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That is something I've wondered about, would other nuts cause similar problems as cashews. I might have to try other nuts in the future. I'm not a fan of soy milk. Almond milk and rice milk are OK though. It would be worth an experiment to try them.

This morning my tongue is messed up in appearance. That is undoubtably caused by the cashews. On the positive side, the swollen gums are much better. The tooth that hurts no longer hurts. Cashews give me energy. I'm certain of that. I've speculated that the energy comes from the higher mineral content found in the nut/fruit. Magnesium is one mineral cashews are high in. Magnesium is also commonly used to basically upset a stomach. It might not be that simple but I've thought that is probably why cashews cause me issues, the high magnesium content negatively effecting my digestive health, yet provides me with extra energy when in small quantities. Just a guess.
 
Ate pork again for breakfast and lunch. This is store bought pork, free of preservatives. I bought these at Target. No itching noticed once again. I believe that mystery solved. It is always possible that there is some other cause overlooked. The place where I ordered pork chops and had them mailed to me must be adding preservatives to their pork in order for this theory to work.

Will continue to monitor but less closely.
 
I've been sick to the stomach a good amount today. It is the nuts that caused this. I'm pretty sure of that. There is good news from this. While not good that I'm using the bathroom a considerable amount today, I'm not tired out. When I was eating beef and cheese when sick to the stomach I would feel overly tired and generally miserable all over. It could take days to fully recover.

In light of the problems with the cashew nuts I'm going to remove them from my diet once again. I like the extra energy cashews provide me. My stomach remains to tender it appears to be able to handle cashews though. I'll try adding cashews to the diet once again in a month or two and see how i do.
 
179lbs, 14% body fat. I was decently sick yesterday and last night to the stomach. I'm doing fine this morning. Imagine later today it will likely hit me and I'll feel tired out though, but that is just a guess. In the past when I avoided dairy products I recall being ill but typically having good energy despite it.
 
So far it has been a good day. My energy levels are decent, and the stomach doing well. With energy and dairy products there could be two reasons why I'm doing well today. At least two reasons I'm aware of there. There could be more possibilities.

Dairy could be an allergy for me and with avoiding it I'm doing better. There is the other possibility frequently written about with milk and dairy products. it is frequently written that dairy consumption can lead to anemia and as a result poor energy levels in some people. hard to say once again what is happen with me.
 
Woke up a little later than typical. Woke up tired and feeling terrible to the stomach. I wasn't sick though, just lingering effect from the previous days illness. Doing better this afternoon. The tongue is healing up nicely. The sores are nearly gone.
 
Feeling better this morning. The stomach is not hurting, and it appears doing well. The tongue looks healed up nicely. That happened quicker than typical.

Yesterday I was thinking at how different my personality has become. I've changed a bit over the last few weeks. It's not a big change but it's something I noticed. Some of the old activities I participated in are not as engaging as they used to. I'm also more upbeat. I suspect the change is due to absorbing food better. I mention that as with the few days that I was sick to the stomach I felt I reverted back to my older previous way of feeling mentally.

Im not new with mentioning personality changes when avoiding milk/dairy and beef. I've seen that mention many times in books on the topic of avoiding milk products.
 
Today was a good day. It felt as if I had gotten back on my feet after the brief stomach issues experienced. Most likely eating to many cashew nuts caused that stomach episode.

I've had a stuffy nose of late. I suspect that is due to a red tide being near by. It's hard to say though as I've noticed similar happens when the stomach has been irritated.
 
Doing well this morning. The stomach remains slightly tender but nothing terrible or that can't be handled. Probably in the near future I'll pick up some chicken and begin eating it, see how the stomach does. Fingers crossed I handle the chicken well. It would be nice to have an additional meat in the diet.

Appearance, shaggy. That is due to my hair growing quicker than typical! Shagginess to be taken care of with haircut today.
 
Good day but a typical ate to much fiber day. It was feeling slightly low in energy. My concentration wasn't the best. Overall though little to complain about it. With a little luck in the next month I'll be able to comfortably eat more fiber than currently.
 
This is a frustrating time with the diet. I always run into this issue at some point. I'm nearly two months it to it, why am I not healthier. Is it the right diet?! Etc etc etc. With the experience I have though I should stay the course. Only two more months to go till I tie the last time I tried this diet. Hopfully after that I'll have a better idea of how things are progressing.

Hair looking good. It's hard to say if new growth is happening but I can only hope. I have not seen the blue in my eyes for a few days. The being ill after eating the cashews might have caused the blue eyes to disappear for awhile.
 
Something new I've noticed. it is something I've noticed also in the past when avoiding milk/dairy products. Now, when I exercise for a longer period of time my muscles do not become fatigued. As an example, today I swam for 30 minutes without a break. my muscles didn't hurt or fatigue. Typically in the recent past my muscles would have felt a burning feeling eventually.

I'm sure I can fatigue the muscles if I pushed them harder. Now though, on current diet, fatigueing the muscles has become difficult.

With this said, I remain tired most of the time.
 
