The Fruitarian!

I think I have mentioned before, "you are what you eat" and "there is no specific diet for lupus". With that being said, that means we lupies are more careful about  whatever we want to eat. We need to eat properly due to some foods causing inflammation.

In general, you should try to eat a nutritious, well-balanced, and varied diet that contains plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, moderate amounts of meats, poultry, and oily fish, as fish oil has been found to help reduce inflammation..

When I was in my early twenties, I honestly didn't give a second thought to what I put in my mouth. I was very underweight and could eat anything and everything with a thought. Now that I have lupus, not only do I worry about what I eat but I worry because I'm concerned of the inflammatory factors the food may have.

I've come the point in my life where I don't like food too much either. I'm not happy with food and it doesn't like me either. I think most of that has to do with my wonderful colon. I had to make a conscious decision of what I was going to do but I had to do what was going to be best for my body and lupus.

Three weeks ago tomorrow I came to a decision that I was going to make a full lifestyle change and totally change my diet. I didn't like meat at all and if I did eat any type it would be fish and that was rare. So, the first to go was meat. I would no longer be eating any processed or boxed food, no sweets such as cookies, candy, snacks of that sort. I would normally drink up to 2 cans of Diet Coke a day and that was gone as well.

I decided my basic daily diet would be fruits and vegetables. I would become a Fruitarian!

I thought I was making this word up! But this "Fruitarian" exists! What this is, is: "Fruits" include all tree fruits, all berries, watermelons, vine fruits like kiwis and grapes and vegetable-fruits like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. But, I add granola to my diet as well.

You might be thinking, "Is she getting any protein"? You'd be amazed at the amount of protein (vitamins and other minerals too) I get from fruit! http://www.health-alternatives.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.html

For my drinks, I do have 1 cup of coffee in the morning and I will drink water throughout the day. Some days I will juice lemons (1 whole) and add that to a large glass of water. The glass is usually a carry-along with a straw. I will drink a homemade strawberry banana smoothie too.

http://perfectsmoothie.com/strawberry-banana-smoothie-recipe 
 
I have to say, when I first started this new eating habit (as I like to call it), I wasn't getting filled up. I was really hungry! Think about it though...When you eat junk food, foods with high fructose corn syrup, and other additives; all of that stuff sits in your stomach and fills you up faster than foods that are good for you.

For the first few days of eating properly I wasn't getting full at all and was eating so much of the fruit and vegetables. After a few days of this new regiment, I began to taper off on the feeling of not filling up and began to slow down on how much I was eating and drinking more water.

I think I was looking for a quick fix for my colon and for the lupus; which I know there isn't for both. But in the back of my head I was hoping.

Since it has been nearly 3 weeks I have to say my body has adjusted really well and this is a lifestyle that I can easily keep up with.

I like the new "me"!