Day 8 A little bug...

Its the first day of summer vacation!  Yay, right?  

Nay. 

We have lice.  I say "we" because one involves me.

My 6 year old has it, (again), my 3 year old (which has been crawling into bed with me and sharing my pillow), and me.  Needless to say, dinners are going to be pretty simple around here for a few days!  Spent all day cleaning sheets, blankets, floors, bagging up stuffed animals, and treating our heads with RID.  My hair is going to be fried.   

But bug free. 

Not in the best mood.  

I might have snuck chocolate.  

I said, might.  

(Don't tell Steve!)

So, lets move on to food!

 Breakfast: Sausage, apples, and cinnamon

Snack: carrots and grapes

Lunch:  Salad from Panera -I was out getting RID at the store and missed lunch, so  I ordered a basic salad and had them add cucumbers, chicken, and avocado- I thought they would have olive oil and vinegar, but they didn't (I should have brought my dressing!  Next time I go out, I will have to bring my own.)

Snack: Pear and banana, kombucha tea

Dinner: Leftover panera salad, grilled beef patty with mashed avocado, sweet potato fries.

Breakfast pictured above.

Day 7 new dressing

I'm a little sore today, and tired.  Just part of the process I guess.  Sometimes I sleep great, and sometimes I feel like I barely sleep at all.  Tummy feels good though.  So, since I'm tired of salads with no dressing, I finally got around to making one out of the allowed ingredients; not as hard as I thought!  

Breakfast: Repairvite smoothie (added coconut butter for a little healthy fat)
Snack: Grapes and a banana
Lunch: Leftover sweet potato fries and salad with this dressing:
  1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c  extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp dill, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (this is very forgiving; you can add whatever herbs you like)
 

Blend in a blender

and it becomes thick and creamy!

I forgot what I ate the rest of the day, but I'm  sure it involved more of this dressing, it was so good!!

Day 6- Sweet Potato Fries

I feel pretty darn good today!  My fog is gone, and I actually feel like doing things like laundry, cleaning, and hanging out with my children.  Wow.  

New recipe with dinner today, Sweet Potato fries.  I actually already loved these, so it has been great to be able to continue having these on my diet.

Breakfast: Chicken sausage with strawberries and grapes
Snack: 4 prunes and a banana 
Lunch: Chicken, avocado, and carrot, kombucha tea
Snack: repairvite smoothie
Dinner: Lunch leftovers and Sweet Potato Fries  easy peasy...peel and cut up your sweet potatoes, toss with a bit of melted coconut oil, (Trader Joes has a coconut oil spray that works great) and put on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min until soft and a bit crispy on top. 

    

Day 5 and worst night ever!

Ok, it all started on Day 4.  I was getting over my sugar cravings for the most part, but I was starting to get some physical symptoms that were very strange.  I was really tired, and I kept getting major episodes of vertigo.  It felt like my head was going to float away and/or I was going to pass out.  I was jittery and shaky, and just felt really cruddy.  By the end of the day I had to just go to bed (hubby made dinner for the kids...I could hardly stand).  Long story short, I kept having these symptoms in overdrive all night long and I could not sleep at all!  I was trying not to freak out, but the physical symptoms were making me crazy!  Around 3 am I couldn't stand it anymore, I thought my blood sugar must be at some all time low and I had to get something substantial to eat!  I made me a bowl of homemade oatmeal with just a touch of stevia (boy it tasted good) and it helped me be able to fall asleep by 4 and give me at least a few hours before I had to get up with the kids and bring them to school.  So I emailed Steve! about what happened, basically freaking out

and he 

sent me 

this:

 
I need to walk you through this, and I need you not to panic.  It will pass.  Actually, you are detoxing, BIG TIME .  But you will get through it.  A sugar detox is like a drug detox, especially when it is an addiction.  Don't give up!   I would like you to come in so that I can show you some breathing and relaxing exercises you can do.   It would be better if you do not give in to cereals because they are refined carbs.  You are eating carbs when you eat fruits and vegetables.  They are all carbs, and the fruits are sugar.

You made it through a bit already!  Let your body know you mean business! 

We will work together.

 

Awww, isn't he sweet???  He had me come in and we talked about meditating and calming techniques, and 

he's

letting

me

have 

prunes!

Ok, really, who'd have ever thought I would be excited to eat prunes?  But hey, I NEED more snacky foods, or I'll   

DIE.  Ok, probably not die, but be very, very, unhappy.   

 

Ok done with the talking, onto the food!  

 

Breakfast: Chicken sausage and strawberries

Snack: Banana with a touch of almond butter

Lunch: Chicken Avocado Grape Salad and Repairvite smoothie--coconut milk, frozen berries, repairvite

Dinner: Butternut squash, Chicken, Kale, and onion Hash

                It's pretty much what's in the name, I just threw a bag of frozen cut up butternut squash in a pan with onions and coconut oil, and stirfried until the squash was cooked through and added some shredded chicken, kale, and sea salt and pepper.  (This tasted...ok)  :)

 Night Snack: Apple cut up sprinkled with cinnamon (on this diet, this tastes just as good as apple pie)

 

~I'm hoping to try some homemade salad dressings later this week and some fish (not a fish gal); I bought some individual packages of salmon, tilapia, and some other whitefish I forgot the name of.  

