Day 24 with only 4 days to go on the 28-day Elimination Diet. Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, I’m re-introducing dairy to see if there is a major reaction. Like I said last week, I pretty much have reactions to everything, no matter what. The one thing that has reduced considerably is the mood changes and bouts of very dark depression, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Quite literally happy! 🙂

It’s a wonderful feeling.

I start my new job at Starbucks next week, and I know that part of the job is learning about coffee and learning how to taste it properly, like fine wine. I can’t drink caffeine because of the drastic reaction I have to it, so it will be interesting to see how I can fulfill this part of the job drinking only decaf. Even their decaf has too much caffeine for me. Regardless, today I’m having my first cup of coffee in a month. Decaf Pike’s Place Roast with half and half. Tomorrow: my long-awaited, beloved Starbucks mocha. Mmmmmm.

The detox part is challenging because the detox herbs and amino-acids and other supplements I must take to kill all the bad bacteria and such make me nauseous. I have to space them out throughout the day and take them with food. I’m taking Oregano Oil which is potent stuff and must be taken with food, but it can’t be taken the same time as Betaine HCL, which I’ve stopped taking for now, because I get really sick with them both. Too hard on the stomach. The Detox Herbs and tincture, of which I must take 6 pills and 40 drops twice a day, must be with food.

The great news is that I’m really feeling great most of the time and I’m back down to 125, the weight before I left for London. I’m back to running 2-4x a week and ramping up the running intervals again. I’m motivated to work/write/create a lot more often, although sometimes the regimen takes me out midday and I need a nap. I accidentally had some wheat-contaminated oats the other day, and I had an intense emotional reaction a few hours later. Not sure if it was detox, withdrawal, the wheat/gluten, or the oats. I’ll be trying those separately soon (GF oats and wheat) to see if either has the same reaction.

So, all in all, this elimination diet has been a great success! I still have months of work to do, but I’ll be watching everything quite closely. I use the LoseIt app to count calories again, and I’m now using the Food Allergy Detective app. It’s been really helpful in showing that I’m pretty much just allergic to food right now. It lays everything out so you can see patterns easily, something I was having trouble doing with just journaling.

More soon!