So I got weighed at the Dr's Office today...

[grannykathy]

I saw my kidney Dr. for the first time today. And of course they weighed me first thing. I'm 5' 7" and the history of my weight is that I was at 130 last Summer before I got cdiff. I lost down to 120. By January I had finally gained 4 of that back so I was 124. Then the D started which was diagnosed as MC. In 2 months I lost down to 116. That's what I weighed a week ago before I started the elimination diet. Today I weighed 108. So I lost 8 lbs in 2 months and then 8 lbs in the last week. Sooooo I just can't stay on this. I'm thinking I can go gluten free and stay on that until I see what happens, but maybe add back in the Dairy and soy and whatever else. I just can't afford to lose 8 lbs a week or even 5 lbs a week. At 5' 7" and 108 lbs I look like a skeleton. If I could have butter cheese and eggs I think that would help me keep some weight on and who knows, maybe I am only sensitive to gluten and that's all. What do yall think?

[carolm]

Hi Kathy,
I’m sorry to hear you are still losing weight. When I was needing calories I added soy free butter and olive oil to whatever I could, and I ate nut butters that I could tolerate (if I could find them without soy) so almond butter and sunflower butter. I used full fat coconut milk when cooking anything that needed a cream base, like potato soup or a gravy for my homemade turkey sausage. Taking Budesonide did slow my weight loss . As the inflammation reduced I could finally absorb some nutrients again. It took me several months to begin to gain weight, but at least I didn’t lose any more.

I hope this helps.

Carol

[Erica P-G]

Hi Kathy,

My two cents would be to try to be Gluten and Dairy free....basically because with MC/LC and having constant waterD it means you are not absorbing any nutrients from dairy anyway, so I would not keep that in my diet.

What you need to do is stay basic....if you have found a safe protein and starch/carb then stick to those items and eat them repeatedly over and over, and cook with Carrington coconut oil it is flavorless and a really good fat for us. Once you do this you begin to re-set your gut and the inflammation will start to slowly subside (it does not happen over night it will take days and/or weeks to see results) but you ought not lose anymore weight doing this. Also eat when you are hungry, and eat your basic safe foods. Leave sugar out the best you can and this includes fruits right now until you stop losing weight and slow way way down in the waterD department.

Maintain VitD3 5000iu daily along with magnesium which may need to be applied mostly External (and as much as you can remember to apply during a day) at this point no need to keep annoying the gut with it until you start seeing some results of healing.

So....eat safe food when hungry (think protein and often - perhaps even make a bone broth soup and freeze in portions), take minimal supplements and cook with coconut oil. Drink water or coffee (as long as you didn't react before while drinking it, and flavor lightly with honey or perhaps even almond milk).

If you do this I truly believe you will start to see progress
Hugs
Erica

[Janie]

I lost a lot of weight too but I kept at it. I am in remission and still eat pretty basic. I started with turkey thighs in the crockpot with water and carrots. I ate that everyday for as long as I can remember. I added a teaspoon of coconut oil to every bowl. In fact I still eat turkey and veggies for breakfast and lunch. I eat lamb, pork, venison for night time meals most days. I use nut butter now and some gluten free products. The only fruit I eat is not too ripe bananas, sugar free apple sauce and a few raspberries (4). I occasionally eat peaches in baby food or apricots. I make some muffins and desserts from the site here ( Dee's kitchen).
Sometimes, I for a fleeting minute feel sorry for myself, that I can't eat what others eat. But eat this way or watery D. No brainer for me.
I was down to 114 now I am 123 on a 5ft 6in. body I remain gluten dairy soy and egg free.
Hope this helps you, Kathy

[grannykathy]

Thanks Erica and Janie. Erica I guess I don't understand when you said I "ought not lose anymore weight doing this". How will I not lose more if all I'm eating is a protein and one starch and the coconut oil. Last week I ate protein and either baked potatoe or sweet potatoe plain, green beans and either peaches or applesauce and I lost 8 lbs in one week on that. And actually, just to clear things up, I don't really have constant diarrhea. I generally have two bouts in the morning and then no more bm's the rest of the day. Occasionally one of those in the morning is mush as opposed to WD. So is the Coconut oil really high in calories? Otherwise, I don't know where the extra calories would come from, because this is basically how I ate last week and still lost 8 lbs.

