Tag Archives: low FODMAP

FODMAP Diet – Week 5 Roundup

This was likely my last full week on the low FODMAP diet, as I see Kara (the dietitian) again on Tuesday, February 7th. I had forgotten to log the days I felt bloating and other symptoms like that, but they haven’t decreased at all on this diet. Most days, I am still extremely bloated in the evening. This entire last week, I felt incredibly overfull and was having to force myself to eat on my meal schedule (every 2-3 hours). I’ve been having a lot of nausea, and have taken at least one Zofran every day. To top it all off, my eosinophilic esophagitis is acting up, but I think that’s due to the new nasal spray the immunologist gave me (if it continues for another week, I’ll be emailing them to let them know I’ll be discontinuing it).

I’m really not feeling any better on this diet, my symptoms haven’t improved, and I’m fatigued/overwhelmed by the restrictions and inability to eat out and need to carry a cooler with me everywhere I go. I’m almost positive, now, that my GI was right and that my symptoms are being caused by eosinophilic enteritis… or that they’re at least food allergy/sensitivity related. (No, I am not gluten sensitive. I have been tested several times, and every time I eliminate gluten I get sicker.)

Continue reading →

FODMAP Diet – Weeks 3 & 4 Roundup

Sorry to those of you that have been following my FODMAP journey, these last two weeks have been absolutely ridiculous.

Week 3 has very few entries, which is why I’m combining it with Week 4 for this post. Dan, my husband, went on a business trip the 18th through 21st. He travels occasionally for work (he gets to go to launch sites to help launch rockets), and this was his first trip of the year. It was the first time he’d had to travel while I have been on the new eating schedule, and it didn’t go well for me – turns out I need to use far too much energy making food to actually do much else when I’m left to take care of the cats and myself for 4 days. On top of the business trip, I also had my follow-up appointment with Dr H (the physiatrist) to go over my MRI results on the 19th, and that didn’t go well (you can see the results here); It took a serious toll on my mental health. Because of everything, I decided to just skip the logging the 18th through 22nd to take care of my mental and physical health.

(LF = lactose free; GF = gluten free)

Week 3 FODMAP Diet: January 16-22

Monday, January 16
  • 6:45am: raspberry jelly toast; LF vanilla yogurt
  • 9:30am: ProNourish; 2 oatmeal pancakes without syrup (cold)
  • 12pm: a bunch of red grapes; hardboiled egg
  • 2pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 4:30pm: Babybel; blueberry lemon muffin with cinnamon sugar
  • 7:15pm: quesadilla (rice tortilla, mozzarella, chicken, tomatoes)
  • Fluid: 2.22 liters
Kale Banana Smoothie, complete

Kale Banana Smoothie

Tuesday, January 17
  • 6:45am: oatmeal with brown sugar (make sure there are no molasses); hardboiled egg
  • 9am: spinach and banana smoothie (sub. spinach for kale in this one)
  • 1.5 hour nap
  • 12:10pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 2:30pm: 2 oatmeal pancakes without syrup (cold); Babybel
  • 4:45pm: mashed potatoes made with Fairlife LF milk
  • 7:15pm: grilled tomato, ham, mozzarella sandwich
  • Fluid: 2.11 liters

I did make sure that even though I wasn’t logging, I was following my diet and the timing of my eating schedule. I was also ensuring I was drinking my average amount of fluids every day. I just had no energy to write anything down.

Week 4 was also interesting. I had my important immunology appointment on Monday, at National Jewish Health (write up coming soon) which took a bit longer than expected. Then on Friday, I got my cortisone shot in my right SI joint. For the cortisone shot, I had to be NPO (no idea what it stands for, but it means nothing by mouth at all, not even water) for at least 4 hours before the procedure. Since my stomach doesn’t always like to empty properly, even though I don’t have gastroparesis, I wanted to be sure I gave myself at least 5 hours. My shot wasn’t until 1:30pm, so that meant I wanted to eat by 8am. I decided to wake up at 6am (to ensure I had enough time to prepare food and get back to sleep) and eat breakfast, then I went back to sleep as long as I could, then went to my shot. I wasn’t able to eat until I got home (I did bring food, but I was sleepy and nauseous) at 4pm. Otherwise, the week was pretty smooth.

