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Whole food diet update

Well, it's not been a good whole food week. Three breaks in it! Argh!!

The first was breakfast a couple of days ago. I ran out of granola so I had peanut butter on toast. I really could have decided to have oatmeal but with it so hot out, that option did not appeal to me at all!

The second, was when I came home to my darling husband's cooking - fish and chips. At least they were done in the oven. I made myself a plate of veggies to go with it.

And last night, I stopped at Burger Pit on Hwy 11. They make fantastic burgers and their fries are fantastic!! We are headed away for the weekend and in the hustle and bustle of getting ready, I did not plan dinner.

So, what have I learned?

Again, I realize the power of planning. I cannot count on my husband to have prepared a healthy meal for me when I get home on Tuesday's and Thursday's at 8:00pm. So, I will need to have something in the fridge and ready to go. I will have to make those two meals on Sunday or Monday.

If I'm going to eat granola everyday, I should really make more before I run out! And, make a double batch so that I don't have to do it every two weeks. It only takes about a half hour to make, but in the summertime, a half hour is sometimes hard to find in a crunch!

That leads me to my next realization. No matter how much I think that summer is going to be relaxing and that I'll have all kinds of time...I don't! Summertime is really busy! We don't have a single free weekend until Labour day. Then, I start working Saturday's again. Summertime is also filled with spontaneity, that lacks a bit more the rest of the year. So, again, planning has to take centre stage if I want to successfully follow a whole food diet. And let's face it, I'm a small business owner and a Mom - my life will always be hectic, not just in the summertime.

We leave today for a weekend in Tobomory. I packed my granola in little baggies for each breakfast. I also made three salads and put them into large ziplocks (I will do this every week - the ziplocks don't take up much room in the fridge, and I can put a paper towel in the bag and squeeze out the air to maintain freshness). My snacks are packed (1/4 cup of nuts into snack baggies) too so all that I have to worry about is suppers. Supper is usually easier to make whole food choices with because any restaurant that doesn't have a drive through has some kind of meat, rice, and veggie option.

The one thing that I am so pleased about, is that despite the three slip ups, I have not jumped off my bandwagon! Each day, I try again to make it a whole food day. That speaks volumes to my attitude change. The old Kerri would have said "this is obviously too hard to do in the summer, I'll start again in September". Yhea me, pat on the back, and carry on.

Yours in health,
Kerri Fullerton ND

Chronic pain and Fibromyalgia

I had a fall down my bottom step on the weekend. With my son on my hip, I contorted my body to ensure his safety. Who knew bodies could twist like that?! At first, I was sure it was my knee that I needed to be concerned about. The next day, I discovered that it was EVERY muscle in my back and neck that I needed to be concerned about!


While my husband and I were driving into Barrie, I was very uncomfortable. He kept asking me if everything was okay. I began to appreciate my chronic pain and fibromyalgia patients in a whole new way.


I am certainly not trying to equate one painful weekend of mine to the suffering that my patients have endured. But I really felt the need to comment on some of my insights.


The biggest one was how difficult it was to enjoy my family and the activities we were doing. It was only grocery shopping and the like, but I was very distracted by how sore I was. My son wanted to be picked up to look at things or show me something down an aisle and I could not do it. It took the fun out of it, for all of us.

That was another big ah-ha for me. It must be so hard on the families of these patients. My husband only had to deal with a couple of days of my being apathetic. Some of these patients feel that disconnected everyday for years! I'm sure that their families miss the lively people they were before the pain set in.

I love cooking and being creative in the kitchen - but not this weekend. I had zero imagination for colourful, healthful meals. No wonder that these patients find dietary changes so hard to make despite the importance of a healthy diet to manage the inflammation.

There are many treatment options for fibromyalgia and chronic pain. If you, or someone that you know is suffering, I encourage you to seek help. Treatment needs to go beyond pain meds that can leave you feeling even more groggy and disconnected.

Often, fibromyalgia and chronic pain are symptoms of an overstressed system. Some people end up with high blood pressure, others end up in pain. It's not a disease that exists 'only in your head'. That pain is real, and it requires real treatment. When left untreated, it can lead to a whole host of emotional disorders like depression, insomnia and anxiety.

Yours in health,
Kerri Fullerton ND

Food allergies

We were really careful when introducing foods to Patrick. He still, at 20 months, has not had an egg, any nuts, orange juice or cow's milk. We were particularly careful with him because his dad has so many sensitivities and I expected some issues. Despite our best efforts, Patrick broke out in a good case of eczema in early June. It started on his knee, and soon covered most of his leg. When it moved to the other leg, my heart broke. He would get out of bed and stand there scratching both thighs as hard as he could.

I was faced with two options. I could take out any possible allergenic foods (wheat, dairy, goat's milk, corn, barley, oats, kamut, spelt, etc) and start the re-introduction again (argh). Or, I could spend a couple hundred bucks and have his IgG testing done (a simple blood test that tells you what foods your body reacted to). Being a busy Mom, I chose option B - blood work.

Am I ever glad that I went with option B! I never would have guessed at a couple of these. His results came back with highly reactive foods of:

• wheat, barley, cheddar cheese, egg white, green peas (really?!?), lentils (come on!!), rye, spelt, sunflower, and kamut.

So, all gluten containing grains are out and two of my favourite legumes to feed him, gone.

His moderately reactive foods include:

• almond, asparagus, cow's milk, all other cheese, cucumber, egg yolk, oat, red tomato, sesame, soy, sugar, white potato, white rice, and yogurt

Thankfully the foods on the later list don't need to be eliminated. We can feed them to him every few days.

