Discussion Board

Hey, those iron levels are great. I've wondered about iron intake on this diet.

Just popped in to say I'm sorry to read of your trouble with your esophagus. Seems really unfair to get hit with something like that when you've improved your health so much with good daily habits. I trust you'll find a way through.

Thanks. It's more annoying than anything else. I HATE being anyones patient. I feel fine. Now I find I have a disease that wasn't even known to exist 20 years ago. If I have to give up potatoes and tomatoes I am going to be pissed.

Kate

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had an incident where a vitamin pill got stuck in my throat and I had to go to the hospital for an emergency endoscopic removal. While the gastroenterologist was removing the pill, she took some biopsies and video of my esophagus. Turns out my esophagus has narrowed due to rings of scar tissue and is infected with a plaque like layer of white blood cells . The condition is called eosinophillic esophagitis and was only discovered about 20 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eosinophilic_esophagitis

Apparently, something I am eating is attacking my esophagus and has been for many years based on the number of strictures and the degree of narrowing. It's something I'm currently eating, as the biopsy showed the eosinophilic infection is very active. I have to figure out what it is or my esophogus will continue to narrow. Unfortunately, you can't just do a skin test to find out what it is, because the allergic mechanism is different from the one that causes hives. You have to follow an elimination diet.

I will be following the Elimination Diet recommended by Dr. McDougall but without any grains, corn or nightshade vegetables. My doctor specifically mentioned potatoes and tomatoes as possibilities
http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_allergic.html

So its just cooked vegetables, fruits, sweet potatoes and winter squashes. After a week I'll add back the brown rice and see what happens. Based on past experience, I would expect to feel some sort of choking sensation or tightening of the throat whenever I hit on a problem food. I've experienced that with beans and legumes in the past - which gives me a clue where the problem may lie. I also wouldn't be surprised to see an uptick in my asthma if I hit on an allergic food. As part of my treatment, I have to swallow the same oral steroid spray I used to inhale for my asthma. I've read the same genetic defect is involved in both diseases.

I had to laugh at the grocery store this evening. I had bought 6 large sweet potatoes, 3 acorn squash, 3 buttercup squash, two large heads of red cabbage, a big bag of chopped mixed greens, all kinds of plain frozen vegetables, 6 apples and 6 pears. The check-out lady commented that my 'family' sure did eat a lot of vegetables. I didn't tell her they were all for me

I'm fasting today. This has become something I really enjoy every Sunday. Not for religious reasons, but just as a break from all the drama around food. I'm sure my liver appreciates it, too.

Kate

Good grief Kate - I sure hope it's a food you feel ho hum about, but just are eating because it's good for you. Loved your list from the check out stand. I baffled a clerk by buying JUST bags and bags of sweet potatoes. They aren't 99 cents/lb anywhere else I cleaned them out.

Hope the food elimination shows the culprit fast and it's NOT your favs!

Monday Weigh-in: 132 pounds, BMI 20.1. Two pounds to goal weight.



I tell you what, if it turns out I'm allergic to tomatoes, I'm going to be pissed.

The menu for the next week is very Mary's Mini. Same thing everyday:

Breakfast:
Large sweet potato and apple chopped and microwaved together. No cinnamon, no herbal tea, no stevia

Lunch:
SNAP of collard greens, mixed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, Brussel sprouts, French-style green beans, sliced onion steamed together in the microwave. No tomatoes, salsa, Mrs. Dash or nutritional yeast.

1/2 an acorn or buttercup squash baked in microwave.
1 pear baked in microwave.

Dinner:
Same vegetables as lunch, substituting red cabbage for the collard greens and a zuchini/yellow squash instead of the green beans. Steam-frying on stove instead of microwaving. No soy or stir-fry sauces.

Remaining half of squash.

Lots of plain water.

Repeat for a week. Just reading this makes me notice how many seasonings I use. I'm also going to miss my big raw salad in the evening. On the positive side, I should get in touch with the true flavor of my food. Although Dr. McDougall allows salt as a seasoning in his Eliminaton Diet, I'm going to skip it and see if I can learn to enjoy my food 'as is'.

BTW: I plugged everything into the CRONometer and the nutritional profile isn't too bad. I'm light on B12, vitamin E, selenium, omega -3 and calcium. Normally I would use nutritional yeast, sunflower seeds, a brazil nut, ground flaxseed and sesame seeds as 'suppliments' to fill out these numbers, but for the next few weeks I imagine I'll survive quite fine without them. I'm a little light on the calories, too, but the amount of actual food is enormous. I don't know if I can find room for another sweet potato .

Kate

Kate, I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles! (((((HUGS)))))
I hope the elimination diet clearly shows you what you need to avoid. And I hope none of those things are foods you love!

Thanks for being such an inspiration around here! You deserve all the best!

Hi Kate,

Quick comment to let you know that your "resources" page is some good stuff. (I came across it a couple days ago, and now I can't remember how I ever got there or found it!)

