Breath Test day and recipe

I took the breath test this morning.  I was jittery and weak during the test.  I've never experienced that before while doing the test so it's probably due to the lack of food for the past 13 days and then just water all morning.  Fingers crossed the results go well.  I made soup during the test to eat after.  I ate a big bowl when I was finished and 3 hours later I am starving.  I didn't feel hungry like this at all during the elemental diet.  Not at all.  I never really felt hungry at all.  Because I am coming off the diet, I put the cooked chicken through a meat grinder so my body could digest it easier.  I may have opted to leave it out entirely if I had amino acids to supplement with.  I double checked all my ingredients with the Monash University FODMAP App.  I trust this source above all else.

I adapted this soup from Rodale's Basic Natural Foods Cookbook.

8 Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 2-3 T garlic infused oil or ghee
• 2 bunches green onion
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 potato
• 2 sm or 1 lg sweet potato
• 2 sm zucchini chipped
• 1/2 lb string beans
• 6 cups homemade meat broth
• 2 med sz tomatoes or 40g sundried tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 leaves basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil

• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 8 leaves spinach, finely shredded
• 16 oz meat of your choice
• 1 cup canned coconut milk or dairy substitute of your choice (just be careful about FODMAPs)

Directions

1. Melt oil in large soup pot. Add green onions and saute. Then add carrots, potatoes, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Stir in stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add herbs and pepper, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Let soup cool, then remove the bay leaf and puree using a hand blender. Return to stove and stir in shredded spinach, cooked meat, and milk. Adjust seasoning, if desired. Simmer until heated through.

Soy Sauce Substitute

I am making this soy sauce substitute today.  When I was doing strict SCD/Low FODMAP and couldn't use tamari in my stir frys I used coconut aminos.  They are so expensive, I didn't know how they fell in terms of FODMAPs, and the bottles are so small that I knew there had to be a better way.  I discovered the recipe linked above and decided to give it a try.  Leave out the garlic granules, of course.  For the blackstrap molasses I substituted buckwheat honey and only used half.  It's unclear where buckwheat honey falls on the FODMAP list but honey is usually only a problem if you have trouble with fructose malabsorption.  I use a splash of the substitute when sauteing greens.  It really was a decent substitute.  I wouldn't say I couldn't taste the difference but it wasn't completely off putting either.  Since my doctor says I can have good quality (fermented) tamari I usually use that when stirfrying but I'm going to keep this on hand for when I saute just greens.  If you haven't tried Red Boat fish sauce you are missing out.  It tastes so much better than any other fish sauce I've tried.

Soy Sauce Substitute (adapted from The Clothes Make the Girl)
Ingredients:
1 cup beef broth (I use my beef/chicken meat broth)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons buckwheat honey
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Red Boat fish sauce

1. Place the following in a small saucepan: broth, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar, honey, black pepper and, ground ginger. Bring to a brief boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer — small bubbles should just break on the surface. Cook until reduced to about 2/3 cup — this takes about 7-10 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the salt and fish sauce; stir to combine and taste to make sure it’s salty enough for you. Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days (I've stored for longer and haven't noticed spoilage). This sauce can be used in any recipe that calls for soy sauce.

Elemental Diet Wrap Up - Day 13

So clearly I didn't plan well enough.  I only ordered the 500 gram bottle of amino acids since I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it the whole way through and I didn't order more in time.  Dr. Siebecker clearly states you will need a 1000 gram bottle ( I was mistaken on an earlier post).  I am really bad at visual spatial things so didn't realize how low I was until I was out.  I forgot that I only ordered half of what was recommended. So, yesterday I was really low on protein and had a headache and felt crummy by the end of the day.

When it came to honey I wasn't able to consume nearly the quantity recommended.  I only used half of my 1/2 gallon jar.  It was really hard to get all that sweetness down.

Today I need to prep for my breath test tomorrow so I cannot have honey.  Given that I don't have aminos either I opted to add in eggs at meals.  So my meals today are 2 T coconut oil, 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites.

My weight loss has really slowed.  I have only lost a pound since Tuesday.  I worry that my metabolism has slowed down.  I've exercised all week so realistically I should have dropped more since I was steadily dropping 0.4 to 0.8 lbs per day before.  I cannot recall what I weighed yesterday but I'm pretty sure I only dropped 0.2 lbs overnight.  My guess is that was due to the lack of protein.

