Thursday, November 15, 2007
Adventures with Egg
The other big story of the last month actually has to do with my dietary habits. Several weeks (months?) ago my doctor put me on the elimination diet to see if I had any potential food allergies that would have been interfering with all my physical activity and my ability to gain weight.
First, the elimination diet. It's an eating regiment that you go on for about 2-3 weeks to clear the system of anything that might be a potential allergens. This means you are not allowed to eat: wheat, dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, solonacea family, nightshades, egg, and a few other things. Not only can you not eat these things, you aren't allowed to eat anything that is derived from them either. Ketchup? Nope, generally has high-fructose corn syrup in it. Pita bread? Nope, has wheat. Licorice? Nope, wheat again. Tofu is out because it's made from soy. The list goes on and on of things your basically not allowed to have. Then, after two weeks of this you start adding in one new food every three days to see if it triggers a reaction in the body. Day one after the elimination period, we decide to try egg. Within about two hours my back had turned bright red, my skin completely broke out, and it felt like my stomach was full of shrapnel. The only other food that produced a result even close was dairy. Turns out I'm semi-lactose intolerant.
After completely eliminating egg from my diet (even the crazy hidden sources) I resumed my workout plan in early-mid October to see if I could finally make some gains. Lo and behold, I'm about 5-6 weeks in and I've made more gains in those last weeks than I have in the last 3-4 years. Fucking egg! Apparently it's presence prevents me from absorbing nutrients and throws off my hormone balance and generally interferes with body functions. Eliminating this one stupid food was the roadblock that's been in my way for years. Go figure. As of Tuesday evening I was up to about 144lbs from 139 in early October. Hooray!
First, the elimination diet. It's an eating regiment that you go on for about 2-3 weeks to clear the system of anything that might be a potential allergens. This means you are not allowed to eat: wheat, dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, solonacea family, nightshades, egg, and a few other things. Not only can you not eat these things, you aren't allowed to eat anything that is derived from them either. Ketchup? Nope, generally has high-fructose corn syrup in it. Pita bread? Nope, has wheat. Licorice? Nope, wheat again. Tofu is out because it's made from soy. The list goes on and on of things your basically not allowed to have. Then, after two weeks of this you start adding in one new food every three days to see if it triggers a reaction in the body. Day one after the elimination period, we decide to try egg. Within about two hours my back had turned bright red, my skin completely broke out, and it felt like my stomach was full of shrapnel. The only other food that produced a result even close was dairy. Turns out I'm semi-lactose intolerant.
After completely eliminating egg from my diet (even the crazy hidden sources) I resumed my workout plan in early-mid October to see if I could finally make some gains. Lo and behold, I'm about 5-6 weeks in and I've made more gains in those last weeks than I have in the last 3-4 years. Fucking egg! Apparently it's presence prevents me from absorbing nutrients and throws off my hormone balance and generally interferes with body functions. Eliminating this one stupid food was the roadblock that's been in my way for years. Go figure. As of Tuesday evening I was up to about 144lbs from 139 in early October. Hooray!
# posted by Chris/Stewy @ Thursday, November 15, 2007 
