Week 1 of the Vegan Elimination Diet in Review AKA I didn’t starve to death

Potato Nachos

so i survived!! i didn’t starve! I’d been joking since I started planning this diet that i was going to survive on air and water for weeks but really there are a LOT of things that are vegan + gluten/corn/soy/peanut/cane sugar/green pea/pineapple/banana free! I’m also skipping most oils but i’m eating coconut and extra virgin olive oil. and if i eat something that has some oil it’s not the end of the world. just nothing deep fried like fries or tater tots!

blistered shishito peppers

The first couple days were TOUGH. more mentally than physically. but i felt so hungry. my stomach was full… like i could barely fit more into it. but i still wanted more food. and i wanted all the sweets. i have no idea why. because i had no tofu? because i was missing my shakeology? no idea what caused that whole thing but that sucked. i still am craving sweets a lot but i found some delicious treats to have! and the first day i had a couple dates filled with almond butter and that solved both the hunger and sugar cravings.

Avocado toast + almond butter toast

so how do i feel? meh. i do feel a bit lighter even though i only lost one pound. As the intake of food had increased in my body, thus my body was getting more nutrients and along with the daily andarine i was consuming for better muscle tone and mass, I could see the changes and they were simply WOW. Plus i lost one pound while eating tons of fat & huge portions. so perhaps there’s some inflammation that’s going down? who knows. all i know is i’m getting kind of used to this and getting excited about the new foods i get to try!

Cauliflower Alfredo sauce w/POW lentil pasta

kind of like when i first tried going vegan for a week, the first day i was starving. i had no idea what to eat and it took me FOREVER to shop because i was reading labels for hours. now it takes me hours to shop because seriously i don’t know what’s gluten free. i’m googling things like “does sorghum have gluten” (it doesn’t) and “what are hidden sources of corn”. it’s been challenging but exciting at the same time. and i’ve been playing with three different kinds of gluten free flour! and i’m amazed at how many different kinds of pasta there are that are gluten free now! when i did a gluten free month back in 2012ish there weren’t half of the options there are today! i’m so excited to try them all!

black beans w/onions and red pepper

so my secret weapons that help satisfy my hunger when i’m feeling hungry? baked potato wedges- just plain old baked potato fries/wedges. i have a ton of them in the fridge and eat them cold or warmed up and dip them in whatever is handy. i also made a big batch of protective diet ultimate cheese sauce w/almond milk instead of soy milk and that’s perfect for everything. throw it on some noodles for cheesy mac. dip potatoes in it. toss it on chili for cheesy chili. it’s been perfect. and i made some cashew cream and almond milk and overnight oats. i’m pretty set.

overnight oats with the coconut cult probiotic yogurt

so we’ll see… i keep reading more and more about gut health and elimination diets and i’m less and less convinced this is going to be my magic bullet but we’ll see. at least it’ll be an interesting experiment!

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