Autoimmune Paleo Protocol day 4: To goitrogen or not to goitrogen?

 To goitrogen or not to goitrogen? 

That is the question of the day. Oh how I love my broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kale! Do I have to give them up to protect my thyroid? Yes and no. A goitrogen is a substance found mainly in cruciferous vegetables as well as other varieties. Goitrogens interfere with uptake of iodine in the thyroid and can result in thyroid suppression and cause goiters. Good news is I have no symptoms of a goiter, but I know I eat way too many goitrogenic foods on a daily basis. I sometimes wonder if that effects me. I'm embarking on this journey to heal my thyroid amongst other health issues--so it seems like no better time to pay attention to my intake of goitrogenic vegetables.

Here is a list of goitrogen containing foods:

bok choy

broccoli

brussels sprouts

cabbage

cauliflower

garden kress

kale

kohlrabi

mustard

mustard greens

radishes

rutabagas

soy

soy milk

soybean oil

soy lecithin

soy anything

tempeh

tofu

turnips

Also included in the goitrogen category, even if mildly, are:

bamboo shoots

millet

peaches

peanuts

pears

pine nuts

radishes

spinach

strawberries

sweet potatoes

Many of these vegetables are amongst my favorite...for the next month I plan to limit and be conscious of the amount I am consuming. This journey is an experiment and I want to figure out the optimal diet for me.

This podcast from the ladies over at Balanced Bites will provide more information on soy, goitrogens, and hypothyroid.

 Evolution Fresh is the new juice company from the Starbucks Company. I saw this Essential Greens at Whole Foods yesterday so I decided to pick one up! A cold-pressed juice for $4.99, sign my up. Not organic, but I'll pick one up in a rush.

On the menu this morning: grass-fed beef tips with sauteed onion, garlic, ginger, brussels sprouts and kale--all over cauliflower! The goitrogens, oh no! 

 I had some broccoli sprouts on the counter, so after a quick run/walk, I blended a hand full in some water with lemon. A great pick me up. 
I had lunch with a friend at a local fish market. I had a salad topped with pan seared Idaho Trout. It was a nice light lunch and so fun to catch up with my friend! We were too busy gabbing for me to remember to snap a photo;)

 I came home from a busy afternoon and decided to fry up a ripe plantain in some coconut oil and made an aioli for dipping.

 I enjoyed a local blueberry & green tea Kombucha from the farmer's market. If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with this glass at the moment.

I decided on a meatless dinner and kept it light with a green medley of romaine, red lettuce, sorrel, parsley, cilantro, sunflower sprouts topped with summer squash--all fresh from the farmers market. I used the left over aioli as my dressing.

Basil Aioli

     1 small zucchini, peeled and chopped

1/2 avocado

2 cloves garlic

6-7 basil leaves

2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Table spoons olive oil (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Place the ingredients in a blender and let it work its magic! This aioli/dressing is great on salads or as a dip.

A warning to the wise: I made vegetable broth in my crock pot today. When I do this I usually let it cool before I put it in the fridge--to speed up the process I like to put the jar of broth in an ice bath. I guess I didn't let it cool enough before the ice bath because the jar broke the second it hit the water!! I was soooo mad! All my hard work down the drain...maybe it's a sign I should go ahead and make bone broth again?

Oh well, that's life. I sipped on a few cups before my mishap.
I'm thinking a coconut chai before bed--sounds like a great night cap.

"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love" --Hubert M. Humphrey

Autoimmune Paleo Protocol day 3: Chris P. Bacon--Pig on wheels!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! 

This is one of my favorite holidays and I'm pretty bummed I couldn't go out and get tipsy this year, but I had a pretty awesome day regardless. It was an absolutely beautiful day with 70 degree weather and perfect blue skies. Matt had been asking me to go to Lake Eola all week, which was weird because we hadn't gone in a while. We arrived at the park at 2 pm as things were finishing up at the famer's market. As I started to look through some of the stands Matt grabbed my hand and took me towards the far corner of the park. He wouldn't tell me where we were going! After a few minutes of walking and me pestering him with question we arrived at our destination--an open field and a special surprise....Chris P. Bacon-Pig on wheels!!! I don't know if you guys have heard of this handicapped pig or seen his Facebook page, but I'm absolutely obsessed with him. Matt knows this so a month ago he contacted his owner on Facebook (the owner is a vet and he lives in Florida) and planned a surprise visit for me to meet him! I was so shocked I started crying. It was incredibly thoughtful for Matt to do this and I couldn't believe I finally got to meet Chris P. Bacon. 

