Category Archives: transition

The Journey Continues

I am still on my dietary journey, each day learning to make these changes. Yesterday I had a moment where I really missed cheese. I just wanted to make myself a big chef-style salad. In the past it would have been no meat and perhaps two kinds of cheese. Now it's meat, no cheese. And knowing that I couldn't have the cheese made me want it more.

After the first two weeks of my dietary changes I am now adding in more vegetables and fruits. The testing that I did broke my food sensitivities into 3 categories, high sensitivity, moderate sensitivity and low sensitivity. For the first two weeks I ate nothing on the list, even the low sensitivity list. It got really boring.

I have a confession to make. I don't like cooking for myself. I much prefer to cook for others. I like eating with others and I certain love when people cook for me. But if I have to cook specifically for me…not so much. And because of my dietary changes I was doing a lot of that. And it got boring. For anyone who knows me, that's a surprising statement. I LOVE food, I like thinking about it, talking about it, researching it, helping others with their food. I love food. But because of the restrictions I am on it I started to become less enthusiastic about my food. I figured out a few dishes that were dietarily compliant, figured out how to add back in the meat slowly (still working on that) and tended to live on the same 8-10 recipes.

Now that I'm able to add other foods back in I am all of a sudden much happier. In part I am now able to eat an expanded list of foods which is always a good thing. Plus many of the foods on the low sensitivity list that have been added back in are grillable veggies. In the summer that is one of my all-time favorite ways. (If it was winter I would be making vats of soup!) I like to make up several large salads, grill a huge batch of veggies and then make composed plates by adding in a protein.

I am learning so much from this experience. Part of it is a deeper respect for some of the dietary changes I sometimes ask folks to go through as we work together on their journey toward health. I have had my own journey and have certainly done many of the things that I ask clients to do (such as a candida cleanse) but this time around the process seems much more mindful. As I journal my food choices and how my body is responding to the reintroduction of meat I am much more aware of how I feel and why I am making some of these choices. In many ways to a much greater extent that ever before. I am also learning to understand some of the complexities that can lead to boredom with food. I am grateful for this deeper understanding of myself but also because I believe it helps me to better help others.

And the journey continues…

How To Do A Rotation Diet

by Miraallergies, health, transitionallergies, rotation diet

When diagnosed with food sensitivities you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed. Especially since the foods you are most likely to develop a sensitivity to are the ones you eat most often. Once diagnosed, either by a doctor or through testing, it's important to have a rotation diet.

What is a Rotation Diet?

In simple terms, a rotation diet means that you are not eating the same foods every day. It's not a specific diet per se, such as Paleo, Keto, Mediterranean, etc, but rather a conscious way of eating that reduces your exposure to food proteins. Following this type of a plan requires you to write out what you can eat without repeating a food more than once every four days. By following a rotation diet plan you are able to eat a variety of foods without building up sensitivities to them. This is because with a four-day gap in consumption you are not overconsuming to the proteins in those particular foods on an everyday basis.

Rotation Diet Basics

Here is an example. When it comes to nuts most people eat a lot of almonds. In fact, they may eat them every day, or even multiple times per day. But by eating almonds every day there is a possibility that you will eventually become hypersensitive to the proteins in them. That would then eventually show up on a delayed hypersensitivity test and you would need to avoid them while working on a program to support gut health. By avoiding the foods that you are identified as sensitive to for 3-6 months and doing a supportive nutrition plan, you can potentially restore your insides to the point that you can eat some of those foods again.

Using the category of nuts and seeds for someone with an almond intolerance this might be a potential plan:

Day 1 - flax seeds, pistachio, hazelnuts (also called filberts),
Day 2 - brazil nuts, cashew, pinenuts
Day 3 - chestnuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts
Day 4 - sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pecan

At the end of the four day period you begin the rotation again.

It's important to note that peanuts are not really a nut. They are a fatty legume which tend to be one of the top food sensitivities and allergies. Therefore we do not include them in the rotation.

This pattern of rotating foods every four days applies to each category of food:

Dairy (if tolerated)
Herbs and Spices
Fish/Shellfish
Fruit
Poultry
Meat
Nuts and Seeds
Oils
Vegetables

Eggs are included in the poultry category and are consumed with their protein, i.e., chicken eggs with chicken, duck eggs when you are eating duck, turkey, quail, etc.

In the case of severe or a significant number of food intolerances, you may need to follow a rotation diet for an extended period of time while you work on your gut health.

