Seriously – a rock star at sticking to the new food restrictions.
Three weeks of perfection.
And then today – I went and blew it.
I gave it all up for a pumpkin cheese ball.
This last week was the first week I was allowed to start reintroducing things. Peanuts, citrus, walnuts, and clams were on the week 3 reintroduction list. I don’t care about clams even a little bit, so I tossed those off the list immediately. I started with citrus, mostly because I like to cook with lemon juice. So I was sad when almost immediately I realized I was having pain with urination. Which is a fairly common symptom for me when Jack's in town – I’ve always associated it to the inflammation I get during that time, and the endo that I know is on my bladder.
After 3 days of this increased pain, I had no choice but to deduce that citrus really is one of those things I should be avoiding. (For those of you thinking interstitial cystitis though – I know it’s not that. Dr. Cook tested me for that during this last surgery, and I didn’t have any of the markers. This was just regular, run of the mill, inflammation. Brought on by a stupid citrus sensitivity).
Not something I was particularly happy about, but at least I knew. The truth is that if you had told me before I would see a difference from reintroducing any of these foods – I wouldn’t have believed you. So at least now I knew.
The peanuts went off without a hitch though. No additional problems at all. Which I was happy about, because I kind of have a thing for peanut butter.
In the week to come, I was planning on adding in rice and garlic and corn. All essentials in my diet that I have been missing desperately over the last few weeks.
I’m telling you – with all the things on this list of items I was supposed to eliminate, I’ve been eating nothing but fruits, veggies, and plain chicken breasts!
Gluten and chocolate were still another week out from reintroduction, and dairy – well, I knew I was screwed on dairy. Thanksgiving was coming a week before I would technically be allowed to reintroduce dairy. And I’m sorry, but there is just no way I am going home for a holiday and restricting myself on something fairly essential in most normal-people cooking. So I kind of figured that with dairy, I would restrict until then (so that I didn’t confuse any dairy symptoms with something else while I was reintroducing other foods) and then after the first of the year I would do the dairy again for 6 weeks. Which would be easier as long as I wasn’t eliminating everything else at the same time as well.
I’ve been doing so well. And on top of everything else – I’ve managed to drop 5 pounds in these last few weeks. Dipping below a weight I have hovered at but never dipped below for as long as I can remember.
I was a happy girl that day for sure.
Thinking that maybe, just maybe, Dr. Naturopath was on to something when she said that a lot of these foods were contributing to inflammation and water retention for me.
I was doing well. I had a plan. A plan I was comfortable with. A plan I was committed to.
I was doing well.
And today, I gave it all up.
For a pumpkin cheese ball.
I can’t really say where things started to go wrong. It all happened so fast. The Princess Bride was playing at my favorite theater in town. The one that serves beer and wine and food. Food that I have to admit – I have a special soft spot for.
I’ve never actually been there without eating.
But today was a girl’s day. An outing to watch a classic with some of the ladies I love.
I figured I would be fine. I could do this. I could avoid the dishes I love and munch on carrots while my friends all indulged in my favorites.
I could do this.
But then, I made one fatal error.
I looked up the specials online before we left.
And there it was. A pumpkin cheese ball. Sounding exactly like something my life would not be complete without. And only on special for 3 more days.
“I don’t need it” I told myself. “It would ruin the plan” I reasoned. “I can live without it” I commanded.
And the whole drive there, I spoke these words as well. To my friends. To myself. To the universe.
But then… other words started to seep in too. “I am going to let dairy back in again in a week for Thanksgiving anyway” I stated. “This really wouldn’t be that big a deal” I postulated. “I probably won’t have a reaction anyway” I proclaimed.
The next thing I knew, I was ordering a pumpkin cheese ball for the table.
It sounded so good; my friends decided we needed 2.
The sad part of this story?
It really wasn’t that good at all.
Highly disappointing in fact.
But that didn’t stop me from then going on to eat tasty little garlic treats (a favorite of mine – complete with dairy, garlic, tomatoes, and gluten; all still on my no-no list), guacamole (with corn chips – also not cool yet), and an ice cream pie (this was of course shared, but still – self explanatory why I shouldn’t have been indulging; adding in the chocolate just for kicks).
In all, I blew 6 food items today that I was supposed to still be restricting.
All at once.
So if I have any reaction at all – I won’t be able to tell which food caused it.
And I’ll have to go back and restrict them all from the beginning again.
Because there’s this whole thing about the gut needing to be healed before you can reintroduce. Or some nonsense such as that.
I was doing so well.
I had a plan.
And this week, I was going to be able to start reintroducing some big ones. Foods I’d been missing and would really like back in the regular rotation.
Instead, I gave it all up for a pumpkin cheese ball.
And for that, I only feel kind of bad.
