AIP Paleo - Day 1

Brittany Bowman
Aug 12, 2016
7 min read

Aloha!

Today is the first day of my Autoimmune Protocol lifestyle! Let me first start off by explaining to you the disgusting nature of my eating habits. Dr. Pepper and I have been best friends for years - probably as long as I can remember. In-n-out, Mcdonalds, Jack-in-the-box & Del Taco have been my constant convenient companions. I am a bonafide foodie! I love everything - Italian, Mexican, Japanese, etc. Pizza! Sushi! Chili & Rice! Pasta! French Fries - my crutch! When it comes to food, there is no discrimination here. These have been my eating habits for many years. Of course, I did try to eat healthy here and there but I always faltered because there was real no motivation. Of course, just being healthy & in shape should be motivation enough. Sadly it wasn't. Oh, and did I mention how much I love wine?! I do. But all that is about to change. All of it needs to change. Turns out being healthy is a big enough motivating factor because I do not want to see more hair fall out of this head. I do not want to feel drained & foggy all of the time. There isn't any time like now to fix what I have going on.

Now, you have heard me talk about the AIP Paleo way of eating but what exactly is it? It is just like the Paleo lifestyle, except it is much more restrictive as it is a means to put those pesky autoimmune diseases into remission. (Haven't heard of the Paleo lifestyle? Click here for a more in depth look into the AIP Paleo Diet.) What I am preparing to go through is a long period of eliminating almost ALL of my favorite foods. Yep. That's right. ELIMINATE! As sad as I am to not have rice with my poke, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make to feel better again. Once I feel my body is ready & I start seeing some drastic improvements in my health, I can begin to reintroduce certain foods back into my diet - slowly. I will need to document the changes I see after the elimination period is over, as I reintroduce these food items into my everyday eating habits.

At the end of everyday, I will document what I ate, how I felt & the struggles &/or victories I had. It will be an in depth look into my journey and recovery process. With that said, here is what my day looked like:

I woke up this morning to a tall glass of Chocolate Shakeology. This is a meal replacement shake that is jam packed full of vitamins & nutrients. I first learned about this through my mom when we had become Beachbody coaches about a year ago. I remember enjoying it and how great it made me feel. I had fallen away from Beachbody & Shakeology because I had another business I was focusing on & needed 100% of my attention. I have always, & still do to this day, believe in Beachbody's products. They really do work. But enough about Beachbody. When I drink this shake, I feel great. It gives me pure energy, unlike the energy I would get from drinking Dr. Pepper. I would crash and burn, then drink more DP just to give me more energy. It was a vicious cycle. Another thing, I do not eat breakfast in the morning. I do not know why, but for some reason when I eat breakfast in the morning I feel sick to my stomach. I would typically go through the day not having anything to eat until about 11 am. By then I would be so ravenous I would eat just about anything. Fast food became my go to. I just needed something in my belly. Shakeology never makes me feel that way. I don't feel so full but I am satisfied. It gives me a sustained energy that lasts until lunchtime. If I do get hungry in between, I just snack. Jason and I have perfected our morning shake to fit our tastes. We throw in a banana, strawberries & blueberries. Sometimes to shake things up (see what I did there) we add carrot juice or almond milk. (For my ShakeO recipe, click here.) With the AIP, I cannot have almonds so I will be switching to coconut milk. We had not been drinking our shake in the morning for quite a few months, so it was a welcomed habit to bring back into this lifestyle change.

"My Morning Shake"

Jason and I had a very busy day today & really were not prepared to start this diet. We still had to go grocery shopping & do all of our prep work. As lunch began to descend, we need to think quick. We decided to eat out for lunch today & what a challenge that proved to be. Let me just start off by saying, if you are going to do the AIP version of the Paleo diet, be prepared to eat everything at home. It is virtually impossible to eat out on this diet because it is so restrictive. No bread, no dairy (means no cheese), no tomatoes, & usually half of what is in restaurant salads is a no go. Not to mention you cannot have just any old dressing on this meal plan. The struggle is real!

