SIBO diet update

Transitioning to a SIBO diet

So it’s been a week on the SIBO diet, working with Paleo Dietitian Aglaee Jacob who is so very helpful, understanding and has great suggestions for me along the way. NOTE****If you have IBS, Crohns, Colitis or any digestive issues, I really recommend checking out Aglaee’s website. Following PALEO, maybe not SIBO, is the best way to cure your stomach and digestive problems. I haven’t had ANY IBS symptoms since going off gluten and grains and that was before even starting PALEO..

The first few days on SIBO DIET, I have to say were pure torture! I have gone through the withdrawal from sugar and carbs before but it has never been this difficult, at least I don’t remember it being this difficult.. though I have never lasted this long going so low carb before..

TYPICAL DETOX SYMPTOMS

You pretty much have the same symptoms doing SIBO diet as you would if you were transitioning from a Low fat High carb diet to a paleo diet. These include the following

• Cravings- INTENSE CRAVINGS – Oh boy, look out. Hide EVERYTHING! SUGAR, BREAD, CARBS.. better yet, get them out of the house or you will be sorry. If you don’t want to throw them out, just hide them at a friends for a few days or week. The cravings diminish after the first week but the first few days are the WORST!!

• Fatigue/Lack of energy – feeling like you want to sleep all the time! Can’t do anything.. this is a good time to take it easy and rest.. let your body heal.. then you’ll be amazed all of a sudden you’ll want to go run around.

• Headaches – on and off headaches or even headaches that go from migraine to dull ache

• Dizziness/Light Headed – Especially when you get up or when you move quickly

• Nausea – often your stomach will feel sick, especially with all those extra fats you are consuming

• Irritability/Mood Swings – Warn your friends and family you may be a grouch for a few weeks.. especially right at the beginning

• Diarrhea/Constipation – you might go back and forth from one to the other.. not fun but it gets better as your stomach heals and will happen FAR less often, then suddenly you’ll be normal again.. YAY NORMAL!!

• SINUS DRAINAGE – With me it wasn’t so much drainage as much as stuffed up. I felt like I had allergies(which I don’t usually have a problem with)

• RETURN of old symptoms or worsening of your usual symptoms – ACNE, skin problems, stomach problems, aches and pains might make a slight return or worsen to annoy you and taunt you.. Wanting you to give up but you are STRONG. They’ll go away pretty quick as long as you don’t give in. ;)

• COLD Sweats and even Flu-Like Symptoms – you might feel like you have the flu, you don’t, your body is just mad at you.. don’t worry it’ll get over it.

• Brain fog/Lack of concentration – It reminds me of how I felt after just having my baby, mommy brain. You have to read the same sentence a hundred times, you forgot stuff(more than usual),

• Increased urination – yeah the first few days you are pretty much getting rid of excess water.. so it’ll make you run to the washroom, A LOT!! Be prepared…

• Increased THIRST- you would think if your body was getting rid of so much water, why would it want more. Well it does and it needs it to help flush out toxins so drink up.. DRINK LOTS, you’ll be very thirsty for a few days, maybe longer.

• HUNGER – Your body is confused, it doesn’t know what it wants. It thinks it needs food it tells you over and over and over again to feed it. It wants the stuff you shouldn’t be eating but every time you feed it the stuff you should be eating, eventually it gets the message. You’ll go from wanting to eat every couple of hours, maybe even an hour after your last meal.. to only wanting to eat a meal 2 or 3 times a day.. I eat 2 bigger meals and a small snack and it seems to keep me satisfied all day, i’m not hungry at all. Everyone is different though so listen to your body, once it figures things out. If you aren’t sure if you are really hungry, drink some more water.. that usually helped me.

 

WHICH SYMPTOMS HAVE I HAD?

So far, pretty much all of them.. more on the first 2 days.. then gradually one would pop up, then another the next day. Kind of like your body is saying, well that didn’t work. Maybe THIS will get her attention.. Your body will do whatever it can to get things back to the way it use to be.. nobody likes change, especially your body! The first few days I had migraine, light-headed, racing heart, NO ENERGY(literally was winded walking up 8 steps) it was super hard to concentrate, thankfully I started this when I was already off work(HOLIDAYS) and had already cleaned 3/4 of my house. If I had done this at the beginning of my holidays, there’s NO WAY I would have gotten anything done all week.