THis is interesting. Last night I ate dinner. Typically I pass on eating dinner but last night was different as I had exerted myself more than typical during the day and as a result was hungry in the evening. Well, for dinner I ate pork with eggs making it was the second time I eaten pork in the day. Earlier I had eaten tuna. Last night, all night I was itching, the itching was similar to what I had experienced when eating Canadian bacon with the preservatives.
 
179lbs 14% body fat. Forgot to mention some good news. It's been a long time since I last experienced stomach pulsing, or I'm assuming inflamed feeling in the intestine area. Hopefully that is a sight of healing.
 
Stomach was a little bit sour today after a bike ride. I'm going on another Christmas bike ride this evening which shouldn't be a problem. Overall good day, with good energy, just slightly ill to the stomach.
 
I'm beat up this morning. last night for a Christmas event I walked for around 90 minutes. I'll be taking an easy this morning as a result. Slept poorly also.
 
It was a slow day being tired out from yesterdays activities, but found out something exciting. I went to clean up my cloth closet and while doing so found some shorts that were on the small side. I tried a few of the smaller shorts on and they fit! These shorts would not have fit a few weeks ago, before I was avoiding milk/dairy and beef. It has me upbeat as it highlights how my inflamed bloated intestines have become less inflamed and bloated.

I still have some fat on me. I do poorly on what I want to see with the giggle test. Overall though, I'm pleased about the shorts being wearable now.
 
It is quite remarkable in that I'm able to fit into size 30 shorts this morning. No way could I have worn these a few weeks ago. The shorts are tight and not all that comfortable but I can wear them. Will be interesting to see if over the coming month if the shorts become more and more wearable. Shuold be a good monitoring test.

Last night I noticed something of interest. Well, I've known it for awhile but it was overly evident last night. When people talk overly fast, in person or in movies I can have a difficult time understanding. I mark that down to the fatigue and tiredness issues I experience. Whne I'm tired my brain is working in slow motion. Last night while watching an older movie, where people typically talked quickly, I had no issues understanding all of what was said. I've noticed this change for awhile. it has me watching older movies more and more frequently of late out of curiosity.
 
179lbs and 14% body fat.

I'm feeling good this morning. That isn't what I expected as yesterday i worked out longer than I expected and with that thought I'd wake up tired and sore. Hope the good feeling continues into the day.
 
It has been a good day. I expected to be more worn down that I am this afternoon. This morning I had one of my harder weight lifting workouts on my legs. My legs are sore! They hurt but I'm not terrible fatigued. That's a great sign.

On the slightly negative side the stomach was a little bit grumpy after lunch. Most likely is was the fiber rich foods eaten the other day that was the trouble maker.

I've thought about limiting how much I eat in order to loose some body fat. I''ve decided to hold off on that till I'm more energetic. I figure no reason to mess with what I have going now. I seem to be making positive strides with my health. WIsh the stomach was better, but with a little luck over time that will happen.
 
It appears I over did exercises yesterday. I'm feeling beat up and tired this morning. Most likely I'll be feeling better by this evening. Stomach is OK. The stomach could be better, it hurts some, but it could be worse.
 
Today was a good say not only for the stomach but also mentally. I was feeling quite upbeat. That has become more common for me, feeling more positive and upbeat ever since I began avoiding milk and dairy products along with beef. Some items still upset me, as to be expected. Overall though I'm notcing a further change in my personality since avoiding milk and beef.
 
Doing well today. A bit tired this morning but nothing out of the normal range. Friday it is being reported that a cold front will be moving over the area. S. Florida should be colder by about 20 degrees as a result. Will be interesting to see how I handle the cold. Most of the time I struggle with quick temperature changes, more so that most people I suspect. On the current diet I'm on of avoiding milk/beef it will not surprise me if the cold air does not effect me as negatively. Well see though!
 
Had a nice conversation today with someone I just met. As mentioned earlier talking with people is not always easy for me. In particular new people that I don't know having a conversation can be chore. I mark the communication difficulties down to my illness and the fatigue that goes with it. So it was nice, the conversation reminded me of how I was years ago, before the big stomach attacks began around 15 years ago. I was sick long before 15 years ago, but around 2003 I seriously began to experience horrible stomach attacks that I never recovered from. It's good. Hope the talking well continues to improve. Hope the topic talked about is brighter also! He wanted to talk about his former boss and friend that had been shot dead a few months ago!
 
I'm very sorry to hear that Chris! I wouldn't have thought that would be so much in issue in Canada. At least here in America it is often mentioned at how much lower the murder rate is in our neighbor to the north.

Yeah, it is sad about the local guy that was killed. I'll tell a little about his story. It also highlights a problem in America that gets little attention from what I've been told. The story has some racial overtones but that isn't the point of the story.

The guy murdered was named Roger. He was an immigrant from Brazil. Like many immigrants he wanted to create companies in America. Roger was successful at what he did. He began several companies. The one I knew him best was his painting firm. Roger would come into our neighborhood and talk to everyone about painting needs. Roger was unique in that he was not only a great friendly salesman, he also did good work, his prices reasonable, he was on time! a rarity with Florida contractors and Roger's workers liked him. Roger treated his painters well, as I was being told yesterday by his former worker and friend.

