So this is kind of sad. I had to read my own blog to remember what I’ve posted about being sick/recovering; when I reread my “BRIT diet” post I realized quite quickly what BRIT really stands for: Broth, Rootbeer popsicles, Italian Icees, and Tea (in particular peppermint tea, my favorite). Sounds like the best clear liquid diet ever.
I am happy to report that I have long since abandoned said BRIT diet, but have picked up another new “diet” that this time is, I’m afraid, for life. There is no easy way to describe the diet I now eat.
I now eat a whole-plant, low fat, and mostly vegan diet, which also excludes yeast and other fungus, fermentation, corn and corn products, gluten, nuts, apples, grapes, bananas, artificial foods/flavorings/sweeteners, chocolate, maple sugar, processed vegetable oils, ginger, and going sparingly on a few other items. (As soon as anyone has a name for this diet, it’d sure help me out!)
This list makes it difficult for people to know what to feed me. So I made a google doc which I share with friends that seem interested in knowing the particulars of what I can and acan’t eat. (The doc includes lists of common foods that contain products of the foods I can’t eat.) I’ve also started inviting friends over to try out recipes with me. There have been some flops, and some impromptu deliciousness. It can be really fun to cook/bake when it’s all an adventure! I even sent out a recipe to my family for cream of vegetable soup. I think some of them might have fainted from shock: a recipe, from Nancy. They didn’t know I had any!
I am so much more sympathetic to people’s eating restrictions now. I had no idea how it cuts into social interactions and activities. When people ask me to lunch or over for dinner I either decline, bring my own food, or have to suggest a very picky restaurant or recipes that they may hate. But I have to be careful what I eat or I get really sick. So it is what it is.
Some days this list is really hard to stick too. Very, very, very few people are willing to eat, let alone buy and/or prepare foods with such restrictions. It makes it really hard to go to social events centered around food or go on long distance trips as there is hardly ever anything I can eat outside my own kitchen. And if there is any food I can consume, it is almost always just a couple raw fruits or vegetables. Nothing with real flavor, or heartiness. This is okay. I don’t expect people to go out of there way to cook just for little ole me. I’m just stating that it makes it hard because I LOVE FOOD, and now I can only eat some of it, carefully prepared and no one but me seems to eat like this! 😦 I’m a busy girl too, so the times when I haven’t had time to eat a meal, or have a snack on hand and I give into the temptation of a delicious smelling lasagna made with cheese and whole wheat pasta, I think, “Nah, it’s not that bad. I’ll just have a little.” And even that little makes me sick. Ah! It’s not their fault. It’s mine. But it makes me not want to attend these events, or visit friends at their places. It’s easier for me to stick to the foods I can eat when I’m surrounded by them, instead of by all foods I can’t. Just today I was at my sister’s and I made the comment that I’m pretty sure she eats the Nancy complement diet: everything I can’t eat! It was funny. But it also made me kind of sad, and very hungry.
Sticking to the list makes me feel healthier though; I’ve even dropped a few pounds, though that’s not the purpose. The purpose is to be able to eat yummy foods and still feel like a normal human being.
Still, there are always things to be grateful for: firstly, I know what foods make me feel good and which ones don’t. I’m also grateful for all the lots of folks that have already had to go through finding foods to eat within a restricted diet that there are a million recipes already out there for me to try! And I’m so grateful for a chef friend that loves cooking so much she’s willing to try my crazy, always altered, recipes. And toss out the flops with nary a sad glance. Impromptu deliciousness always finds its way into our cooking time together, because we’re awesome!
Live Life Blooming 