Looking for tips for healthy eating? Look no further. Just the other day I received this touching email from one of my readers Nicole, a young woman dealing with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I won’t get started on the health insurance aspect of her words. Sometimes that issue is absolutely heart breaking.
In any event, as you will see below, Nicole has written to me for advice on what to eat. In spite of this site, I am a very boring eater.
My husband makes fun of me at dinner time when I eat an entire 2 heads of steamed broccoli (with this yummy Mustard Marmalade Dressing of course), all the while chomping away like a rabbit and teasing him that I need to get my 5-9 servings of produce every day (neurotic, I know). Of course I have a decent helping of protein with said broccoli and do so at every meal. More on that later, let’s get to Nicole and her lovely epistle:
Hey Elana,
I first want to say that I absolutely love your website and recipe ideas. My name is Nicole and I am 20 years old, and I am looking for your advice.
I am currently saving up money to treat my Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I am doing this because I have aged out of my parent’s insurance. I recently got a job, the first one since my illness, and have been working the best that I can to save up.
I love food, and have gone grain free for the passed 3 months to help me lessen the symptoms of my illnesses while i work. Being that i am so tired all the time, and work takes the energy that i do have, i am finding myself slipping into my old eating habits because i don’t have the energy to prepare my meals anymore. I am also completely boring myself with my lack of ideas. If i eat one more salad, or one more plate of grilled chicken with veggies, i think i just might lose it!
You mentioned that you were grain free. So i am curious if there are any tips you have, or any ideas, on how i can still eat grain free, VERY low sugars/fruits, and still have time to sleep,so that i don’t want to eat every grainy, sugary food in my wake. I sadly, almost purchased a package of Oreo’s and was going to admit defeat while watching Pride and Prejudice. I was even going to dunk them in milk, which i also have been avoiding. So you can see, I am coming VERY close to undoing all my hard work.
My main problem is also breakfast, because the standard omelet or anything egg just DOESN’T fill me at all. I have to tell you, I am a hungry hungry girl in the morning, and without grains as an option, i am losing ideas. Any advice you could give would more than help me I’m sure.
Thanks so much for your time reading this novel of a question,
Nicole
First of all, I think what Nicole is dealing with is common for so many of us. We live in a world of processed junk food and are likely addicted to foods that aren’t so good for us until we break the habit. At least that’s what I’ve found to be the case for myself. We often crave the foods we are allergic to and this is called an allergic-addiction. Quite a lot of interesting information on this can be found in the book, Dangerous Grains
Anyway, on to some solutions (and confessions). And you might not be very impressed. At all. An ideal day for me consists of eating the same meal for dinner, then breakfast and lunch the next day. This meal repetition saves a lot of time and I also find it strangely comforting. It’s not boring though because I use so many flavors in the dishes that I make. I love to snack on nuts and berries (goodness, that sounds so puritanical and annoying, I do apologize).
While I have gluten free junk food in my house for the boys, after years of going without it, I do not have cravings anymore. It takes time. And remember, patience, as so many of us are dealing with chemical cravings to sugar or other substances of choice that we might not feel so great eating. When I look at the stuff instead of thinking of a good sugar buzz, my brain somehow automatically goes to the migraine that I would get after that. My goal in dealing with both celiac disease and multiple sclerosis is to eat as clean as I can and to have as much energy as I can to keep up with my boys.
I would say that it is this passion (for them and for living) which helps to keep me focused on my goal.
When I do get cravings I find myself munching on organic fruit sweetened dried cranberries –I am obsessed with everything cranberry right now.
I have read books that claim that MS (and other disease) symptomology can be kept in check with diet. In particular, the book The Gift of Remission
However, I know this way is not for everyone.
I do want to post a couple of yummy menu items that might help Nicole (and you) out. This week is so busy that I will be making a double batch of Ina’s Grilled Lemon Chicken and stretching it into 2 nights of dinners, plus my breakfast and lunch. I’ve been making double dinners this whole week since it is a zany one and I’m out of the house so much.
My Favorite Entrees:
Favorite Sides and Salads:
For Snacking I Love:
You’ll notice I incorporate fruit with my meals. I like to do this as I feel more satisfied after eating a meal with something sweet in it.