Week 4 FODMAP Diet: January 23-29

Monday, January 23
  • 6am: oatmeal with brown sugar; hardboiled egg
  • 8am: Babybel; Bobo’s bite (original)
  • 10:30am: ProNourish; veggie straws
  • 12pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 3pm: quesadilla (rice tortilla, mozzarella, deli ham, tomatoes)
  • 5pm: one oatmeal pancake without syrup (cold)
  • 7:30pm: raspberry jelly toast; scrambled eggs
  • Fluids: 2.07 liters
Tuesday, January 24
  • 11:15am: raspberry jelly toast; LF vanilla yogurt
  • 1:30pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 3:30pm: cinnamon rice cake; ProNourish
  • 5pm: Bobo’s bite
  • 7:30pm: grilled ham, tomato, mozzarella sandwich
  • 9:30pm: LF vanilla ice cream
  • Fluids: 2.28 liters
Wednesday, January 25
  • 7:30am: raspberry jelly toast; hardboiled egg
  • 9:30am: spinach banana smoothie
  • 12pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 2:30pm: Babybel; veggie straws
  • 4:30pm: ProNourish; banana
  • 6:45pm: chicken; brown rice
  • 9:30pm: 4 Pamela’s Simple Bites snickerdoodles
  • Fluids: 2.99 liters
Thursday, January 26
  • 11am: raspberry jelly toast; LF vanilla yogurt
  • 1:30pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 3:30pm: Babybel; veggie straws
  • 6:15pm: GF homemade pizza (sauce, GF crust, mozzarella, deli ham)
  • 8:30pm: LF vanilla ice cream; 2 Andean Dream Cocoa Orange Quinoa cookies
  • Fluids: 2.18 liters
Friday, January 27
  • 6:15am: oatmeal with brown sugar; hardboiled egg
  • 4:30pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 7:30pm: Yardhouse grilled chicken and avocado sandwich* ; plain French fries
  • Fluids: 2.96 liters
Saturday, January 28
  • 11am: raspberry jelly toast; LF vanilla yogurt
  • 12:30pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 2:30pm: spinach and banana smoothie
  • 5pm: veggie straws; ProNourish
  • 7pm: two grilled ham, tomato, mozzarella sandwiches
  • 9:30pm: raspberry sorbet; 8 Pamela’s Simple Bites snickerdoodles
  • Fluids: 3.68 liters
Sunday, January 29
  • 11am: raspberry jelly toast; hardboiled egg
  • 1:15pm: Sunbutter and grape jelly rice cake
  • 3:45pm: spinach and banana smoothie
  • 6:30pm: GF homemade pizza (sauce, mozzarella, deli ham)
  • Fluids: 3.15 liters

*I had to modify the sandwich from Yardhouse: lettuce wrapped, no mayonnaise; the chicken was seasoned only with salt and pepper (we called ahead) and the fries are just potatoes cooked in plain canola oil with no seasoning

So far, the diet doesn’t actually seem to be helping much. I’m still going to bed quite bloated, but some nights are far worse than others. I’m almost positive that the bloating and digestive problems I have are due to food allergies, and I’m still eating trigger foods. However, I have noticed I do feel a bit better when I drink the LF milk as opposed to regular milk (thinking about it, I was a bit sluggish feeling after drinking normal milk) so I may stick with that anyway.

There will be one more FODMAP week before I see Kara (the dietitian) again. I’ll probably get put on another diet, or a modified diet of some sort anyway, so I will likely continue these roundups. I will work on getting more recipes posted, regardless of what comes from my follow-up!

Other Posts About My FODMAP Diet:

Kale Banana Smoothie – Recipe

This recipe came about because I had a ton of kale, which I’d never had prior to this diet, and wasn’t sure what to do with it. I wasn’t actually allowed to eat raw vegetables, (until I got my gastric emptying results back) so I couldn’t eat it in salads. Then I remembered that everyone was going “green smoothie” crazy not too long ago, so there were probably plenty of kale smoothie recipes out there!  I simply Googled “kale smoothie” and the first result I got was for this Kale Banana Smoothie recipe on AllRecipes by Rice.