Thursday I started and it wasn’t that bad but by Friday the symptoms started, they continued on into Saturday but faded after a bit, still present but not as bad. By Sunday I was feeling much better, mild headaches but I didn’t feel like I had to go eat sugar every 2 min.. progress, cravings were much better! Oddly I had a huge craving for lemons on the weekend… I think it was to help digest the fat since I wasn’t taking any ox bile(helps digest fat) Eating the fat was making me nauseous.. The lemons and ACV I found out actually helped with digestion and got rid of the nausea…(glad my body knows what to do) ACV and lemons are 2 things I normally can’t eat without diluting but apparently when starting SIBO I can eat lemons straight!

Monday I woke up with a headache and I went to work, I had all my meals ready for the day. The headache on Monday surprisingly never got worse(almost always do). My skin also broke out in psoriasis or eczema (not sure which one it is) but I hadn’t had it in years, since 2008 when I went gluten-free. I knew that old health problems, such as skin problems and what not might return for a bit, I guess I forgot about a few problems I had. Neck pain, headaches, acne, psoriasis along with all the rest of the stuff I mentioned. Can’t say it was a fun few days but now it’s a full week since I started and I’m feeling much better.

My body is getting use to the foods. This is the first time that I have been able to get past the sugar addiction/carb flu going this low carb(almost 0 carbs) and get through the onslaught of feeling like crap. But HEY I made it and I’m feeling better, my energy is coming back, the skin is clearing up(slowly).

What is the SIBO DIET?

The SIBO diet is basically a very HIGH FAT, MODERATE PROTEIN and VERY LOW CARB version of the Paleo diet. What it is meant to do is to starve all the bad bacteria in your small intestine, (SIBO= SMALL INTESTINAL BACTERIA OVERGROWTH) give your body time to heal and help you restore the healthy bacteria.. this process could take a while depending on how damaged your gut is.. This isn’t something I will continue doing forever, it is temporary but what it is giving me the opportunity to do is HEAL.

Once I feel that my body has healed and my symptoms have been gone for a long enough time(a week or so) I will start introducing CAUTION foods back into my diet.. each one I will give 3 or 4 days to adjust to before deciding if it’s a problem food or something I can put back into my diet.

After years of using birth control being treated for yeast infections, bacterial infections and Tuberculosis which was 9 months of treatment that destroyed virtually all bacteria in my system. It’s no wonder my stomach is in such bad shape. It’s incredibly hard for your body to heal after all that stuff, if you don’t give it the opportunity. Even just one of those things can throw your system out of whack!

Literally when I started birth control at 18 is when I started having problems, infection after infection. So that’s over 15 years of damage from medications to treat everything since then. I actually had to completely go off birth control in 2009 because it was giving me so many health problems.

I was tested and was told I had not only developed an intolerance to gluten(already knew that) but all grains, sugar, chocolate, lactose, alcohol, MSG! My gosh.. the test is limited in the foods it checks, so I may have other intolerance’s, which is one of the reasons why it’s important to introduce foods back in slowly. Obviously I won’t be introducing any of the above foods back in any time soon but other foods like cheese, eggs, peppers, tomatoes foods that can cause problems, in some people, are foods I will slowly introduce back into my diet.

WHAT I EAT!

So what the heck can/do I eat? Well if you really want to know EVERYTHING you can CLICK HERE and download Aglaee’s Gut healing and Symptom Management Protocol for SIBO PDF but for the shorter version..

I stick to LOW FODMAP(you can click this list in the SIBO PDF) veggies such as zucchini, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, cucumbers, chives, ginger, kale, spring onion(green part) – there’s other ones but these are the ones that I like the most and can stomach – I am not a HUGE veggie person, which sucks! I don’t eat any fruit right now.. BOOO I love fruit!

HIGH FAT – so coconut oil, GHEE, Extra Virgin Olive Oil mostly (since this is what I have on hand at home) I eat this with every meal.

PROTEIN – Meats, organ meats, egg yolks(I’m avoiding for now but will try in a few weeks once my system is better) Fish/Seafood and poultry – my meat is almost all grass-fed that I eat.

I’m also making sure I’m having absolutely no dairy, seeing as lactose was an intolerance, I figured it would be a good idea.. I’m drinking Home Made broth every day, from grass-fed animal bones..

I have made chicken liver but haven’t had any yet. I’m going to try to stomach it(blah, hate the taste) as I should be eating it 1 or 2 times a week..(fun) it helps restore vitamin B12 and iron..