I hope this post is helpful to you, Nicole and others who may be dealing with similar situations. This is just the way I do things, it is what works for me and simplifies my life. It may have no baring on anyone else’s. Just my humble offerings. Enjoy and laugh at it if you must :-)
Mary H says
Hi Elana, Nicole, and others,
Thank you for all the helpful suggestions and encouragement. I would just like to repeat what many have said — bake and freeze, eat protein, cut out the sugar. I feel so much better having moved from white sugar to agave, from wheat flour to coconut and almond flours, and trying to remember to have fruit snacks during the day. I send Elana’s almond butter blondies (we call them ‘brownies’ to appeal to my son) with my son to school every day — and my husband and I will snack on them — you can cut the agave and chocolate in half and the recipe is still tasty.
Hang in there – when you start feeling better, as others have said, your sugar cravings go away, and soon you’ll start to think most food tastes too sweet. I drink a lot of teas as well – try a warm mug of tea when you first feel a craving and the craving may pass.
Good luck and best wishes to all.
Izzy says
Thanks so much for doing this post. Being gluten and dairy free is not easy, but these recipes look scrumptious. I’m going to try each and every one. Have a wonderful day.
jennifer says
Hi Nicole,
I also was greatly helped by Chinese medicine. Turned upside down a lot of what I would hear daily about what was healthy food. It cleared my system and provided me with some simple, nutritious foods that I can always fall back on.
Changing my concept of what breakfast consists of, has been the biggest change and most helpful. I, also, used to wake up starving. I would grab some fruit and a “healthy” muffins or fix some kind of cereal. All my lovely teff and millet and sorghum and spelt and rice breads and muffins were making me sicker and heavier. I now eat very few fruit; family and friends get to enjoy my fruit trees. Breakfast now begins with hot lemon water. Sometimes it will be hours later before I realize I’m hungry (this is new for me!) and I will eat my main meal.
My family doesn’t always share my meals. I don’t want to spend all my waking hours in the kitchen, so meals are quick! … lots of vegetables, bouillon cubes that don’t have rice or cornstarch, favorite spices and herbs, ginger and cayenne(good for the tummy), potatoes ( thin-sliced they cook in about 5 mins), buckwheat pasta, nuts and different oils. For battering meat and fish, almond is great. I also make a mix of arrowroot, tapioca and kuzu flours – hubby loves it. Once the kitchen is stocked with favorite flours, it’s fun to cook. My favorites are buckwheat, tapioca, arrowroot, almond, amaranth, quinoa, coconut, and kuzu for thickening.
I can now pass up anyone’s fresh-baked brownies or bread because it’s more important for me to be well. Biting into the delicious goodies that I or my daughter have made, I am so grateful for websites like Elana’s and the abundance of grain-free foods now available.
I will say, though, eating in restaurants is definitely challenging.
My daughter and I are planning on a road-trip next year; that will interesting.
One more quick thing – YogaToday has a great website with tons of instructional videos. I’m not the best at keeping a regular schedule, but when I start to feel that downhill slide, I will make myself do yoga. Great for the internal organs, lymphatic system, energy … everything! Sarah does Kundalini Yoga – it’s heaven! Good luck!
Dena says
Nicole,
A couple other ideas that are easy.
A big pot of chili or bean soup. You can put it over Asian rice noodles one night, over rice the next, over Quinoa the next if you want something more.
Hard-boiled eggs — great for adding to things or eating as a snack.
I’ve found a salad dressing recipe that I LOVE (Italian, but the best Italian I’ve ever had). I make it regularly and use it everywhere to add flavour to something that’d be just okay, without it. My hubby added it to the tuna salad the other day (instead of mayo) and YUM!
In a pinch, I make some quinoa (my mom does it in the micro – I’ve not had success with that) or millet, chop up some colorful veg (pepper, carrot, something green), add a couple spoons of canned corn, a hard-boiled egg, fry up some tofu (or chicken if I have), throw it all together, pour the Italian dressing over it, and I have a meal that not only fills and satisfies the belly, but fills and satisfies the eye!
Make “protein bars” with dates, figs, flax seed, nuts, whatever else you have on hand. Just throw it in you food processor. Add an egg and bake as short muffins. Make lots and freeze, then grab one straight from freezer to take with you to work for snack.
You mentioned CHOP, so if you’re near Delaware County, go visit Linvilla Farms Store and buy nut butters. it’s been years since I’ve been, but last time I was there, they had walls dedicated to different “butters”. Spreading almond butter on a celery stalk one day and walnut butter the next will help you keep variety with utter ease. By the way – go now and get a pumpkin while you’re there!
I don’t know what the Larabar is, but look for Trio bars. I got them at Costco.
