What have I been doing to drop the pounds!?!?!

Just diet! I have not been feeling well enough to do much of anything.  I have been my spirt animal = SLOTH! I have been resting and sleeping when I am not at work or playing my daughter. My parents have been amazing with daughter and really helping put her to sleep so I can get to sleep myself. I did walk for 30 minutes for a week but that ended due to major fatigue.

For my diet I do Autoimmune Protocol (AIP). I came across Against the Grain  in 2012 and following her was God sent! I tried this way of life and it really changed my Crohn’s. I had already been doing Paleo and was Gluten free for about 4 years at that point. I had gotten to my smallest and healthiest time during that period. So I knew what I had to do!

I have some information about AIP below: with the link to the article

Autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet is a relatively new, food-based approach to eliminating unwanted inflammation in a person’s body. It’s a diet that’s thought to help heal your gut to reduce inflammation created by autoimmune conditions.

The diet is very restrictive and mainly includes meats and vegetables. Generally, you would try the AIP diet for several weeks before adding in foods outside of the diet.

Here are some of the basics of the AIP diet:

• It’s an elimination-focused diet. Its goal is to cut inflammation-causing foods to reset your body’s immune system. The idea is to reduce inflammation in your body and put your autoimmune condition into remission with better eating habits.
• It’s often aimed at treating a “leaky gut.” It’s thought that autoimmune conditions may be caused by small holes in your intestines. These holes can allow food to be released into the rest of your body and trigger your immune system to react. By eating only foods in the AIP diet, you help heal this leaky gut.
• It’s rooted in the paleo diet, but it’s even more restrictive.
• It promotes vitamin- and nutrient-rich foods and also emphasizes foods with omega-3 fatty acids.

You need to follow the strict eating plan for several weeks before you can start adding foods not included in the diet. Some people try it for a short period of time, while others adapt the AIP diet as a long-term lifestyle choice.

It takes time to add new foods to your diet, and they should be added gradually. Add a new food every few days to once a week, and monitor whether you have any reactions to it. If you notice any side effects of the food, take it out of your diet again.

Foods to avoid on the AIP diet

The AIP diet is very limited, so there’s a long list of foods you can’t eat. These include some of same foods you’d avoid if you were following the paleo diet, such as:

• grains
• legumes (beans, soy, peanuts, hummus, etc.)
• dairy products (including raw products)
• processed foods
• refined sugars
• industrial seed oils (such as vegetable or canola oils)

The AIP diet also restricts the following foods, which aren’t always banned in the paleo diet:

• eggs
• nuts and seeds, including foods you might not think are in this category such as coffee, chocolate, and certain spices (for example, coriander and cumin)
• nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, and more)
• gum
• alternative sweeteners
• emulsifiers and food thickeners

This diet focuses on eating healthy foods, so your body will react positively to it. However, many people find the AIP diet hard to stick to because of all of its restrictions.

Who can benefit the most from this diet?

Those who have autoimmune conditions might benefit from the AIP diet. The diet is supposed to reset your immune system by avoiding foods that can cause inflammation in your body.

There are more than 50 million people with autoimmune conditions in the United States. Collectively, autoimmune conditions constitute the most prevalent type of medical condition among Americans. Examples include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis, to name just a few.

AIP diet focuses on avoiding foods that cause inflammation in your body. People with autoimmune conditions may benefit from this diet.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to food and the management of autoimmune disorders.

Keeping a journal of foods — what you eat, when, and any symptoms you experience —can help you identify patterns and triggers. Finding a dietitian to help with this process may be beneficial.

Keeping a journal is KEY to this lifestyle, that way you know what bothers you and what happens when you do eat it. I have done this diet before so I know how I react to eggs and peppers. I know they don’t affect me but this was after months of being compliant. That’s the biggest struggle with this diet, you need to be 100% for about 3 months before you can start adding things and by that point you are feeling so much better you don’t want to chance it!

–      XO,