Matt recorded a video of us playing and feeding him cheerios--so not paleo.

 You can't really tell from the picture, but Chris P. Bacon was born with a birth defect that crippled his hind legs. He has a wheel chair to get around with, but he gets around really well without it.

I'm truly ashamed of my breakfast and definitely would have picked something else if I knew I was going to see Chris P. Bacon today! I adore pigs and it's not easy for me to eat them, but for now I want to heal so I will do what I feel is right for now.

 I didn't feel like juicing this morning so I picked up an ultimate greens juice from Whole Foods while I was shopping and snapped a quick selfie;)

 I made some curried chicken salad for lunch--I got the idea from The Autoimmune Paleo Protocol Cookbook, but I changed the recipe a bit. I really liked the idea of using coconut as a "mayo" base; I usually use nuts so it was a great substitute. 

I sipped on some homemade chicken broth on the way to the lake.

 After I got back from hanging with Chris P. Bacon I was very starving so I cooked up some butternut squash. My stomach felt fine, but I was a little itchy afterwards. This squash was not sweet whatsoever, it was quite tasteless to be honest--a little disappointing considering I LOVE SQUASH. I'm trying some GAPS diet friendly carbohydrates that The Paleo Mom recommends for people with SIBO.

In Cinco de Mayo fashion I made some guac for my boyfriend and I. 

Cinco de Mayo Guacamole 

por dos

1/2 chicken breast, shredded

1-2 avocados

1 small zucchini, blended

1/4 red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

I blended the zucchini in a Vitamix and added the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mixed them together with some love and Cinco De Mayo magic!

It was a fabulous Sunday funday, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day. Matt earned a million boyfriend points today, what a great guy;)

Autoimmune Paleo day 2: I Believe In Miracles

I believe in miracles--this is my mantra of the day according to the amazing spiritual guru Gabrielle Bernstein. I'm reading her book May Cause Miracles and partaking in her 40 day spiritual transformation to let go of my fearful thinking and actions and replace them with love. I'm on day 5 and today I've been instructed to believe in miracles, which means that I'm accepting a change in perspective. Well...I'm open to anything at this point, I figure I need to replace my vices with something? Gabrielle Bernstein was able to give up her addictions to love, food, alcohol, and drugs through studying a Course in Miracles and now she is a teacher of the text herself. The reason I brought this up is because today I witnessed a small miracle in my health journey. I got my period for the first time since February (sorry TMI), but I figured I've already told you a lot so why hold back now. I started taking the Estrofactors and DIM in January to help balance my hormones and they worked great (skin clearer and menstruation). I was curious to see if my hormones would stay balanced without the supplements in early March and went off them. My period disappeared for three months and two days ago I decided to start them up again along with the AIP. So I'm not sure if it's the supplements, the omission of alcohol and coffee, or the AIP in general, but I'm happy to know my moodiness this morning wasn't for nothing;).

I started my day off with some Ashtanga yoga and came home and popped a little poussin chicken and summer squash in the oven. I topped it with a pesto sauce I whipped up and made some green juice in the mean time. This morning it was a dandelion, parsley, cucumber, celery, lemon, cabbage, and 1 carrot concoction. I blended some broccoli sprouts in the juice for good measure because I read that broccoli sprouts are a great h. pylori KILLER. The serving of chicken looks huge, but there was not much meat at all. I won't be buying le poussin for awhile....it's a little to, um, little.

I took the chicken carcases and simmered them for and hour  to made some chicken broth that was delicious. I sipped on a cup.

I went to the farmers market and picked up some local chicken breast, Brussels sprouts, red lettuce, sunflower sprouts, and some sage.

 This was my brunch. I wasn't really satisfied with the chicken so I whipped up some salad with sunflower sprouts, avocado dressing, and some Brussels sprouts steamed in chicken broth, all alongside one lonely sardine.

