You’ve probably heard of elimination diets before. If not, here’s a quick recap of it.
You eliminate multiple food groups for around two to four weeks. This is meant to cleanse your immune system. After the two to four weeks are done, you slowly start adding those foods back in.
It’s meant to help you notice which foods have adverse effects on your body.
If you’ve long suffered from digestive issues when it comes to food, this can be an option for you.
However, there are a few reasons I don’t typically suggest elimination diets. I have a bit of a reverse approach when it comes to elimination diets.
The reverse approach to elimination diets
Why do an elimination diet?
As I mentioned earlier, many people do an elimination diet because they’ve long suffered from stomach issues, such as IBS.
But if you’re someone who tolerates most foods on a daily basis, I don’t think an elimination diet is always the answer.
Mainly because when you do eliminate foods for such an extended period of time, it’s highly likely you will for sure experience digestive issues when adding them back in.
When we started our fertility journey, I stopped eating dairy based on my acupuncturist’s suggestion. Once we were pregnant, I started adding back in yogurt and milk.
My stomach was incredibly upset the first couple of weeks I was adding this back in.
Because my body was no longer used to it. But I never had issues with dairy in the past. It was only after eliminating it for such an extended period of time that I started to notice some digestive issues when adding it back in.
Now, I can eat dairy without any complications.
I also feel that it can be common for many people to do an elimination diet as a sort of cleanse. This is not necessary. Your body will naturally cleanse and detox itself. A detox is not necessary.
The reverse approach
Rather than eliminating foods just for the sake of eliminating them, I like to focus on a reverse approach to elimination diets.
This is something I teach my members of Eat for Life Collective as part of the Piece of Mind signature program. Piece of Mind is a 12-step program that walks you through exactly how to eat intuitively.
The reverse approach is something we cover in step 2.
It’s the idea that you begin to focus on how foods affect you physically. Rather than completely eliminating certain foods, you become more aware of how the foods you are eating affect you.
When I was on a traditional diet, I never really paid attention to this. The only things I knew for sure were that fried foods made my stomach hurt.
But when I made the change to intuitive eating, I began to take stock of how many other foods were affecting my body.
When I was really paying attention, I noticed that too much refined sugar made my skin break out. While I don’t eliminate refined sugar completely, I eat it in moderation now. Because I know how it’s going to affect my skin.
I’d obviously prefer clear skin, so I avoid refined sugar only for that reason.
Eat for Life Collective and Reversing the Elimination Diet
In Eat for Life Collective, and with the signature program, we take a deeper dive on how exactly to do this. I provide you with a workbook to take you through this process, step-by-step.
If this reverse approach and intuitive eating are something that are of interest to you, I encourage you to join Eat for Life Collective.
This coaching experience is not only your “how-to” eat intuitively, but it takes a deeper dive into healing your relationship with food, body and mind.
It’s truly about the mindset work and what you believe about yourself and your body. It’s not just about the food and the eating, but learning how to live a holistic healthy lifestyle.
Just click the photo below to begin your journey to food, body and mind freedom.
