The Low FODMAPs Diet and Biggest Loser Review

I know it might sound crazy, but Monday, November 16th, 2009 was my FIRST experience eating a pomegranate. I automatically assumed I wouldn't like it because it was "seedy", you know? But just look at it:

Not only are they delicious, but they are beautiful. I already knew that, but boy am I glad I discovered their goodness before they went out of season! Why didn't any of you tell me?! haha, I know, YOU DID!

THE FODMAP DIET

Recently I was informed of a diet for IBS, called the low FODMAP diet, by a blogger named Kristen over at Simply Savor. This diet is low in many of the things I already new I needed to be avoiding, such as: fructose, oligosaccharides, lactose, and polyols. Click on this link to learn more about the diet, and more specific details about what to avoid if you have IBS. There was a helpful table that was part of the PDF supplied by this site, which listed all of the specific foods that are best to avoid. Reading this list made me cry, as many of the foods were some of my favorites. Some of them weren't too shocking:

Grapes
Dried fruit (and dried fruit bars!)
Asparagus
Cabbage
Brussel sprouts
Beans
WHEAT (I've been avoiding gluten)
Artifiticial sweeteners
Lactose

But some of them were very shocking, and actually quite depressing:

Apples (I think cooking will help!)
Honeydew
Watermelon
Peaches
Artichoke (tear)
Honey (triple tear)
Coconut

Source: Practical Gastroenterology, August 2007

My plan is to stick to this FODMAPS diet, while continuing to monitor my sodium intake. Something else I am doing is cutting out the gas-causing foods from my diet (the foods that cause ME gas, that is). I've been doing a little experiment to find out which foods cause me the most gas, in an effort to save money (I spend about 20 dollars a month on Beano!!). From what I have learned this week, aside from the FODMAPS foods, I also need to limit these:

Eggplant
Mushroom
(two of my favorite veggies)

But before you feel bad for me, here are the veggies and fruits I CAN eat!

Pomegranate
Oranges
Blueberry (any berry really)
Spaghetti squash!

Pumpkin!

Greens (collard, kale, spinach)

Green beans, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes

This list is still in the works, by the way, as I am finding more and more fruits and veggies that I can eat as the days go by.

Question: Are you sick of my gassy posts yet?! Please, don't answer that :)

BIGGEST LOSER REVIEW

Dislikes
It's great that they are trying to get people to donate to Feeding America, however, it's pathetic that they have to use that as a way to get people to go to their website. Lame.

Who is going to spend their money on these zip lock bags that are made with "wind power"? I mean come on, stop making us poor people feel bad about buying the $.99 baggies that are made with electricity, instead of $5.00 to help save the planet. Let's be green and good at saving money.

Likes The "surprise" (I won't say it in case people haven't see in it) definitely made the speech easier! Great idea to do that, as giving a speech like that even scares ME! And I enjoy giving speeches more than most people, I think.

The speeches were a great way to motivate America. I gotta give it to the Biggest Loser! Heck, they even even motivated me to make a positive change. Although I felt bad for eating a rice cake and peanut butter while listening to Liz say she used to eat ice cream while watching the weigh ins :)

The person who got kicked off (I won't name names here) is such an inspiration! I couldn't even do what he/she was doing in the last 2 minutes of the show, SO IMPRESSIVE!

Next Post
Stay tuned for my next post, which will include some new food products and creations, plus some information about a better way to monitor your health status! Have a great day, and thanks for reading :)

***Stop by Coco's blog, Balance, Joy, and Delicias, to enter her PopChip giveaway! And, check out Naomi's Chocolate and Coffee giveaway! ***