Scd Support Group

[Misa]

Hi Lisa

I know how you feel. I noticed some improvement while gluten-free, but knew something was still very wrong when my digestive symptoms continued. Also, the gluten-free flours were causing havoc with my blood sugar. I was fortunate enough to feel relief very fast with the SCD.

A normal day:

Breakfast: Salad with tomatoes, fresh basil, cucumber and cheddar cheese.

Snack: Riped banana and some lightly cooked berries.

Dinner: Tomatosauce, chicken breast, garlic and cooked vegetables.

Evening snack: peanuts/carrot cake

I used to constantly think about food and feel hungry. Now I sometimes forget to eat, so mentally I'm less stressed. I haven't felt a huge increase in energy which I was hoping for. The diet has been mostly beneficial for my digestive system. Hope you try it out too

____________________________________________________________________

Hi Mathilda

Regarding the weight issue, what has happened to me is that my weight has completely balanced itself out. I lost weight in the beginning, perhaps I lost the fluid retention which I know grains can contribute to.

I couldn't touch cheese prior to starting the SCD. I used to get very bloated from it. I introduced cheese early on this diet and was naturally sceptic when eating it the first few times. But no adverse reaction.

Misa

[Misa]

Just read Heathers post, and I echo her with not sticking 100% to SCD. I don't stray far from the general rules, but occasionally eat raw fruit, taco seasoning, and sauces containing tomatoe puree. It doesn't cause me any probs, and mentally it then doesn't feel so incredibly strict. I still get positive results on a whole.

Misa

[PreOptMegs]

I am so excited that we may have a few more SCDers. If you are really interested, then you must buy the book and read over the pertinent chapters (9 and 10, I think..) a few times to get the rules down pat. I am going to admit it is a hard diet, but man is it worth it. I know most celiacs who just eat gluten-free take a long time before their situation improves, but when you start this diet, you will have SIGNIFICANT improvement in just a few weeks. My advice is to definately start the yogurt intake as soon as possible. as for the rice milk, I don't think we could use it because it is from rice which is 'illegal' but again the book goes into great detail into what you can and can't have. Of course, any questions you can ask.

[PreOptMegs]

Oh yeah... here is a list of the foods I frequently eat

swiss cheese

mild cheddar cheese (block form, no shreaded allowed)

raisins

peanuts or any other nut you can shell yourself

bagged pecans, wallnuts or anything that just contains the nut (no added oils or such)

eggs

yogurt with honey or fruit added

all of the allowed fruit (basically no canned except for the occational pineapple in own juice)

freshly ground meat (chicken, pork, beef)

chicken breast

tomatoes

avocados

mushrooms

zuchini

peas

basically all of the allowed vegetables, I try to eat to get a good balance

lots of carrots

Uh, I think that is most of the stuff I eat. I will try to think of more if I can

[PreOptMegs]

I just want to add my 2 cents again about the importance of sticking to the diet. Trust me, I know it is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but if you don't stick to the diet, then progress is slowed!

[PreOptMegs]

I totally fell off the SCD wagon...... I had been completely faithful for the first five months and today I saw a bag of M & Ms and I couldn't help myself. I ate the food 4 hours ago and so far I don't feel too bad, but I don't know really when to expect the "bad" feeling. I couldn't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Misa]

PreOptMegs: Hope you still haven't noticed any ill-effects. (Was it the M & M with a peanut centre?) If it makes you feel a bit better, then a health guru where I live says that M & M's don't have a high sugar content compared to all other sweets. This is because of the peanut. He actually says this is a preferred snack....

Take care, Misa

[shimma]

Hi all, I just got back from an 8-day business trip, and I'm happy to report that things went well. I had a fridge in my hotel room, so I packed enough peanut-butter muffins and farmer's cheese to sustain me for breakfast and snacks. Lunches were usually salads, and for dinner I just got plain meat and veggies. Perhaps not the most exciting meals ever - but I got through the week without too much discomfort.

To the new people interested in the diet - I would highly recommend it. For the last two years, I was gluten-free but felt really out of control of my body. I was still really sick all the time. It was so hard to try to explain to people, "Yeah, I have this life-long disease that can only be fixed by following a gluten-free diet, except that I'm not really better so it doesn't appear to be working for me...." Frustrating.

Typical meals for me right now:

Breakfast - a combination of any of the below:

* Farmer's cheese (called dry curd cottage cheese in the book), sweetened with a little honey and mixed with banana or some other fruit

* Muffins made with peanut butter, egg, banana, and baking soda (they're REALLY good and filling)

* Scrambled eggs

* Yogurt

* Baked apples with cinnamon and walnuts

Lunch:

* Leftover dinners

* Turkey or beef burger patty

* Homemade soup

* Salad

Dinner:

* Grated zucchini or yellow squash prepared like pasta - sauteed with fresh veggies and herbs, and sprinkled with parmesan cheese (this is my favorite dish right now)

* Grilled salmon or shrimp and steamed veggies

* Turkey or beef burger patty with butternut squash chips

* Spaghetti squash "macaroni" and cheese casserole

* Lasagna made with eggplant as the noodles and layered with lots of veggies and cheese

Please keep us posted on your progress....

[Matilda]

..

[PreOptMegs]

Okay, so it is the day after the "disaster" and truthfully, it was just another day. I did not feel ill, sick, nor did I have any signs of problems. I think it is just a testament to how the diet really does work and obviously I have made great strides of progress in staying strict to the diet for the past 5 months. I am happy I got to enjoy all of the good "illegal' gluten-free stuff and no regrets.... well, except on the scale the next morning, but that is a different story.

