Gluten Free Garden

Baked potato with sauteed onions, zucchini and green pepper with fresh bartlett pears.

I would describe the last two weeks as a roller coaster.  I have days when I am high on energy and feel great, and days when I am barely functional and sick.  The LEAP program is a challenge and infinitely more difficult than any gluten or dairy free diet.  But, despite the difficulty, I am optimistic that this is absolutely worth it.  In the end, if I can identify all of my food sensitivities and mitigate reactions, I will ultimately be able to live a healthy, happy lifestyle without fear of eating.

Day 8

The introduction of goat cheese to my diet.  I get so sick to my stomach I have to go home, drink baking soda in water to neutralize the acid in my stomach, and sleep it off.

Day 9

I vow to start from square one and go back to eating only phase 1 foods (no beef).  On the menu for breakfast is hazelnut pancakes with bananas and walnuts, watermelon and honeydew.  Lunch is sauteed zucchini, onions, potatoes, green pepper and sole fillets sauteed in hazelnut oil.  Dinner is a baked potato with sauteed zucchini, onions and green pepper.  Bored yet?  At least my symptoms improved!

Day 10

The day starts off with hazelnut pancakes, roasted vegetables with honeydew, watermelon, basil and sugar salad.  My migraine returns but only minimally.  This is a good sign – I’m getting rid of the toxic reactive foods!  Lunch is three fillets of sole dredged in hazelnut flour and sauteed in hazelnut oil, to fuel a 26 mile bike ride.  We have friends over for dinner and I feast on grilled sole, zucchini, onions, potatoes and green pepper.  My stomach symptoms return.  I deduce that this must be cross-contamination from the grill and make a mental note to grill all my foods on aluminum foil going forward.

Day 11

Breakfast is hazelnut pancakes, watermelon, honeydew and leftover potatoes.  Lunch is leftover cold pancakes and a fresh bartlet pear.  Dinner is a baked potato with sauteed onion and green peppers.  At this point I am getting REALLY tired of potatoes, onion, green peppers and zucchini, but as my symptoms diminish I know it’s worth braving the monotony.

Day 12

I have a baked potato with sauteed veggies for breakfast and meet with my dietician, Marsha McCulloch, for my two-week consultation.  I am feeling GREAT.  I don’t have pain or bubbles in my stomach.  I have energy but am a little tired from lack of calories.  We discuss my successes and relapses over the past two weeks.  My optimism for continuing the program is renewed.

Oh joy of joys, today I will add SALMON to my diet.  For dinner I prepared wild-caught salmon poached in water with salt and fresh basil.  Now, I must tell you… you will never know how amazing a simple food will taste when you have been deprived of most of your options for weeks.  A fresh, ripe pear becomes the most delicious and succulent dessert you have ever tasted.  A baked potato with hazelnut oil and salt becomes a fluffy, golden orb of hope.  And fresh, wild salmon, simply poached and salted, is rich, fragrant and buttery.  I tried to contain myself but must admit that I wolfed (WOLFED) this fillet down in record-breaking time. In a matter of hours I had more energy than I can remember having in weeks.  Life is good.

Before I went to bed I decided to add garlic to the diet so I sliced half a small clove and swallowed it raw.  Not the most appetizing method of consumption, but it is a good way to determine reaction and also good for the immune system!

Quinoa with caramelized pears

Day 13

Today.  I feel like a new person!  My muscles are fortified with protein and omega-3 fatty acids from the wild salmon, my immune system is humming from the garlic.  I feel thin (no bloating) with no pain in my abdomen.  I can take on the world, but I decide to start with the next food on my list: quinoa.

Quinoa is a grain similar to couscous, only it is gluten free.  It makes an excellent couscous-like salad with vinaigrette, vegetables and herbs.  I decide to introduce it to my diet as breakfast with caramelized, boiled pears.  My creation is a delightful combination and resembles something between a soft granola and oatmeal.  I pack a lunch of plain quinoa with poached salmon and vegetables and head to work.

Not long after I can tell something isn’t right.  My stomach is gurgling in that oh-so-ominous way that foretells agony.  I tell myself that this is just my body getting used to its first real carbohydrate in weeks and ignore my stomach.  By lunchtime I am starving but still have the bubbly stomach.  I decide to sample my lunch and dig into the poached salmon and quinoa.

…I only made it halfway through my lunch before the familiar punch-in-the-stomach feeling returns.  I am sick.  REALLY sick.  That afternoon I struggle through my work, trying to keep my trips to the bathroom at a minimum but not being all that successful.  Misery.

OK, so quinoa is a big no-no.  My first official tested food to be crossed off the list. The rest of the day I will have to let my body calm down before adding in a new food.  Sigh…  Oh well, progress is progress. Onward I march!