The reason I decided to combine weeks 3 and 4 is because I didn’t log much during week 4. I go a bit more into detail as to the reason why not in “The Case of the Missing Lizz;” but to summarize: I’ve started getting tension migraines. I had one tension migraine from the afternoon of Wednesday the 19^th until I went to sleep Friday the 22^nd. It was still hanging around in a milder form on Saturday. Since that first one, I have had one every single afternoon/evening until I go to sleep that night. It’s been pretty miserable and I’ve been forgetting to log because of that.

I still had the flu during week 3, so most of my log pages are full of medications. Luckily, I had mostly recovered before the week was out. Though, I did come down with oral thrush thanks to the strong antibiotics I was put on for my thumb infection. (More in Missing Lizz post.)

LEAP Diet Phase ½, Week 3: April 11 – 17

Tuesday, April 11

• 11:30am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 2:15pm: rice cake with sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)
• 6:30pm: chicken noodle soup; steamed broccoli
• 9:30pm: edible cookie dough #2
• Fluids: 122oz (3.61L)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Wednesday, April 12

• 11:30am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 2pm: rice cake with sunbutter
• 6:30pm: taco bowls (homemade refried beans, brown rice, ground beef, mild cheddar)
• 9pm: Siggi’s with blueberries (only a few bites thanks to being sick)
• Fluids: 89oz (2.63L)

Thursday, April 13

I went to my PCP and got diagnosed with oral thrush

• 12pm: blueberry muffins
• 1:54pm: slice of cheddar cheese
• 4pm: plain rice cake
• 8pm: homemade tortilla chips; taco bowl
• Fluids: 77oz (2.28L)

Friday, April 14

• 11:45am: spoonful of sunbutter; some uncooked oats (2 handfuls)
• 3:30pm: chicken noodle soup
• 8pm: chicken with oregano, garlic, salt; steamed broccoli; sweet potato fries (fail)
• 9pm: taco bowl
• 10:45pm: edible cookie dough #2
• Fluids: 89oz (2.63L)

Saturday, April 15

• 11am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 2:30pm: chicken (canned chunk chicken, cumin, salt); pinto beans; cheddar cheese
• 7pm: noodles (rice and quinoa noodles from Trader Joe’s); steamed broccoli; steamed sweet potato
• Fluids: I completely lost track of my fluids by the end of the day

Sunday, April 16

• 12pm: oatmeal with maple syrup and blueberries
• 2:45pm: rice cake with sunbutter
• 6pm: beef-n-noodles (Mom’s version of beef burgundy, very diff, but modified for my diet; served over the rice and quinoa noodles)
• 8pm: cheese
• 9:30pm: edible cookie dough #2
• Fluids: 66oz (1.95L)

Beef-N-Noodles

Monday, April 17

• 9am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 12:30pm: beef-n-noodles
• 6pm: plain rice cake
• 7pm: chicken (garlic, oregano, salt); mashed cauliflower (coconut cream and oil, pepper, salt, garlic)
• 8:40pm: cheddar cheese
• Fluids: 76oz (2.25L) (I may not have recorded everything)

LEAP Diet Phase ½, Week 4: April 18 – 24

Tuesday, April 18

• 9:45am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 12:30pm: rice cake with sunbutter
• 4:30pm: homemade tortilla chips
• 6:45pm: burritos (refried beans, ground beef, oat/rice tortillas, cheddar cheese)
• 8:45pm: edible cookie dough #2
• Fluids: 87.28oz (2.58L)

Burritos

Wednesday, April 19

I stopped logging my fluids, it was tedious. I figured that I have plenty of data to get an average, and as long as my body is hydrated then I’m doing alright.

• 11:45am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 3:30pm: rice cake with sunbutter
• 7:30pm: beef-n-noodles

Thursday, April 20

From my Instagram; In ER for tension migraine

I had a terrible tension migraine all day, so I only logged that I ate breakfast at 7:30am and it was oatmeal with brown sugar.