[Misa]

Hi Matilda

Yeah, it's funny how pleased you can get from having something as normal BM's

The time spent on cooking is really up to you. I don't like cooking at all, but therefore I eat bland (boring) food. Again, it's kind of what you make out of it.

So happy you're trying the SCD! It would be great if you updated for all to see how you're doing, good or bad......hopefully it's all good.

Best of luck, Misa

[Matilda]

..

[PreOptMegs]

SCD is awesome. I am so, so happy you are trying it. It is so funny, but my BMs are very "normal" now too and I am so excited about it!

[LisaR]

* Muffins made with peanut butter, egg, banana, and baking soda (they're REALLY good and filling)

Shimma, can you give me the recipe for these? I LOVE PB.

[shimma]

These freeze and keep well. Don't leave them at room temperature for longer than a few days though or they get moldy. I like to keep them in the fridge and microwave for a few seconds to warm them up.

Peanut Butter Muffins (makes a dozen smallish muffins):

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vinegar

The original recipe called for blending the above ingredients, but actually a stand mixer works better in my opinion. It tends to overheat my blender if I try to mix it - the peanut butter is WAY too sticky. But if you don't have a stand mixer, blend up the eggs and bananas first, then add the peanut butter. Blend in the baking soda and vinegar at the end (the vinegar helps make the texture light and fluffy). OK, now for baking, you'll have to play around with the temperature and time a bit. The original recipe calls for baking at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, but I usually put the oven lower (around 350-375) and just watch them until they spring back on top. The higher temperature tends to burn the outside before they cook on the inside.

You can try them with applesauce too instead of bananas - I like the banana version better though.

[LisaR]

yum. can't wait to make them!!!

[shimma]

I am missing those muffins right now but I don't have any ripe bananas to make them with. Luckily, it is still in the 80s here, so things ripen quickly.

A while back I posted about having to defend this diet to my husband....now my sister is getting on my case too. She came out to visit me a couple of weeks ago and then called me up last week - said she wasn't sure if she should say anything but decided she should - thought when she visited that I looked like a skeleton and this diet must be killing me because I don't eat enough. It's so frustrating to try to get healthy and still have people on your case! After my sister visited, my mom decided she needed to come out too (which feels a lot like checking up on me) and it's been pretty stressful to try to cook things that will seem like normal meals without exaggerating the discrepencies between what normal people eat and what I eat. Ugggh.

[Guest gfinnebraska]

Hang in there Shimma ~ unfortunately we can't keep people from giving us their opinion, but that does not mean we have to listen!!! YOU are the only person who knows what is best for your body, etc. IF the SCD is working and making you a healthier you, then who has the right to knock it??? It is hard to let it go in one ear and out the other, but try!!

I fell "off" the SCD in a major way this past weekend, and now I feel wretched!!!

I am back on today... with a passion!!! It is NOT worth an apple muffin to feel like this. Ugh... groan... moan... I went on a major carb binge... Ha! I started and couldn't stop. NOT anymore. The SCD works ~ going off of it makes you a believer every time!!

[PreOptMegs]

Either I am extremely lucky, extremely healed, or just had "beginner's luck" with going on an M & M, dove bar, pop corn extravaganza. I didn't feel sick at all and actually (this is graphic but) I had some of the best BM I have ever had and I feel wonderful. SO I don't know what that means...

[BRCoats]

Hi,

I wasn't able to read all of the pages on this thread, but I'm very familiar with SCD and have tried it before. I ran into the problem of not getting enough carbs. I can't handle ANY fruits or veggies, and honey makes me feel like I'm going to die...I even run a high fever when I eat it. So....I can't survive on meat and eggs. I gotta have some carbs. BUT....was talking to a lady on the SCD list, and she suggested veggie juice. I can tolerate carrot and celery juice somewhat, but not as good as i used to. Anyway...would love to try another run at it with the juice being my carbs.

I would join a message board like this in a heartbeat (for SCD). I have joined the two lists that are available on the net, but a board like this would be better, if you ask me. And I would like it to be more friendly than the lists. People over there get their undies in a wad a lot of times. I still am a part of the lists, but only for the info. I would like a place that I can come to and ask questions and opinions without getting ripped into.

That's my two cents. Hope it helps.

~Brenda

[Misa]

Hiya Brenda.....and Welcome

Is it ok if I ask how long you stayed on the SCD previously. I'm just thinking if you stayed on the SCD (with your modifications of course) for a little while, maybe you soon could tolerate more and more food. Boy, I never thought I could eat cheese and nuts (yikes!) so soon, but it happened. I really hope you see results quickly so you can expand your diet and enjoy

Take care, Misa

[Guest gfinnebraska]

I am finding that more and more new posts on this board have to deal with weight gain, not being able to lose and feeling sick and miserable. I feel like I am being redundant, but the SCD really does help!! I feel like all I am doing is going from post to post and telling them to try the SCD. This thread may become very crowded in the near future! I guess I feel that when you find something that works ~ tell everyone else!!

Welcome Brenda ~ we are very nice here and won't "get our panties in a wad" ~ We all have good days and bad. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you on your road to great health!!

[PreOptMegs]

AMEN! Every post that I do outside of this thread has to do with me introducing them to the SCD and telling them that they should really look into it. If you want to get healthy, do it! I feel like a broken record.....

[jenvan]

Did any of you SCDers have any skin issues that the SCD cleared up--like excema, psoraisis? I read some info in one place that suggested the diet helps, but wondered if any of you had any experiences with that. I am dying to get rid of my psoraisis--or at least get it under control.

[Guest gfinnebraska]

No, I am sickening perfect skinned. Always "peaches and cream." My brother has psoriasis tho'... could that be celiac disease related? I am not aware of that connection. I have always felt like my brother has celiac disease, but he is NOT open to the idea at all. Any thoughts??