What led to Roger being murdered was an incident at a bar. Roger went with some friends to a bar after work. When he came out of the bar later he discovered his car had been blocked him. He was unable to leave. Roger found the guys that had blocked him in. They were black guys. He Asked that their car be moved. Their response was to shoot him in the stomach. Roger died on the way to the hospital. The friend or Roger I was talking with yesterday added he thought Roger might have drunk to much alcohol that night but wasn't for sure. To me it sounded like everyone could have drunk to much that night.

Later I was told by a black friend that Roger's killing likely had to do with tensions between the black community and the hispanic community. The two sides apparently do not get along well - at least that is what I was told. Some of it has to do with jobs. Regardless, a senseless killing of a well liked successful guy. Roger left behind a young son in his native Brazil.

Well, lets see, with me I'm slightly tired this morning with an upset stomach. It woke me up very early this morning. I should be fine as the day goes along. It's typical stuff that I deal with from time to time. Imagine my energy levels will be lower today.
 
It was a slow day, but not a bad day. The stomach was grumpy in the morning but more calm later. I'm guessing though that tomorrow will be a ruff day for the stomach then it will calm down once and for all, for awhile at least.

Noticed the tongue looks great. I haven't seen any sign of a tongue sore/lines in quite some time. Very good sign for me I believe.
 
This morning I have some mild throbbing in the stomach area. I expected that to happen. Don't know why it happens but the timing is consistent. The throbbing is much milder than typically experienced in the past. It will tired me out some today though. The two go together, stomach throbbing and being tired. Overall though I expect it to be a good day.... well other than I'm taking my car in to be worked on. That's a whole other area of trouble though.
 
It's been a decent day. Noticed that my hair is growing quicker than before. Also notes that there remains less hair showing up in the shower drain. All good signs of better health I suspect.
 
Did an experiment yesterday. In the evening I ate more fiber than typical with the idea I would see how that effected how I talked. As expected, not long afterwards I spoke to others more difficultly. Basically the fiber tired me out. The stomach on the other hand has done well. I expected that. I expected the stomach would handle the extra fiber decently.

Of late I've been staying up later than typical. I'm also waking up earlier than typical. I need less sleep apparently on this diet.

Overall, i'm 2 months and 2 weeks into this diet. I have another 6 weeks to go till tying my previous time I had experimented with avoiding dairy producs and beef. I've seen several positive changes while being on this diet. The disappointment has been that my stomach isn't doing better. Hope I'm on the right track and the stomach eventually performs better.
 
I'm going to also avoid garlic/ spices on this diet. I'll continue to avoid dairy and beef too.

The reason is simply I've noticed I appear less healthy when eating garlic/ spicy foods. I also have noticed that I often develop an upset stomach after eating garlic rich food. I've blamed the fiber for the stomach issues but realize it could just as easy be garlic.

I don't believe I'll add anymore foods to avoid while on this long term avoidance diet. It will become to restrictive if I do, which will frustrate me.
 
Good energy day today. Felt I appear healthier also after avoiding garlic/spices along with beef and dairy products. Worth mentioning and forgot earlier, I've gotten myself well while eating cheese. I never felt I was recovered, had good energy, but the stomach was entirely tell. I do not believe I've ever been well while garlic was in the diet.
 
Since avoiding spices I've been needing to pee a considerable amount. Not sure why that is, other than I've had times were my weight fluctuated greatly without known cause. I'll have to keep an eye on my weight over the next week.

With avoiding spices I often mention garlic. I should mention black pepper also. If a spice is a problem maker black pepper is just as likely of a candidate as garlic and onions.
 
It was a really good day. I had good energy, worked out hard on the legs lifting weights. Appear good and healthy. I like it! It was a good move to continue avoiding beef and dairy products along with now avoiding spices.
 
This morning is starting out very well. I have lots of energy as I wake up. That shouldn't be the case. I should be tired. I should be tired because yesterday I worked out harder than normal. Additionally it is cold here with record low temperatures for this time of year I read.

Maybe avoiding milk/dairy and avoiding spices is the right combination. Possibly dairy isn't so much an allergy problem for me. It might be an energy sapping issue with dairy. I can think of a few theories for why that cuold be the case. For spices that might be an allergy/ stomach trouble maker.

Well, one morning of feeling good doesn't prove a solution. This week will be telling. Hoping the good energy remains all week long. If that happens then once and for all I might have my answer.

I should add, once I removed spices from the diet my stomach did improve. It's short during though so time will tell.
 
I've had very good energy levels today. I've also handled the cold weather quite well. For the entire day I've even been wearing shorts which for me is remarkable for 50F weather. I'm still slightly cold but not as bad as typical. The stomach typically effects how hot and cold I feel.

Something else is I have not felt hungry today. That's a typical feeling for when I have good energy.
 