I made a coconut chai with ginger, clove, and cinnamon with the smallest dash of stevia;) I got this idea from The Autoimmune Paleo Protocol Cookbook

 I sat around in bed for a couple hours feeling very blah-my back hurt and my energy was unusually low so I decided to have a little comfort food (def because of TOM). 1/2 roasted sweet potato and 2 carrots blended with some Himalayan salt, cinnamon and cloves. Right after I ate this my throat/ears started to itch which hasn't happened since the last time I was detoxing....interesting. Just and observation. I sipped on a cup of homemade veggie broth too.

And of course a Saturday night Green Goddess Mocktail (in a red neck mason jar wine glass....haha) to enjoy while my boyfriend sips on a yeatsy brew. Am I jealous? Of course, but I know this journey will be worth it in the end.

        Green Goddess Mocktail

1 cup natural sparkling water

1/3 cup green juice of your choice

1 wedge of lemon

Do you see my boyfriend photo bombing my dinner?

We had buffalo burgers, roasted Brussels sprouts with left over bacon fat, and sauteed kale and red onion with chicken broth.

Good eats and lots of laziness with my boyfriend-couldn't ask for a better day. 

Autoimmune Paleo Protocal Day 1

This post from Mickey over at her website explains the whole Autoimmune Pale Protocol. It's basically a version of the Paleo Diet (no grains, legumes, processed sugars and oils, and dairy), but it's modified to remove ALL gut irritants. Ommitting coffee, nighshades, alcohol, nuts, seeds, NSAIDs, and eggs helps to further heal people with autoimmune disorders who often have more damage in the lining of their gut. I will be doing this for at least 30 days, but I will not be including any fruit and very limited starchy vegetables. This is because I need to starve the bad bacteria and h. pylori in my gut. I do believe I will need some carbohydrates for brain functioning purposes, but I am making an effort to keep it to a minimum for now.

I started my morning off with a lovely green juice (cucumber, celery, cabbage, lemon, dandelion greens, parsley, one carrott, and cilantro).

Great cookbook: The Fresh Energy Kitchen by Natalia Rose and Doris Choi

 Happy pigs Bacon-organic pasture raised.
I set the oven to 400 degrees and placed the bacon in the oven for 25-30 minutes until it was crispy. It was delicious.
I could not remember the last time I ate bacon.

      I cooked a side of brussel sprouts, garlic, green beans, and kale.

I also enjoyed a cup of vegetable broth-it's comforting to sip on. Unpictured.

            

                                                                I had my final college exam today! Yay. I made a quick blended pudding before my exam that consisted of 1 zucchini, 1/2 avocado, coconut butter, a sprinkle of stevia (I'm slowly cutting it out), and cinnamon.

         I had plantains as an afternoon snack as I have some I need to get rid of and this salad.

                         
I also went out to dinner with my boyfriend and I had trout with some cauliflower. I know the sauce probably had some kind of vinegar that is not allowed on the AIP, but it was my first day so I'm not stressing about it.

These are the supplements I will be taking.

• Armour Thyroid, unpictured
• Xifaxan (and antibiotic to kill my SIBO), unpictured
• Garden Of Life: Primal Defense Probiotics, unpictured
• Mutlithera Multi Vitamin
• Magnesium Calm
• UltraImmune IgG (help heal my gut lining)
• Vitamin D 
• Estrofactors (to balance my hormones)
• DIM (to help balance my hormones by binding to excess estrogen)
• Alginate Plus (to detox heavy metals)
• Diatomaceous Earth (to help get rid of parasite and yeast-do not take within 2 hours of probiotics)
• HCI with Pepsin (To help with my low stomach acid and digestion)
• Apple Cider Vinegar (helps to kill yeast-do not take within 2 hours of probiotics)

        I haven't had any alcohol in a week, coffee in 5 days, and have been eating low carbohydrates all week to ease into this transition. I can already feel that my moods have been much more stable, which is a major reason why I decided to do this in the first place. My moods have been very unstable the last couple of months and I'm excited to see how this changes. I'm hoping this diet won't be terribly hard for me because I already had a pretty strict diet before, but letting go of the emotional attachment of food will be the hardest. Bye bye vices (coffee and alcohol). I also want to address the fact that my blog is moving in a totally new direction, but so is my life! I graduate in less than a week and I want to live a happy and healthy life. So for the time being this blog will be Health, Happiness and a little bit of Booze Kombucha.