Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: You're welcome, Beth.

I think you should continue eating all these foods and from now on only add one new food a week. Try eating the new food at least three times a week to get an idea if it's affecting you in anyway.

The only thing I saw on your list that would really bother me would be the chips with apricots. I'm not sure if chips would be enough of an SF base for apricots (which contain lots of fiber). I would try chopping up the apricots and adding them to your hot cereal or in your bread.

It's hard for me to explain how I incorporate new foods because I'm not very organized about it or think about it too much. Usually, I'll just think, "Beans sound good" or "I need more fruit" or "I love broccoli" and then figure out how to prepare them in an IBS safe way and then I'll eat them several times during the week. I usually do one new food for a couple of weeks. So when I started with beans, I kept the rest of my meals the same, and then ate those beans for a few days; I kept up this, got through the initial gassiness. I now try to incorporate legumes at least once a week to keep those enzymes working. With fruits, I'm still eating the Gerber baby food fruits. I probably added those a couple of weeks after my bean experiment (I'm not exactly sure of the time frame). I'll usually have a jar with my breakfast. After dinner I'll have 1/2 tin of pineapple tidbits and I'm doing really well with these. I had to cut back on bananas (unless in a smoothie) because they give me too much gas - even if I eat one every day for weeks, I'm still really gassy. For some reason, it's not a problem if it's in a smoothie (I'll get the Protein Berry Pizazz at Jamba Juice and never have a problem). I'm still eating those Van Wheat Free Blueberry waffles - not because I'm GF but just because they taste so good and contain lots of blueberries. Oh, they're really good with applesauce! Try it! Yum!

This summer I'm going to try eating nectarines and plums (with peels) as dessert.

Anyway, I don't want to confuse you! What you're doing right now is great and you should continue eating these foods. They sound great and delicious! Remember, part of your pain could just be that your stomach is not used to having so much food in it. Again, this is something that will get better as you continue to eat regularly and healthily. I'm sure your GI specialist/psyhcologist has more information about this. Please continue seeing her! Use those extra hours you have! Can you buy a parking permit? Whatever you have to do, keep on seeing her - it's worth it! (Oh, and have you decided about those hypno tapes/CDs?)

In a way, I wish you would post your daily meals/supplements/meds on the fitness board, but I understand you're afraid of becoming obsessive over it. I just got bored of taking the time to post - I think because I'm feeling better and doing other things now. But maybe if you posted we could help you keep your anxieties in check or something? If we're all reading, commenting, and not judging you, without the expectation of having to do it everyday, maybe we could help you overcome that tendency to obsess over what you're eating? I don't know much about EDs and the psychology behind them, so don't let me talk you into doing something you know is wrong for you.

I got your email!

I'll try to reply sometime in the next couple of days. I work weekends now and have been busy working on some projects.

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