Woof, I’m Doing an Elimination Diet

Starting November 4th, I’ll be doing an elimination diet. I’ll be cutting out dairy, soy, gluten and eggs and slowly incorporating them back into my diet.

What is an elimination diet?

Elimination diets take out common inflammatory foods in a person's diet. Common inflammatories include dairy, eggs, gluten, soy, corn, nightshades, legumes, and more. (Remember, while some people have reactions to these foods, others do not. These aren’t “bad” foods. They just affect everyone's bodies differently.) After about a month, foods are added back one at a time for multiple times a day for a few days to see if any symptoms appear. Symptoms can range from headaches to stomach aches to mental fog and fatigue to skin rashes and everything in between.

Why do it?

Elimination diets help people realize (WC? Locate, reveal, find) what they have a sensitivity to. They are most commonly done by people with chronic illnesses or autoimmune diseases and people who aren’t feeling their best and aren’t sure why. I fall into the latter category. My main symptoms are fatigue (it’s more than just being tired), low energy and semi-frequent stomach aches. It’s frustrating to not know the cause of my stomach aches and when one will happen. They are usually after eating, so I can assume that it’s food related, I just don’t know what food triggers it. I’m ready to make moves and pinpoint the cause and hopefully feel better. It seems like a huge task to cut out dairy, soy, gluten, and eggs but when it comes down to it, it’s really not that bad. I can still have veggies, fruits, grains, meats, legumes, and much more. No biggie. I got this.

Why now?

Why not now? I’m something I’ve been circling for a while and after a few days of confusing stomach aches last month, I decided it’s time. Yes, it will go through Thanksgiving, but if I push it back again then there’s the winter holidays and New Years. There will always be some holiday or birthday or celebrations and endless excuses.

My internal thoughts

1. Eeeeek!

2. Gotta prepare and start meal prepping like a boss (including snacks and sweets)

3. I’m kind of excited

Follow along on instagram at @playing_with_potential!

Interested in doing it with me or have stories to share? Send me an email!