The Elimination Diet is the gold standard for determining food sensitivities, food intolerances and food triggers. It’s a fascinating process filled with some challenges, but mostly triumphs!, like feeling 150% better than before doing it.
I’ve helped hundreds of clients through this process with my 5 step RENEW! Elimination Food Plan, and have come up with some ‘Survival Tips’ to make the process easier.
Elimination Diet: Survival Tips
1. Create a Plan
If you don’t create a plan to eat, likely two things will happen…1. You won’t eat at all, or 2. You’ll be so hungry you’ll eat anything.
This diet encourages you to cook and eat fresh and easy food meals at home, so planning what foods you’ll eat is important, because you are important.
Take a few moments every day to determine what you will eat. Bring snacks even if you think you’ll only be gone a few minutes. More than a few times clients have gotten stuck somewhere longer than they expected and because they brought an EFP approved snack with them, they had something to munch on.
If you must go to a business luncheon look for menu choices that are gluten free, dairy free options. Tell your waiter what you are doing and kindly explain how important it is that you adjust your meal. 99% of the time, the chef is happy to accommodate because they too want you to feel satisfied and healthy!
2. Stay Hydrated
It’s very important to stay hydrated, so drink at minimum half of your body weight in ounces of water a day. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink at least 75 ounces of water in a day. This will help your detoxification systems function to their best and help ward off your body thinking it is hungry, when really, it’s thirsty.
3. Choose an Accountability Buddy
It’s always easier and more fun to try new things with a friend or family member, so choose an accountability buddy! If you think you’ll struggle or need reinforcements to confide in and help lift you up, or if you know someone who you’d think would benefit from doing this to, ask them to join you!
4. Consult a Professional Nurse Coach
When you do an Elimination Diet or Food Plan, consult with a professional Nurse Coach who is available to answer questions, provide education and help in any way they can, you will be more successful than doing it on your own! Plus, you won’t waste precious time searching the internet for answers, and they will be there to talk you off the ledge of eating chocolate or having a beer any time you need them!
5. Make Sure You Poo!
The Elimination Phase helps you remove toxins and junk from your body, and one of the ways to rid yourself of that is to poo, so make sure you poo!
Many people tell me they poo more than their once daily on this plan, and they are thankful! If you are not having a bowel movement at least once a day, let your Nurse Coach know so they can help you evaluate what you are eating.
6. Get Moving
You eliminate toxins in a few different ways. Through your digestion, your urinary system, your skin and your respiratory system. When you get moving, you remove toxins through your skin as sweat and through your respiratory system from breathing.
It’s time to get moving to get your detoxification systems moving and get you feeling your best. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a walk outside in nature, or breathing a little hard after dancing to your favorite music?
“I was bloated and inflamed and couldn’t understand why I couldn’t feel better. I didn’t sleep well either. I had a friend who suggested I take this class. It was life changing for me.
I am now filled with powerful information and tools I will use the rest of my life. That’s priceless.
Biggest lesson I learned? Food is medicine.”
7. Be Open
Many of us eat the same foods every day- which might be the reason you are suffering with your symptoms. It’s worth it to be open and explore new food choices!
There are many substitutes to the foods you regularly eat now. For example, milk can be replaced by nut beverages, and ground beef can be replaced by ground bison. A mojito can be replaced with a nojito. Who says you need to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every day? Instead try chicken wrapped in rice paper or veggies and nuts, or baked gluten-free oatmeal.
8. Be Patient
The Elimination Diet is a process, and you owe it to yourself to be patient and take time to focus on your best health. Some people think the Elimination Phase is the most important part, but really the Reintroduction is also (almost more) important. If you’ve taken the time to remove food triggers and antigens from your body, take the time to return the foods slowly in the Reintroduction Phase. Gorging on pizza and beer will not help your quest to discover what is causing bloating, headaches or mood swings.
Patiently return one food at a time, so you can fully assess which foods are your triggers.
9. Have Snacks on Hand
Remember there are no calorie restrictions on this food plan but having Elimination Diet approved snacks available at your fingertips, helps you resist the snacking gremlins.
Some ready to go snacks are:
Fresh fruit, like bananas, apples, oranges, and grapes
Nuts
Dried Fruit
Rice cakes and almond butter
Hummus and veggie sticks
Homemade trail mix
10. Eat Regularly
Remember, there are no calorie restrictions, so you can eat as much of the foods approved on the Elimination Food Plan list as you’d like! If you wait too long between meals or snacks, sometimes ‘hangry’ can creep up, resulting in your eating snacks that are outside your food plan. You can do this!
11. Don’t Think too Hard
Remember the Elimination Phase is only 21-28 days, so you don’t need to become an expert and cook extravagant dishes every meal. Instead, look for straightforward and quick recipes with fresh and few ingredients. Sometimes simple is best, and no one looks good with steam coming out their ears!
12. Read Ingredient Labels
There are many, many recipes to choose from with fresh foods and produce. The trouble sneaks in when you start adding in pre-packaged foods.
Be cautious! Many manufacturers add chemicals, binders, and preservatives to maintain freshness and texture- but those sneaky ingredients may be the cause of your symptoms! Reading labels gives you the knowledge and power to choose.
13. Shop Fresh and Local
A great way to support your community is to shop at local farmer’s markets or small groceries, as they will stock fresh produce filled with color, and healthy snacks to fill your body with goodness.
14. Stay Positive
The Elimination Diet is not the easiest diet on the planet, but which diet is? Remind yourself you are choosing to do this because you are worth it! Your health and vitality are worth it! Your longevity and life satisfaction are worth it.
To sum it all up, your elimination Diet Survival Tips are:
Create a Plan
Stay hydrated
Choose an accountability partner
Consult a professional Nurse Coach
Make sure you poo
Get moving!
Be Open
Be patient
Have snacks on hand
Eat regularly
Don’t think too hard
Read ingredient labels
Shop fresh and Local
Stay positive
Just do it! It’s so worth the time and effort to feel energy and vitality.
NICOLE VIENNEAU, MSN, RN, NC-BC
~Health Protection Expert & ‘Head’ Motivator!
After two decades as an Intensive Care Nurse caring for the sickest of patients, Nicole left the one-size fits all healthcare industry, and created Blue Monarch Health, where she is; Health Protection Expert and Head Motivator!
Instead of waiting for you to get sick, she meets you where you live and work, to turn your overwhelm and guilt into courage and victory. She magically does this by hearing your unique needs and then teaches you to be the authority of your health and vitality through actionable wellness plans you can really do in life.
Nicole takes you by the hand and co-creates a plan with you, so you can really do it in your life. Nicole is an authentic, heart-centered stick of dynamite, that will focus your energies, build up your strengths, and leverage your unique gifts, all while enhancing your health and vitality!
Nicole has been a Registered Nurse for 20+ years and achieved a Master’s in Nursing Science from the University of Arizona, a board certification in Integrative Nurse Coaching from the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation, and is Senior Faculty with the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy. She is a yoga teacher, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor and enjoys healing in nature while hiking the Pacific Northwest trails with her husband or lounging in the sun with her cat babies.
Email Nicole
The contents of this website/blog are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This website/blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.