Remember this our plan to heal our gut. Consult your doctor before beginning any program. Adjust to your own body and needs. We have done our own research and have come to these steps to help us in our journey to heal our stomach issues. Please do your own research before starting anything new. We are not really sure how long we plan to do this program. And over time we might be changing things depending on how our bodies are doing. We plan to share just about everything as we heal, so we apologize now if some things are TMI. We want to be honest as we are using our blog as our journal.
Thank you all so much for the sweet words and support on our continued journey of taking more foods out of our diet. We hope our second Q&A video helped answer more of your questions. If you have not watched the video we hope you check it out 🙂
Enjoyed a full toning workout from our TIU girls!
Besides working on our eats we have been changing up our workout routines. As you can see it has been weeks since we have done any type of HIIT or ZWOW type workouts. We have been focusing on planks, yoga, and Tone It up workouts. We are liking the slower pace, but do miss our short intense workouts. We know one day we will be doing them again, for now we are embracing what we can do!
Michelle also won from a giveaway with Confessions of a Fitness Instructor a while ago (just now got around to sharing, sorry).
You know we both love Physique 57!! Excited to incorporate these workouts back into our routine.
They are great way to slowly burn the muscles and fine tone the whole body!
Michelle’s day 22 of healing recap:
I took my morning probiotic, 1/2 tsp fermented cod liver oil butter blend (I am still taking it, just rotating days with regular fish oil), and l-glutamine and gelatin.
Breakfast (and post workout meal)
2 whole eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, a few handfuls of arugula and mixed lettuce with 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. Sprinkled with turmeric and cinnamon.
I really enjoyed this combo!
Lunch:
3 1/2 oz grass-fed beef with 1/2 cup cooked zucchini, 1 cup cooked broccoli with spices and 1 tbsp coconut oil.
Juice ingredients. My first time juicing grapefruit, Lori has raved about it so I had to try. It sure was good! We both used to make grapefruit green smoothies all the time, so this was a nice change.
Beet juice! The perfect afternoon fuel.
I took my pre-dinner pills: Â l-glutamine, Â quercetin, licorice, digestive enzyme and gelatin.
Dinner:
5 oz pan seared haddock, 1 sardine, cooked red cabbage and lettuce greens (cooked in coconut oil)Â topped with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle pink sea salt.
Dessert sludge – 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp carob, 1 tbsp mesquite
Took probiotic before bed and did not put magnesium oil on body.
Michelle: Day 22 recap –
Bathroom: big success! Went twice! Type 3 and 4. Â Guess the extra magnesium helped, which sometimes it works for me and sometimes not.
Energy: good
Gas:Â nothing
Skin: skin clearing up and red patches on legs getting better
Water intake –about 8 cups (does not include juice)
Lori’s day 22 of healing recap:
I took my morning probiotic, 1 tsp fish oil, and l-glutamine and gelatin.
First meal of the day about a good hour after my workout was 2 whole eggs (with both raw egg yolks), 2 slices turkey bacon, a few handfuls of arugula and chopped kale sautéed topped with turmeric, cinnamon and 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. haha very similar to Michelle’sÂ
Lunch was one grass-fed burger with few roasted carrots, about heaping 1/2 cup sauteed yellow squash and a handful pulp chia seed crackers. All topped with 1 tbsp coconut oil.
Late afternoon snack was fresh grapefruit cucumber kale juice combo.
Gather juice ingredients.
Love the coloration in this juice and the foam on top.
Since the weather was so nasty here yesterday Jax was not able to really play outside as he does not like this cold rainy weather. I don’t blame him.
So he was my buddy all afternoon and pouted. haha
I took my pre-dinner pills: Â l-glutamine, Â quercetin, licorice, digestive enzyme and gelatin.
Dinner was 2 handfuls of butter lettuce that I sautéed on skillet a little to help with digestion since right now eating too much raw lettuce can be hard on my tummy. About 1/2 cup sliced roasted turnips,  1 cup steamed brussel sprouts,  about 5oz semi-raw cod, all topped with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle of black lava sea salt. So good!!!
Dessert sludge was 1 tbsp coconut oil mixed with 2 tbsp carob powder. Love my green mini spoon.
Took probiotic before bed and did not put magnesium oil on body.
Lori: Day 22 recap –
Bathroom: yes! stool was about  Type 3 and 4.
Energy: very good
Gas:Â none, no bloating either
Skin: starting to clear up
Water intake –about 8 cups (does not include juice)
Well day 22 was a success for the both of us!
At the end of the day we both discussed our day and what we thought of our new eats. We both REALLY enjoyed all our meals and loved how we felt all day long.
We typically would eat kinda smaller meals and more of them throughout the day, but now we are trying to eat mainly 3 meals with a juice, and sometimes a dessert. Â Plus, as you can tell we are increasing our ‘animal intake’ a little since we have taken so many foods out that is all that is left to keep us full and satisfied. Like we mentioned in the video, we are both happy and will continue this journey to heal.
Once we feel our tummies and gut are strong again, we hope to slowly bring certain foods back and see how our bodies do. Hopefully over time here we will be able to pin point some culprit foods for us but still be able to enjoy more foods again.  And today we finally made some bone broth so excited to incorporate that to heal our gut even more 🙂
Thanks again for all the encouraging comments. Hearing from you guys, saying that we are helping you, is what keeps us going! So thank you!!!!
Twins Question: Do you eat 3 main meals during the day? Do you like that or like more frequent smaller meals? Anyone have fun plans this weekend?
