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I was hesitant to post my journey on-line, but where else can I get support for doing an elimination diet? My friends already think I'm extreme!

How I got here.
-- SAD diet for the first 40 years of my life, but healthy (I thought) and slim.
-- Pregnant at 40 and bloodwork indicated Lupus - officially diagnosed a couple of years later. Crazy high ANA levels but mostly asymptomatic. No meds except for a couple of months several years ago when I took a baby aspirin every other day per doctor's orders. But then I quit.
-- Breastfed baby diagnosed with milk allergy so I gave up all dairy. My research then prompted me to give up all animal products (excluding honey) before baby began eating solids.
-- I've been free of animal products for 10 years and free of gluten for 5 years. I cut out corn syrup, preservatives, dyes, etc years ago. Soy went a year or two ago, and corn more recently.
-- But until my breast cancer diagnosis two years ago I didn't take the no-added oils seriously. Boy did that change! This is when I got serious about McDougalling! Even though I was a very strict vegetarian eating a mostly whole foods diet, I didn't think the added oils mattered - they do!
-- To do over my choices on breast cancer treatment. But we do the best we can at the time. I asked for them to remove the lump with clear margins. My surgeon said they didn't get clear margins. I did not want chemo or radiation but I capitulated and had a mastectomy ... but I did not let them take any lymph nodes, so I am not "staged". A funny comment I got in the hospital: the nurses were so amazed at how quickly I recovered from my surgeries (oh yes, I elected to have a complete and total hysterectomy at the same time as my mastectomy because my breast cancer was estrogen positive and I was not a candidate for nor did I particularly want to take the drugs for that). The nurses claimed my speedy recovery was because I was so healthy! Healthy people do not have body parts removed, and in hindsight I probably would NOT have jumped on the surgery bandwagon so quickly, but the cancer diagnosis was absolutely terrifying for me and I still have a young child!
-- I also discovered that I was vitamin D deficient 2 years ago. High dose D did not help. Following Dr. McD's suggestion to expose as much of my body to the sun during the hot part of the day for 20 mintues did! So now in spring, summer, and fall I'm "not decent" on my deck!
-- Somewhere during the summer I started waking wtih stiff, painful joints, especially in my fingers. I considered that I had introduced gf oats into my diet this summer (after being oat free since removing gluten 5 years ago), so I quit eating the oats, and the pain went away. I did an oat challenge and the pain/stiffness came back and I thought I had my cure. But I've been oat free for 2 months and the pain gradually came back and is now much worse than it was.
-- My mom had RA and died of another autoimmune disease. I don't know if this is RA or the Lupus kicking in or maybe the lack of estrogen or what, but it prompted me to start my elimination diet two days ago. The scary thing is that this is morning 3 and its not better. I'm scared that I'll fall in the 30% of people that don't respond to diet..

Having given you the morbid history, I just want to say that I "feel" great (after I get moving) and am an incredibly busy and active (and still slim) 50+ year old mom of a young child. I will post what I'm eating next.

All food cooked as per instructions!

Day 1 (10/31/10)
apple, yam, banana, brown rice cooked in water
broccoli, caulifower, carrot, zucchini over brown rice
apple, yam, brown rice cooked in water
yam, carrot, broccoli over brown rice

Day 2
apple, yam, brown rice cooked in water
yam, carrot, broccoli over brown rice
soup: water, 2 stalks celery, 3 carrots, 1 bunch collard greens, 1 head broccoli, 3 cups cooked brown rice, 1 can butternut squash puree (I know this is not a whole food)
frozen peaches cooked in a small amount of water with a little brown rice flour (what a treat!)

Day 3
I liked my treat so much last night, I ate a whole bag of frozen peaches cooked in water with 1 TBS of brown rice flour.
Leftover soup from day 2
rice cake (in place of my normal banana when I'm away from home)
apple, yam, brown rice cooked in water
2 baked yams

If I can keep this up (the journaling and/or the diet!), I'll be back to update my menu after it happens.

(edited to complete day 3)

I really hope this works for you! Let us know how it goes!

Thanks Jenni!

Day 4
apple, yam, brown rice cooked in water
Leftover soup from day 2
2 baked yams
4 carrots, 1 head broccoli, 2 broccoli stems over brown rice
apple, banana, brown rice, butternut squash

We're all out of yams now! I need to go to the store. I have some cans of Farmers organic butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin. Even though they're purees, I'm using them as needed. As I was making my breakfast for tomorrow (and my evening snack), I invented a pretty tasty dish!

My New Breakfast
2 large jonagold apples, chopped, & cooked until tender in a little water
1 chopped banana, stir in and continue cooking
2 +/- cups of cooked brown rice, stir in and continue cooking
1 can butternut squash puree, stir in and continue cooking

It has 3 pieces of fruit in it, but it definitely makes more than one serving - even for me!

Jamie,

Wow that is quite a history! So sorry about the breast cancer. I have just recently started McDougall again. I have fibromylagia and chronic myofascial pain syndrome as well as inflammatory type disorders of the joints. My pain seems to have worsened since starting this eating plan so I think I may have to start an elimination diet too. Thanks for posting what you are eating. I be watching it closely.

Good luck to you too, Silver!

