Friday, March 6, 2015

Introduction To A Life Change







Hi.  I am Jenny.  I live in Alaska where the winters are long, cold and dark.  And the Summers are short and vibrant.   I live here with my Family.  I have been married to my husband for 19 years.  We have 6 children.  Our oldest is in college and our youngest is just about to start kindergarten.  We started our dietary adventures 5 years ago when our youngest was born with an intolerance for wheat.  Since then I discovered that I have Crohns disease and I have high levels of candida.  My children all have food intolerances and therefore we became a gluten free, dairy free and egg free family.  These changes helped but I continued to deal with high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, hormonal fluctuations, weight issues, and depression. In October of 2014 I went and saw a Naturopathic  Doctor that asked me to try out a VERY strict dietary plan.   In the 6 months that I have been on this diet I have been able to gain control on my Crohn's disease.  I have lowered my blood pressure and have been able to stop taking medicines to control it.   I have regulated my hypothyroidism and no longer need medications for this issue.  I have regulated my progesterone and estrogen levels.  I have been able to control my candida issue.   On top of becoming healthy I have lost 53 lbs and finally fit into a size 12 dress.   It has not been an easy road.  But it has been well worth it.  The diet that she put me on does include a limited amount of Brown Rice and Quinoa, but I have found myself navigating more toward the Paleo diet so I named this blog Paleo Darlings.   If an item is NOT Paleo I will specify in each recipe and try to suggest an alternative.

My Husband, Seth joined me on the diet in Jan. 2015.   The doctor with the aid of Homeopathic remedies is hoping to get him off of the testosterone shots he requires.  Already he is feeling better.   For him because his stress levels are high he has been asked to refrain from Chocolate as it is a stimulant for cortisol.

I invite you to join us in our dietary adventure.

So to start out we started HEALING our GUTS!

This was the hardest stage the list of food that I could eat was so much shorter then the list of foods I needed to stay away from.  I started out with a great advantage as we had been Gluten Free for 5 years and Dairy Free and Egg Free for the past 3.

Since it is easier to focus on what you can eat versus the Don't that is where I will start my list.   My list was for a severely damaged gut and to the tolerance that I could handle.  My husband was given a broader list as his gut was not in such a bad state.  I will include his differences at the bottom of the list.

1st the most important rule to live by NO CANNED FOODS.  (though I will admit I cheat and buy canned pumpkin and tomato sauce but ONLY when they say NO BPA LINER)

GRAINS- I was allowed up to 1 1/2 C. of either Brown Rice or Quinoa a day.

MEAT- Ground Turkey, Chicken, Halibut, and Salmon

LEGUMES- up to 1/2 C. White Beans, or Black Beans.  (These need to be soaked for 24 hours and then prepared to decrease gas in the gut.)

VEGETABLES- Yams, Sweet Potatoes, Cucumbers (these can be eaten raw but peeled), Spinach (steamed), Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Colored Bell Peppers, Onions, Peas, carrots, Spaghetti Squash, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash,  (Basically ANY SQUASH)
---------Vegetables in the beginning stage NEED to be cooked.  Avoid Potatoes, and Corn.  Temporarily avoid Broccoli, Cauliflower,  Kale, Lettuce, Tomatoes) ---------------

FRUIT- Avocados

SWEETENERS-  Raw Honey (daily limit 1 tsp.)

BEVERAGES- Water,  Unsweetened coconut milk (no added Sugars or Gums)

OIL/ FATS- Cold Pressed Olive Oil, Coconut Oil.

SEASONINGS-  Herb Seasonings.  Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper,  (Just NO added Dyes, sugars or additives.)  One of my favorites is Weber Garlic and Herb (natural flavorings in this product is Garlic Juice)  When in doubt call the Company =).

EGGS- Because I had been off of eggs for so long I was unable to start this diet off eating them.  Most of my friends that have seen this NP where able to start out eating Eggs.  With eggs the doctor told me that a damaged gut was unable to handle eggs.  It is a great indicator that your gut is extremely damaged when you have a reaction.

And there you have it the list of Can Do's

So Seth's list to start was a little more gentle easing into the new lifestyle.

In addition to the foods I could eat, Seth was able to start out eating Lettuce, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Blueberries, Apples,  RAW Almonds and  RAW Cashews.  Also he wasn't required to cook all the vegetables.   He was also directed to keep his grains at a limit of 2 Cups a day, he was given more grains because he was a carboholic.  After the 3-4 weeks he was able to cut down to a lot less.

After staying on this diet for 8 weeks I added Lettuce,  Raw veggies,  White Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar and Apples.   I was also told that I could add tomatoes and Eggs.

With each item that I added I would try it and wait 48 hours to see if it affected me.   Eggs I was not able to eat them plain.  I tried mixing them into a pumpkin pie like custard and was able to handle them but at this point in the diet there isn't much to mix eggs into.  So I will be adding them back when we are able to eat Coconut flours and Almond.  Tomatoes I was afraid of because they had caused me so many problems so I waited another 15 weeks before adding them in.

An Additional 8 weeks later and I added  Raw Cashews and Blueberries.

I have an appointment on Monday.  I am looking forward to adding more foods to my diet.

I invite you to join in as we perfect our diets to a healthy new lifestyle.









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