It has now been two weeks, and, just like dieting before being sleeved, it is easy to slip off the pavement and into the gutter. But overall, I have established what foods are making my tummy sore, so this is good and gives a starting line.
Any cereals that are entirely natural, untouched and without added sugar sits perfectly nicely in the tummy. Which means porridge and oat bran come out as the winners. No added swiss style muesli also goes down without any later discomfort.
Toast made with soda bread was a real success and delicious to eat and enjoy. Also, it didn't feel like it was getting stuck in my tummy like some loaves of bread can do. I enjoyed the soda bread so much that I have started to make my own. So simple, three ingredients mix and dump them onto a baking pan and bake. The best way to describe soda bread is that it resembles a savoury scone made with wholemeal flour. And here comes the exciting part: I found it fascinating that soda bread has bicarbonate of soda in it, which happens to be good for easing excess acids.
Over the past four years, I have turned to basic digestive biscuits when I need a nibble of food. I think I have even noted this in blogs and also in my book. Well, I Googled these biscuits this week, I never thought of doing this before, and the result was so obvious now. So again, I share with you; digestive biscuits were created in the 1800s to help fold with poor digestion, hence digestive biscuits. The biscuits have the magic ingredient of bicarbonate of soda. So there, I have been wondering for years why I can manage a bland old digestive biscuit but not a custard cream. By the way, I don't think that digestive biscuits are bland. On the contrary, they are my saving grace in many ways, I never leave the house without a few in my bag, and if I go on holiday, a packet will come with me.
This newfound knowledge has stayed with me, and I have sorted more information, such as the old school learnings of litmus paper, acid and alkaline? For example, lemon equals acid, whereas avocados equal alkaline, but the acid will dominate both together. In addition, I purchased a book from Amazon on the 101 best foods to eat to avoid acid reflux. This book gave good lists of foods, but I found myself challenging the foods I enjoy, like honey. Now you would thank sugar equals acid, correct? But actually, honey has healing capabilities to heal a sore acidic tummy.
Chilli's and anything spicy and causes burning in the tummy have now been removed from the kitchen. Before being sleeved, I ignored this acid burn and stuffed what I could into my mouth at a curry house. I used to love a good curry night feast.
Sugar, now this has been hard to remove but also easy to remove. I say hard, and this is because I would purposely eat some chocolate. After all, I like chocolate, and then I would feel the acid burn and honestly say hand on heart that I won't eat it again. The pain in the tummy is terrible, so much so that I would instead do without chocolate. However, I have found a solution to get a chocolate fix. This solution warrants having a standalone blog. Foods with sugar that I expected to be safe to eat surprised me, and the top food product here goes to All-Bran. It is full of sugar. Shame as I love All-Bran, but again, I can do without it and swap to oat bran. I need to ensure that what I eat agrees with me, is easy to swallow, and benefits my well-being. I always knew deep down that sugar burned my tummy. I never felt good after eating a Mars bar, and this is going back years.
Bananas, now this was a surprise. I expected them to be a complete no-go, but when one suffers from a bit of acid, you peel a banana, which will ease the acid. Also, bananas are sweet, so they should be acidic, but they are alkaline. I love how foods can heal and repair the body. Eating a banana is better than reaching for the Rennie's.
Greasy cooked food like takeaways are not suitable for you, really, and I don't eat them, but I can see why they produce acid reflux, especially in a sleeved tummy. But again, I needed confirmation that there were some fats that I could still include, such as peanut butter and coconut oil. Coconut oil seems to be this miracle oil that does everything, but I still need to be careful and only use small amounts as anything above can never be a good thing. I make protein balls weekly, as these are just right for energy-boosting and to curb hunger callings! So to know that I could still use coconut oil was reassuring. Almond butter is better than peanut butter, so I made this swap.
My new eating plan to reduce acid and heal my tummy now stands like this, but again small portions.
Breakfast:
Porridge made with oat and oat bran cooked with soya milk
Snack:
Banana
Lunch:
Soda bread toast with avocado and a sliced apple topped with almond butter
Snack:
Low sugar protein shake (150ml)
Dinner:
Salmon, green vegetables and sweet potato mash
Snack:
Frozen cherries and soy yoghurt topped with a spoonful of mixed berries protein powder.
Life is all about what you eat and how you look after yourself. So, I am slightly suffering now, but I am not ignoring it and looking at how to fix it.
I will continue to experiment with foods that are calming to my inner soul as well as nutritious. Then I will reintroduce certain foods that can cause acid reflux, but I am not sure they do in me, for example, tomatoes.
The last two weeks have been like dieting again, watching what I eat, not eating the wrong foods, trying to be healthy, taking exercise, etc. It has been a struggle and boring. I lived like that for years. Dieting doesn’t work for the majority of people needing to lose weight. I love being sleeved and even the challenges it has given me. Keep your mindset focused and live to be well and happy.