This was my first reintroduction week on the FODMAP diet. For this phase, the doctor has taken me off the odious vitamin regimen, has swapped those for a smoothie-based morning booster, and wants me to keep super-detailed records of everything from my gut to mood as I try something from the no-go list every 3 days.
I don’t think I remembered to list my supplements for Phase 1 for y’all, either. I was taking (tried to always take with lunch):
1 Digestzymes (Betaine HCI and a proprietary blend of Ox Bile extract, Peptidase, Amylases, Pepsin, Proteases, Glucoamylase, Lactase, Invertase, Lipase)
2 CoreBiotic Sensitive Probiotics (Bacillus Coagulans SNZ1969 and MTCC5856 Lactospore, Bacilius Subtiis)
3 LV-GB Complex (Vitamins A, B-6, B-12; L-Methionine, Milk Thistle, Taurine, Inositol, Ox Bile, Artichoke, Beet Powder)
4 Gastromend-HP (Vitamin C, Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice, Mastic Gum, Methylmethionine Sulfonium Chloride, Zinc Carnosine)
I didn’t feel any different with this regimen of supplements (other than hella annoyed because I am not great at swallowing pills), but I guess they may have done something, since the doctor noticed a marked difference in my skin the second I walked in the door (and tbh I haven’t felt like I look quite so crappy in the face skin lately), and my gut has been feeling a bunch better.
At the end of Phase 1, I don’t feel like my GI system is in crisis any more (I was having pain after 95% of my meals and was almost ready to give up and go on a chicken & rice diet), my dry skin is still there but isn’t as flaky, my nails aren’t peeling and chipping as much, and I only have a little stomach stabbiness for a few minutes every few days or so. I’m also a touch more regular with less need to head for the hills any time my digestive system is on the move, and I’m less bloated overall.
Whether that is a function of cutting out most of the foods causing an issue (frustratingly, the intermittent nature of my issues hasn’t stopped, a week with on-again/off-again cucumber sensitivity being the most recent) or the supplements – I don’t know. We shall see.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
An explanation
Proposed Meal Plan
Breakfasts
- The doc’s smoothie blend
Lunches/Dinners
- I’m still not tired of canned tuna for some inexplicable reason. I think I’ll have a repeat of bowl life, just with different flavors. I’m thinking Thai and/or poke sauce.
Snacks
- I didn’t really snack last week, so I still have oat crackers leftover.
Actual Meal Plan
Breakfasts
- Hard boiled eggs
- Buckwheat pancakes
- Doctor shakes
Lunches/Dinners
- Made a batch-prepped Thai-style tuna bowl
- Bought sushi for lunch while grocery shopping, which led to my first challenge food: avocado
- Made the tuna poke bowls
- Had a soba lunch out
- Had chicken & rice lunch out
- A non-compliant meal out introducing a friend to local cuisine
- Zoodles with tuna and/or eggs
Snacks
- Blueberries
- Oat crackers
What did I learn this week?
Introducing challenge foods is hard, and the impetus to run before I can walk is strong. Avocados, mangoes, spelt, banana & almond butter all seem fine – and all are things I was pretty sure I could tolerate.
The morning shakes the doc gave me are kinda making me bloated – but I’m not sure yet if it’s bloated bloated, or if my body may get used to them. I’ll give them another few days.
