AIPlum

On January 1st (I know, bit of a cliche), I started the paleo autoimmune Whole30 protocol in the hopes of improving my ME symptoms. I also committed to daily bone broth and fermented foods. After changing jobs in March 2013 and increasing my working days from 3 to 4 per week, I was feeling lethargic and drained all the time and my non-work time was more and more often spent in bed.

After an initial SNAFU involving seed-based spices (didn't mention that one in Practical Paleo, which was the meal plan I started out following) I didn't find the protocol too difficult to follow in January. It wasn't that different from the primal diet I'd been following for over a year and doing some Mel Joulwan-stylee cookups helped immensely.

Towards the end of the month, I noticed that I had more mental energy. I was feeling inspired to start new projects, which is unheard of for me at this time of year. I usually spend the UK winter in something of a funk and using my SAD light faithfully every morning. This January, however, I eventually realised that I'd stopped using the light without noticing. My sleep quality (as measured by my Fitbit) also went up measurably and I lost 4 lb and an inch off my waist.

All sounds good, no? It was. And then February arrived.

I was in two minds about how to approach February. On the one hand, I had read The Paleo Mom's advice to not let food reintroductions be ruled by the foods you miss, and her words of wisdom on the importance of handling the process properly. On the other hand, I really missed some of the forbidden foods. On the OTHER other hand, though, I was pretty excited to be noticing an improvement and didn't want to jeopardise this.

A sensible person, at this point, might have decided to carry on the hardcore version of AIP for another month or two and then carefully planned a phased introduction of various foodstuffs. Not this plum, apparently. No, for the last week or so I've been having a random smattering of mustard, cumin, egg yolks and the like - and part of a piece of gluten-free chocolate cake that it's best we don't mention here (a coworker saved me a piece especially and it was the first cake he'd ever made in his life). Unsurprisingly, I've had some odd physical symptoms and, also unsurprisingly, I've no idea what they were related to.

So. I'm going to try to knuckle down and do another two weeks of strict AIP (not strict Whole30 rules, but I won't be eating a lot of sugary stuff either) before doing what I should have done in the first place and planning carefully how I reintroduce things.

Greek-style Green Beans (from Cooking Light)

I love green beans. I love them simply steamed with a drizzle of olive oil, I love them cooked in garlicky tomato sauce. I love them in a salad. But Greek-style green beans has become a favourite side dish in my house. It's super simple to make but really dresses up your dinner plate.

Shrimp with capers, garlic, and NO rice (from Cooking Light)

I really enjoy the recipes from Cooking Light magazine because they use real ingredients, don't eschew all fat, and are darned tasty.

Shrimp with capers, garlic and rice is a staple standby meal at my house; the ingredients are nearly always in the pantry. So, what to do in the absence of rice? Serve it with garlickly cauliflower couscous, of course!

Garlicky Cauliflower Couscous

I used to disdain the idea of cauliflower rice as a strange foodstuff eaten by low carbers, but have really gotten on board with it now. The other night we wanted something to eat with shrimp with capers and garlic (previously served with rice) and thus cauliflower couscous was born!

Carrot Banana Muffins (from Elana's Pantry)

When I was eating low GI, I used to enjoy a weekly wholegrain breakfast muffin along with some hardboiled eggs or a mini frittata. I quite fancied being able to fit this tradition into my primal diet.

Spicy Mexican Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

I first visited Elana's Pantry when I was looking for gluten-free recipes. How pleased I was that she also provides paleo recipes! Her Mexican chicken and rice was the starting point for my first consciously primal evening meal. Yum!

Slow-Cooker Spicy Chicken

Kalyn's Kitchen has been a mainstay of my low GI cooking and, good news, a lot of her recipes are pretty primal-friendly too! Her spicy shredded chicken provided a great base ingredient (with a few flavour tweaks to suit my household and the ingredients available in the UK) for my first consciously primal evening meal. The chicken is really versatile; in addition to making great lettuce wraps, it is superb in spicy Mexican chicken and cauliflower rice.

Can you hear the (primal) drums, Fernando?

I've been eating low GI for just over a year now and recently started avoiding wheat. I investigated gluten-free options but so many GF cookbooks and products had high GI ingredients that I naturally gravitated towards primal/paleo recipes. I finally decided to try one month of primal eating and see how I feel at the end. I know that legumes/quinoa/buckwheat are controversial in some primal circles, but I can tolerate them and so am not excluding them from my diet. I'm not a primal expert and some of the choices I make may not suit everybody so if you're reading, please bear this in mind. :)