Interesting I'm 182lbs and 14% body fat this moring. I've gained 3 lbs since avoiding spices the other day. My energy levels have been very good the last few days. I've been exercising more than before as a result. All positive signs.
 
It was another good energy day for most of the day. I'm a little tired now after all the exercising and running around done. Avoiding spices along with dairy and beef has done me good for the last few days. I've known for a long while that garlic and onions can cause bleeding issues. I've read also many times mentions on how dairy products can potentially bring about bleeding issues leading to anemia. Naturally it has me wondering if the two garlic and dairy was causing me a slight loss of blood leading to fatigue issues. That's my leading theory! All subject to change. Happy to be feeling good for what ever reason and hope I feel better even further in the near future.
 
I'm 185lbs this morning with the scale saying 15% body fat! I've put on 6lbs in a couple days. This large weight gain is since I began avoiding spices. Will be interesting to see how much weight I gain in the coming week.

My energy levels feel good this morning. I'm planning on doing something about that. I'll be lifting some weights in a few.
 
Good energy again today. I had another hard weight lifting workout also. One of the more interesting, to me, changes of late how to do with how I've handled the cold. Temps have been cooler with highs in the 50s and 60s. I've been able to wear shorts during this time without feeling chilled. In the recent past, if the temperatures were in the 70s I'd be wearing pants and possibly warmers under the pants.
 
It's another good energetic morning. I'm predicting that in around 4 months I'll be decently healthy to the gut. i'll be far from recovered but I should be operating somewhat decently by then though. Avoiding garlic/onions and dairy products seems to be the right combination for the gut and having more energy. At least I hope so about my prediction. Time of course will have the final say.
 
The dreaded bloated belly is back. I noticed it yesterday but it is back even more today. I'm back to how I was from before. It's not horrible but wish it was gone. Should be interesting to see if this issue resolves in a few months. Hoping it will. Overall though doing well since I began avoiding garlic and onions.
 
No tongue sores to report this morning. I haven't seen those lines in awhile. Energy levels are decent this morning.
 
182lbs and 14% body fat. My weight is bouncing around a good amount of late.

Worked our hard yesterday. My muscles are not sore. That seems to be the norm when avoiding dairy problems. For what ever reason it takes a large effect to produce lactic acid type muscle pain when avoiding dairy and possibly beef.

I'm going to stop taking imodium for awhile and see what happens.
 
Since avoiding garlic/spices I've noticed that I'm not as hungry as before. I can easily go 16hours or so without eating and not feeling hungry. Typically I've been eating breakfast and lunch skipping dinner. I would eat snacks for dinner though. Now, since avoiding spices, I have little desire to snack.
 
This is something new I've noticed.

I've noticed that ever since I began avoiding garlic/spices a sinus runny nose problem has become less and less of a problem. The last two days the sinus issue has been gone. Will keep track of to see if this remains the case going forward.
 
This morning my sinus problem remains largely gone. I can breath easily. I'm not needing to blow my nose.

I've also thought the runny nose came from two possibilities. The first I've written about earlier, having to do with gut health. When the stomach is grumpy, the worse the sinus issue. A happy stomach often meant no sinus problems. The second idea had to do with red tide, which is a problem around here in Florida. I figured when red tide was in the area, then something was in the air bothering me.

Now, at the moment, I'm guessing it is spices that cause the runny nose/sinus problem. Hope I have an answer.

The stomach has been grumpy the last 24 hours. I ate more fiber rich foods than normal, and also went for a 2 hour bike ride. That likely explains the grumpy stomach.
 
Today was a tiring day. Hard to say for certain what brought that about, but I have been slightly ill to the stomach plus I have exercised more than typical lately. I also stopped taking the Imodium the other day. That might have been bad timing on my part. I've gone ahead to began taking Imodium again.
 
Beach said:
This morning my sinus problem remains largely gone. I can breath easily. I'm not needing to blow my nose.

I've also thought the runny nose came from two possibilities. The first I've written about earlier, having to do with gut health. When the stomach is grumpy, the worse the sinus issue. A happy stomach often meant no sinus problems. The second idea had to do with red tide, which is a problem around here in Florida. I figured when red tide was in the area, then something was in the air bothering me.

Now, at the moment, I'm guessing it is spices that cause the runny nose/sinus problem. Hope I have an answer.

The stomach has been grumpy the last 24 hours. I ate more fiber rich foods than normal, and also went for a 2 hour bike ride. That likely explains the grumpy stomach.
Click to expand...
Glad your sinus problem is gone
 
Thanks Ron. I guess to add the sinus issue isn't entirely gone. Sometimes it comes back randomly. It is though much much better. It will come back for a few minutes and then go away. At this rate I suspect it will be gone within a few weeks. At least I hope so. Avoiding spices is worth it if the sinus issue goes away regardless of how the stomach does.

I'm still a little beat up and worn down this morning. Typically I would lift some weights on a Tuesday morning but I'm planning on passing today. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.
 
