the new diet

is overall going well. The hardest parts are the hidden sugars and wondering if the salt on the label is iodized (and thus has potato) or not. Goodness gracious! Eliminating just potato, honey and sugar ends up eliminating A LOT of foods! Why even try? Why do it?

Elimination diets are definitely, most definitely, not for everybody. I had several reasons for trying..

1) I've never had the strongest constitution but, in the three months I didn't blog, I was knocked down by three viruses. I am so tired of being sick all the time and whatever I can do to help my body is worth it.

2) I've been struggling with sugar issues for, if I'm honest with myself, a decade now. Maybe, just maybe, this will make it easier? When I eat sugar and start getting cravings, I feel really out of control. My life right now is pretty darn chaotic and feels at times out of control. One thing I can control, though, is what I put in my mouth. I've used that control in destructive anorexic type ways in the past. I would like to use that control in a nourishing way this time around.

3) I have failed to make a dent in the thirty post-pardom pounds I would like to lose. I don't at all mind losing it slowly, but am not liking the plateau, or actually gaining when I succumb to a sugar binge.

4) I like the individualized approach - what is your body sensitive too. In the past decade I've read that protein is bad for you, that fat is bad for you, that protein is good for you, that healthy fat is good for you, that grains are what we should all eat, that we should never eat grains. One sister found out recently that she doesn't do well with gluten or egg and was encouraging me to try giving up gluten. I decided I wanted to be tested to know what my own individual body didn't like.

5) I've been very sleep deprived for the last almost five years and my adrenals are depleted, my thyroid taxed. I have a lot of things I want to do in the next twenty, thirty, forty years and want to have energy to do them. Given my constitution and family history, cutting out things that are stressful for my body is probably a pretty good idea.

6) I've always thought endometriosis is an autoimmune condition. I need to do what I can to have a happy immune system. I have not restarted my cycle since James was born (can you believe he'll be seven months on Sunday???), but am dreading the pelvic pain and painful ovulation. If this can help with that, I will be ecstatic.

What is interesting about the potato, honey, and fruit and sugar in combination, is that I'm not actually allergic to any of it. Neither is it a sensitivity. How the naturopath described it is that it is more of an intolerance. Your body finds it stressful to try to break down these foods and your liver, kidneys and immune system end up doing a lot of the job instead of your stomach and intestines.

Of course, if after six months I don't feel better, potato chips sound awfully good... That or sweet potato fries...