Time and Adherence!

Share your McDougall successes here in order to inspire others.

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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Tue May 27, 2014 10:32 pm

Thanks everyone.

Tessa, eating bananas seems to (for me!) lead gradually to extreme muscle pain and joint stiffness. So, I can eat half a banana one day in a month and nothing much will come of it, but if I eat a banana a day regularly, I will have pain. Odd, no? :lol:
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Tue May 27, 2014 10:35 pm

Sarah, april-le-la I am glad you are 50% better! For me, some of my PMS/PMDD symptoms only responded to regular, adequate sleep and walking in the sunlight every morning without fail for about 20-30 minutes, on TOP of diet. These things might also help you, but it does seem to take time for some people.
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby RemLex » Wed May 28, 2014 5:11 pm

Nicole,
Thank you for sharing your story! Your wellness is truly inspiring . I also have PsA and have been a vegan for 10 years . I was thinking about trying the elimination diet . I was wondering how you determined you were sensitive to rice and carrots? Rice is on the elimination after all And did you add only one food at a time back into your diet?
Thank you
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Wed May 28, 2014 10:10 pm

RemLEx, I started the Elimination Diet straight after a water fast (which does indeed reduce inflammation) and introduced foods one at a time, but for me eating ANY FOOD at all after the water fast brought back some symptoms so it was kind of hard to tell. Also, sometimes foods are subtle and take a few days to sneak up and show a reaction, so I missed the signal from brown rice for a long time. The Elimination Diet was a truly painstaking process, and I would test and re-test thing repeatedly to ensure that a "reaction" to a food was not just a random bad day unrelated to what I ate.
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby frozenveg » Thu May 29, 2014 7:47 am

Nicole, I'm so glad you shared your story, and congratulations on being the newest Star! I am proud to know you! Your persistence is so important to share. It's a good reminder, too, that as we continue on this journey, even if it takes a long time, there are improvements along the way. (Sometimes people ask me how long it took to lose my weight, and when I say a year and a half, their faces fall in disappointment! :? )

I love your list of what you can do now, but especially the line "I feel like myself." May you continue to thrive and glow, to walk and swim and travel! You are a beacon of hope for many sufferers out there!
5'3", 74 YO. Started Jan. 11, 2010
Starting weight: 222.6
Current weight: 148.2.0


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https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/st ... -rockwell/
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby ElizHC » Thu May 29, 2014 8:38 am

Thank you so much for sharing. Your story reached me via the National Psoriasis Forums and, since I haven't been back here in ages I had missed your whole story. I too am suffering from psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. My PA is largely in the joints of my hands and feet, but I am wondering if it has moved to hips, neck, and TMJ as well. The psoriasis used to be exclusively palms and soles, but has spread to many other spots as well and had truly begun to impede my life.

Rather than hijacking your thread I think I'll start my own and ask for help, but since April 9 I've been on an elimination diet. I researched and came up with the best I could cobble together - largely Klaper (TrueNorth) but with old info from Joel Fuhrman and a few Drs I saw while living in Germany. I now see via your post the McDougall diet and it's quite different. Everything cooked, no berries, no nuts, etc. I've already eliminated grains, nightshades, citrus, some nuts, bananas, etc. and had thought I was ready to add things back. I also added a strong probiotic last week as I'm sure mine is also gut inflammation based.

How did you add things back? Once a week for two sequential days? How did you keep track? Spreadsheet? The idea of embarking on this journey is on the one hand, fun, but on the other hand so overwhelming as to make me just continue w ED forever. But not.

Can you please share more specifics about how you approached re-introducing foods? Am contemplating a 48 hour fast first...

Thanks again for sharing; I needed your story today!!
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Thu May 29, 2014 12:01 pm

Thank you so much, Frozenveg! Thanks you for all your kind support over the years! You were one of my biggest heroes when I started out. :-D
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Thu May 29, 2014 12:08 pm

Hi ElizCH, nice to meet you!