The only treat I am having is carrots (mashed) with cinnamon and coconut oil on them. Which is actually pretty tasty. I’ve also cooked the carrots in the oven, I cut them in slices and mix it in coconut oil and cinnamon, put it in the oven for 20-30 min at 375, same thing really just different way of cooking them. But this is harder on your body to digest, mashed is easier to digest so I won’t do this very often, for now.

The only seasonings I’m using are Salt, chives, basil, oregano, dill, cinnamon, lemon/lime juice and apple cider vinegar.

I’m drinking lots of water and I have cut out(temporarily) all fermented foods – I was trying out Kombucha and Kefir but for now I will leave them out for a few weeks and slowly introduce those back in along with probiotics.

I’m taking magnesium in the morning and one at night to help with muscle cramping(this usually goes away after a little while)Mine is already getting better but if you have cramping try Magnesium Glycinate. I’m also taking digestive enzymes with each meal to help me digest my food AND COD liver oil( I use Carlson Cod Liver Oil) everyday.

I am not a huge fan of fish but I’m trying to have it at least once a week. I have no idea where to get good quality fish, so I’m a little hesitant on eating it but I cooked COD the other day and it wasn’t that bad.

The bone broth is very simple to make but with SIBO diet I can’t add many vegetables while it’s cooking. I basically put the Grass Fed beef bones(though I’m going to try pig feet and chicken bones next time) in my crock pot.. I added water to just cover them, then cut up carrots, added salt, pepper and a few herbs/spices like basil or oregano and a couple of Bay Leaves. I set it to cook on low for 24-48 hours, the longer it cooks the better.

Next time I’m going to start it on high on the stove and once it starts to simmer apparently foam will start forming on top, you skim the foam off(since it’s got yucky stuff in it) and then I can put it in the crock pot or cook it slowly on the over(don’t like doing that).. I actually put a couple of jar lids in between the base of the crock pot and the actual pot the food is in, just so the broth wouldn’t boil as much. It should only bubble a tiny bit while it cooks. Super easy, super healthy, super cheap to make. You can use the broth to make soups, stews.. obviously the options now are limited for my soups and stews but it will get better in time. The pig feet are full of gelatin which helps with joint pain and is super good for you ;)

I almost forgot to mention my weight loss – really it isn’t my goal to lose weight, it’s more of a side benefit but so far this week I’m down almost 7 lbs! Another 5 or 6 lbs and I’ll be where I was when I first got pregnant.. once I start working out again and feeling fantastic, I’ll post an updated picture.

In conclusion, this way of eating sucks, it’s bland, it’s boring and you can only be so imaginative with so few ingredients.. hopefully you like more veggies than I actually do but I’m getting by, I know it is to help me heal and right now that is the most important part. Maybe it will take me a month to get back to adding new foods back in, maybe it will be a few months. All I know, there’s no turning back now. I see the progress, I feel the difference and I know it’s the right thing to do. ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!!

I’m going to post another update soon on what else is happening in my life.. I have a plan, really I do ;)

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Transitioning to Paleo and SIBO diet

This past week I have worked towards going 100% paleo, which will happen fully next week. With some meal planning and cooking ahead of time to actually get to the point of doing it fully. It’ll be a very strict and restricted meal plan for a few weeks.

I don’t like the idea of going cold turkey paleo and very low carb.. I’ve done it before and it’s not nice. So I figured if I transition into it, it’d be easier on my system. I cut out a few things this week that I was eating way too much of. In the mornings for breakfast I would make a Mocha, I cut that out all week.. I was also munching on chocolate covered almonds, which I didn’t even buy another bag just to make sure. I also was munching on plain chips, which I haven’t touched even though they’re in the cupboard.

I also cut out rice, though I wasn’t eating much of it I’d have a snack here and there like gluten-free snack that are made with rice flour. I stopped these snacks as well.

This week has mostly been fruits/veggies, meats and fats and a bit of nuts and seeds..

This isn’t bad but I’ll have to cut out the fruits for a while as well as some starchy veggies and veggies that may cause problems(night shades). Once I have done this for a few weeks I’ll slowly re-introduce the foods.