This then begs the question - what do you feed this kid?!?

When we're home, it's not that difficult. Thankfully, we eat a lot of rice anyway. He loves fruit so that makes snacks fairly easy. Cereals are pretty easy to find - corn flakes, corn puffs, oat squares, rice cereals. I can hold my own when it comes to baking, but need to learn how to alter my flours a bit (the muffins I made this weekend need some work!!).

Bread products are a whole other can of beans though. Gluten free breads are not very tasty - at least not the ones that I've tried from the market. They tend to be dry and crumbly. Good for toast, not so good on their own.

We found some bagels and buns for him at our last trip to Nature's Emporium in Newmarket. They sell Aiden's gluten-free bread products - they really are squishy! Other than being a little costly (four buns was about $7), they are fantastic. We cut them and put them in the freezer.

Waffles are something that we found long ago as an occasional treat. Van's can be found in the freezer section of the health food section at Zhers (wow, that was a mouthful!).

Of course, rice cakes and rice crackers work fine. They do tend to be low on the fibre side of things though. There is a company called Enjoy Life that makes products free of the top ten allergens. They have some higher fibre cereals, and bars that Patrick really likes. We will definitely be trying out some more of their products.

As I find more products that are tasty, I will continue to share with you. As I master my baking, I will pass along the recipes.

The really good news is that Patrick's legs are almost completely clear of eczema. It only took about five days of the new diet for his suffering to end. I've also noticed that his huge tonsils are starting to come down and not look so enlarged. Huh.

Yours in health,

Kerri Fullerton ND and now, gluten-free Mom

Gluten-free dinner for all!

Last night I made Millet Stuffed Portobello mushrooms for supper. Wow - delicious!

I had my business coach over, Kathy Hay, and since she's a vegetarian, I served the mushrooms with steamed cauliflower and the bean salad that she brought over. It was filling, tasty, healthy, and full of good fibre and protein. Paired nicely with the Shiraz we had too.

My husband, Brendan, believes that it would have been a lovely accompaniment to a grilled rib steak - and I happen to agree!

It didn't take long to get the millet in the pan and simmering. Then there is a 25 minute wait time - good time for preparation of the side dishes - before you can stuff the mushroom tops. Then, they are in the oven for almost half an hour, so you have time to get the table ready and actually cook any side dishes. So, not a quick crazy weeknight meal, but certainly not a slave-all-afternoon meal either. From start to finish, about an hour and fifteen.

It is always nice to find recipes that you can please the whole crowd with. Served as a stand alone healthy vegetarian meal, or as a side dish to round off a nice steak, these mushrooms hold up. I will definitely make them again (and Brendan said that he would happily eat them again - which is not often said about vegetarian meals!).

Happy eating!

Kerri Fullerton ND

Whole food diet update - two weeks in

Hello All. So it's the 15th of the month and I figured that was as good a time as any for an update.

It's been a lot easier than I was expecting! I eat the same breakfast everyday, my granola. A cup of that lasts me well until lunchtime. My lunches tend to be salad, only because it's really easy. It's a big salad with anything in my fridge. Dried fruit or chopped up apple, nuts and seeds and some cheese. I buy a variety of cheeses to change up the flavour as well. Not bored yet! I have a snack of nuts and fruit at some point as well. I eat all of this on my own so my family is not really affected at all.

Supper is when we eat as a family as much as possible. I am trying out new recipes but am aware that I have to introduce things slowly. I figure that Brendan can try out one new thing per week. So that leaves the rest of the week as meat, rice or potato, and veggies (which is what we ate most of the time before anyway!). Could be BBQ, could be stir fry, braised meat is a one-pot wonder...lots of variety.

My energy is amazing! I'm never hungry - in fact today I had to remember to eat lunch. And, I've lost 2 lbs. Not bad!!

The challenges are keeping good food on hand, and preparing as much as possible beforehand. If I'm making one salad, I might as well make three. I put 1/4 cup of nuts into snack ziplock's and keep them in the freezer so that they are easy to grab as I run out. And of course, dealing with the sad eyes of my husband when he says "man I could really go for pizza tonight!".
Anyway, I'd say that so far, so good.

I signed up for a Running Room program today. I used to run but since I got pregnant (two and a half years ago!) I've been unable to get back to it with any consisitency. Figured that I would start at the beginning again and do the Learn to run program on Monday nights. It will be so nice to get back into the groove again. Can't wait until August 2nd!

Yours in health,

Kerri Fullerton ND

Quick and healthy dinner

I got home later than usual last night and didn't have supper prepared. I did however, have a recipe on my computer for stuffed tomatoes that I found on http://www.vegetariantimes.com/.

This will become a staple for sure! It took about 5 minutes to put everything together, then I popped it in the oven for 30 minutes while my son had his bath and got ready for bed.

I lightly sauteed some zucchini and summer squash in some olive oil and salt to have as a side dish - presto! Healthy, filling, and most importantly, tasty.

for 4 stuffed tomatoes, you will need:

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 cup corn kernels (frozen or fresh)


• 3 green onions, sliced


• 1/4 cup of shredded cheese (divided in two)


• 1/2 tsp cumin


• 1 tsp chili powder


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 4 large tomatoes

1. cut the tops off the tomatoes (about an inch worth) and spoon out the centre.


2. chop the centres of the tomatoes and put into a medium sized bowl.


3. add the beans, corn, onions, 1/2 the cheese, cumin, chili powder and salt


4. mix well


5. spoon the mixture into the hollow tomatoes and top with the remaining cheese.


6. place in lightly oiled shallow pan


7. bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yours in health,

Kerri Fullerton ND