Today is Monday, March 14 and a couple weeks ago I mentioned that today would begin 30-days strict AIP.
I am now, more than ever, confident in this decision.
As I said I would do, I haphazardly started following AIP a couple weeks ago. During that time, I felt absolutely incredible plus the skin problems I mentioned seemed to have diminished some.
10 days was certainly not enough, and even though Expo West is filled with brands and products to help support any and all natural lifestyles, there was almost no way for me to be AIP while there, sampling and traveling for 4 days. This fact alone is something critical I learned about healing via AIP. Because it’s so stringent and limiting, it makes for any length of travels complicated.
But I am back, and today I am diving all the way in.
What is AIP?
AIP stands for Autoimmune Protocol. It is, essentially, Paleo on steroids. It removes even more things than the standard Paleo diet, with the idea being that by removing all potential inflammatory foods the gut will heal faster and exponentially better in general.
AIP Diet
This is a general categorical list of things I won’t consume for the next 30 days:
grains (+pseudo-grains)
gluten
dairy
legumes
processed vegetable oils
processed food chemicals and ingredients
added sugars
sugar alcohols
nonnutritive sweeteners
nuts and nut oils (coconut is an exception)
seeds and seed oils
nightshades and spices derived from them
spices derived from seeds
eggs
alcohol
coffee
high-glycemic-load foods
The only things I modify from this are that I have 1 c. of organic coffee per day (which The Paleo Mom agreed “might be tolerated” and as full disclosure I do have a little liquid, organic stevia in that coffee).
The point, then, and the real goal is to replace all of those things with nutrient-dense, high-quality foods with extra nutrition to aid in the healing process. The goals is not to count every calorie, fat and carbohydrate. In her book, The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body, Sarah states, “losing weight and healing are often competing goals.” (p. 276) This goes back to what I said almost 3 years ago, gut healing is not a diet.
But then again, right now, in this moment, gut healing sure is a diet.
Last night I prepared my liver combination. This is one thing that I always add in when I’m serious about health and healing. And while beef liver is preferred over chicken, this is what I had access to and high-quality liver is better than no liver.
People have been asking for an idea of what I eat in a day while following AIP, so I will try to share as much as possible, with recipes as I can. I just need to fall into my cadence first.
AIP Lifestyle
I have gotten pretty good at the AIP lifestyle these past several months while focusing on ultimate SIBO healing (still going strong!).
But according to The Paleo Mom, this is a general AIP lifestyle guide (p. 261 from her book):
Manage meals
Prioritize them
Make it fun
Slow down
Manage stress
Protect circadian rhythms
Sun
Dim evening lights
Sleep
Activity
Low-intensity
Improve environment
And guess what? The lifestyle portion is always the hardest for me, but I practice it daily and am always improving.
When it comes to the AIP lifestyle there is so much to know, so much information and so much wisdom. It is called autoimmune protocol for a reason, and so if you do not have an autoimmune condition, I cannot fully recommend it for you. Why? Because it’s very limiting and super restrictive, and I believe that oftentimes this lifestyle leads down a dangerous path for those who don’t truly need it.
There are hundreds of ways to live a healthier lifestyle. Trust me! (If you need me to help you figure out what that looks like for you, see this.)
But for me, for now, this is where I’m at and what I’m doing with the hopes of healing even further and going into a deeper period of remission (because remember, we do not cure autoimmune with AIP or anything else like it).
Thanks for following this journey and allowing me to share my wild passions for true wellness and ultimate healing. My goal is always to help you on your own journey, to inspire you to live your best and healthiest life and to provide you with the knowledge and information that makes you succeed.
We are all in this together.
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Xox,
SKH
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