Hello, this post is intended to cover my tips with the Autoimmune Diet (for reference: https://www.healthline.com/health/aip-diet) and how to fit it in a frugal lifestyle. I hope it will help people with autoimmune diseases that are thinking into getting in the diet, and it has helped me to eliminate lots of symptoms:
- Protein: discounted frozen meat is a staple. Ideally also organ meat (but I am one of those oh no, tastes horrible people). I cook it in batch, portion it and put it in the freezer what I cannot cook on the day. Standard frugal advice, but for some reason lot of people have no clue about this.
- Best carby alternative: sweet potatoes or pumpkin/squash. You can cook them many different ways (mash, oven, baked in a ratatouille style dish) and season them. They last at least 4/5 days when cooked, so you can prepare 5/6 potatoes or alternatively a medium squash and you are covered for 3 days at least.
-Fat: Extra virgin olive oil. I know it is not the best for frying technically, but it has a great nutritional profile and if cooking at low/medium heat or in a slow cooker, works well.
- Breakfast: it is tough given the choices of food allowed (no egg, grains etc). I personally have 2 pieces of fruit and it works well for me. You can also have bacon with sweet potatoes and it is a luxurious breakfast :) Just try to find something that you can stick to. The diet is very tough at the beginning so finding a good balance in taste and time making it is crucial. That way you will avoid spending money out because you are perfectly planned.
- Avoiding sugar: it will become natural. I saw how much money I was saving avoiding it, and things started tasting even better. I stopped having sugar cravings within the first week. If you stick with it, you will feel it too. And it is awesome!
- How to cope with cravings: to me, the diet did so good, that I do not buy or even try anything I am not allowed to. In my mind, some of those foods may cause me those nasty side effects that disappeared with their elimination. So I just don't consider them anymore. I used to love chocolate and all sorts of sweets, and now it feels like I am completely detoxed. And that helped to save SO MUCH MONEY. On this diet, I spend about 8/10 dollars per week (fresh vegetables, discounted meat, home supplies).
If you have any questions let me know. I suffer from Hashimoto's.
September 25, 2018 at 09:33AM