It kind of reminds me of when my baby was very little and I started adding foods into her diet. I would introduce one food at a time for 3-4 days and if she had no reaction to it, I’d move on to the next food. I’ll be doing the same thing.. I have a set list of foods that I can and can not eat and I have a food list of stuff I can start re-introducing back into my diet and see how I feel.

Yesterday I started making bone broth so I’ll have that ready for next week and hopefully tonight after work I’ll be visiting the Natural Food Pantry and getting a few things to help me with digestion (Ox Bile to help with digesting fat) and muscle cramps(magnesium glycinate) I’ll also check to see if they have L-Glutamine, they didn’t the last time I was there. It’s suppose to help with joint pain and since I have bad hips, I figured it couldn’t hurt!

**update, I wrote this and forgot to post it but to add to it, I fell back into some sugar over the weekend so I decided to eat up what’s left in my house or throw it away. I am cleaning the house this week and preparing foods and once I have enough time I’ll make a meal plan for the week and start with eating this way. I don’t want to just start trying to eat this way because honestly I would starve. I need a plan. That’s where I’m at right now. I have bone broth made and ghee made. I’m dehydrating some zucchini, cucumber and kale and fresh herbs.. then I’ll do a meal plan and see what other ideas I can come up with. I’d love to start this diet soon, in the next day or two but I’m not sure when I’ll get there to be honest with you. I will post recipes as I find some and I’ll also let you know how I’m doing. This isn’t going to be fun at all!!

I have a sugar addiction!

I have been having problems since having my daughter with infections, getting sick and I have been ADDICTED to sugar. I can’t seem to keep away from the stuff, I’m having stomach issues and I know I need to get away from the sugar to help heal my gut, eat less fruits, eat more fermented foods..

I know 100% that eating Paleo helps and I can’t say that I’m really eating that bad as it is now. I still occasionally eat rice flour and I still eat more sugar than I should. I have a list of foods that I apparently have a sensitivity too and I have not been avoiding all of them like I know I should be. Coffee, sugar and chocolate are the biggest culprits next to dairy.

I know sugar bothers me and dark chocolate gives me a headache, dairy isn’t too bad as long as I stay away from milk but to heal completely and start reversing my food sensitivities I need to get away from these foods completely for a long enough time that I start healing. I haven’t done this and that is why I’m still suffering.

I have come across a great website by a Canadian Dietitian, she has struggled with IBS and other digestive, auto-immune problems like myself and she has tons of very helpful information on her website. I just pre-ordered her book. Her name is Aglaee Jacobs and she is one of a very few Dietitians that are Paleo. She knows her stuff!! Her website is called Eat Real Food Paleo Dietitian and can be found here.

I absolutely love her!! She is one of the most helpful people, she is incredibly dedicated to helping people solve their digestive issues. So much so that she is actually going back to school to become a registered nutritionist as well. This is another 4 years of schooling for her(ontop of her schooling she already had to become a Registered Dietitian) and I support her 100%, which is also why I don’t mind buying her book to help with funding her schooling. Every little bit helps!

Her new book is called Digestive Health with Real Food.. exactly what I’m looking for. Problem is, it’s not out yet(It comes out end of June!) So I have searched the internet to try to find as much information as I can to get started on a modified Paleo plan. I’m sure the book will help TONS with recipes and ideas but until I get it, I have to find this stuff myself. I guess I can wait, but I don’t want to!!

SIBO – Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth

After reading through Aglaee’s website I discovered I likely have SIBO.. and to reverse this it is much more restrictive Paleo but it is intended to heal the gut and starve unwanted bacteria. I know for a fact this is the problem. Every doctor I have seen has said this, including my specialists and GP but my GP gave me pills for Yeast and Bacteria, which probably did more damage than it helped..my Naturopath gives me a treatment plan, which includes foods to avoid but she was very vague and the lists she gave me were very contradicting. 1 page said I could eat this, next page said I couldn’t. So I was confused and I gave up.

As usual I have done more research and I am starting to prepare to start a new phase of paleo eating. It is going to be hard, very hard. Very restrictive, especially the first few weeks until I start slowly re-introducing foods back in but I am confident it will help as long as I stick to it. That will be the hardest part.

Why will it be hard? basically I will be cutting out all starch and sugar. This means that my body will have to shift from using carbs as a source of energy to using ketones. This process will take a little while and switching over will be giving me a serious case of the carb flu. I know this because each time I try to cut out sugar I start to get it and it’s too intense and I give up. Whether it’s having fruit or juice.. I must have something sugary because the symptoms I get have just been nasty.. headaches, nausea mostly but my joints start aching and my legs start cramping. I swear it’s awful!