Janie, I would LOVE to get back to 123 lbs. Why do you recommend staying away from sugar. I thought it was ok as opposed to fructose corn syrup.

I'm just thinking if it turns out I am not sensitive to dairy, then I may be causing myself to lose extra weight needlessly when I don't have it to lose. Plus, I think I will be more likely to stick to this diet longer if its just the gluten I'm avoiding.

Is there somewhere on the site that would tell me how many (on this site) are sensitive to just gluten as opposed to gluten + dairy and soy? Also are eggs considered dairy?

Meanwhile I just ate a pure dark chocolate bar. We'll see what that does. :)

[Gabes-Apg]

We don't have accurate figures regarding how many react to dairy, soy, eggs etc....
my observation based on the 8.5yrs I have been very active member this are my estimates...

Over 90% are reactive to dairy in first stages of healing, with time (ie 9-12mths) some can add small amounts of casein back, or small amounts of dairy. About 40-50% remain sensitive to dairy for long term.
Dairy is inflammatory to all people. Which is why we strongly encourage MC'ers to avoid dairy.

About 60% are reactive to soy, namely as most soy is 'waste product' of soy products, and highly GMO, chemical grown crop.

About 60-70% react to eggs when in first stages of healing. With time post healing I would say about 40% still have reaction to eggs . For me so long as I eat eggs where chickens are not fed too much gluten/soy grain

Be cautious of too much chocolate, it is high histamine

[Erica P-G]

HI Kathy,

It is all about the caloric intake in a day....without trigger foods. How much protein and starch are you eating in a day?

Fructose tends to stimulate our gut when we are in the beginning stages of healing....if we can eat everytime we are hungry but leave the dessert of fructose out we tend to have a better chance of healing and therefore holding onto our weight better. Sugar is an empty calorie....so it needs to be placed on the shelf for a while until we see some healing results take place.

I am 5' 10" and started out at 145# and during my elimination process to find the foods that were safe for me I dropped 10-15 pounds which almost put me back to High school weight again (I was 128 back then). I found that once I started my VitD and Magnesium regimen and ate everytime I was hungry (porkchop, white minute rice, steamed carrot and Veganaise soy free as some flavoring along with sea salt) I got along well and I ate this over an over until I didn't think I could eat it again....but then I started feeling different, bathroom trips were fewer between, cramping was less, stomach pain not as bad anymore. I also did the Enterolab testing A1 & C1 and that pretty much helped me make my decisions to stay away from Gluten, Dairy, Soy and Chicken egg....which now I can cook with Duck and Chicken egg and I am doing ok, but I don't feel I can incorporate dairy or soy and may never do it.

I guess what I'm saying is you don't have to eat basic forever....just until you feel you are comfortable with yourself....but don't be in a rush to add fructose items just because of the need for weight gain....perhaps you are not having any problem with eggs, then by all means make a breakfast with eggs, bacon, hashbrowns cooked in coconut oil and seasoned with sea salt and make a piece of Gluten free toast with Earthbalance Soy Free on it, or a drizzle of honey. It is all about eating what does the least harm to our intestines in the beginning stages....the breakfast idea is a lot of protein though, lol but it is an example that you may still be able to eat well and gain weight but your body may just need time to adjust to the new way of eating. My Mother in Law has just recently learned how to 'eat better' and her A1c was 10.2 back in October 2017....she just informed me yesterday that her Dr said it is now 7.0....and her Dr is ecstatic about the results and has never seen that kind of drop in any of her diabetic patients like this. My Mother in Law had a really hard adjustment period to eating 'well' so I understand that our bodies need time to adjust to new ways but they can do it, we just need to be patient and allow the process to happen in its own time....it's all about the progress with MC/LC or any other change we get tossed along this path of life.