It was an alright day. The stomach was a little sore, and I'm a little cautions with where I've been driving of late. Don't want to be far from a rest room. Reminds me of the bad old days. It hasn't been that bad of late though. To much exercise and to much fiber rich food is the cause. I'm decently certain. And I'm not all that sick to the stomach. THing overall have been going well.

I did make another dietary change. I added candy corn to the diet. I also added beef to the diet. I'll remain avoiding dairy products for a long time. That I notice a positive difference even if it isn't an allergen. I continue to avoid spices/garlic. The sinus issue is much better overall. I rarely sneeze. I rarely needed to blow my nose today. All good.
 
Thinking further on my sinus problem, it isn't that big of a problem for me historically. if anything it is relatively new. Then again I'm not a big spice eater. Even as a kid I was typically looking to eat plain foods. I was the plain hamburger eater at parties. That has remained the case as an adult.

I have a nephew who has had severe sinus allergy issues. He's right about the same age as I was when i began to develop my stomach problems. I've always greatly worried for my nephews stomach health. I didn't want them to develop the condition I have had to deal with. So, if spices end up being the cause of my GI health issues, it will be good for me to pass this information onto my nephews, just in case any of them begin to develop severe stomach issues.
 
A little bit tired today. I had a similar feeling the last few days. I'm guessing it is the walnut I've been eating over this holiday season. I'll stop eating the nuts. Imagine I'll be more energetic once again after doing that. The gut was good today.
 
179lbs this morning.

My digital body fat scale appears to have broken. I've gone back to using my older manual weight scale. No body fat reading with it, but that is OK. Body fat readings are interesting but I've come to find out that they are not very accurate I believe.

My sinus issues remains greatly improved since avoiding spices. I wish in the past I had noticed this improvement when avoiding spices. Getting well to the stomach will take a long long time. The spices and improvement with the sinus issues is a more timely cause and effect change to have happen. I hope spices is my answer for the stomach issue and now suspect it is due to the improvements seen with my mild sinus issue. So long as the sinus problem stays away, I'll have good incentive to remain avoiding spices.
 
This is an oddity I've known about for awhile. I'm experiencing it now. When avoiding dairy products one begins to look different. Dairy/milk will cause ones checks to appear sucked in, in general it is often mentioned. What I'm now experiencing, oddly, is that while I weight the same, my cloths fit tighter.

Decent day overall. Energy levels good, tongue looks good, sinus issue improved.
 
178lbs this morning.

Feeling decently well this morning. Imagine it to be a good day. Can't think of anything new to report other than that at the moment.
 
NO sinus issues to report. It has been great! Over the last week the sinus problem has only made an appearance in the morning for short periods of time. The last couple of days it's been more or less gone. The trend has been greatly improvement basically. I'll keep on avoiding spices.
 
The sinus issue is gone this morning. I'm so happy I noticed this potential connection between spices and the mild sinus problem. My guess is avoiding sprices will lead me to a healthier sinus and stomach over time.
 
Sinus issue not an issue this morning. I want to say the problem is now gone, but wouldn't be surprised if it still pops up from time to time. Very excited though about this improvement.

Stomach doing well. Some times I'm well and other times I'm not. Improvement seen of late overall. Cramping not so bad basically.

Yesterday ate more brown rice that I expected. it tasted good, but the rice beat up the stomach a bit, tiring me out last night and somewhat being tired this morning.
 
It has been a busy productive day. I've been doing more chores of late than typical. No sinus issue to report today. I only sneezed once I believe and that was when I was cleaning up the garage, creating a lot of dust. Oh almost forgot, i feel I'm communicating better the last few days too. Better energy will do that for me.
 
Last night eating a Christmas Eve dinner I accidentally ate a piece of bread that had been cook with garlic spicing. I was hoping this morning that as a result I'd have some sinus issues. That is not the case. The sinus issue is good. The amount of garlic eaten was small but potent. I could taste the garlic the rest of the night.

THat is one thing, I wonder what is was in the spicing rice dish I was eating before that appears to have caused the sinus problem. Thinking back it was just this fall that I was only eating one spice in my diet and that was garlic. I believe I did have a sinus problem then when only garlic was being used to spice of the meat I cooked. Don't recall for certain though.

Anyway, feel decent this morning. More information will be discovered in the future.
 
I might have a second item to monitor. Today marks 2 weeks of avoiding spices. During this time my sinus issue has largely gone away. For the 2 weeks I've also lost some weight. I'm not trying to loose weight though. I'm eating the same amount and not exercising more. I've lost around 4 to 5 lbs.

This after I'm weighing 179lbs at the moment. I'm not planning on eating anymore today. Most of the time I pass on dinner. As a result I'll likely be at 176lbs in the morning. That is my guess at least.

I've had periods where I go through surprise weight loss or weight gain. For what ever reason it appears avoiding spices has me loosing weight. The weight lost I'm guessing is water weight.
 
