Three months

Yesterday was my three month anniversary on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  I'm still very happy with the outcome so far, although the past several days haven't been ideal.  I tried a peanut butter experiment last week, and kept the rest of my diet neutral in terms of foods, but I was eating a bit more fruit mixed in with my yogurt and had an occasional additional piece of fruit, and I was eating a bit more cheese than previously.  So I'm still not sure whether it was the peanut butter (a small amount each day over three days), or the additional fruit, or just random timing that has seen my gut slightly unhappy.  Still, "slightly unhappy" is substantially better than it used to be, so I'm not worrying about it.

My body has seen substantial changes over the past few months.  I've lost enough weight to go from a 33" waist to a 30" waist; I'm not sure how many pounds that represents, because we don't have a scale in the house, but I imagine it's around 15.  I look really thin, but I've always had a pretty slight frame, and I feel fine, so I'm not concerned about the weight loss at all.  I've read that substantial weight loss is very common in the first few months of the SCD, and that it's not hard to gain it back after your body adjusts.

My back is smooth, so my dietary change seems to have had a positive impact on my mild eczema.

Most importantly, my gut seems to be functioning much more normally.  I hope to see continued improvement over the next few months, since I plan to continue on this path for the foreseeable future.

Since I still think that sugars are more of a problem for me than anything else, my plan is to continue to introduce more vegetables over the next month and not experiment much with fruits (fruits right now amount to an over-ripe banana in the afternoon, and a small bowl of homemade applesauce at night followed by some dates stuffed with dry-curd cottage cheese).  Spinach seemed to be a problem early on, so I've left it out of my diet.  I'm going to try it again soon, as well as other leafy greens, like bok choy and kale.

I'm also very eager to try nuts again, although I've read that introducing nuts and peanuts too soon is a common mistake.  It didn't go well a couple of months ago, so I'm going to hold off on whole nuts a little longer, and simply add in something made with almond flour occasionally and see how that goes.

As I was eating breakfast the other day, Jenny said, "Another very colorful breakfast.  I think you get more vitamins than anyone else I know!"  I think that's true: I think I'm eating more vegetables now than I was when I was a vegetarian!  Usually two different kinds at every meal, sometimes three, and fairly large servings at that.  I'm trying to be very conscious of the amount of meat that I'm eating: while I think that it has helped me, I'm still not altogether happy about it, and I think that 1/4lb. to 1/2lb. of meat or fish at each meal is more than enough.  I hope to decrease my meat consumption to 1/4lb. per serving over time.

There have been other changes related to this diet as well.  Having one meat-eater and one vegetarian in the house has been a challenging transition.  Our food bill is much higher than it used to be, as my taste in meat is rather high-end: I recently bought a tuna steak at $25/lb. (fresh ahi was so much better than canned albacore!), and my favorite cut of beef is a NY steak, recently on sale at $16/lb. (however, the food bill is at least partially offset by the fact that we don't go out to eat nearly as often as we used to).  I'm sure it would be cheaper at Safeway, but I think the quality is much higher at Whole Foods.  Of course, I buy cheaper cuts as well: I've become much more cognizant of the cost of different cuts, and look carefully before buying.  But having been disappointed by a few cheaper purchases, I'm still willing to pony up for something I know I prefer.

So there have definitely been challenges.  But overall, I'm pleased with the progress.  So on I go.