Progress - Week 1...

Alright! It's been a full week since I've started my AIP diet....how did it go?

I feel like it's been a pretty tough transition! It's hard to go from eating pretty much anything you want to having what feels like an ultra-restricted diet. I haven't had any bread, rice, or pasta for a week. That's a record for me! [I did 'protein diets' like the grapefruit diet when I was a teenager, but even for that diet, we could have pretty much normal dinners!] Couple my personal carb-withdrawal problems with the fact that the rest of my household isn't on the AIP train...that's where I'm at right now.

The weekend was much more difficult for me than the work week. I think because my husband and I have so many weekend routines that were based around food [kind of sad now that I'm typing it out]. Typically, we'd either go out to one of our favorite breakfast spots or we'd fix breakfast at home. Breakfast always had some combination of eggs, hash browns, some sort of bread, and usually grits, for my husband. Sunday mornings, if we go to church with my parents, we always stopped at the Huddle House that's on the way. But not this weekend! Nope! Because of my choice to start the AIP diet for my HS, I can't participate in our sacred little breakfast routines anymore.

Honestly, it makes me quite sad. Maybe even more than it should...

But you all should be proud of me! As badly as I wanted to grab the habitual breakfast with my husband, I did not! I stuck with my new diet plan and my sad-looking bowl of sweet potatoes and turkey sausage! It's the small, personal victories that I have to hold onto...otherwise, this whole transition is just too tough!

Now let's look at what, if any, changes the first week of the AIP diet has brought to me...let's look at some results:

- HS symptoms: to be honest, on Wednesday, my HS symptoms had dropped to almost none! I was so elated, I was ready to declare the AIP diet a miracle...but! By Thursday, some of my flares had returned to remind me that they're still around and don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Overall, I'd say there's probably been about a 20% decrease in the amount of pain and swelling in my flares....4 of my 6 typical trouble-spots are currently acting up, which is about the same as last Monday. I currently have 4 individual flares that require bandaging, and 2 that are bandaged just in case they decide to act up. This is actually more bandaging than last Monday, but I'd say that most of the flares are actually a little bit better than they were.

- Mood: I find myself being periodically irritable, a little more than usual. I don't know if it's due to all of the foods that I cut out on the AIP diet or not, but I feel like it has to be playing a part in it.

Tiny Victories ^_^ 

- Weight: as of this morning, I'm down 5.8 lbs down from last Monday. Almost 6 lbs! Now, I know weight fluctuates everyday, but I'm really enjoying seeing that number go down! Granted, I know it's likely 'water weight,' but it's still encouraging. I know that this trend should continue as long as I stick to my AIP diet...especially if I remember to be mindful of the amounts of and calories in what I'm eating. But, I feel like my eating habits for the week are 200% better than they were before. I just have to stick with it...and find time to exercise!

So far, the new diet/lifestyle seems to have been a positive change...check back in a few days for more updates!