I'm at 175lbs this morning. I suspect the weight loss will level off here for awhile. That is what I seem to recall happened over the fall when I was avoiding garlic/spices. I have mixed feeling about loosing weight. For many of the early years with my condiiton I greatly struggled to keep weight on. I was to sick to be able to gain weight. Now I'm slightly over weight and wouldn't mind dropping to 165lbs or about there. In my mind though that still causes some concern.
 
I'm 176lbs this morning. Doing fairly well overall. Energy levels decent. Stomach decent. Thinking about it, over autumn I avoided spices for a little over a month. It wasn't that long of a period yet during this time I saw weight loss and good energy. I'm hoping for the same this go around and imagine wit the way things are going I will.

No hair loss seen in the shower sink.
 
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I didn't sleep well last night at all! I'm pretty sure I know what went wrong. I ate dinner last night and sometimes when I eat dinner it keeps me up later into the night. That is what happened. I ate dinner due to all the exercising done for the day. In the morning I lifted weights. THen for the day I counted how many steps I took. For Christmas I received an Apple watch. I've been using the exercise feature quite a bit the last 2 days. I'm not exercising all that much more than typical since using the new watch but might push it a bit at times when I'm close to a reported exercise goal. Think I'll take an easy today and pay less attention to how many steps are taken. My legs are sore. They should heal.

Weight is around 175lbs this morning. I forgot to weight myself before breakfast but subtracting how much I typically weight after a meal I should be at 175lbs.
 
I've noticed it for awhile now, but appears I'm experiencing a slight personality change. With more energy I'm more upbeat. The two naturally go well together.
 
Since receiving the Christmas Apple watch, which has a heart monitor, I've noticed my resting heart rate remains low. It's in the 50 to 60 beats per minute. This is much higher than in the past though, when I was at my very worst with an upset stomach. Back when I was always running to the bathroom, lost 50lbs or about, my resting heart rate was in the 30s and 40s on average. Imagine a more normal resting heart rate is an improvement. hard to say, and don't know, it's just something I've noticed of late.

Feel sore this morning. That's from the weight lifting a couple days ago. Energy levels are good.
 
The news paper is reporting that a Red Tide bloom is bad off the coast of where I live. I've guessed in the past that a red tide could be the cause behind a sinus problem. Right now though I have no sinus issues that have been noticed. It is appearing more and more likely that eating garlic/ spices is the cause of my sinus problem.

I was quite tired and run down today. The caused felt to be from lifting weights hard the other day. For what ever reason the 2nd day after lifting can make me feel the worst.
 
With the 2017 coming to an end, in summary I'd say this has been an awful year. The stomach problem remains. Poor energy levels remain with me.

2017 is ending on a high note though. I've very encouraged by the lack of sinus issues after avoiding garlic/ spices. I'm also curious about the sudden weight loss that has happened after avoiding spices. The weight loss is not big but noticeable and has me thinking that it is water loss due to swelling doing down. Just a guess.

Overall I have a good feeling for 2018. Maybe if I'm lucky by the end of January the stomach will be acting decently and my energy levels in a more normal range.
 
It's been a good day. Did a lot of chores around town. Was afraid for awhile that I might become sick but was good. I've been eating slightly more fiber than typical and appear to be handling it alright.

In a couple days cold weather moves into the area. I'm likely to be chilled and with that have some stomach problems. Nothing serious but that is commonly how it works, the first cold upsets the stomach.
 
Starting the morning out poorly, but hopefully the day will improve as it goes along. Cold spell coming to the area tomorrow along with rain. I'm not looking forward to that.
 
I've had a little bit of a sinus issue today. It's nothing compared to what I can experience. The effects are slight, but it's something I should monitor. I slept very poorly last night. That very well could have played a roll in the sinus issue noticed today, I'll guess.
 
I was 177lbs this morning. A body fat scale would come in handy, possibly they are not very accurate, in telling what is going on. I'm weight lifting heavier than in the past. While potentially loosing weight on the newer diet I might be gaining muscle. Hard to say.

One of my New Years resolution is to write less about the stomach condition. Bit on the downer side writing about this, even if good to keep notes on my health. So long as the current diet continues to work writing less, keeping the resolution should be doable.
 
This is encouraging. For the past couple of days I've been eating lots and lots of nuts. Typically, and recently, nuts could cause stomach pains along with an upset stomach. If I eat nuts I want to limit the amount eaten. For the last few days I've eating nuts when ever I felt and so far have not experienced any pain or upset stomach. I'm probably not out of the woods with this. I could become sick from the nuts eaten later. Up to this point though very encouraging. I'm guessing this means the stomach is healing and better able to handle foods more difficult to digest.

The weather has turned cold. Typically I do not handle cold weather well. For the last few days the chilly air has not bothered me. If anything the cold feel nice. Hope that remain so as much colder weather is predicted.
 
Stay warm and safe Ron! I can't believe how cold it is up north! The town I recently moved from in Illinois has had negative temperatures for about a week up to this point. It gets cold there but typically not that cold for that long.

