I am so happy to be back on my blog.
The past few weeks have been packed – I’ve been working part time and using as much willpower as possible to make every minute that I work really count. It is scary as hell to go to work and not have any promise of a check, especially when it means I’m paying a daily day care rate and footing my own bills for any supplies that I need. It’s not like I’ve spent a lot of money on this, really just day care and gas, but still! I am so thankful that I can control the amount of time that I put into this little part time gig, and honestly I will be really REALLY proud and excited if I can get this little job to take off. But as of today I’ve got to admit that the jury is still out.
If it DOES work out, I’ll be so happy to have something that I can do one or two days a week in order to contribute to the family pocketbook. Oatmeal is really encouraging me to keep at it and see where it goes. He always has faith in me. Always.
Even when I wish he didn’t, but that’s another point entirely.
Other than working and taking care of P, driving to Louisiana to visit my family and work on my Mom’s house, and going to Midland last weekend to visit some of our friends, we have been trying to gear ourselves up for beginning an Autoimmune Protocol. I’ll give a brief summary of what that means, but you can read allllllllll about it here on The Paleo Mom’s blog.
So we have been following a Paleo diet for 2 years. This means we’ve been focusing on eating REAL food to include lots of high quality meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. We used to eat a lot of eggs as well, but Oatmeal had to remove those from his diet when a food intolerance blood test showed that egg was highly reactive. We removed eggs for almost a year and had him tested again, but the results were the same. (Then I had to stop eating eggs as well when Poppyseed took the same test and just like her daddy showed an intolerance to egg. So as long as I’m nursing, I will avoid them, too.) Oatmeal also avoids dairy, although sometimes we have been known to brown a roast using grassfed butter, put bleu cheese on a steak, or share a wheel of brie.
So to summarize, in following the Paleo diet we have been avoiding all grains, legumes, processed foods, sugars, most dairy…. and eggs. We eat LOTS of meat, LOTS of veggies, some fruit, garnish a lot of salads with nuts and seeds, and drink a pretty occasional glass of wine. And coffee. We both drink LOTS of coffee, Oatmeal in particular.
We’ve done quite a bit of research on diet and psoriasis. The entire goal of this lifestyle for us is to control Oatmeal’s psoriasis without using steroid medication. (He has tried a variety of steroid creams in the past and they either didn’t make a dent or made it worse.) It seems that diet has played a big role in when his skin flares and when it calms down. For example, he avoided grains entirely for a number of months without cheating, but then the holidays came about and he began eating more corn and rice. He even ate a few things that contain gluten and eggs, which is normally something he would avoid at all costs. His scalp began to get really flaky and the patches around his head have increased in size and spread. It has been very difficult to get that back under control, especially since there is always a holiday or social event where the foods aren’t perfectly paleo, making it more difficult to avoid grains entirely.
So we have known for some time that we really need to get back on the bandwagon and eat very clean paleo. It has just taken some time to get remotivated. (Anyone who has been paleo for a while can probably relate that you can go through hills and valleys!) I follow a lot of paleo blogs and started surfing around in hopes of finding some paleo egg-free meal ideas. That is how I found The Paleo Mom blog.
Sarah, the author of this blog, also suffers from psoriasis and more specifically a skin issue called lichen planus. I find it very interesting that she used to be a scientist and is now a stay at home mom and paleo food blogger. She has done years worth of research, and self-experimentation, on how diet relates to her autoimmune issues. She writes quite a bit about the Autoimmune Protocol, which simply put is just like taking the paleo diet one step further by removing nuts, seeds, caffeine, nightshades, and alcohol. (Nightshades are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and any spices derived from these foods.)
Um yes, caffeine is removed. As in coffee.
Aren’t you shocked that it’s taken us this long to get geared up to start this program? Doesn’t it sound so easy?
Are you catching my sarcasm? Enthusiasm? No?
Sure you are.
No one in their right mind would ever want to follow a diet that removes grains, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, coffee, wine, and honestly all things good. This is not something that we would be doing if it weren’t for the psoriasis. But because we are certain that his psoriasis is related to his gut health, we want to remove any foods that could be causing his body and gut to become inflamed and give it a chance to heal.
So, we began what we think will be a 30 Day Autoimmune Protocol on Sunday.
I love this image from The Paleo Mom’s blog. It pretty much outlines what we will be doing for the next month.
This is from the Paleo Mom’s Autoimmune Protocol blog post.
So for the next month or so, I’ll be posting what we ARE eating (yes, there are still foods left that we CAN eat) and will hopefully be able to share some positive feedback in a few weeks! I will be the first to admit that when he is not at home I will still be drinking coffee and eating cheese on my salads. But as his wife I do feel like it’s my job to cook a lot of really delicious and paleo compliant foods so that he isn’t starving and stays positive.
Wish us luck. 