Remember when I was so sick a few weeks ago with bronchitis?  And I was on the way to pneumonia?  I have awful allergies and asthma.  I get sick every single Spring and Fall without fail since…. FOREVER.  My entire life, I’ve gotten sick at least two times a year.  Last year it was three times and each time it lasted 6-8 weeks.  Therefore, I would just get over being sick and within two months, it would start all over again.  I was miserable after coughing so hard that I threw a rib out.

I visited the chiropractor’s office and took care of the rib situation.  He mentioned that I should probably start getting my inflammation in my body under control.   I talked a little bit about this before and explained what I was going to do about it, but I wanted to give you an update on my Autoimmune Paleo Protocol (AIP) and my Everlywell food sensitivity blood test results.

AIP Results after 30 days.

Deb and I had a brief discussion on this topic over on Instagram and she made this AIP deal sound miserable.   She was very sour that day because in all reality, it was not bad at all.  ???? The entire AIP food list is filled with nothing that causes inflammation.  Therefore giving your body a break from any foods that are causing some type of inflammatory reaction.  After two days of eating this way, I lost five pounds of inflammation, and hit an 8 pound loss after a week.

We did slip a few times (only with THE vodka ????) but never veered off of the original idea.  Eliminating all grains and all dairy wasn’t nearly as hard as I imagined.  Both of us noticed different things that happened over the last month.  I had the 8 pound weight loss the first week and by the end of the month, I was down a total of 10.  The last two may be from working out, etc, but the first 8 was definitely inflammation.   Deb didn’t notice any weight loss with this.  She has been consistently losing a few pounds here and there from working out and diet changes since January.

Both of us suffered from reflux and bloating and now all of those symptoms disappeared.  I had so much drainage (SNOT) all.the.time.  So much so, that I would blow my nose every 30 minutes all day long leaving a trail of tissues everywhere I went.  That is GONE.   What the heck was causing all of that?

Everlywell Food Sensitivity Results

Since having such a significant weight loss in a short period of time with the elimination of several foods, I wanted to see what was at the root of my inflammation problem.  I mean, if I could still enjoy bread, why cut out grains?  Bread is delicious.  ????  In my  mind, dairy was the culprit and I had no problem with grains.  But, I wanted to know for sure.  Enter my Everlywell food sensitivity test results.

This particular online blood test looks at 96 different foods, including several different cheeses, cow’s milk, yogurt, and different grains.  I was a bit shocked, to say the least, with my results.  It rates all food sensitivities in four different groups:  High, Moderate, Mild, and Low.   I have always thought I was highly reactive to dairy so I just knew in my heart of hearts, that dairy was going to be in the high category.  Surprise!  I react the highest to grains and glutens.  Dairy was dispersed evenly between the moderate and mild categories.  Deb had lower reactions to several things but not enough to cause inflammatory issues which is why she didn’t notice such a huge water retention problem.

What does this all mean for me?

We decided that sticking with the Paleo diet is going to be the best thing for us.  The focus is on meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.  Which basically means no gluten, grains, or dairy.   That sounds like a difficult thing, but in all reality, it’s not.  There are so many different substitutes as far as flours:  almond, coconut, tapioca, etc.  Which means we can still make things like pancakes, etc.  I just have to do some research on different recipes.

And since we live in a small town, with not a lot of choices for odd food, I did get several different paleo products through Amazon.  But I am finding that Thrive Market is cheaper on several of their items.  You do have a yearly cost with Thrive Market but I pay for Amazon Prime, too, so I guess I won’t complain.   ????????‍♀️  Just an FYI, Thrive Market has their items separated into different diet plans so that is very easy to find the things that go with your own concerns.  They have Paleo, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Keto.   AND, they even have an AIP section.  Check them out if you are having trouble finding ideas for your meals.

I will keep you posted about Thrive Market.  I just signed up today, so we will see.

Have any of you noticed any of the same symptoms we have been fighting with forever?  If so, maybe give the AIP diet a whirl for three days.  If you lose several pounds in those three days, then chances are you may have an inflammation problem.  And, you will feel so much better giving up a few things.  Let me know your progress by commenting here or chit chatting with me on Instagram and Facebook.  I love to hear from you!