A recent discovery of ours is Thai rice wraps. They look like a see-through hard tortilla. You wet them, let the water run off, and it’s instantly bendable. use them as wraps for food on the fly, or to hold a chili hot dog (if you have GF dogs), or to fry up egg rolls out of the leftovers in your fridge. Sometimes I do a layer of rice wrap, a layer of sushi seaweed, then tuna fish, wrap and eat.
Nicole says
jenny L- i have never been diagnosed with hypoglycemia, but when my blood sugar was tested they told me it was low. they said not to worry though, it’s better than it being high. The protein idea every 2-3 hours is something i will try, thank you.
Cheri- i love larabars too! ultra clear seems interesting, i am going to look into that, thank you.
Pam- wonderful, wonderful ideas. I heard of the whole “Warming” thing. I just never thought that it would be something useful to me. But i see that i am wrong. I will definitely lean towards warming foods. I love ginger and garlic, so that’s a start. Thank for that recipe too, sounds delicious and, although i am grain free, i believe i am going ot try and re introduce them in my life in small amounts and see what happens. That recipe is a good place to start.
Tamara, thank you. I never thought to get my cortisol levels checked. Will do when i can. Thank you.
Nicole
Bonnie says
The first thing to consider is to be nice to yourself. When your CFS and Fibro flare it is not because you “have done something”. Sometimes it just happens. It doesn’t mean that diet or exercise doesn’t help–but you can’t blame a full blown flare on one slip up or you’ll drive yourself nuts and think it’s all hopeless–but really it isn’t!
You’ll find that the more changes you can make over the long term (so this may mean starting very slowly) the better you will feel. There a lot of good suggestions about food. Good luck to you and remember it’s always important to be kind and compassionate with yourself.
Emily says
Elana, I don’t think the way you eat is something to laugh about at all! You are doing your body a great favor as well as your brain a favor by making it all so simple! I think your tips will help lots of people dealing with this. I am currently trying to manage a flare-up with my diet and it really does make a difference for me. ALL I have been eating for 8 days straight is chicken and homemade stock. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I can attest to the same-ol’, same-ol’. And strangely enough, it is comforting and nice to know that the next meal is already planned out. I agree.
Please pass my email address on to Nicole with the offer of a listening ear and friend. I would love to hear from her if she’d like. I feel so much empathy for her and her struggles.
Have a lovely week :)
Nicole says
WOw wow wow.
I logged on to my e-mail tonight and got a message telling me Elana has posted a new blog. Imagine my surprise when I saw my letter to her topic!
All i could think at first was, oh no! what a horrible habit i have of not capitalizing my I’s…my old english teacher would so be wagging her finger at me right now, ha! My new goal: to work on that. :)
Elana, you have no idea how you touched my heart today. I am so happy and thankful that you brought my story to light and gave me some great ideas. I am going to be quick to integrate them so i don’t completely admit defeat.
Thank you to everyone for their responses. How smart and helpful you guys are! You can bet i have new recipe ideas now.
Jenny, Jennifer and Wendy. I am so sorry that you guys are dealing with the same thing i am. and thank you for your wonderful ideas. I think they will definitely save me energy.
M – thanks for the idea of having a friend come over. I think you’re right, it would be good to have someone to alternate with so i could have a night off.
Zebe912, great idea with the eggs! My mind has been so “zoned in” that i didn’t even think of a mini quiche.
Hannah – . You have inspired me to try kombucha. I was always afraid too, but if it can help fill me up, it’s worth getting over the fear.
Nancy, thank you for your kind words. The crock pot idea is great. I completely forgot about that kitchen appliance!
Scott thank you for your suggestion. That’s exactly what i thought too so i had them checked, and the Doctors say they are healthy.
I actually fought for my current diagnosis because i told all of my doctors, and believe me there were many of them, something is not right. I hurt. I’m tired. I do not feel as young as my age is. My friends can do this and that, and i cant.
I ended up “Stumping” my doctors and was sent to The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. There a special diagnostician took my case and diagnosed me.
But he told me there was nothing I could really do for my illnesses and to just do the best i can with what i’ve got.
After going through a little depression/denial, I slowly emerged and realized that i had to take a hold of my life. So i did.
I love food and the science of it, so i, like you guys know, am trying to do it through food.
So thank you Elana and you guys so much for your assistance through food. The word “vast” isn’t big enough to describe how much it helped, encouraged, and comforted me.