Over the next week I am going to plan to start this for when I’m on my holidays so I can go through symptoms at home and not have to stare at a computer screen with a migraine. I can drink water, bone broth and snack on healthy food when I need to and not be confined to what is in my lunch box.

After I get through this nasty phase, I will be starting a regular workout routine again once I start feeling more energized. I know that I will get there, I was there before, I can get there again. I just have to get through the rough patch at the beginning.

I know I can stay away from the sugar once the cravings are gone but my god they are STRONG. I have to keep away, out of sight out of mind.. if I know there’s any sugar in the house, even a miniscule amount I’m likely to fall into it’s trap.

I don’t remember it being this difficult the last time I switched to paleo. Maybe it was, I guess I’ll have to go look through my archived blogs to see what I said back then.

I have wanted to get back to where I was before the baby for a while now but every time I tr,y I have a set back, something comes up. I get sick, the baby gets sick.. I don’t have time to cook. I also feel like I just couldn’t commit to doing the full Paleo thing properly because I just couldn’t find a place locally that sold grass-fed meat.

Well I have found 3 sources of grass-fed meat, 2 near where I live(within 10 -20 min) and one near where I work (within 20 min) so I should have no excuses. Once I check some of these places out I’ll post more about them!

Over the weekend I’m going to find recipes, I’m going to write out a meal plan and then the following week I’ll be on my holidays, I’ll have time to cook and prepare some foods for when I get back to work.

I’m actually kind of excited to try grass-fed beef/pork and chicken. I have only ever had grass-fed Turkey but knowing that I’m eating something and not worrying about all the crap they put in it is kind of comforting. I’ll also be eating other foods that I don’t eat on a very regular basis, so this should be interesting.

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Make sure to check out my WHEAT BELLY book REVIEW!!

Tiana MacLeod

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Wheat Belly Book Review

Dr. William Davis’ Wheat Belly Book Review

Now I can’t say that this book was out at the time when I went Gluten Free but had this book been out at the time, my life would have been SOOO much easier.

The amount of time I spent from when I started until I was comfortable cooking meals for myself, ordering food in restaurants or buying groceries in the grocery store. Ditching the wheat was the longest process ever. It doesn’t happen overnight but one thing I didn’t understand until I read this book is exactly why more and more people were having this problem. Why suddenly people were gluten intolerant or developing Celiac Disease.

An understanding of gluten

I now understand all the health problems that can be associated with eating gluten, I also know why these problems are happening and I know what to do about it. This book didn’t fall into my hands until a few years after I started my gluten free journey but it has helped me when talking with others about gluten.

Sharing with others

I have since given the book to family members and recommended it to several friends. If you are struggling with health problems, if you are overweight or even discovering that you have a gluten intolerance. This book will guide you along the way.

Transition to Paleo way of eating

Since going gluten-free I have actually been naturally transitioning to eating more paleo. Now I am not sure if I’m actually Celiac or not (I took the test but it’s not accurate, it came out negative) but I find that eating gluten causes many health problems with me. I also have found that other foods such as Rice, Oats, milk cause problems, so I have had to go a little further when cutting out foods. The thing is I think the damage that I did to my system from eating the gluten caused many other intolerances. I have problems with chocolate, MSG, sugar. When I researched further I found out that these are common foods that cause problems. I had no idea these foods caused issues with me until I cut them out and attempted to add them back in. Skin problems, energy problems, bloating..

It’s not easy

Going gluten-free or even eating paleo is a struggle, it’s not easy. It’s a huge change from the way you eat. I can’t say I eat it perfectly, especially now. But now I’m knowledgeable enough to know that when I get a reaction, what to look for and I can figure out what it was that I ate and try to avoid it in the future.

Wheat Belly Book Review Video

I spent a few hours working on this video(shooting, editing and posting-slow internet), I wanted to explain a bit about my history and how I got to the point of eating gluten free before I started talking about the book. Hopefully you find it interesting. I appreciate any questions or comments you may have about the book or about my story.

If you haven’t seen my blog post a few months back, Dr. Davis was on the Dr. Oz show. The blog post has the video segment link where he talks about wheat, why it’s addictive, some recipes and lots more.. 3 great segments! Check out my blog post view the video!

