Setting the Parameters

At the beginning of this year (2010) I began to notice a significant change in my health.  While the changes may have been coming on gradually, they now started to affect my day to day activities.  In the spring, mainly as an experiment, I decided to eliminate gluten from my diet.  I saw an initial improvement and began to recognize the specifics of how I responded to certain foods.  After many ups and downs, I have eliminated everything from the plant family that contains grains.  This includes not only all grains, but also pseudo-grains, molasses, and cane sugar.  Dairy also seems to be factor, so that is gone as well.  My health is much improved and the reactions have pretty well subsided.  

I am beginning this blog to offer menu plans and recipe ideas that I have developed or come across in my search for meals that fit within my current parameters.  When I first reach this point of limitation in my diet, I was pretty discouraged.  Eating seemed like it was going to be this continuous monotony.  Thinking about it, though, made me realize how often grains were a part of my meals and that they were simple being replace with other things.  

Because I am not trying to follow a specific diet, but rather working towards what my body in particular needs, not all the recipes will suit the needs or limitations of others.  What I hope to accomplish is not just the passing along of recipes, but ideas that others can modify to fit their own dietary needs.

In addition, I want to say that I don't think grains are evil, but rather that, for some reason, my body seems to be lacking what is needed to process them.  I am not dealing with an allergy, but with an intolerance or sensitivity.  I love to make bread (and eat it), but that is no longer an option for me if I want to feel well.  So here are the foods I am working with (I will modify the list on this post as it changes):

Proteins:
     Eggs
     Chicken
     Beef


Starches:
     Sweet potatoes
     Potatoes
     Pumpkin
     Winter squashes
     Legumes


Sugars:
     Maple syrup
     Honey


Fruits and vegetables


Because the starches I am now using don't have quite the staying power of grains, my eating schedule goes something like this during the day.  I am still early in this process, so there will probably be shifts and changes along the way.


Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Smoothie (where I add my supplements such as calcium and iodine)
Dinner

Breakfast generally consists of an egg, a starch, and a vegetable.  Snack is fruit and a protein. Lunch and dinner are either a meat, starch, and vegetable, or a meatless main dish like lentils plus a vegetable and a fruit.  With my smoothies I am currently experimenting with a base of either coconut milk or soymilk with a combination of frozen fruits. 

So, that is the broad framework and I hope to fill in the specifics in future posts.  Here is to happy eating!