I need back up!

[NikkiNicole]

OK, tomorrow I have one last wonky shift and then I can hit up the grocery store on Friday morning before work. I NEED to get back into clean eating. I NEED/WANT/HAVE to make changes. This is not how I eat, this is not how I live my life.

I need to make changes in almost every corner of my life. Less work, cleaner eating, more exercise. I can control these things since I can't control that monster that is Wegener's yet.

I need support. I need help.

I'm going back on the Paleo Diet. At least for a little while. No Wheat of any kind, no beans, no legumes, no dairy, no processed sugars. I will limit myself to a banana and an apple or a handful of grapes a day fruit wise. I'll increase my veggie intake again and eat more lean meats. Later on, I'll add dairy back in because I do love goat cheese but that is it.

It's going to be a struggle. I've already eliminated soda from my diet. That was one of my biggest hurdles because I don't drink coffee, I'm usually a soda drinker to get woken back up to finish my shifts. But, that's gone. Soda no longer exists in my consumption vocabulary.

Don't let me fall of the wagon!!!

[Dirty Don]

We'll be here, you'll get it done...be patient as well as positive...good to hear you moving forward!

[andrew]

Very similar to me except for the soda. It's difficult giving up that sugar so well done for doing that Been looking at the paleo diet too particularly because I oh so rarely eat vegetables You mention wanting to make changes in every corner of your life. Make them a step at a time though like you started with the soda. Pick one thing, nail it, move on to the next thing, rinse and repeat. Best way of making the changes stick. Good going

[NikkiNicole]

That was my intention, baby steps. I was gonna do the processed sugars next. Those are the next big hurdles. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth. Wheat is a pretty easy elimination because I happen to enjoy meats and vegetables. So .. for sure, this next week will involve only the two fruit servings of sugar. If I have some dairy, it will be plain greek yogurt, only.
My other issue? I need a new gas line for my stove so I have no stove so I do have to do things I can make without my oven for the next couple of weeks.
Goodbye Sugar. I won't miss you.

[pberggren1]

I used to eat a few chocolate bars and chips and pop every day. Then a few years before Wegs came along I quit it all cold turkey. I knew it was bad for me and my friend convinced me to quit it all. The sugar lecture was enough for me. He had almost died a year previous from a Candida overgrowth and he no longer eats most processed sugars and meats.

Making changes in our diets is never easy. The key thing to keep in mind is fresh foods.

[annekat]

Good for you, Nikki. I haven't committed myself to a specific diet plan but have found that if I don't buy bread and eat a whole lot less wheat, I feel better. And sugar has been a huge biggie for me this holiday season! I can get away with eating a small amount, but stopping with that is difficult. I'm thinking mainly of the holiday goodies that people pass around. They are absolutely loaded with sugar, and the last few days, I can feel it making me sick within a short time of eating it, and it doesn't even take much. It is like poison to my system, almost. As for veggies, I buy a pre-washed organic stir-fry mix from a farmers market vendor and that really works for me. I like meat, too, but can't afford it, and avoid mammals anyway, but eat chicken, fish, shrimp. I eat quite a few eggs, which I don't know if is considered good. And a little cheese and yogurt here and there, and half and half in my coffee or black tea, but don't drink milk.

I hope you get your stove fixed soon so you will have more options among your new healthful eating choices.

[mishb]

I cut sugar and soft drinks out, many years ago, and would only have the occasional soft drink if nothing else was available, which was not very often.

I do have a sweet biscuit with my cup of tea, so I guess that counteracted the adding of sugar.
Chocolate is a downfall

Most fruits and some vegetables cause inflammation for my joints, so I can't go that route.

If you have to make the diet change ie. because if you didn't the consequences would be dire, then you would do it without a second thought.
Like if you were just diagnosed with diabetes or if you were allergic to a food and it would kill you if eaten - you just wouldn't have it.

I am afraid that I don't have enough willpower to go the whole way, but I have no doubt in my mind Nikki, that you will do it.....one step at a time.

We will be here to back you or to bring you back to reality, if you go off track. You just need to let us know how much of a push you want, and we will shove.

Here's to a healthier 2014

[Alysia]

Hi Nikki.
you have us. we are all holding hands for you
there is a say in Hebrew: "if you try to catch too much, you might end up catching nothing". I think that you cannot do all at once. choose the most important things and start with them.
I think that getting rid of sugar should be the first. sugar is "inflamations-encourger".
stopping sugar should be at once, like weanning drugs. no more sugar. then you will feel like crazy, mad for something sweet and if you can stand it for couple of days, then you will not need sugar as much as before, if any. and like the support groups of AA or NA or OA and the like, we will all tell you: we love you Nikki, stay strong

[Barbara N]

Every time you feel an urge to eat something that is not on your diet drink a large glass of water and write on here and someone will write back and try and help you. It looks like I am going to have to go on some sort of diet, at least cut some things out of my daily consumption, I don't know what they will be yet until I see the kidney doctor and the two WG doctors and they put together something that they feel is appropriate. We will be there for you. Barbara

[annekat]

I do not have too much trouble with avoiding sugar if I don't keep it around. The problem is with that "one little bit" and then stopping at that. If I eat plenty of healthful and satisfying food, I don't miss the sweets. Of course some of these foods contain carbs, which do produce sugar in the system, and some of them may even contain a bit of sugar. But if I can avoid the really concentrated sugars, like those in sweets, I feel a lot better.