WEEK I WILL DO IT. This experiment will not be a failure! I promise!

 

Breakfast:

-Rice Chex
-Silk Lite Soy Milk
-Hormel Turkey Pepperoni’s

Lunch:

-Glutino Gluten-Free Crackers
-Oscar Meyer Rotisserie Chicken Breast Lunch Meat
-Julio’s Mild Salsa
-Peeled Baby Carrots

Snack:

-Kiwi
-Blackberries

Dinner:

-I’m hoping that maybe tonight I can finally try that turkey burger! haha!

The Low FODMAP Diet Experiment: Day #5

I’m a cheat.

 

I’ll admit it. I cooked dinner for a friend on Friday night and I used a seasoning mix for pasta sauce that had whey and whatnot in it and had some juice I shouldn’t have. Symptoms weren’t too bad from that, but Saturday ( Day #4) proved to be my breaking point. Last night, I had BREADED chicken strips, mashed potatoes with MILK in them, and brown GRAVY. I also was having some major ice cream withdrawls and decided to splurge on a pint of double dark chocolate gelato. I had remembered seeing this on the approved list for low FODMAP, but was confused as to why it is on there? It’s made with milk and sugar (and the brand I bought had cream in it as well), so just curious… does anyone know WHY it’s listed on the approved low FODMAP foods?

Continuing on the cheating, I had a soda today (Coke is another of my vices, although I had cut them down to 2 a week this fall b/c of kidney stones this summer…). But, I did keep all my food today low FODMAP, so that’s a plus. Thinking out loud (sort of) for a moment here, I know my symptoms are definitely prevalent in my life, at least enough to drive me to try this little experiment… but I always thought I was likely on the low end of symptomatic people. However, after even just a LITTLE cheating yesterday, I realized just how much my symptoms have affected me. Normal amounts of lactose and a smidge of flour later, and my torso’s a babbling brook. I had always known I had a problem with legumes and cut them out of my life completely about a year ago. But I never thought that lactose and gluten could be such an issue for me (along with fructans!). As I had said earlier, apples and onions were STAPLES in my diet. Now, not having them on a regular basis is sad, but I’m trying to find new fruits and such that have great flavors that hopefully I can replace them with…

After my little cheat period, I think I can do this. I’ll admit, I’m probably going to have another cheat day next Friday because of our annual Holiday lunch at work (which is DELICIOUS!), but if we have what we did last year, I actually should be pretty good since they typically do mexican food. Enchiladas (with corn tortillas and hard cheese topping) are do-able and rice.

I also should mention my body has been going a little crazy through this, I guess, transition period? Low FODMAP has really thrown a big kink in my typical meal planning, particularly with my focus on weight loss this past month. However, after a couple of cheat days, and giving my body a break from working out, and low FODMAP foods helping out some of my symptoms, I am proud to say I’m down to 165.5 lbs and hoping I can keep under 167! We’ll see how my weight fluctuates this week.

Alrighty… Enough of this… on to foods!

Lunch:
-Hillshire Farms Lite Sausage
-Yellow & Orange Pepper
-Smashed Potato
-Organic Whipped Spread (with Vegetable Oil)

Snack:
-Green Grapes
-Soy Crisps

Snack #2:
-Carrots
-Kiwi

Dinner:
-Shredded Chicken Breast
-Organic Southwest Taco Seasoning
-2% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese
-Diced Tomato
-Hard Corn Tortilla Shells
-Quinoa (with Tascosa Hot Sauce for seasoning)