What would have been really interesting would be to get an accurate measure of body fat before starting this and then an accurate measure after to see whether I lost more fat or muscle.  As it stands I only have the likely inaccurate body composition scale at the YMCA to go by and it says I've dropped 3% body fat (and 7.6 lbs).  I don't think that's accurate but who knows.

Elemental Diet - Day 12

I used the last of my powdered amino acids last night.  I have a bottle of aminos (same brand) in capsule form but not a ton of capsules left which means my protein intake at each meal is cut down by about 90%.  Not ideal.  I'm trying to decide whether to eat my protein in the form of scrambled eggs.  I don't like depriving my body and I lifted weights this morning. It's only 2 days but it still worries me.

I found a soup recipe that I think I can modify for my first few meals back.  I'll post the recipe if it turns out.  I have turkey vegetable soup and beef vegetable soup in the freezer but I think meat might be too much after eating nothing for 2 weeks.

Overall a good day, not much nausea or burping.

This may fall under "too much information" but when I do have bowel movements they burn.  I've read the same thing happens with the pharmaceutical elemental diet.

Elemental Diet - Day 11

I'm running seriously low on my amino acids.  The 500 gram bottle was supposed to get me through the 14 days and even though I am generally using less than recommended I am still almost out.  Thankfully I have a bottle of aminos in capsule form if needed.

Usually I drink only room temperature or hot water.  I don't like it cold at all.  But just like with the nausea that comes with morning sickness everything changed while on this diet.  The only water I can tolerate is cold.  I think anything warmer and it breaks open capsules that are slowly opening in my stomach and I'm thrown into waves of nausea.  If I get up early enough I have time to drink a cup of hot water before I start my premeal supplements.  Today I wasn't so lucky.  The dogs and cat woke us several times last night and so I ended up sleeping until the alarm.

Yoga was hard today.  A little nauseous, a little dizzy.  I made it through and felt better towards the end after (quietly) burping a few times.  

Down another 0.8 lbs this morning.

Elemental Diet - Day 10

Mornings always seem to go well.  I have good energy so I can get things done, workout, yoga, errands.  In the late afternoon and evening I get a bit nauseous, today quite a bit nauseous this evening.  It seems to be related to stomach gas because if I can get myself to burp the nausea subsides.  I didn't think I was going to be able to have my dinner but then 15 minutes later the nausea had passed and I could.  I've been increasing my supplements (Allimed and Neem Plus) and I do think it's the Neem Plus.  It's the newest supplement to my regimen and it was making me feel off before I started this crazy diet.

Went for a really short bike ride before dinner and my legs hurt so bad.  Not sure if it's from the leg workout yesterday or from the lack of real food.

On a good day I lose 0.4lbs, on a bad day I lose a full pound or close to it.  I'm still only down about 6 1/2lbs in 10 days.  I only have a few days left so that's not too bad at all.  Average weight loss on the pharmaceutical elemental diet is 10-15lbs.

On the downside, I look tired.  I'm having a hard time falling asleep but once I'm asleep, I'm out. When I say I'm having a hard time falling asleep, it takes longer than usual but still probably not more than 10-15 minutes.  The nighttime electronic use probably doesn't help.

Elemental Diet - Day 9

Lunch on the run was a bit difficult.  I always get a little bit nauseous and belchy after I consume my meals, not sure if it's the supplements I take with meals (multivitamin, Allimed and Neem Plus) or if it's the meals themselves.  Today I had to pack my lunch because I was out and about so opted for olive oil instead of coconut oil.  I think I'll stick with the coconut oil.  I'm accustomed to it now and the olive oil burps were pretty gross.  

All in all a really good day.  Excellent energy this morning with a great workout followed by a massage.  My mag citrate finally got things moving which always makes me feel better.  I picked up my new prokinetic (Erythromycin) which I will start tonight.

I can't believe I'm almost done.  4 more days on the diet and on what would be the 14th day of the fast I will do my breath test.  I know doing it after the 14th day would be ideal but I have commitments that prevent me from waiting.  It's going to be hard waiting for the results which can take up to 2 weeks!