I am sorry to hear of your current PA and PsA situation, but hopefully now things will begin to get better!

I think starting a journal is an excellent idea, it really helped me a lot. You can just start one in the Journal section, everyone is very supportive.

Taking a probiotic also helped me out quite a bit in the beginning,I hope it helps you as well.

I added foods back one food per week. I found it could take up to 4 days for symptoms to show up, and then several days for them to back down once they were there, so sometimes it was one food every two weeks. For a long time I just stuck with the plain Elimination Diet plus any foods I'd tested and were OK, because I just wanted to feel good and have less pain. I am still adding foods back, slowly, to this day.

Also, we have an ongoing Elimination Diet Support thread going here if you'd like to join in there as well. Having a group of folks to talk to and learn from is very helpful.

Hope this helps!

Nicole
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby apri-le-ali » Fri May 30, 2014 6:34 am

Thanks for the tips Nicole!
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby ajhondrngal » Fri May 30, 2014 11:21 am

Thanks for sharing your story, Nicole.

I have another autoimmune issue called PCOS. I think the symptoms started when I was 14, so 36 years ago. I've never been diagnosed because it's a tricky syndrome and the few times they have tested for it, all the tests came back normal. Anyway, this is a key to my stumbling around lately. I want to believe this will work even for PCOS, and I really want it to work. But after more than a year and my bp still hasn't budged, the doubts have started pushing their way in. How can this take care of PCOS if it won't take care of my bp? The reality is that the bp is a symptom of the PCOS and when the PCOS is taken care of the bp will come down. So I guess I'm in for the LONG haul.

Thanks again for your story and telling us that it is possible to get it done even if it takes forever.
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Fri May 30, 2014 1:20 pm

Hi ajhondrngal ,

PCOS is very difficult, I am sorry to hear you have been dealing with it for so long. I have other hormonal issues, PMDD, but occasionally have painful ovarian cysts, too.

I know the diet can be helpful for PCOS,but also that hormonal issues and autoimmune diseases take time. I have read that PCOS and other hormonal and autoimmune issues are related to excess weight, so if you are still losing, it might be a part of the delay.

Some potentially helpful information - cruciferous vegetables are very good both for balancing hormones and dealing with autoimmune issues. Things like broccoli, kale, brussesls sprouts are excellent, but even more helpful are things like watercress and arugula, aka rocket. It doesn't take much either. I noticed improvement when I have one or more of those veggies every day.

Hang in there! I'm here to chat anytime you're feeling like it will never end!

Nicole
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby JaniceYvonne » Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:25 pm

Nicole Now that you have found the foods that work, what does a day of eating look like?
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:51 pm

Hi JaniceYvonne,

For me, a day of eating looks about like this:

Breakfast: fruit, maybe some salad (pretty light b-fast, never very hungry) some ground flax

Lunch - salad, butternut squash and sauteed onion, zucchini, summer squash and garlic with butter beans and thyme (this week at least - YUM), a fruit (apple, couple apricots, pear, etc)

Dinner - cooked greens, some beans and some sweet potato and then a fruit like at lunch.

I don't measure anything, I just eat until I am done.

I change up my food every few weeks or so, but it's all so yummy and satisfying, I rarely feel deprived.
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby tessa » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:12 pm

Hi Nicole!
I just have another question about the diet that has helped you.

Since bananas and grains are an issue with you it seems to me that starch might be the problem. I have problems with both of these items.

Have you tried pseudo grains like buckwheat or quinoa at all? I would be interested to know if you have and how you handle them?
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Re: Time and Adherence!

Postby nicoles » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:46 am

Hi Tessa,

I have tried quinoa, and it seems fine. I mainly rely on sweet potatoes, winter squashes and beans for my starches at the moment. I have not yet tried buckwheat, although I plan to eventually. I tried amaranth but really did not like the flavor, lol.

I do believe grains are an issues for me in general and that pseudo grains are less likely to be problematic.

Best!

Nicole
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