 

    

 

Repairvite diet Day 4

I didn't decide to start this blog until day 4 of diet, and you missed out on some pretty interesting stuff, let me tell you.  For a description of the diet, go here. 

 

Day 1 was more like, "uhhhhhh, what do I eat?"  and "Ok, that took a really long time to make breakfast." and "hey, this isn't half bad!" 

 

then.

 

Day 2

 

Call to twin sis:

 

"Oh my freaking A, I am going to kill myself a kid if I can't get something decent to eat!!" 

 

then she said something genius..."Casey, go eat just one chocolate chip."

 

"Wha, I can't, I shouldn't!!!"

 

"Just go grab one."

 

My brain is going crazy at this moment as if all the galaxy depended on me figuring this out...Ok, I have trader joe chocolate chips, so I mean, at least it has cane sugar, right, and it's just one little itty bitty morsel...

 

So I did.  Ok crisis wasn't exactly diverted, but I did go do that from time to time, to just get me over the hump.  I mean, I am going through sugar withdrawals at this point, lets give me a tiny break. 

 

Day 3 is a blur, but the sugar cravings weren't as bad as before.  (I still refuse for anyone to eat anything even remotely good/sweet/heavenly around me, but better)

 

So on to day 4. I feel pretty cruddy today.  Foggy, tired, achy...I think it is all just part of the process.  Spend the day home trying to get homework done (in addition to being a busy mom of 5, I moonlight as a graduate student in psychology...yea, going to have to take a break for a little while...it's been rough doing it while trying to take care of a family as well as my own health issues).  My poor Evy had to watch a lot of tv and play my ipad for the majority of the day.   

 

Anyways, on to the eats.  Just to preface, I am doing great with everything except breakfast.  I am a huge bowl of gluten free oatmeal with cinnamon, stevia, and blueberries breakfast kind of girl....oh man, miss me some oats.

 

Breakfast: Apple-Turkey Sausage Scramble

 

ground turkey and add shaved apples and herbs to your liking (I love Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)

 

I either shape into patties or fry up like ground beef and then throw in some kale or spinach, or both until wilted.    Then I add coconut milk, and let it reduce down. 

 

Snack: Kombucha tea (try this stuff, it's amazing) 

              Organic carrot sticks and a slice of turkey (yes, I'm still ravenous, no it's not satisfying)

              

 

Lunch: Turkey Grape and Avocado Salad with Sweet Potato Chips

 

Simple, mixed greens (I used organic dark leaf lettuce and baby spinach), cut up organic (applegate farms) turkey, grapes, and I mixed 1/4 of an avocado with lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.  I made the sweet potato chips earlier in the week to enjoy with lunches.  Just slice thinly, then fry in coconut oil.  (I had to throw them in the oven for a little while afterwards to finish crisping them up.)

 

Turkey Grape and Avocado Salad over Homework...voila!

 

 

Snack: Apple with almond butter

 

 

Dinner: Crockpot Chicken with Grapes over Greens

Yep, it's as exciting as it sounds.  Had a very rough spot of vertigo, and feeling very drained, so I had chicken in the crockpot to have for meals later, and shredded some up, put it over greens, and added grapes.  Was going to try a new salad dressing recipe using apple cider vinegar and olive oil and apples, but wasn't up for making it.   Will post soon. The salad really needed it.  I asked hubby to make the kids dinner.  He's the man.

 

Night snack: Banana with almond butter

(I know, I know, I'm tired, and not feeling creative, and I'm freaking hungry!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repairvite: the beginning

The beginning: i.e. sharing the hate love with repairvite recipes

After 4 days of sheer torture, I decided that I would finally start that blog I've been thinking of doing for years.  I am hoping that it will be a sort of therapy to get me through the toughest diet I've ever encountered.  I haven't even written about my health history yet, or my journey to health, or my reasons for getting healthy...I just had to start writing.  Just to get things moving along, those who have found my blog because they are on the diet of torture repairvite diet, I wanted to add my meals and snacks I have come up with to help us all find something to eat while on this crazy ride!  For those who do not know what the repairvite diet is, or why I am submitting to volunteer torture, it is to repair damaged leaky guts.  That includes removing all foods that cause inflammation in the intestines for 30-60 days (I'm hoping Doc Waters (Steve!) will get me off 30 for good behavior). 

Side note:  I will talk more about my new Doc, Steve! later, but ever since he said I could call him Steve, I immediately think of the monkey on the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, who has the translator on his head and always drinking coffee yelling, "Steve!".  (Hey, I have 5 kids and would probably have seen the movie anyways)

I will have my health journey up soon, and most likely will be found under the about me tab. 

Anyways, here is the gist of Repairvite:  (yes, I did copy and paste)

The Repair Vite program is an aggressive and complete regimen designed to break the vicious cycle of leaky gut.  It consists of a restricted dietary program (to reduce intestinal inflammation) as well as targeted nutritional supplements that are required for several days to help support intestinal membranes.  The program will need to be conducted for 30-40 days.