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Weightloss goals – Getting back on track

Reaching my weightloss goals

I realized today that I haven’t posted an update in a while, so I thought better late than never! I have to say, things haven’t gone as planned this New Year. The plan WAS in January to start back at the gym, get back into pre-baby shape and fit into some of my old clothes again.

Plan shmam – things never go as planned

If I have learned something these past few weeks, it’s stop making plans! Lol well maybe not stop but don’t expect things to go as planned. Unfortunately when you have a child things aren’t really up to you anymore, let’s just say that I have had a few setbacks.

Setback 1 – Flu/cold Season

I don’t normally get sick, if I do it’s once a year and it’s very mild. This year I have been sick on and off since January. What’s the difference? Well my daughter started daycare in January and didn’t waste time in bringing home a few colds and flu’s. Now some of those are likely linked with her teething as it seems everytime she gets teeth in, she seems like she has a cold but the teeth come in and she’s better. The cold and flu season was the biggest set-back, since I’m not one who likes to work out when I’m not feeling good. Also when you are sick you need time to heal, get your immune system healthy again. Working out weakens your immune system, so it’s not a good idea to push through it. Rest, heal then gym.

Setback 2 – Too much to do, not enough hours in the day

I’ve been busy, more than normal. I’ve started a few new projects and lots of other things going on and just not enough time to do them all. It is now time for me to adjust my priorities and make losing weight and getting back into shape a priority. Period!

No more excuses

As I read my over my biggest setbacks I think to myself, they seem like excuses. In part they are but unavoidable ones. I wish I was feeling better, I wish I had more time but I don’t. Now I’m in April and am so far behind with everything, I’m planning a catch up week. I decided that I will be taking a week off in May, this week will be a work week. I’m going to spend the time to get caught up with cooking, cleaning, blogs, videos. It’s going to be a busy week, my daughter will remain in daycare for most of the week. Depending on how much I get done. I’ll have a long weekend with her and hopefully I will have gotten enough done throughout the week so that I won’t be working on the weekend before heading back to work!

Once I’m caught up with everything, I’ll have to keep on top of it all so I don’t fall behind again. I have a LONG list to tackle and I’m not 100% sure I’ll get it all done in a week but I’ll try my best.

New goals, new commitments, new challenges

Since becoming pregnant in 2011, I went from being in decent shape and at my lowest weight I’ve been in years, to gaining approx 30 lbs being pregnant, losing 25 of those pounds after having the baby, gaining another 20 lbs again while being at home and eating WAY too many carbs, to losing 10 of those pounds and still not in shape. I want to get back to where I was before the baby. That’s my goal, I have no idea what I weighed at that point but I know what clothes I fit into and how I looked and felt and I want that back!

I was thinking about it today and I realized that when I lost the majority of my weight, I was creating meal plans. I was sticking to them and was only buying groceries for those meal plans. But I was also single at the time, I lived on my own and it was much easier. This is going to be a whole new challenge for me, I have less time and more mouths to feed. My daughter eats really healthy, so now I have to combine what she eats into my diet and PLAN better for the week.

PLAN SHMAM

Yeah I know, I just finished saying no more planning and now I’m talking about making plans. HA! Well they are good plans and I am going to have backup plans for my plans… that way if something comes up, I’ll know what to do. For example, my original plan is to do menu’s and go to the gym Mon, Wed, Friday. Plan B – If I don’t get around to making my meal plans for some reason, I have an idea what I should be eating so I’ll get by for the week, I just will make sure to write out a grocery list and stick to it, no junk in the house! ALSO if for some reason I don’t get to the gym on those days, I will get some sort of exercise that day. So that means I will go for a walk on my break at work for 30 minutes, or I will go to the gym after work or I will get home and do a workout there somehow. When I write out my meal plans I usually write out what exercise I will do, so I will write out my back up plan as well if I don’t make it to the gym. No more excuses!

I’m also going to keep my freezer and pantry full of healthy options and not have the snack food around that I love to eat. Once I get into a good routine, I should be fine but that could take a few weeks, so I’ll have to behave for a while ;)

Thanks for listening and if you have any suggestions or tips for someone who is trying to get back into shape, cook healthy meals and manage a baby, full time job and friends and family, I’m all ears!

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Tiana MacLeod

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Med school classes – obesity/nutrition not covered

Do Med school classes consist of nutrition courses?