For me cold has been a real problem in the past, to the point that I would become so chilled I could find it difficult to do tasks. I've linked the cold feeling to my stomach condition. This morning i walked in 50F misty, breezy conditions. It didn't feel bad to me at all. I'd go as far to say it felt nice and warm overall.
 
I'm still amazed that I have not exploded from all the nuts eaten. Today was a decent day. I'm not well to the stomach but I'm not in agonizing pain as I would expect happen after eating these nuts. Very good sign with the way my avoiding garlic and onion/spices diet is going. I suspect the gut is healing.
 
I was planning on writing less with this year. I better make note of the changes now though. So far I've continued to eat high fiber nuts without repercussions. My energy levels have been good enough. I've noticed that at times talking well can be difficult, something high fiber can cause, but it hasn't been a big problem. Hope this continues.
 
Burrr....it's cold this morning. The cold hasn't been effecting me as typically it does. I suspect the cold feeling this morning has to do with not weight lifting the last couple of days. Weight lifting also helps to keep me warm, for a couple days afterward.

I survived all the nuts eaten! Last night I finally began to experience cramping from the high fiber nuts. It wasn't torture but it was uncomfortable. I'll stop eating nuts for a day or two then add them back to the diet.

My weight is about the same, unchanged. I appear to have lost some body fat.

I've been walking a great amount of late. Yesterday I walked close to 13 miles. It's amazing that I have this amount of energy to handle that much movement. I'm tired this morning but imagine I'll become more energized as the day progresses. Hoping I have good energy for this morning weight lifting using th eleg muscles.
 
I suspect that my hair has grown in some in the front since being on this diet of avoiding spices and dairy products. At least appearance wise I suspect that has happened.

Overall doing well. The cold weather is now chilling me a little bit. I'm handling it well enough. Part of the chill I feel is likely due to the high fiber nuts eaten. Along with a potential upset stomach fiber can also cause me to feel chilled.
 
It appears more and more likely I have found an answer with avoiding spices. I've been well to the stomach frequently. Being well to the stomach has been somewhat common over the last 5 years or so though. The big problem has been a lack of energy and additionally while well, not always being comfortable. I now suspect that dairy products have been problematic with bringing about poor energy levels and being ruff on the stomach.

The next couple of weeks should be telling.

I guess going forward I still need to test out chicken. I'm sure that melons such as pumpkin, watermelon, etc are a problem.
 
Forgot to mention and wanted to make note of, the bloated belly look has largely gone away. The stomach isn't completely flat yet, but it appears to be heading in that direction.
 
Weight is 175 to 174lbs this morning. I still have more body fat than desired, so hopefully more weight loss will be coming eventually.

Energy levels have been good, in consideration of the fiber rich nuts eaten. Typically the fiber would tire me out, to the point where I would need to rest for a few hours in the afternoon, but with avoiding the cheese that hasn't been the case.

Stomach is doing well. It gives me greater confidence to do things when the stomach is well. Less planning needed on know where the bathrooms are located.
 
Thanks Chris! Hoping for a successful 2018 and imagine it will be.

I saw too in another thread that you appear to be very close to the Canadian government recognizing and placing you on disability, finally. Congrats on that! Hope your financial situation improves. Glad to see also that your parents are being more supportive.

With confidnece there is another area that needs improvement. That's the ability to communicate better. I'm blessed or cursed, how ever it is looked at, in that I've had periods of being well and experienced how much better I am at communicating with others. For 2018 I'm hoping to gain further ability in effectively talking. Happily it appears that I'm on the ups swing with that. It is good as many guests will be visiting me in 2 months for spring break. It's to embarrassing to be around others when I'm not well t the stomach, and not communicating well.

Health wise the tongue is looking fantastic. No sores at all noticed.

The eyes can have a blue hue to them at times. The machinery is not up and running turning on yet but expect that to change in the near future.
 
I'm 177lbs this morning. I've noticed the day after weight lifting I tend to weigh a pound of two more. Don't know why that is asI don't appear to eat or drink more on weight lifting days. i must be retaining fluids or foods. Tomorrow I'll likely be back to 175lbs.

It's been wonderful at how much more exercise I've been capable of performing. I'm walking on average over 20,000 steps a day or around 10 miles. I've also been weight lifting two a week. I've always been able to push through the fatigue and pain experienced with the stomach and with exercise. Now though exercise is coming easier due to having more energy. I'm still in pain and experience fatigue but those areas are not as extreme and troublesome.

Mentally, as written about yesterday with communication, remains a problem. Having a quality conversation can be difficult due to the fatigue.

There remains a knot feel in the stomach area. It has been this way for around 30 years. When the knot area hurts, talking can be a chore. When the knot releases then talking can be easy. As I've always thought, modern medicine likes to compartmentalize different areas of specialty. For me I've noticed if the stomach is hurting everything else in the body suffers.

I've found of late that I need less sleep. This is likely a good positive sign. It will take a bit to get used to, a change in routine, if this continues.
 