I ended up in the emergency room for the tension migraine at about 8:30pm, which is how I found out what was actually going on.

Friday, April 21

Still had a horrid tension migraine, and it was all I could do to keep myself alive (with food and medications and lying on the couch wanting to be able to temporarily remove my head).

Saturday, April 22

My headache was about 99% gone, but I didn’t want to be too stringent with things. I took today as a self-care day to make sure my headache wouldn’t come back!

Sunday, April 23

• 10:30am: oatmeal with brown sugar
• 1:10pm: slice of cheddar cheese
• 3pm: plain rice cake
• 4pm: sunbutter
• 4:30pm: refried beans with cheddar cheese
• 8pm: steak (onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil); mashed sweet potato (coconut cream, ghee); steamed broccoli

Steak and Mashed Sweet Potato

Monday, April 24

• 8:45am: slice of cheddar; small spoon of the edible cookie dough (I was running late for an appointment)
• 11:30am: ¼ cup of dry oats; 2 slices of cheddar (I was in the car on the way home from said appointment)
• 5pm: leftover mashed sweet potato
• 7pm: chicken (basil, oregano, salt); lentil noodles (discovered I’m allergic to lentils, wonderful)
• 9pm: edible cookie dough #3

Before the end of week four, I emailed Kara (the dietitian) with a huge list of questions and concerns. Because of everything that I have had to be dealing with, Kara decided to make some changes to my diet. I will discuss these changes in a separate post, as this post has gone on quite long enough already!

As always, let me know what recipes you would like to see!

Other LEAP Diet Posts:

• Introduction Post With Good/Bad Food Lists
• LEAP Phase ½, Week 1
• LEAP Phase ½, Week 2

I started my LEAP diet on March 28^th. I am starting with a ½ phase due to my daily headaches; since sudden food detox can cause headaches in someone without chronic headache, my dietitian didn’t want me to feel atrocious. However, I’ve still been having some issues with phase ½, but it could also be due to my poor health. (This post has details about the diet.)

Image: Now LEAP, Oxford Biomedical Technologies

Right before starting the diet, I ended up with a pretty nasty virus and a sinus infection (see this post for details about being sick while chronically ill). I also got an infected hangnail (common for me) on my thumb that just wouldn’t heal, so I ended up on oral antibiotics. Then, since I went to urgent care for my thumb infection, I picked up another virus. When I went back to urgent care (Dan had to call them to make sure they had all the tools I needed, because he thought I looked like death), it was confirmed that I had picked up influenza B. First virus and sinus infection were confirmed March 23, thumb infection urgent care visit was April 6, started showing signs that I had a different infection April 7, and an urgent care visit confirmed the flu April 9. It’s been a really rough several weeks. Continue reading →

I started my LEAP diet March 28^th, with my ½ phase. Unfortunately, I’ve also been struggling with some severe acute illnesses as well, so it’s been hard to tell how much the diet is changing things. I was feeling a bit better for a few days, but then I seem to have relapsed and gotten really sick. Hopefully, I’ll get over whatever this is soon, and then we can see what the diet is doing!

Image: Now LEAP, Oxford Biomedical Technologies

Since everyone seemed to enjoy my weekly FODMAP diet lists, I thought I would do the same thing for the LEAP diet! Since I’m so extremely restricted on what I can eat, I have to get creative with food. There has been a lot of “from scratch” cooking, a lot of substitutions, and a lot of frustration. I’ve lost several pounds, because I’m still working on trying to figure out snacks and other quick food, so I’m not eating as much as I should be. Hopefully, I’ll get more energy soon and can actually spend more time cooking.

Week one of phase ½, I was cooking the entire week. Every second of my free time was spent in the kitchen, which would be fine if it didn’t require so much energy. I’m completely exhausted, but hopefully I can get a better routine down. Continue reading →