And how is it almost the end of January?!?! crazy
Yesterday we got a pleasant surprise in our inbox:
Balanced Bites is following us!!! And then we saw this tweet this morning:
Diane we are so honored!!! We appreciate your support and we are enjoying Practical Paleo so much!
til next time,
xoxo
purelytwins
13 comments
You know, after years of trying to “find the right way to eat” I realized I was making myself crazy, and THAT was causing all my “issues.” All the rules, all the “let’s try this now, maybe that’s the magic key,” all the OVERTHINKING what nourished my body was actually destroying me. The more anxious the mind, the more anxious the body. It starts inside. I mean I’m still lactose and gluten and soy intolerant so I avoid those things but “should I avoid cashews? Should I eat miso or is that too much soy? Raw, cooked, vegan, five meals a day, three meals a day, 12 100-calorie monomeals a day; how good is good enough?” It always felt like I was on a quest to be better than where I was, which took me out of my life and frankly made me miserable. So now, I eat when I’m hungry. And when I find myself thinking about it too much, I do something else. Food is super important but when it becomes your whole life there’s a severe problem.
Good luck, lots of love ladies.
we agree Ilana, we try not to really stress too much over our food, and we truly enjoy our food now. We know we will get there in our journey to find what foods trigger our skin problems and hopefully find a balance of it all 🙂
thanks for the support!
Hi!
Glad your gi’s seem to be doing better! Yay! Can u clarify a few things for me, cuz I’ve been doing a lifetimes worth if research and trial and error, but am confused in a few things :
1. How is animal protein more healing to the gut and other health issues vs veggies and fruits? I don’t have a vegan agenda, but it would seem that produce would offer the most benefits to restoring health and immunity due to all the phytochemical, vitamins, minerals, and alkalinity, whereas meats are tough to digest, are acidic, and don’t contain the plethora of nutrients that produce contains. Can u explain this?
2. A big problem for me is that I’m constantly wanting to eat even if I’m not physical hungry. I guess with gut issues, mal absorption is common and thus drives me to constantly search for food…. And then I overeat, which doesn’t help. But I never feel satisfied. Do u gals have this issue or did u have this on a previous diet experiment and if so, what diets caused this for u?
3. Do u wake up hungry? Idk how nutrient can workout on an empty stomach!
4. I notice that for ur other meals, u use 1tbs coconut oil but u only use 1/2at breakfas… Is This bc u cook ur eggs and veg with the other half?
5 why cut out chia? All the studies show that it is very healing to the gi tract
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I really admire u gals for embarking on this journey and love ur posts and positive attitude
Kate
1- Both worlds – vegan and paleo — each have their own benefits. Each have pros and cons. Not everyone will be sensitive to eating fruit, fiber and things that a vegan diet is full of, so therefore one would heal eating no animal products as fruit and veggies are very healing. But we have learned for our bodies we have to be careful with fiber and fructose, so that is why paleo seems to be working for us. We are not sure where our road is going, just learning our bodies right now and taking it slow.
2- Yes we have the same issues, but the more we add in animal proteins it has helped us keep full. Not sure why, but for now that is how our bodies are digesting meat…slowly. But everyone is different and will have to find what they can handle.
3- We do not wake up hungry, and we have always preferred working out on an empty stomach. This is something you have to experiment on your own if you can do best eating or not eating before working out.
4- we just felt like 1/2 tbsp, no thought process behind it. It varies.
5- chia seeds can help some people, we are trying to take them out again due to fiber.
LOOOOVE balanced bites. WOW, awesome! And i have to say, i think you two have my same gut. LOL!> I eat 3 square meals now and juice between if needed. It’s helped with stomach acid production for sure!
definitely our 3rd twin sister 🙂 for sure! xoxo
I love all the meals on here. Very delicious. I try to eat 3 main meals a day and according to my workout schedule, I’ll have a snack or two at different times of the day consisting of 100 calories or so. I’ve actually been using myfitnesspal again to track how many calories I’m eating just to be able to estimate on my own much better in the future. Being 5’4 and running A LOT makes one really hungry but I really don’t need too much for my small body frame. And it’s so easy to have an extra 500 without even knowing it.
I’ve been enjoying Tone it ups workouts the past few weeks. I love the total body routine. That’s a good one. I have yet to try the love your abs routine though. And the fun routine challenges have been cool too! Like the Wild Child one.
Anyway, good job on another week, girls!
thanks Audrey! and yes we liked the Wild Child routine too 😉
Love reading your blog also and reading about your gut journey. Im really interested because i have been having since i was young bloating and constipation issues. Im learning a lot from you both beautiful ladies and will try some of the products you are taking. I usually eat about six small meals per day of mostly protein to fuel my muscle. well, have a nice sunday and best of luck
Hello girls!
Thanks for sharing, again!
On my side, I have tried different things (from 3 big meals to smaller ones) and what works best for me is to have between 6 to 8 small meals a day, to prevent cravings and have a better control on my intakes.
If I have 3 big meals, I am still hungry (for some reason) 2 hours after this meal… strange! So I try to avoid big meals and head on smaller meals instead :o))
Keep on the good work!!!
Karine
I also used to eat smaller meals throughout the day, but now that I am eating more paleo-style during my healing, I can often go much longer between meals as well. I LOVE Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe! I truly love to listen to their podcasts – I listen as I am doing stuff around the house, etc. They have been sooo helpful to me! I do find that I actually like the 3-4 meals per day quite a bit, but since I have been dealing with blood sugar issues, I have been experimenting with what keeps them most stable. They tend to drop after my morning meal. I think this is a sign that the exercise I am doing is too much still due to my adrenal fatigue. It’s hard finding a balance for what works’ especially when, like you, there is so much going on in my body. But with persistence, we WILL HEAL!!! Keep at it, girls!!!! 🙂
Just curious, Why ditch chia seeds? I am not on twitter. I have been experimenting with this myself, and it seems as though my tummy is better when I do not have them.