Also medium portions more often during the day may be a good way to maintain caloric intake but not make the stomach work so hard to digest as so often happens with big meals that fill us up really full three times a day.

[grannykathy]

Erica, I have been eatin 3 portions a day of either grilled lean ground beef or chicken breast and 2 portions a day of potato or rice, then a vegetable twice a day - usually green beans. Although some days breakfast is just rice chex and canned peaches or applesauce - and its applesauce with no high fructose corn syrup. I am NOT wanting to add fructose to my diet - just butter, eggs and cheese. And I would stick to hard cheese. I know that since I was kid I can't drink milk but have never had trouble with cheese or butter which makes me think it has just been lactose and not casein that has been my problem. I understand that butter and hard cheese do not contain casein or at least very little. I have also never had a problem with eggs. but I realize what I have had a problem with in the past isn't an indicator. My thought was just try the gluten elimination first and see how it goes then take more drastic steps later if need be. I will definitely get some coconut oil.

Oh and about the bacon - Tex mention to me that I could eat bacon. Just seems weird to be able to eat that much fat if your digestion is messed up. And I guess maybe I should do a fuller fat ground beef too instead of the lean?

[Erica P-G]

Hi Kathy,
That sounds like a good plan....you never know til you try.

The only thing I’d keep out just for now is the fruit, beside the glucose it contains it is also more fiber than we can tolerate too...that way you will be able to rule out dairy (which All Dairy contains the casein protein).

As far as breakfast goes start out with some kind of protein for it...I had to learn to be creative with a basic set of foods, it can be done in fact I’ve had to re think the whole way that I eat....it wasn’t pretty or fun for a few months til I got the hang of it and figured out how to make it all feel kinda normal.

I wouldn’t over eat bacon but it can be eaten once a day or every other day unless it doesn’t agree with you for any reason.

Don’t worry how often you eat....eat when hungry and until you start to feel full. I also think in the beginning we put so much emphasis on what we Can Eat that we let stress take up some of our energy hence I’m sure a bit of weight loss happens.

Relax

[grannykathy]

Thanks Erica. So even canned peaches in fruit juice or natural applesauce has fructose? I can leave them out but sure enjoyed the peaches on my rice chex with Almond milk.

[tex]

I understand that butter and hard cheese do not contain casein or at least very little.

Actually, butter and hard cheeses contain very little lactose — they are loaded with casein.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

Oh and about the bacon - Tex mention to me that I could eat bacon. Just seems weird to be able to eat that much fat if your digestion is messed up. And I guess maybe I should do a fuller fat ground beef too instead of the lean?

the digestion needs good amounts of 'GOOD' fats to function and animal protein fats have loads of necessary nutrients the body needs

what messes up the gut and the body is BAD fats, processed vegetable type fats, and things like vegetables cooked in too much bad fat like vegetable oil

[Erica P-G]

All fruit no matter how it’s prepared has natural sugar/fructose some have more some less same goes for the fiber in them. I’m sorry to be such an information bummer Some people even react to pectin, but mainly citric acid which apples have both, the peaches or pears are probably the only two most safe ones to consider but that’s after you find your safe foods and turn weight loss into a gain.

[Gabes-Apg]

Kathy
have you read through our guidelines to recovery section - in the suggested eating plan stage 1 and stage 2 eating plans all of this is explained
https://perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=79

[grannykathy]

Yea Tex I know butter and cheese have casein. I'm just hoping I'm not sensitive to it. Never been able to drink milk but butter and cheese have never bothered me. Particularly hard cheese. BUT I am going to look for ghee today instead of butter. Also going to get bacon and ground beef with more fat in it. AND look for coconut oil.


Yes Gabes I had read the guidelines when I first started reading on this site but went back and read again. Thanks for reminder.


I want to make bone broth tomorrow. Are chicken and beef equally good for healing propertie? Do I have to cook the meat first and remove from bones or can I just throw a couple of whole chickens in the crock pot?