We decided to eat at this Mediterranean grill called Luna Grill in Huntington Beach. It is in the Bella Terra mall off of Edinger & Beach Blvd. We found out it was pricey but it was delicious. I chose the Chicken Kabob's. Jason had the Lamb Kabobs. My plate came with chicken, side salad, cooked carrots, Bahti Rice, Pita bread & Mediterranean yogurt dressing. I ate everything around the rice & pita bread first. I felt great! I had a boost of energy, my head was clear (no brain fog) & my stomach wasn't queasy. Then I made the horrible choice to go against the diet and eat some of the rice, pita bread & dressing. It all went downhill from there. Instantly, my stomach began turning. I only ate a few bites of the "no-go" food and that is all it took. Within 30 minutes, I felt exhausted & drained. Within an hour, brain fog hit me like a ton of bricks. I wish I could say I was exaggerating but unfortunately I am not. As soon as I came home, I laid down and fell asleep. It seriously drained me that much. When I woke up a few hours later, my stomach was still upset & I still felt drained - like I had not even slept. What is worse, I do not know which food item caused all of these symptoms. I did not try one and wait. I just dug right in. I feel so stupid and as if I took a step back. I knew I wasn't suppose to do it and I ate it anyway. Old habits truly do die hard.

"Eye-opening Lunch"

For dinner, I had prepared Garlic-Sage Chicken Patties with Curried Cauliflower. These recipes are straight out of the AIP Paleo Cookbook. After what I had felt from lunch, I was not about to take any more chances. The chicken patties called for coconut flour and coconut fat. They were good but the overall finish was a bit powdery. It wasn't a bad taste - they were quite good actually. It is more of a texture thing. The recipe from the book made about 13 patties which is perfect to throw in the fridge for breakfast or a snack for the next day. The cauliflower is what stole the show from this meal though. I cooked the cauliflower over the stove using shallots, garlic, turmeric powder, ginger powder & Himalayan Pink Salt. They were perfect. The true test though was how it made me feel. From when I woke up from my nap, I had still felt drained, had brain fog, my body felt heavy & I still had an upset belly. This was over an hour after I had woken up! Once I had eaten this meal, I could feel my stomach begin to level out. I still felt drained but I was beginning to get more of an energy boost & my brain fog completely disappeared. If this does not speak to the power of food & your body, I do not know what will.

" Garlic-Sage Chicken Patties"

"Curried Cauliflower"

After dinner, I began feeling so good that I decided to have an Acai bowl. I absolutely love Acai bowls. They are a healthy alternative to ice cream & are a great alternative to a morning shake. How I make them is, I blend a Sambazon frozen Acai packet, 2 frozen bananas & coconut water. Usually I like to use Papaya as my liquid base but at $3.99 per papaya, I decided to wait until they were in season. While it is blending, I dice up different fruits to place over the top of the Acai base. After the bowl is all put together, I sprinkle on coconut shavings for the finishing touches. (My Acai bowl recipe is here). These bowls are a great source of fiber & a dozen different vitamins & nutrients. This bowl cleared up the lingering drained feeling I was experiencing and made my brain more alert. My stomach did begin to feel unsettled but it was to be expected. I am changing my diet drastically from what I am use to. I have read during my research that I may feel worse before I feel better. This will last for a few weeks as my body is adapting to all of the adjustments.

"Acai Bowl"

Through all of these trials and errors today, I have learned the valuable lesson that cheating is just not worth it. When I eat something I am not suppose to during this healing and elimination period, I am only hurting myself & prolonging my recovery. I also learned how hard it is to dine out. There are just too many things I cannot eat during this phase which makes dining out a headache. So I will be choosing to eat at home indefinitely until I no longer need to depend on the AIP portion of this diet. Who knows how long that will be. I guess we will all find out in due time.

Have you ever noticed the way certain foods make you feel? If so, which ones do you notice trigger reactions in your body? How do you feel from it? If you are on the AIP Paleo diet, how do you deal with restrictions when dining out?

Mahalo,

Brittany Bowman

1. Morning Shake 2. Chicken Kabob for Lunch 3. Cooking dinner