Food Sensitivity and Lipedema: Week 1 Elimination

Fresh Mango Salsa

So I am at the beginning of week 2, so let me do a quick recap of how week 1 went.

The biggest surprise so far, I have not killed anyone.

I'm only half joking about that, asking someone to totally flip their way of eating is asking a lot; so if you choose to go this route, be gentle with yourself, and be patient as you try something new.

The second biggest surprise, my husband didn't kill me (he's the chef in our family, and at the same time I mentioned I was going to be switching up my own way of eating, our daughter decided it was a good time to go vegan, too). Yes, my husband is a saint, and one hell of a cook.

As I mentioned last week, my focus was going to be on the things I can eat, and I would start from there. Here are some of my green light foods...

Apple & Peanut Butter

Most Fruits (with the exception of Bananas) seem to be good for me, and I started with an apple and peanut butter for my lunch and so far that has been a life-saver. I love peanut butter but had foregoing it and apples on my prior way of eating. This combo is healthy and satisfying and so far this week I have not had any issues show up, so yay for that!

Most Vegetables (with some exceptions); those exceptions start off as bummers (moderate sensitivity to every type of mushroom, and tomatoes - both I love, and corn, which I like, but haven't eaten due to low carb lifestyle I was following), and end with a pain in my heart (garlic - WHAT??? How does one not use garlic).

Meat - the only meat I can eat, that I like, is Chicken. Chicken was always my least favorite meat, I prefer Beef and pork over it, but I'm making due. A way to help out with only eating one meat is get it in various preparations (grilled breasts or thighs, ground as a burger or in soups, etc.)

I say meat I like, because of course my test results say I can eat almost every fish/seafood out there, with the exception of Shrimp and Prawns. I like lobster and crab, but I like it with BUTTER, something I also cannot have during my elimination WOE. I do like it with fresh lemons, so we are planning a lobster/crab night soon. I wish I liked fish, it would make this a lot easier, but I just don't like the taste, trust me, I've tried.

I'm such a texture person when it comes to food, so finding crunchy, creamy, savory, and spicy, etc. are all super important to my satisfaction.

So what did I actually eat, here are some ideas...

Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potato and Kale Soup with Quinoa (left), and

Ground Chicken Taco Salad (right) with a Fresh Mango Salsa.

     

When I began to think about Taco Salad (one of the meals our family enjoys most) and how was I going to eliminate Cheese, Salsa and Sour Cream (all on my highly sensitive food list) and still think of it as a Taco Salad? Well thankfully my husband worked his spice game into the normally bland ground chicken, and I reached out to the Lipedema and Food Intolerance Group with a question about ideas for a no tomato salsa option and the words rang out... MANGO Salsa!

It was perfection and so delicious. I chopped up the following and then squeezed the juice from one lime into it and woo hoo was that delicious (would be amazing over grilled fish, too, if that is your thing)...

• 3 ripe mangoes (we used 1 bag of frozen, as no ripe mangoes to be had) - frozen can save a step, they are pre cut into chunks and was super easy to microwave for a minute at a time until they softened up and then pretty easy to more finely chop them. You could also sub in strawberries, peaches,  pineapple, or even cantaloupe would be tasty.
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño pepper - remove everything out of the pepper to keep the flavor more mild, then dice finely
• 1 red onion (we prefer vidalia so went with that).
• Cracked black pepper and pink Himalayan sea salt to taste.

The members in that group steered me to many other options I'll be trying, here are some links...

Watermelon Salsa: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/watermelon-fire-and-ice-salsa/

Pineapple Salsa: https://thrivingonpaleo.com/pineapple-salsa-paleo-whole30-aip/

Creamy Jalapeño Salsa: https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/creamy-jalapeno-salsa/

This one is very good with chicken. Try with canned Chipotle and you can use cashew yogurt (notes from one of the members)...

Chipolte Sauce: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/creamy-chipotle-sauce/amp/

Good option when making tamales, enchiladas or chicken for tostadas (another note from a member of the group)...

Guajillo Sauce: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/guajillo-sauce/

This one looks like a quick option for a red salsa sub using canned carrots and beets...

Nightshade Free Salsa: http://hewontknowitspaleo.com/recipe-items/nightshade-free-salsa/

So not much else to report, I tried staying focused on the good stuff, and I really am not pulling my hair out trying to not eat the things on my highly and moderately sensitive list. I'll keep updating as I go along.

I did try pasta one night as is on my green light list of foods, but immediately my stomach was not happy with it, has been years since I had pasta, so that will stay out of my way of eating for now.

If you decided to try the hair test, what have you found to be the most challenging?