Well, as planned I started the SCD intro diet on Monday July 5. The weekend was spent making two batches of SCD yogurt, making the SCD chicken soup and doing some loose meal planning. I must say that this transition to the SCD way of eating came at a pretty good time – I was feeling very sick last week and it was all I could do to get moving and onto my bike for some training – I seemed to be either sleeping, eating, riding my bike, or in the bathroom…
I don’t have a yogurt maker so I followed the instructions in the BTVC and made my yogurt using the stovetop and oven. I was skeptical that it would turn out – but I am now converted to this yogurt! Love the taste of it. The tang is really satisfying. One batch I “dripped” using two new j-cloths that I lined in a colander set into a big bowl – I poured the yogurt into this lined colander and sealed the cloths with a bag clip – a few hours later I had some very thick and tempting Greek yogurt.
I had never made chicken soup from scratch before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Well, this soup does taste pretty good – though it takes a bit to get used to the texture of the pureed carrots. Really, it doesn’t look that appealing but once I got past the appearance of it, the smell and taste were enough to convert me.
I also made the “cheesecake” as recommended in the intro diet list of foods in BTVC – I did not use 1/3 cup as honey as I found that to be excessive – but it still turned out to be really tasty. The other thing I made were SCD yogurt popsicles – I filled the popsicle molds about half-way, drizzled a bit of honey on top of the yogurt, and then filled the the molds with more yogurt. These make a very satisfying snack and dessert.
So, the real question is: how am I feeling? Well, it is Thursday today and for the first time since May 19, I’ve gone to the bathroom and did not see any blood in the toilet. As well, I went from going to the bathroom up to 30 times a day (as recently as Sunday) to a mere four times on Monday. Before I would have to urgently rush to the bathroom after each meal – not this week. I’m not sure what has caused this change – the reduction in fiber, the reduction of carbohydrates, or the lack of fruits and vegetables?
The one thing I did discover is that because protein keeps you feeling full longer, it is easy to actually not eat enough. On Monday this happened… For breakfast I had two scrambled eggs, lunch was a piece of broiled salmon, and then for supper I had a bowl of chicken soup… And I rode my bike for 90 minutes. When my husband came home I was on the couch with a blanket on me shivering and trying to stay awake – yep not enough fuel. Tuesday morning I felt pretty fatigued as well so I upped my food intake and now I’m feeling much better. One of the issues I struggled with on Monday and Tuesday was the yogurt – I was on some antibiotics that did not allow dairy consumption six hours before the pill or two hours afterwards and with taking two pills a day, this didn’t leave a very big window to enjoy the yogurt or dry curd cottage cheese. On Wednesday I ended up having to go out for lunch with some colleagues – we ended up a Vietnamese restaurant – I was forced to skip the tasty fresh spring rolls but settled on a chicken noodle soup – without the noodles… I know it was a risk since I didn’t know what was in the broth – but it was a clear broth with some pieces of thin chicken. Luckily I felt pretty good and nothing nasty occurred.
So today on Thursday I’ve added in very ripe bananas. In fact I tried to make the banana pancake recipe that I’ve seen on various SCD recipe sites. Well, my bananas did not take on pancake like consistency. More like scrambled bananas – still very satisfying. I’ve been craving bananas since they are my favorite fruit – nice to have them back. I also plan to make homemade applesauce and pearsauce today.
As for my training? Well, I’ve been working closely with my coach this week to make sure that I can get in the work-outs I need without putting myself into a deep low with my carbohydrate and glycogen stores. To do this, my rides have been shortened and the intensity components of each work-out have been shortened. I did express some concern with my coach that I might be messing up my training by doing this – but he reassured me that I’m still getting the same training effect – just with a slightly different methodology. Of course, his big question was: when can you have some rice or a sweet potato? Now I know that you strict SCD followers are probably cringing right now. But there simply is no way that I can get by and achieve the performance results I need without some carbohydrates (and no eating an extra banana is not going to cut it)… So this is where my latest read comes: The Paleo Diet for Athletes – I’ve learned that a number of my fellow cyclists are following this diet and are getting good results regarding recovery, performance, and overall body sensations. So this is my next step. And yes, I’m going to try some rice this weekend. Just a small amount to see how I feel. I know this is “breaking the rules” but every person is different and to make this work, I need to have some carbohydrates that don’t come from fresh fruit, dried fruit, and vegetables.
I know that I do not have any food intolerances such as gluten or lactose so I think with time I’ll be able to handle small amounts of such carbohydrates and will be sure to consume them at only the optimum time to fuel my training and ensure full recovery from my work-outs and races.
Phew, this is a long post! But this is where I’m at. I really appreciate all the feedback and comments I’ve received. Please keep the information coming. As I said I’m new to this and it really does feel like a grand experiment on my body. Oh, one question – Larabars – I’ve read that many people following SCD consume these bars… How soon do you think I can incorporate these – they are an excellent source of carbohydrates and are very easy to carry along in my cycling jersey pocket when out riding.
Thanks for reading,
Vicki
more information about the SCD Diet can be found – HERE
