Elimination: Day 4 1/30/14

I've been trying to limit my processed food and grains to one thing per day. This week I have been alternating rice cakes (which I break up in a bowl so I can pretend I'm eating popcorn), and rice tortillas. It definitely makes the meal planning more difficult. I haven't had rice or quinoa which seem like the obvious carb choices for someone doing a crazy elimination diet. I was struggling over my meal planning for next week and all of my friends were just saying I should eat the rice!

I realized that the list of things I am not eating is already long enough thanks to my sensitivities, allergies and the elimination diet. Let me recap my sensitivities for you:
1. Barley
2. Lima Beans
3. Coffee
4. Gluten
5. Malt
6. Peanuts
7. Rye
8. Sesame
9. Wheat
10. Bakers Yeast

Those ten things on top of the seven things that JJ Virgin has me eliminating? I think that with 15 things that I can't eat, I don't exactly need to be adding things to the list. So next week in my meal plan I have tangerine chicken breast to be served over rice and a quinoa salad with garbanzo beans, peppers and kale. I think I'm doing pretty well :)

Elimination: Day 3 1/29/14

Everything's chugging along with the diet. I feel even more pressured now, for some reason, to eat three meals a day around the same time. I get really stressed out on the days that back to back classes might prevent me from eating lunch in the noon hour. It seems kind of silly but since I am already doing such crazy things and changing my diet I think the least I can do for myself is not skip meals. I've come up with some creative ways of eating lunch at the right time though, like putting soup in a travel mug. Hopefully in week 2 I will have more of a rhythm down and things will go smoother.

Elimination: Day 2 1/28/14

This afternoon I found a string cheese in the fridge. It was a trying moment since last semester I once called my mom to ask if there was a limit to how much string cheese a person should eat in one day. I quickly threw it all the way to the back of the fridge to save for Cycle 2. My first temptation and I was not overtaken by the cheese!!!

Is it just me or do my green veggies get better and better every night?! To start dinner I usually melt some coconut oil in a frying pan and then throw in frozen broccoli, sometimes frozen peas and baby spinach. Sunday night when I made this, I added salt but tonight it was so yummy plain! I know everyone says that produce will start to taste so much better once you get used to it and don't have as many sugar cravings, I'm pleased to report that it's true!

I had a little trouble falling asleep, the FAQ on JJ Virgins website says that I should feel better in 3-4 days of doing the diet. She also recommends some magnesium supplements so I might look into those because prior to starting the diet I realized I may be low in magnesium. 

Elimination: Day 1 1/27/14

Today was a hectic day because it was the first day of the semester, but I managed to stick to my diet! I even had time to make Kale and Lentil Soup between classes so that if was all ready at dinner time. Before I had dinner I was really craving sugar! That has been the hardest to give up so far! After eating I wasn't craving sugar anymore, but then around 9:00 I was in a snacking mood so I ate some rice cakes and Good Beans (which are my new favorite snack!). Overall it was a good first day, not very different from how I had been eating at home. Definitely different than how I ate last semester (buying boxes of chocolates, frozen yogurt and chick fil a on a weekly basis).

Elimination Diet aka The JJ Virgin Diet

I decided to do this elimination diet to find out if I have any food sensitivities. JJ Virgin structures the diet in three cycles:

Cycle 1: Elimination 
For 21 days avoid the top seven food allergens:
1. gluten
2. dairy
3. eggs
4. soy
5. corn
6. peanuts
7. sugar and artificial sweeteners

Cycle 2: Reintroduction 
For 28 days, reintroduce one of the seven foods per week. Eating the food Monday through Thursday and then Friday through Sunday going back to Cycle 1 diet. You will find out if you have symptoms from each of the foods during this Cycle and hopefully be able to figure out which you need to avoid continually. I'm going to have to understand the exact process a bit better once the time comes around for reintroduction.

Cycle 3: Lifetime
This is where you take all that you've learned and create a diet that can sustain you in the long run.

Ever since announcing my plans to do this diet, I have gotten a lot of requests from people to let them know how it goes and if they should do it, so I decided that I would blog it all!

I'm starting the diet on Monday, January 27! Wish me luck!

Here's the link to the website for the diet!
http://thevirgindiet.com/

Paleo "Momshine" Granola

For my elimination diet (no wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, peanuts, soy or excessive sugar) I wanted to make Paleo Granola for my breakfasts. I found a bunch of recipes on Pintrest but many of them had a lot more sweetener than I could have with this diet. Here's what I came up with for a less sugary breakfast granola. I am calling it Momshine Granola because my mom and I made the first batch together and it will be my staple breakfast food!

1 3/4 cups raw pecans
1 1/2 cups raw almonds
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp coconut manna
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place the first half of the ingredients into a food processor until desired consistency. 
3. Bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil, so they are fully incorporated. Coconut manna may need to be melted separately first.
4. Mix everything together in a bowl.
5. Baking time will depend on how crispy and well-done you want your granola. I did about 10 minutes.  

Makes approximately 6 cups of granola.

In the morning I make a thick kale and fruit smoothie and pour the granola on top as if the smoothie were yogurt and it is really delicious with the fruit flavor:

According to my nutritional calculations 1/2 cup has almost 10g of protien, 6g of fiber and only 4g of sugar.