OK Todd, I'll "bite".
My wife has been gluten free for 2+ years. She just does not feel good when she eats anything with gluten in it.
My 7 year old boy is very thin. When he was a baby he could not process mother's milk, dairy, soy, and etcetera. We had to get a special prescription based synthetic formula to feed him. There are a multitude of foods he cannot process or won't eat because they bother him.
My wife has been trying for years to figure out the right diet for him. In March we went to a local place that has programs focusing on diet, nutrition, functional medicine, and etcetera. I was skeptical, some of it is what is considered holistic or alternative medicine and I have seen plenty of scams in this wide and unregulated field.
I could not see how we were going to pull off this program if my wife and youngest ate by one set of rules and the rest of the family by another. I was, and still am overweight. I committed to the program along with my son and we changed the diet for the whole family.
March 21st, 2016 I started tracking what I eat. A week later I started the diet program in earnest. I have not made any effort to limit how much I eat. I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Otherwise if I am hungry I eat a snack.
- Since March 21st I have lost 46 pounds.
- My 13 year old son went down about 14 pounds. He plays football and went through spring training and summer conditioning on the diet. He plays center and linebacker. He is as strong as or stronger than the 160 pound linemen on his team, weighs about 115 pounds, and runs with the backs and receivers.
- My 13 year old daughter lost about 16 pounds. She is now 5'4" and wears a size 0 dress. She goes to Judo a few times a week with my wife.
- My wife has lost some weight, but I am too smart to ask how much. She is very fit anyway, weight was not an issue for her.
- My 7 year old is eating some things he was not able to before, and we are slowly working through one thing at a time testing for reactions. He seems happier and more focused than before, time will tell!
To meet my initial goal I will need to loose 27 more pounds by the end of the year. My first trip to the gym was yesterday, otherwise I have not done any exercise since I started the program other than occasionally walking my dog.
I used to drink 4-6 12oz cans of diet Pepsi per day. On March 21st I cut back to 1. On March 24th I drank the last one and have not had a soda since. I used to drink 1-2 in the afternoon because I would crash in the early afternoon and needed something to get me going. I no longer have this issue, it probably had more to do with what I was eating at lunch.
Rules on the diet:
No caffeine.
No sugar.
No sugar substitutes.
No gluten.
No dairy.
No GMOs.
Whenever possible eat organic produce or fruit. Especially the "dirty dozen".
Beef - grass fed if possible.
Chicken - organic, preferably free range.
Eggs - organic, prefer cage free.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner consist of 2 options:
1 serving protein, 1 serving fat, 3 servings vegetable.
1 serving carbs, 3 servings vegetable.
Serving size is roughly a handful 4-6 ounces.
Never eat carbs together with fat / protein.
I can have up to two servings of fruit per day if I wish. Cannot be during a meal. Has to be at least 2 hours after or at least 1 hour before a meal.
Before breakfast, lunch and dinner we drink our cranberry drink. The mix is prepared in a pitcher. 1 QT organic Cranberry juice, 1-1/2 ounces of Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, 5-1/2 ounces of organic Lemon juice. We pour 2 ounces of this mixture into a glass along with 6 ounces of water - that is the drink.
Twice a day eat a tablespoon of fermented foods. For me that is 1/2 of a Bubbies brand dill pickle.
Drink a minimum of 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of body weight per day. For example, if you weigh 200 lbs, drink at least 100 ounces of water.
Not an easy diet to start with. You start by eliminating one thing at a time. Once you are on the diet and feeling great it is hard to imagine eating the stuff that you used to eat.
Cost wise I think we spend almost 1-1/2 times as much as we used to on food at the grocery stores. We also do not eat out much at all any more, but overall we are spending more on food. Shopping can be a hassle, if it is not a familiar brand you read the label. We do not buy much of anything in a box any more. It is shocking the garbage that is added to food. Go to your local store, pick up a loaf of bread, and read the ingredients. Many of them have gluten added on top of the gluten in the wheat! The added gluten makes the bread more springy and gives the perception of freshness.
I also had an H.Pylori bacterial infection. This caused me to have constant reflux issues, I was taking antacids several times a week and had to sleep on my side. They put me on a treatment that eliminated the H.Pylori and I now sleep on my back, on my stomach, or pretty much any way I happen to lay down! Awesome! I have not had any antacid, aspirin, allergy pills or medication of any kind since March. That and I can fearlessly eat spicy foods, chilies and grilled onions which just made me miserable before.
After you have been on a clean diet they check you out and put you on a 4 week detox program to help "clean out" your system. That was tough, especially week 3 with no meat! The general diet is what caused me to lose weight, the detox did not change that.
You can do most of this on your own I suppose. Our program includes some medical supervision and a few blood tests. I would have not known about the cause of my reflux if I had not been in the program.
I often eat out at work with the guys. I can always find something on the menu I can eat. I also take a bag of snap peas and/or carrots with me to snack on if the restaurant does not have good vegetable options.
Last week we went to Colorado on vacation. We rented a house for the week. We have a family of 5, it is about the same price as renting a hotel room or rooms. Renting the house allowed us to shop at local grocery stores and prepare most of our meals. We ate breakfast at the house and packed our lunch. We only ate out 3 times. The kids of course complain about restaurant foods, they like my wife's and my cooking better. When we were in Telluride we stopped in at a shop and got a chocolate treat for everyone. Wow! What a sugar rush! It was a treat, something you do once per month maybe, but the only "big" violation of my diet since March. We buy chocolate coconut milk based ice cream about once a week for the family. It has some sugar but no dairy. By the letter it is not within the bounds of the diet either.
While on vacation we went hiking. One day about 6 miles at 8,400' and another day about 10 miles at 8,000'. No issues keeping up with the kids. Did not get tired. It was about 70, I did sweat a little on my back under the daypack. I imagine if I weighed as much as I did in March I would not have done as well.