Hooray for Peas and Cashews
After being on the food experiment for about 25 days, I needed a break. I don’t know how some people do it. I don't think I could live my whole life eating measured amounts of food at pre-determined times. I don’t think it’s healthy for my spirit. I can do it for periods of time as long as I know that it’s only temporary, and it seems that that period is about three weeks. Longer than that and I start to feel anxious and trapped.
The basics of my baseline diet are having three meals and a snack every day. Breakfast at nine, lunch and noon, snack at three and dinner between six and seven. There is no eating, nor drinking water for twelve hours, between 8pm and 8am. My diet is largely composed of vegetables and seeds and nuts. Every day I have one animal protein (besides cheese), usually with dinner. The rest of the day I get my protein from nuts, seeds and vegetables. Every three days or so, I have two eggs for breakfast. So far, the only grain I’ve tested positive on is rice.
So after three weeks, I just wanted to enjoy the freedom of eating something without writing it down. I wanted to not be concerned about the ingredients and whether or not I was going to experience inflammation. I wanted to ‘live like a normal person’.
When I ended the experiment, I had lost about nine pounds from a starting body weight that was already very trim and lean. Being on this strict plan is what really makes the difference between being "in shape" to having a six pack and cheekbone definition. During the whole three week period of this experiment, I swore off of exercising, except for four specific days when I was testing different intensities, and still the weight was melting off.
During my hiatus, I enjoyed jambalaya, ice cream, burgers, french fries, cookies, lasagna, donut holes, scones and pork chops. I experienced midday sleepiness and was reminded of a familiar, slightly uncomfortable feeling in my stomach from eating late at night. I also gained back those nine pounds pretty quickly.
So, having gotten that devilishness out of my system, I went back on the plan a few days ago. I had a day of pure friendly foods, then the next day I threw a handful of cashews into the menu. I hadn’t tested cashews yet. I was thrilled that I continued to lose weight, which gave cashews a thumbs up. The next day, I augmented my menu to be all familiar foods except for the addition of peas with dinner. Again, I registered a weight loss the next day, so the conclusion is that peas don’t cause inflammation in my body.
So far, after three days back on the plan, I’ve dropped five of the nine pounds I regained. My six pack is showing up again. I have energy consistently throughout the day. Today I can test another new food. I have some collard greens in the refrigerator, and I haven’t officially tested them yet. But I’ve also been meaning to test quinoa.
According to my source, based on her experience with many people over the years, the likelihood of anyone being reactive to collard greens is very low (about 10%) while being reactive to quinoa is more likely (50% chance). I’m tempted to throw them both into the mix today, but that might end up being a wasted day if I do show inflammation because I won’t know which food was the culprit. I think I’ll stick to collard greens today and then add some quinoa in tomorrow, assuming there’s no reaction to the collards.
The basics of my baseline diet are having three meals and a snack every day. Breakfast at nine, lunch and noon, snack at three and dinner between six and seven. There is no eating, nor drinking water for twelve hours, between 8pm and 8am. My diet is largely composed of vegetables and seeds and nuts. Every day I have one animal protein (besides cheese), usually with dinner. The rest of the day I get my protein from nuts, seeds and vegetables. Every three days or so, I have two eggs for breakfast. So far, the only grain I’ve tested positive on is rice.
So after three weeks, I just wanted to enjoy the freedom of eating something without writing it down. I wanted to not be concerned about the ingredients and whether or not I was going to experience inflammation. I wanted to ‘live like a normal person’.
When I ended the experiment, I had lost about nine pounds from a starting body weight that was already very trim and lean. Being on this strict plan is what really makes the difference between being "in shape" to having a six pack and cheekbone definition. During the whole three week period of this experiment, I swore off of exercising, except for four specific days when I was testing different intensities, and still the weight was melting off.
During my hiatus, I enjoyed jambalaya, ice cream, burgers, french fries, cookies, lasagna, donut holes, scones and pork chops. I experienced midday sleepiness and was reminded of a familiar, slightly uncomfortable feeling in my stomach from eating late at night. I also gained back those nine pounds pretty quickly. So, having gotten that devilishness out of my system, I went back on the plan a few days ago. I had a day of pure friendly foods, then the next day I threw a handful of cashews into the menu. I hadn’t tested cashews yet. I was thrilled that I continued to lose weight, which gave cashews a thumbs up. The next day, I augmented my menu to be all familiar foods except for the addition of peas with dinner. Again, I registered a weight loss the next day, so the conclusion is that peas don’t cause inflammation in my body.
So far, after three days back on the plan, I’ve dropped five of the nine pounds I regained. My six pack is showing up again. I have energy consistently throughout the day. Today I can test another new food. I have some collard greens in the refrigerator, and I haven’t officially tested them yet. But I’ve also been meaning to test quinoa.
According to my source, based on her experience with many people over the years, the likelihood of anyone being reactive to collard greens is very low (about 10%) while being reactive to quinoa is more likely (50% chance). I’m tempted to throw them both into the mix today, but that might end up being a wasted day if I do show inflammation because I won’t know which food was the culprit. I think I’ll stick to collard greens today and then add some quinoa in tomorrow, assuming there’s no reaction to the collards.
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