Time For The Elimination Diet/ Food Journaling

I had written a while back about the stomach issues that I had been having, and that the blood tests didn't really show anything.  Per my doctor, the next step is an elimination diet.  It's a pretty strict diet, removing a lot of known allergens.  The idea is that after I start feeling better, I add things back one at a time to see if I can figure out what was causing the problem.  According to my doctor I could start feeling better in as little as two days, and no more than a couple weeks.  Anyway, I'm hoping I don't have to be on this diet long since it's so restrictive.  Here's what I'm supposed to do:

NO:

Dairy

Wheat

Corn

Eggs

Processed sugar

Chemical food additives

Trans fatty acids

LESS:

Red Meat

MORE:

Whole grains

Dark leafy greens

Fruits

Vegetables

Fish

Beans

Fiber

As I'm typing this, I'm having a glass of wine and some cheese since they're both off-limits starting tomorrow.  

As part of this elimination diet, I also need to keep a journal of my food and my symptoms so that I can look back later to see if any patterns emerge.  Coincidentally, Amanda at RunToTheFinish is hosting a food journal challenge this month so I signed up for that as well.  A little extra accountability never hurts!  

I am choosing to keep my food journal on with paper and pen.  Each week I'll post the food part of my journal for that week.  (My gastrointestinal issues shall not be disclosed- I'd hate to scare off the few readers I have!)

I'm working on a post about my goals for 2012.  I just got home today from the last of our holiday traveling and have been working them out in my mind all weekend.  I'll get them in print in the next day or two and get them posted.  Hey, they're goals not resolutions, therefore it doesn't matter that I didn't have them all posted by New Year's, right?