I've now been avoiding spices/garlic/ onions for a month. I don't remember why I'm avoiding these items, why I came to this conclusion. I could look at my notes and still wouldn't be entirely sure what lead me to believe. This is typical though I've come to find. Now I just need to keep track of how I'm feeling week by week and go from there. For now the tongue appears great, the skin looks good, no rash, and overall energy levels are nice. Energy levels could be better, and I hope they become better, but I'm not disappointed at there they are now. The stomach is so so. It's not well but not all that terribly sick most of the time.
 
I continue to appear to be loosing fat. This is the type of fat found under the skin or I suppose what some call the healthy fat. It is also reportedly the most difficult fat to loose. I seem to recall similar fat loss happening in the past when I became well to the stomach and I was avoiding spices, along with other food items.

Energy levels are not all that great this morning. I've been pushing myself more than normal with exercise. I will likely go at a slower pace this weekend.
 
The other day at the store I walked down the isle with prepared foods. The store has two large isles for this. Looking at the foods I saw very few items I would be able to eat right now, on this avoid spices/garlic, onions experiment. Nearly every meal had tomato sauce mixed in with garlic.

I have a new printing of the first recipe book printed in America. The recipe books came out in the 1840s. Looking at the old recipes in the past I remember being surprised at how similar Americans in the 1840s ate compared to Americans today. I overlooked something. Looking at the first recipe book yesterday I see that almost all recipes do not add garlic or onions to them. Sometimes those spices are used but rarely. Typically the older cooking used lots of butter, along with black pepper and sometimes parsley to flavor meats and food dishes.

It had me thinking that if my ancestors had a problem with garlic/onions and passed that onto me, avoiding garlic and onions would not have been a problem for my ancestors. It was just an infrequently used food item in past meals.
 
Worth noting, it was a good energetic day. I lifted weights twice. Well I lifted at one time but typically when weight lifting I do upper body one day and lower body another day. Today I had the energy to do both upper and lower. I'll be tired tomorrow for sure, but it felt good to have that energy levels. It has me feeling upbeat.
 
180lbs this morning, give or take a pound. I'm feeling alright despite the double workout yesterday. Tomorrow thoughI'm more likely to be sore and fatigued due to the weight lifting and exercising. I continue to walk 10 miles a day.

I've been eating a great amount of fiber, with brown rice and with nuts. It's been running in my mind that the worst at some point is likely to happen. All the fiber will cause me a great deal of stomach pain in the future. To this point I'm hanging in there, even thriving. It's quite remarkable.

Oh, the weight gain I've seen of late is likely in part due to the fiber eaten. Consuming more fiber rich foods causes me to gain weight. My guess is that has to do with fiber causing some water retention. It can possibily explain also why fiber makes me feel cooler temperature wise.
 
I'm feeling human this morning. The stomach has been acting decently. I'm only experiencing diarrhea 3 to 4 times a day. My energy levels have been nice. THey are not great, but I've seen a nice bump up in energy levels since avoiding spices along with dairy products.

At this point in the avoidance naturally my mind races at times. Possibly I made a mistake, it is something else being avoided that helps. I have to tell myself to not change the diet. Things have gotten better. Best to wait and see how things progress.
 
Today was a lousy day. I finally ate to much fiber. After all the fiber eaten, my knees become weak, I had an upset stomach, temperature changes were hard to hangle, it was a bad day.

So It's been nice being able to eats nuts for a change. They have been a nice snack to have. I'll be passing on the fiber rich nuts in the future though. I imagine doing that will help overall with the stomachs healing.
 
At the moment I have a good feeling that I have my answer with avoiding spices. Avoiding dairy is more about improving my energy levels than improving my stomach health. All it should take is time, lots of time to heal.

When feeling frustrated and looking for support I've often thought of a couple items that are easier to notice. The first has to do with bleeding after eating garlic/onions. If I eat a plain burger I'll not experience bleeding. If I eat a hamburger where I spiced the meat up with garlic salt I'll bleed, every time.

There are other foods that cause odd results, but garlic is an easy problem to notice. Pork can cause strange results too as noted earlier but I've been well to the stomach in the past and had good energy after eating plain pork. Something else is going on there I suspect.

Something else noted after avoiding garlic/onions spices is that I have improved energy levels. In the past this is most noticable. Over the fall I avoided garlic for awhile. It was dramatic at how well my tennis play improved immediately afterwards. When eating garlic I was worn out before playing tennis. Avoiding garlic, while still tired, I played much much better and stronger.

In the future if I should decide to try another idea I'll likely add dairy, cheese in particular, back into the diet for medical help reasons. Don't care for the taste of cheese but there is little doubt about its constipating abilities. In the past I've noticed that cheese only works at helping me when the gut is decent already, as in the case today on the current diet.
 
Today has been a very good day. I'm feeling upbeat, energetic and well overall. More days like this please.
 
Little bit cold here this morning. Should be a cool day. Will be intersting to see how I handle this. Imagine I'll do well, but much colder temperatures, as will be experienced today, can be a problem. When I lived in the north typically for a few days the cold temps would throw me for a loop for a week or so then I'd adjust.
 

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