The Repair Vite regimen requires a very strict dietary program necessary for repair of the intestinal membranes.  The dietary restrictions are not caloric (quantity of food), so you are allowed to eat whenever you are hungry.  However, you must only eat from the list of allowed foods.  The goal of the dietary program is to reduce intestinal inflammation and provide nutrients necessary for healthy intestinal microflora.  The dietary restrictions include high-sugar foods and starchy carbohydrates that promote intestinal yeast overgrowth, inflammatory proteins (dairy, gluten, etc.), inflammatory lectins, and alcohol that all promote destruction of the intestinal membranes.

You are allowed to eat food with high fiber content, such as vegetable and low glycemic fruits.  Also, eat foods with healthy essential fatty acids such as olives, olive oil, and some kinds of fish.  Eat foods that are fermented to help improve the health of the intestinal microflora (good bacteria), as well as proteins, such as meats, that are not inflammatory.

You should make every attempt to eat frequently during the day in order to maintain stabilized blood glucose levels.  It is not a good idea to fast during the Repair Vite program, since it may raise a hormone called cortisol that may further compromise the intestinal mucosa.

Understand What Repair Vite Does

If you are beginning a Repair Vite diet, it is important to understand what the Repair Vite protocol includes.

Repair:  the damaged intestinal lining

Replace:  the normal flora (friendly bacteria) and digestive enzymes.

Remove:  the infection

 

The bottom line is that we will NEVER get you better without getting your gut function back!

Ok, got all that?  Good.  Cause I've read it like 10 times and I think I am starting to get it.  On to the food.  Or lack thereof.

Repairvite Diet:   Foods To Eat and Foods To Avoid

Foods To Eat	Foods To Avoid
Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, avocado, beets, bok choy, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumbers, garlic, green beans, kale, kohrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, rhubarb, shallots, squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, turnips, watercress, water chestnuts, yams,  zucchini, etc	Vegetables: Corn, tomatoes, tomatillos,  eggplant, mushrooms, peppers (bell and hot), white potatoes and paprika. Lectins: nuts (except almonds), red/black beans, lentils, soy, peanut oil, soy oil, etc.
Fermented foods:  sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled ginger, mixed pickle, coconut yogurt, kombucha tea, etc.	Sugars: including corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, honey, candy, etc.
Meats: fish (except shellfish), chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, organ meats (liver).  No nitrates in bacon and sandwich meats.	Meats: shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp), no nitrates are allowed (i.e. most sandwich meats, most bacon and all hot dogs).
Low glycemic fruits: apricots, plums, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, berries, banana, grapes, grapefruit, lemons, limes and kiwi.	High glycemic fruits: watermelon, mango, cantaloupe, oranges, pineapple, raisins, and canned fruits.
Coconut:  including coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut cream, and unsweetened coconut flakes. Almonds, almond butter, almond flour, and almond milk.	All grains (even gluten free grains): wheat, oats, rice, barley, buckwheat, soy, corn, wheat germ, spelt, amaranth, kamut, millet, quinoa, etc.  No canola oil (corn based oil).
Cooking:  Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Condiments:  Mustard.	Gluten containing compounds:  processed salad dressings, ketchup, soy sauce, bbq sauce, condiments, modified food starch, etc. No chewing gum.
Other: Herbal teas, olives, chickpeas, dark chocolate, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds.	Dairy: milk, whey, eggs, cheeses, creams, mayo, etc.
Sweeteners: stevia and raw honey.	Soy:  soy milk, soy sauce, soy protein, etc.
Brown Shirataki noodles (yam noodles).	Alcohol:  beer, wine, sake, cognac, liqueurs.
Spices: sea salt, pink himalyan salt, basil, oregano, mint, ginger, fresh garlic, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme.	Other:  Coffee, processed foods, canned foods.

Ok, now see what we are up against?  And yes, this isn't the exact same diet that is on the bottle, but after 2 days I was about to quit.  I have not eaten so much meat in my life.  I was already gluten free/dairy free and all about healthy treats and snacks, but for my only protein to be meat....no way.  I found this updated list here.  And do you see,

that

it

has

chocolate?

Now I know that it is probably not the best idea, but organic dark chocolate (shout out to Trader Joes!) is my vice.  Its what gets me through the days of teens arguing, siblings whining, and a toddler following me around saying one of the 3 following: "im hungwy", "what I do?", "I wanna pway ipad".  One silky square of dark chocolate and bliss follows...

I've been sneaking in very very small amounts to trick my brain into thinking I'm still getting relief. 

Almond butter isn't on the original list, but this one does, and let me tell you, smothered on a banana saves me from diving into the kids' Jif.  If we have to match a protein with a fruit, for blood sugar issues, then I don't want a piece of meat, got me?

Ok, here is the beginning, ended.  I will try to post with updates on my meals and how I am doing.  Thanks for visiting, hope to see you all very often!