Here’s to another week of good eating, short days at work, and pillow popping under the feet. :)
Nicole
Tamara Slack says
Wanted to mention for this young lady that testing for cortisol levels is very important. Get the book, “Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000” and look into this. I started suffering the same thing younger than her. I’m 38 now and have been in and out of hospitals due to it, have severe hypoglycemia, low thyroid (T3), low progesterone, and unable to do anything most days. I’m on the road to recovery, but the first thing to do is find a naturopath who will help with healing those adrenals. I have a few blogs I write on; one of them I just started doing a daily post on this very matter. Here’s the website to help with adrenal fatigue / chronic fatigue:
http://www.benzology.blogspot.com
If you click on “DAILY POST” under TOPICS, you’ll see where I began this “diary” of mine just a few days ago.
Here’s the site of the naturopath who is helping me via email and phone who has the practice from the doc who wrote the book, “Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000” …
http://www.chronicfatigue.org
Click on “Basic Questions” and “FAQ.”
If you get this under control at a young age, you won’t end up like me, unable to work or leave your home!
Coram Deo,
Tamara Slack
Pam says
Nicole,
I agree with a lot of what’s already been said. I have a sister who deals with the same issues and have worked with people as well with CFS and fibromyalgia.
Exercise, even mild is important. I don’t know if you’ve tried Chinese medicine at all. If you haven’t I would suggest finding a practitioner near you who is versed in dietary therapy and if you can afford it, do acupuncture also. If you’re not familiar the philosophy is focused around the energy that you get from air and food and exercise and the importance of the quality of it and how you use it. Also as important is knowing what is right for you, especially when it comes to diet. Very different from a more traditional view of the four food groups, each person’s body is viewed as unique (we are not clones, right?), and so what we eat take into account genetic make-up, lifestyle, how we are emotional and mentally and how we handle things like stress and work and relationships.
Food wise Chinese medicine feels that warm foods are always the best source of energy over cool or cold. When you look at water that’s put into an ice cube tray, what happens, it contracts and freezes. If you put it in a pan and over heat, it expands and moves. So with that in mind that’s how the body is looked at in relation to food. It’s not advised, in general, to eat cool or cold foods, and best to avoid, dairy, and hard to digest foods, including fatty, fried foods.
Cool/cold foods do not just mean refrigerated or frozen because foods inherently are either cold or warm. You can warm them some by adding things like ginger and garlic, but generally fruits and vegetables tend to be cool, and sugar and salt cold. Makes sense about the sugar salt and the level of unhealthiness with that. Most Asian cultures cook their vegetables and add hot spices and add hot tea to aid in digestion.
Sorry to go on, but just wanted to give you some background. A couple things that are important to remember the energy and keeping it moving. The other thing is to make things (if you can tolerate them), like oatmeal in the morning for breakfast (put dates or figs or berries and walnuts on top for flavor, and/or a drizzle of Agave). A great supplementing dish is a simple, cheap pot of congee, or Jook which is common in most Eastern cultures. Easy to digest, made with rice and some warming spices. Excellent to have all year round, but especially during fall and winter to warm the stomach and boost the immune system. The recipe is below. You can also do the American version of soup which is organic chicken stock, rice, and chicken (if you like) with a a couple large pieces of ginger cooked in and at serving place 1 to 2 cloves of fresh garlic and cilantro chopped. Maybe too rich for some, but it’s a great classic. Here’s the congee recipe (try to use organic where possible):
1/2 cup rice of choice (I use Jasmine)
4 cups of purified water to start
4 1/2 inch slices fresh ginger
boil in large pot (as it tends to boil over easily) for 2-4 hours; if you cover, have plentry of room for boiling and WATCH closely (it does cook faster this way
continue to replenish water frequently so you have at least half the pot full
Rice should break down and start to form a kind of porridge (no idea how to spell it). You don’t have to cook it as long to get the benefit. You can also precook rice with excess water and cut down your cooking time.
Seems too simple, but it’s been used for centuries to heal the body. You can add whatever you want (that makes it Jook), such as garlic or other warming things when you serve, but I prefer it plain with garlic. You can put chicken or lamb in it (two warming meats) for extra protein and warmth. Lamb is actually a hot meat, and tasty.
Avoiding sugar and sweets as much as possible is probably a good idea, use Agave or cook fruit with cinnamon to warm it up. Take warm baths, soak your feet in hot water, put heat on your stomach. The goal is to warm the stomach where the source of food comes from. It’s the starting point for nourishing the rest of the body.
I have gone gluten free myself and am so happy to have found this site and try all of the wonderful recipes!