Day Sixteen of Twenty-Eight: Another Round of J. J. Virgin's Sensitivity Diet

Yes, I did this earlier in the year, based on the free info found online. Thanks to some helpful comments to those initial posts, I found out that fruits, honey and Stevia are no-nos during this cleansing period without gluten, peanuts, soy, dairy, eggs, sugar and corn. So this time around I'm avoiding even the healthy God-made sugars.

I found days five, eleven and fourteen (with day fourteen as the worst) to be taxing on my commitment to this program. Those first two days were not bad, probably due to not ingesting enough good fats to satiate me. But day fourteen had several things working in concert: a restless night's sleep added to the lack of proteins and fats. I was craving liver and onions and revived after that and a good eight hours of sleep.

I find I'm eating so much less. Basically a snack upon waking, another at noonish, a late lunch of a regular-sized meal (one-fourth meat and three-fourths veggies, either cooked or raw as a salad) and a snack a couple hours before bedtime or later if I can't make it without it. Now work is a little hectic right now too, so I don't really have the time to cook much.

For instance, here's a few of the things I've been eating over the last couple weeks:

• Handful of almonds or pepitas or sunflower seeds
• Colored bell peppers (not the green ones; I find them too bitter when raw)
• Black olives
• Canned wild tuna stuffed in a tomato, drizzled with EVOO
• A lot of salads with EVOO and lemon juice that first week
• A lot of sauteed veggies the second week
• Grilled salmon and asparagus spears
• Grilled marinated shrimp and sauteed fajita veggies
• Bacon and blackened onions
• Beef liver and onions with mushrooms
• Black forest ham with an avocado
• Deli roast beef wrapped around a green onion
• Green tea mixed with mint herb tea
• Decaf coffee
• Lots of water

I'm not exercising, other than weekly lawn mowings, but I'm losing weight, so it's all good. Like the Dinner Diva Leanne Ely said in one of her videos, no amount of exercise can offset bad eating habits. Although I fully do intend to add in some daily exercise to counter my chair-sitting computer work. Right now, my freelance projects entail twelve-hour days. So I'm a little short on time.

And my normal triggers are gone. No emotional eating, regardless of a particular thorn in my side today. No stress eating, meanwhile making two of my self-imposed (earlier) deadlines today, and three more projects awaiting me. No eating what I see, even with cupcakes in the house. That was a big test. I passed.

I've got energy (except for day fourteen). In fact I never had withdrawal symptoms. No headaches. No grouchiness (until today but that was from an outside source). So I'm pleased. Very happy.

Now I'm on the downside of the hill heading toward day twenty-eight. Looking toward the maintenance program. Since I'm going by just what info I can research online, I'm going to reintroduce foods per Atkins's rungs (see Wikipedia article). Also increasing each week's carb intake by five the first week, five the next, and so on until I cease to lose weight. Want to know this carb cap to apply to my lifestyle eating from here on out.

I don't even know what carb count I'm hitting daily now, but it's probably below twenty a day. I'm surprised my body's not in shock. Where are the breads? The pastas? The sweets? I am so proud of myself. Even halfway through, I've done something wonderful for my health.

Here's to greater health for all.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Healthy Eating Side Effects

I'm only on day four of this resetting-my-body/cleansing eating (no white foods except of course cauliflower, so no dairy, bread, pasta, pastries, processed foods, rice, grains, sugar in any form, plus no soy, peanuts, corn, gluten). But it was day two when I noticed how warm I felt, as if exercising. I was not visibly perspiring or running a fever, but my internal body temperature was definitely raised and evident all day long. I count this as increased metabolism going on. Yippee!

I don't believe I have ever had this happen when dieting unless I was engaged in weight lifting, yoga, lawn mowing. This is a first. I must finally be on the right eating path.

My bad cravings are gone almost completely. I can actually pass up the dark chocolate in my house and the breads in the bakery at my local grocery store. I don't tempt myself too much though.

My hunger is more easily satiated. After all, eating sugar does not fill a nutritional need but an emotional/psychological one. So you remain hungry after eating sweets, chips, carbonated colas, ice cream, even fake sugar in all its forms. These make you hungry for real food.

Start eating real food and the always-there hunger stops.

Also the last two nights I've slept deeper, dreamed heavily and vividly. Clearly in the REM stage, even from my viewpoint. I'm usually a very light sleeper.

Of course my fickle old-fashioned bathroom scale is as wonky as ever and tells me nothing reliable and consistent. But I have a favorite pair of Levi's button-fly jeans that is a great indicator.

For those of you interested, I'm following the tenets of:

• J. J. Virgin's elimination/sensitivity diet (except eggs, which were cleared for me to eat as proven by my previous twenty-eight-day foray into her plan) found at jjvirgin.com; 
• Dr. Mark Hyman's diabesity-avoiding guidelines as in The Blood Sugar Solution;
• Tim Ferriss's Four-Hour Body confirms my slow-carb leanings; and
• Even a bit from the Atkins diet (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet) as to the nine rungs, adding one food group for a period of time and allowing for five more net carbs per day for a week, starting from the intro restriction of twenty daily. This is great, pinpointing both the amount of net carbs my body can tolerate yet not gain weight while classifying each new food group reintroduced as either helpful or hurtful (per J. J. Virgin's foods sensitivities).

I'll update more later.


Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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The Blood Sugar Solution: Snacks

I'm just starting this journey so I may deviate at some later point. But for now, my snacks are simple. First, there is this wonderful guacamole recipe with cumin in TBSS Cookbook that I eat as both a meal, with beans, or as a snack. Second, nuts. Did you know sunflower seeds have Vitamin D in them? I love them anyway, but what a bonus to get some Vit. D thrown in, too. I eat about four tablespoons of my own mix: sunflower seeds, almonds and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Third, popcorn. I pop mine in coconut oil as it can withstand higher temps than EVOO.

Now I just read the Dinner Diva's post today (SavingDinner.com) about lectins in popcorn. So I'm on the fence. While popcorn is not mentioned in either of TBSS books, it is shown and mentioned in the online video of Dr. Hyman's pantry.

And popcorn raises the sensitivity issues that J. J. Virgin would question.

So for these iffy matters, I say: Listen to your body. Watch for reactions. If you get bloating, stop. If you get stuffy noses, stop. If you get weight gain, stop. If you get binge eating, stop.

A final note to others like me on a quest for perfect health (or near perfect). I find that the added fiber gives my stomach an unpleasant sensation at first, but that my body is adjusting to the increased fiber. Just try to differentiate that from true stomach upsets.

And the journaling that Dr. Hyman suggests is a wonderful way to make those food-body connections. Just focusing on how we are emotionally and what we tend to eat is a revelation.

It's a process. It's a discovery. We're all different. I'll share as I go along.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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