Continuing To Learn

by Mirahealth, transition, vegetarian

As I move forward with my new nutritional plan I am struck by the realization that it's not easy to make one meal that satisfies everyone in my household. With one vegetarian, one emerging flexitarian, and one committed omnivore meals are a little more challenging.

Because my choices are limited by my rotation diet I am having to think and plan ahead more so that I can make multi-stage meals that can be finished off or enhanced for the other members of the family who do not need to avoid dairy, etc. Quite honestly I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet and it's definitely an eye-opener.

I hadn't thought that it would be so difficult. After all over the years I have managed various different dietary needs folded into what was once a household of five. Low fat, low cholesterol, low carb, various different dietary plans all rotated through our house before I became a Nutrition Educator and learned more about whole foods and eating according to the needs of your body rather than a one-size-fits-all dietary plan. Obviously through my training and work I have come to see clearly how we are all bio-individual and one-size does not fit all. I'm feeling a little humbled as I learn to juggle this new nutritional state of affairs.

On the other hand I'm feeling fairly good about the dietary change. I did try a few bites of chicken, and the next day my stomach wasn't too happy, I am taking it slowly and plan to start introducing some broths into my diet as well. And I'm reasonably content with what I am eating the rest of the time. It turns out (at least a few days in) that I don't miss dairy as much as I thought I would. The biggest challenge at the moment is to remember what day of the rotation I am on and to plan meals. For example, today is corn for my grain and black beans for my protein. So we're having taco bar. That's easy I can set everything out buffet style and folks can help themselves. But I do need to think ahead if anything, like beans, needs to be soaked or otherwise prepared.

It's a learning adventure and one that I realize will help me have a deeper understanding of what I suggest for some clients. As I mentioned in my last post, I've written a lot of Rotation Plans, but I've never followed one myself. It's one thing to comprehend it and entirely something else to understand it.

Walking The Walk

by Miraflexitarian, transition, vegetarian

I love what I do, how I am able to help people learn to eat well so they can be well. I also work hard to take care of my own health through nutrition and other means. I feel like I am in good shape and know that I have come so very far since the health care crisis of 2003 that lead me to this career.

Part of my changes, way back when, was the adoption of a vegetarian diet. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis after more than ten years of misdiagnosis as IBS. The Nutritionist suggested that I consider eating a vegetarian diet for three months to allow my gut to heal. I felt so good on the vegetarian diet that I didn't look back. I was able to eat a balanced diet and to learn how to stay healthy with this eating pattern. This is something that many many people do. According to a 2008 study by Vegetarian Times over 7 million Americans follow a vegetarian diet. More than half of them do so for health reasons.

I know that some people try vegetarian diets but ultimately wind up becoming carbotarians instead. Thinking that because they are not eating meat that means they should eat lots of pasta and other simple carbohydrates. Being a vegetarian isn't difficult but it does require thinking about your protein and fats and, oh yeah, you do need to eat vegetables. Many, if not most, carbotarians eventually wind up going back to eating meat because they get so sick by not supporting the needs of their body.

I'm confident in my knowledge as a Nutrition Educator, I've helped lots of people feel better with learning to eat the right way for their body. And no, that does not mean I make everyone become a vegetarian. We work together to help you find what works best for your bio-individual body and then we go from there to build a nutritional plan. I have always said that I was a vegetarian because it best met my body needs and my focus is to eat in harmony with my body. I've also been fond of pointing out that our dietary needs change throughout different cycles of our life, otherwise we would all still be drinking breast milk.

So imagine my shock when I received the results of a recent food sensitivity test (which I have never taken before) which indicated that I had some very serious food sensitivities going on. I feel good, I look fine, I struggle a bit time-to-time but I put that down to the UC which I manage without medication. The results of the test appear to indicate that I have a fair amount of inflammation going on in my gut and what I had been attributing to one thing was actually something quite different altogether. I now need to make some significant changes to my diet.

The bottom line is that I am highly sensitive to dairy products (cow and goat) and eggs. Darn. That's a significant source of protein for me. Considering my options I feel that it would be best for me to add lean meats back into my diet, a big change after all these years. I've also had to write a rotation diet for myself. I've created a number of them for clients but never imagined that I would wind up doing this for myself. I hadn't realized how comfortable I'd become with my vegetarian diet, my inclination when reaching for breakfast is eggs, my idea of a great snack is a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit. Because I am committed to my health and my body I know that for at least the next three to six months those are no longer part of my diet. I am hopeful that by avoiding them and doing an intestinal repair and recolonizing program I will be able to at least add them back in on a rotation basis when this is all done.

In the meantime I am reminded on so many different levels how the only thing that is constant is change.