I *loved* the Kessler talk at Google and I also read as much of his book as Amazon would let me without giving them any money (ha!). Wow! It explains so much, you know?

On a different note, *huge* congratulations on everything you did to get to a BMI of 20. Feels great, doesn't it? (And don't let the jealous little people give you that "you're too skinny" nonsense either!!)

Best,
-Ginger

Monday weight: 128.5 BMI 19.5

Well, I learned a bit about my compulsive overeating after a week on the Elimination Diet. Much of my overeating appears to be fueled by the spices and seasonings I use in my food. Not that this should be that much of a surprise. . Without salsa, nutritional yeast, Mrs. Dash, hot pepper sauce, soy sauce, dried herbs, cinnamon and ginger I lost my appetite big time last week. I'm sure that over time I would get used to the taste of unadorned, natural food, but over the short term I didn't eat very much and ended up losing 3.5 pounds .

Good news: I've met my goal weight of 130 and a BMI under 20.

Bad news: I don't want to lose anymore weight (I can't believe I just wrote that). Time for this journal to start living up to its name and start working on MAINTAINING my weight.

So, while my initial idea was to start adding back non-gluten grains this week (quinoa and brown rice), I'm going to add spices back instead. Today and tomorrow I'll be testing cinnamon. I'm also adding another piece of cooked fruit and some spaghetti squash at dinner to up my calorie count.

So the new menu becomes:
Breakfast: apple and sweet potato cooked together. Cinnamon.
Lunch: SNAP of mixed vegetables, 1/2 acorn or buttercup squash cooked with pear. Cinnamon.
Dinner: Stir-fry of mixed vegetables served over spaghetti squash.
Snack: Other half of squash cooked with a peach. Cinnamon.

On the plus side, I feel great. I did a six mile charity walk on Saturday in the freezing drizzle, and a six mile mall walk on Sunday. No aches or pain, sleeping great. Even my asthma is improved - which only goes to show that something I was eating was causing inflammation in my lungs as well as my esophogus.

In fact, I feel so good I'm going to wait awhile before testing beans and legumes - which I'm fairly sure are the likely suspects. I was looking at some old posts of mine, and one of the first posts I ever made to this current board was to ask Dr. Matt if I might have a bean allergy, since my throat kept swelling up after I would eat lentil or split pea soup or a bean burrito. Then the problem went away and I forgot about it. Should have paid more attention to my body's signals

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=14850

Thanks to all my internet friends who have wished me well on this new journey. I appreciate the support. Sunday was one of my favorite events of the year: VegMichigan's VegFest. But for me it has also been one big 'pig-out' festival since virtually every booth is giving away free samples of very yummy, very non-McDougall food. I rationalized (and boy! can I rationalize when I want to ) that since it was only once a year I could let myself go crazy. Taste EVERYTHING. But now I have the very real possibility of doing myself some very real damage should I 'fall off the wagon'. So I didn't go. I did my normal Sunday mall walk and stayed on the Elimination Diet. It's always best to respect your own weaknesses rather than put them to the test. So in that regard, I'm going to look at my EE as a positive thing.

Kate

Glad to hear you are feeling better, Kate! Looks like this is an opportunity to really get to the bottom of some core allergy issues.

Interesting about the spices being the culprits in overeating. I'm going to have to reflect on that one for myself.

edited for typos

Back in January, I bought a new dress to act as a 'challenge' for my goal of 130 pounds and a BMI of under 20. The dress was a size 6, which I've never worn in my adult life. Heck, I was a size 16 back when I was 16. I gave myself until Memorial Day to fit into the dress or it was going into the 'Goodwill' basket.

Well, I tried it on today, and it fit so well I wore it to work. When I bought it it wouldn't even zip up the back! I can now officially say that by following the McDougall Program (with nutritional support from Jeff Novick and psychological support from Doug Lisle) I have lost over 175 pounds and gone from a size 26 to a size 6!



I can actually look at this picture a see a normal looking woman. How great is that? Well, normal except for the sneakers . I'd just gotten back from my lunch walk when I had my lab partner snap my picture with my cell phone.

The difference between my January 1st weight and my current weight is 'only' 20 pounds. Don't ever get discouraged if you only lose a pound a week - it just keeps adding up and up.

Kate

Ha ha, love the high fashion sneaker accessory. Congratulations.

Katydid,
I am a long time reader but a hardly ever poster. Every once in a while something jerks me out of my silence and your picture has done that. I just had to tell you, "Wow, you look great!" You are certainly living proof that this works with compliance.
Thanks for the inspiration ,
Eva

You're one of my McDougall Heroes, Kate!! You're an inspiration and one day I'll have my own "keeping it off" lifestyle! You look great!!

-Norm

WOW Kate - 26 to 6 says everything. The picture's great it reminds me that it's the food and the exercise both that got you there. So glad Goodwill didn't get the dress - what a perfect fit on you!

Congratulations on your achievement. You really look great!
I enjoy reading your postings.