I did have to modify the recipe a bit, because it wasn’t a low FODMAP recipe, but it was really easy to modify! I’ll post the recipe how I used it (below I’ll tell you what the modifications were). This recipe makes one serving.

Kale Banana Smoothie

  • 1 banana
  • 2 cups kale (either chop full kale, or just firmly pack a measuring cup with baby kale)
  • ½ cup lactose free milk
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (to taste)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve over ice and enjoy!

1/2 cup of lactose free milk
2 cups of baby kale (this is what I use as one cup)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
2 teaspoons of maple syrup
Combine everything (and one banana) in the blender
Blend until smooth!
Kale Banana Smoothie
What did I change?

The recipe originally calls for “light, unsweetened soy milk.” Soy milk is not allowed on the low FODMAP diet! (Nothing that is a product of whole soy beans is allowed.) I use Fairlife milk, which is lactose free dairy milk (recommended by the dietitian). You can use Lactaid, which is another lactose free dairy milk, or you can use nut milks, coconut milk, rice milk, or hemp milk. I use the Fairlife because it’s high protein and all of my “meals” have to be balanced: protein and carbs.

Originally, the recipe calls for flax seeds. I don’t have any flax seeds right now, but I have plenty of chia seeds (and I love them). The serving size for chia seeds is 1 tablespoon, so I was able to do an even substitution. You can add one serving of any of your favorite seeds (for flax seeds, it did say to add one tablespoon).

The maple syrup was supposed to just be one teaspoon, but I like sweeter smoothies. I thought the one teaspoon wasn’t sweet enough, so I added some more. Obviously, this is completely up to the individual. However, pure maple syrup is the only liquid sweetener allowed on the low FODMAP diet! Be sure it’s 100% pure, and you’re good to go!

Notes

This smoothie is really thick. Like, really thick! I like thick smoothies; I think that’s how they’re supposed to be. However, if you don’t like super thick smoothies, just add more of you chosen milk product until it gets to the proper consistency.

The smoothie isn’t very cold, which is why it says to serve over ice. You could also blend ice into the smoothie if you would like. I did a little of both last time, and I really liked it! I would say, the ice is a must. However, if you don’t mind room temperature smoothies, then you don’t have to use the ice I suppose… 😛 I will not be joining you for smoothies, ever, however!

FODMAP Diet – Week 2 Roundup

Week two of my low FODMAP diet (and the other changes) has gone interestingly… to say the least.

I started having severe abdominal pains and crippling nausea on Monday, the ninth. The nausea actually started on Sunday, the eighth, but wasn’t as severe as it became on Monday. Continue reading →

FODMAP Diet – Week 1 Roundup!

Dan suggested that I do a “weekly roundup” of my FODMAP diet, and I loved the idea! Since I’m keeping a food log anyway, it’s really not that much more work on my part. For this first month of the diet, at least, I’ll be doing weekly updates on how my diet is going, and include what I’ve been eating that week. I will also occasionally post recipes for the meals I’m making so that you can make them too. Of course, the recipes will probably take much longer to get posted, so if you want to see a specific recipe sooner rather than later, comment on that week’s roundup and I’ll move it up the to-do list. (Weeks will run from Saturday through Friday, that way I can post it for you to read over the weekend! Sorry this first one is late, it took me a little while to figure out how exactly to format this.)

Now, without further ado, the diet for Week 1! Continue reading →

The Dietitian Changes Everything

Tuesday, the 27th, I had my appointment with the dietitian. This is the first dietitian I have ever seen, and I was extremely excited!

I had wanted to become a registered dietitian, until I took a class called “Intro to Nutrition Professions,” which pretty much said you always have to pitch your own jobs and I just don’t have the personality to do that – I barely have the personality to sell myself in regular interviews, let alone try to force people to hire me into a position I’ve created. I also wasn’t going to have the money to pay for the exams or internship, since I was already tens of thousands of dollars in student debt as it was. Sadly, I just kind of let that dream die instead of trying to figure out a way to make it work, but I still find nutrition absolutely fascinating! That fascination was definitely adding to the excitement.

My excitement was mainly due to the exciting potential of actually ending up on a track that might make me feel better, however, since most modern western medicine doctors don’t really focus much on nutrition. Continue reading →