Elimination Diet

Elimination Diet Episode 303

So, friends, I began the elimination diet the first of October thinking this was a great idea to lose some weight before the holiday binge-eating begins! It has worked fabulously well. In this episode, I’m going to report in at week two and share the ups and downs of healthy eating. But the best news? I lost 8 lbs.!

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I’ve done other podcasts on healthy eating and for the most part, I’ve accomplished many of my previous goals and I have to thank you, my listeners,for the help. Since I’m going public I have the motivation because I podcast about this journey.

For those of you who struggle with weight loss ,t here are many diets out there that promise results but few deliver. Basically ,w eight loss has a key ingredient that is missing in most diets. Today I will share with you these keys as well as some options for healthy eating. The biggest threat to our health is GMOs – that stands for genetically modified organisms. If you do only one thing for your family health today is look for products that say GMO free! Even teas my have GMOs. I’ll have a link later on that is worth viewing.

So, weight loss takes work! As a busy mom, homeschool mom and more it is not a great idea to start one more thing, right? Wrong. Moms so many of us walk around feeling horrible and tired all the time. When I was in my early 30’s I could barely keep my eyes open after lunch to listen to the my two kids read. I’d fall asleep with them prodding me awake. It didn’t help that our reading corner was on the floor in the corner, with comfy bean bag chairs! I realized it was my diet. As a busy mom, lunch time meant gto rab a quick sandwich and eat standing up while my kids watched a 30 minute educational video and I took out the load of laundry, folded it and put in another load.

While I accomplished much each day, I was so tired. I was also at my lowest weight. Thinner than in college! Yet, my calories for the most part were empty. When I had my third child I was flagged with low iron and the nurse suggested Cream of Wheat cereal – preferable to me than the iron pills that made me sick. I loved cream of wheat with milk, sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon! Definitely not a low calorie treat. And, I watched my iron numbers rise until I was out of risk.

Food has such an impact on our health and what we eat is not different. So, here is what you do. And, don’t shoot the messenger, this isn’t fun.

Write down everything you eat and drink for a three day (or a week) span and take a look at any empty calories.
What can you eliminate right off the bat? Any sugary drinks (even diet drinks are not good for you – and today I will not get into my rant about those).
Chips, cookies, candy bars?
Sugary “healthy snacks” – yogurt, etc.
No sugary drinks and no… wait for it, coffee!

The key to dieting is as follows:

Mindset – are you serious about losing weight or just getting healthy?
Lifestyle change. Do you think that what you eat has an impact on your health? If so what are you going to do about this/
It takes time to shop, cook and plan. Are you willing to give healthy eating the time to learn and implement these changes?

Here is what I did, I eliminated the following foods from my diet. Dairy, some meats (like steak, roasts, etc.), night shades (no tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, etc.), all sugar (even diet alternatives like stevia), no coffee, corn, glutens/wheat, soy, peanuts

What can I eat? I thought it would be easy to show you a comparison list of alternatives:

Dairy – Almond, Coconut etc. No cheese unless it is free of words like gum, and preservatives. Even gluten free cheeses are off limits right now.
Meats – chicken and ground beef. Portion size? What fits in the palm of your hand. And grilled fish.
Vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, lettuce, onions, asparagus, bok choy, etc.
Lots of water and green tea in the morning – that is my coffee alternative right now. Once a day I drink a large glass approx. 16oz. of water with 1-2 teaspoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar.
Fruit: berries are fine. I purchased a bag of organic frozen veggies for smoothies.
Gluten free flours such as almond, etc.
Some nuts like almonds, cashews or walnuts.
Condiments – must be gluten free and sugar free. I stick to balsamic vinegar, olive oil, coconut oil, and grapeseed oils, ghee is a good substitute for butter.

You may want to know what I am eating. It is not all salads although typically I love Caesar salad with grilled chicken or steak. Since steak is off limits right right now.

For breakfast:

Smoothie with almond milk and organic fruit or 2 eggs fried with ghee

Lunch:

Stir fried vegetables – I make this in a large batch and heat up small portions for lunch; salad with olives, hearts of palm, onions, raw veggies, cooked beets – with a sprinkle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sometimes I’ll add a small piece of grilled chicken.

Soup – bone broth chicken home made with carrots and shredded chicken.

Dinner:

Grilled chicken

Small hamburger patty — grilled

Baked fish with ghee, salt and pepper with a squirt of lemon

Sides: asparagus, mixed veggies, beets or avocado.

So far I haven’t been bored with the food. I try to batch cook like I do for family meals. It is so much easier for me, working from home to heat things up as needed and assemble a quick salad. I wash salads in batches. One of the best tools for the home is a salad spinner. It gets all of the water out of the lettuce and is great.

I use essential oils, especially Bergamont that is great for relaxing. I purchase them from DoTerra. I also take 4-Life Supplements and here is the detox supplements I used called the Digest4Life Reset System– which are great!

One last thing – please watch some YouTube videos about GMOs – I know some of them are long. But it is important to your health. I’m just sorry that some of the non-GMO foods are so expensive. I wish they were not. Not all GMO foods are labeled something I believe is very important. The video will teach you how to identify GMO produce, even organic.

Friends, our health is important so we can take care of our families and ourselves. I’ve had five kids, my father lived with me for 12 years before he died and I have a houseful of grandkids at least one time a week! To keep up our energy and stay healthy it is more than just eating supplements, although those are important!

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