This was a question I asked myself when I got home from a doctors visit a few months ago. I became annoyed with my doctor after she told me my daughter and I “need grains for proper nutrition” and “we should be eating them”.

She went on to say “it’s unlikely anyone is intolerant to grains such as rice, it’s just not common.” My decision to stop eating grains was not made just for the fun of it, clearly she thinks it was.

Quick background of why I went gluten/grain free

In 2007 I went to my doctors with a whole host of problems, stomach pain, joint pain, headaches.. She diagnosed me with Irritable Bowel Sydrome told me to eat more fibre and sent me off to see a rheumatologist for my pain.

I took her advice seriously and loaded up on whole grains.. this resulted in symptoms that only worsened. Confused and in pain, I looked up the cause of IBS and found that food intolerances might be the cause. Something my doctor never told me…

It took a few years to pin point which foods did and didn’t cause my problems. Once I discovered it was in fact food intolerances, my pains went away(all of them), I lost faith in my doctor but I gave her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she just didn’t know this so I figured if I told her how I was eating, she would be proud of me and say I’m doing good for finding the root cause of my problem. Imagine my amazement when my doctor informed me that I should be eating these foods, I NEED them for energy and proper nutrition.. I couldn’t believe a doctor would say these things to me. I was shocked, I was saddened, I was confused.

What do Medical Schools teach our doctors?

I searched the course curriculums of several Canadian medical schools. I couldn’t find any obvious courses in nutrition for a general practitioner. I clearly must be wrong, I’m not reading the course information properly, I’m not looking at the right information.

Sure they learn biochemistry and the basics of how food is processed in the body but I kept looking for proof that doctors, the people we go to for health advice, the people who tell us what we should and shouldn’t be eating, what we should be feeding our children learn about nutrition! Afterall, isn’t the most common health problem obesity and weight related illnesses?

IN DENIAL – I MUST BE WRONG!!

I didn’t research much more than this, at that point I didn’t have time but this is something I’ve had in the back of my mind for a few months now. Waiting for the opportunity to speak with someone, a doctor friend or someone that I meet eventually that’s been to medical school. I was positive I must be wrong!

THEN I came across a blog post the other day by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, actually it’s a post on his blog by a medical student who has been job shadowing Dr. Freedhoof.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoof is a family doctor here in Ottawa, he is also an Assistant Prof. at the University of Ottawa, and founder of the Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute, he also has a very popular health/nutrition blog.

READ Medical Student, Jill Trinacty’s Blog Post here!!

A student of medicine, who wanted to learn about obesity and nutrition, had to take it UPON HERSELF to go above and beyond and learn something that should have been taught to her in year 1 of Medical school! I don’t know about you but I think this is AWFUL!!!

I commend people like Jill Trinacty who realize the importance of learning about nutrition and the role it plays in obesity and her future patients health. It should be mandatory for all students, for all doctors, to learn the basics of nutrition. We go to them for advice, assuming they know the answer. They should know the right answers.

You can read a few articles on this topic HERE or HERE.

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Tiana MacLeod


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Paleo meals made easy

Quick and Easy Paleo meals

Since I started eating differently, that meant I had to do things differently. I had to shop differently, I had to cook differently, prepare meals differently. Not everyone has the time or energy to put into meal planning. I honestly don’t know where I find the time somedays!

For those of you who are busy, who are struggling each week to get things planned in order to get food for grocery shopping, finding recipes that would suit your family. Look no further!

Spend more time with your family, while someone else does the dirty work…

While searching through the internet while planning my meals I came across a great website eMealsthat does all this stuff for you! Seriously!

eMeals.com is a very basic and simple idea, I’m really surprised there’s not more companies like this one out there!

Gluten Free, Clean eating, Paleo, Low Carb, Natural/organic, Vegetarian.. no problem! Pick your plan based on the way you eat and the size of your family. You can also choose which

grocery store you shop at!

Each week eMeals will send you your meal plan with 7 simple family-friendly recipes that include both a side dish and entree. You’ll also get a detailed grocery list that is organized by section and coordinated with weekly sales at each store!

MY GOSH!! They make it so simple, what a brilliant idea! They help you save money too.. gotta love that!

If you enjoyed this post please “comment, like & share” this page…

Tiana MacLeod

Email: tianamacleod@gmail.com

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Join my Facebook Group: Healthy Happy & Wise LCHF

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