I’ve been off my leaky gut diet since June. I started at the end of March; 2 months later, I’d seen remarkable improvements in my health and lost 65 lbs! Then I found out I had to have routine dental surgery in June, and several courses of preventative antibiotics wiped the slate clean for my gut biome. I would need to recover and then start to rebuild healthy flora.
I took a break from the strict leaky gut elimination diet over the summer so I could enjoy social time with new friends. I was still eating a diet packed with nutrients. I shopped for my normal whole foods, vegetarian diet at the local farmers market. I also took probiotics daily, and went swimming or hiking almost every day. I maintained my weight, thankfully not regaining the 65 lbs but not losing more.
Allow me to pause for a moment to stress how unusual it is for me to maintain my weight while on a normal, healthy diet with moderate exercise. It’s been years since that has been possible. The only time I lost weight and maintained it in recent years, I was working out like a crazy person at the gym (15-18 hours per week) while restricting calories to a dangerous level. I’m counting this summer as a win!
Starting in September, I felt ready to resume the elimination diet. Since my first elimination diet was all about testing, I decided to test how strict I would need to be with the diet in order to achieve further weight loss and improved digestion. I chose to follow a strict diet for 5 days a week, taking two non-consecutive days for more relaxed eating. For me, “strict” means a vegetarian diet with no gluten, sugar, dairy, eggs, alcohol, soy, processed foods, or fried foods. I eliminated caffeine at first, but allow moderate amounts now – perhaps one or two cups of coffee per week. Non-strict means that I might have a couple of servings of foods from the list throughout the day, but otherwise I’m still following a whole foods, plant-based diet.
Results? Well, it’s not working, for weight loss, anyway.
I’d love to know what it is about the combination of more “complicated” foods that causes a reaction in me. My health has stayed the same, I’ve seen no further improvement with digestion, and my weight has bobbled up and down by a pound here and there with no noticeable change.
A negative result still provides information. I’ve decided to re-commit to the strict elimination diet for the month of November and up until the holidays. Hopefully I can find the momentum from the spring.