Day 5 (11/4/10)
apple, banana, butternut squash puree, cooked brown rice in water
carrots and broccoli over brown rice
peaches cooked in water thickened with brown rice flour
soup: 2 celery, 4 carrots, 1 bunch collards, 1 can sweet potato puree, 3 cups cooked brown rice, 8 cups water
apple banana, butternut squash puree, cooked brown rice in water

Day 6 : I thought I saw improvement yesterday morning but not this morning. I wonder if it relates to how often I wake in the night and move around - keeps things loosened up? I'll continue this elimination diet today and possibly tomorrow, then I think its time to consider that one of my "safe" foods isn't safe. I'd rather go that route than throw in the towel and say that I'm one of the 30% that diet won't help!

I'll probably remove rice first for two reasons:
1/I've heard several gluten-sensitive people say they can't tolerate any grains (and I've been fighting that!)
2/I've read Burgess's anti-inlfammation website several times, and for him at least, rice doesn't work.

The challenge will be staying full! I bought several yams last night and they're baking now, but I can eat a LOT of baked yams in a day! I'll post my day 6 food after I've eaten it.

Day 6 (11/5/10)
apple, banana, butternut squash puree, brown rice, water
soup from day 5
baked yams (4 total for the day!)
finished the soup (and therefore the rice) from day 5
cooked apples

Day 7 and I'm starting over without rice in my diet. I was very discouraged at having wasted 6 days, but then realized that I just tested rice early (providing that was the problem, of course).

It occurred to me that I ate rice for every single meal, and now I'll probably be eating yams for every single meal because as long as I have them on hand and bake them ahead they're fast and easy. Since my child and I seem to be prone to food sensitivities I hope this doesn't cause a problem with yams! I do need something to fill me up!

edited to move my day 7 food log to a new post.

Jamie,

I do hope rice is not causing the problem - it would be so difficult to live without rice...Hopefully you'll find what's causing the problem, though...and if it is rice, at least you'll know...

Jamie, I found this thread and do hope you accomplish what you need to. My hybrid form of elimination diet has more to do with removing processed foods from my diet, than with cooking all my fruits and veggies. I'm on day one, gluten-free. I'm also focusing on removing acid producers from my diet, as much as possible.

Perhaps the difference between yams and rice for you has more to do wtih the fact that rice is an acid-producer and will probably affect inflammation. Wonder?

Thanks Jenni. It would be hard to live without rice, but at this point I'm kind of hoping rice is the culprit so I can move forward and make some progress!

Jellen, I'm not at all comfortable eating all cooked foods. Despite Jeff and Dr. McD telling me I don't have to "go raw" to keep the cancer in hiding, I've always incorporated a LOT of raw fruits and veggies into my diet. I'm anxious to get on with testing so I can start adding some raw foods back in! Good luck with your food journey! From my limited understanding (based on reading Burgess' website) I think you may be on to something about the acid-producing foods.

edited to correct name above - sorry I goofed!

Day 7 (11/6/10)
baked yam with cooked apples
baked yams (I lost track of how many 4 maybe 5 for the day)
BIG plate of carrots and broccoli
soup: 4 celery, 4 carrots, 1 bunch kale, 1 can butternut squash puree, 8 cups water
cooked apples

The soup was pretty bad and not very filling - really missed the rice filler! So just ate more yams and cooked apples. I'll be eating more of the soup today as leftovers. At least I won't have to cook one of my meals!

So yesterday was day 7 of my ED, but day 1 without rice. My joints were more stiff and painful than ever when I woke up this morning. Very discouraging. But then again, it was the first day without rice. I think its time I research arthritis.

ED Questions! Anyone know?
I've been eating cooked carrots but they're orange - are they legal?
I haven't been eating white potatoes because they're white - are they legal?

Hope you find that culprit soon. Wonder about the celery. I tested a slight flare to celery and discovered that it's from the ragweed family or closely related to some grass offender. Also read that millet might be an alkaline-type grain. Maybe that might be one to test early.

Sorry I can't answer your questions about the ED. I just wanted to say if you can eat white potatoes I'd throw those into your soup for filler.

I hope you find what is causing your pain. I have what appears to be RA in one knuckle on my left hand. I'm not doing an elimination diet yet. I am doing wheat/gluten free and I'll see if that helps. If not, I may be using your journal entries as research.

Good luck!

Jellen, I hope its not another one of the supposedly "safe" foods! I'll never get anywhere at this rate!

kkrichar, I would LOVE to add white potatoes! If I can get an answer on whether they're legal on the first week of the elimination diet, I'll definitely be adding them: baked, boiled, broiled, dry fried! By the way, I stayed up late (for me ) last night and read your entire thread from start to finish - your subject line hooked me in! I was so sleepy by then I don't think I commented, but I love your honesty and dedication. I'll stop by later.

I woke up early this morning and finished my cooked apples and last baked yam. Now I'm starving and need to cook something. Eating all cooked food is a challenge in itself!

Day 8 (11/7/10)
finished the cooked apples from last night
baked yams - lost count again - 4 for the day?
leftover soup from day 7 (still pretty bad)
more cooked apples

So today, day 9, I overslept! You'd think I'd know how to correctly deal with a time change by now. The good news is that I flew out of bed and actuallly got to work early! Oddly enough, I didn't even notice my joints. I don't know if I was just so astounded that I had set my clock wrong that I didn't notice or if they were better. So no reports on that until tomorrow.

I bought more yams last night (rice is way cheaper!). And I found a sale on frozen vegetables! I added a bag to the leftover soup for today and improved it a LOT! I've already eaten it with 2 yams and I'm still hungry. I REALLY miss not being able to grab a banana or apple or carrot or SOMETHING raw or legal to eat. I guess I'd better go cook something before I eat something I shouldn't. I don't have TIME for this!