How can you take longer runs on an AIP diet?

Sjudit84 · October 2017

Hey guys!

So here's my story. I have been running on and off for 3 years now, slow runner, but a runner nonetheless.

About 5 years ago I started getting some symptoms, prick test showed nothing. I did an elimination diet and cut out gluten and dairy completely because they were causing major issues. It was hard of course, but what can you do...

About 2 months ago I went to a routine checkup to my family doctor who had my blood drawn and found that my liver enzymes were that of an alcoholic or drug user...she immediately sent me to the hospital. At the hepathology clinic they did all kinds of tests (drew my blood 8 times within a week) and had a stomach scan done (not sure what the expression for it in English). They saw that my gallbladder looks a bit longer than it should be and there is some fluid (gall) around it. They only saw really tiny, sandlike stones in it. My liver and pancreas seemed OK from the outside.
The doc said I should have my gallbladder taken out. BUT WHY? I never had any pain in my gallbladder!

I of course started to Google stuff, because I was sure my liver results had a connection to my gluten intolerance. Sure enough I have found a ton of articles and studies on this. But whenever I told the doctor about it, he rejected the idea.
I know docs don't like patients telling them what to do but I feel like autoimmune diseases and food intolerance is not taken seriously enough or is not a vital part of the curriculum.

Now my two theories were that either I was not doing my diet well enough or I was still intolerant to some other food I was eating, it just did not show strong enough symptoms like gluten and dairy did. I got really scarred that I had made huge damage to my liver or pancreas and it cannot be reversed anymore...

So anyway, I am scheduled to have an MRI scan in two weeks and another bloodwork and then I have to go back to the doc. But I don't think anything changed.

I went to a clinic and paid a lot of money to have a food intolerance test done, but people say the results cannot be trusted from that. It did not show any intolerance to gluten (which is a lie, I have strong stomachache and other issues the next day), but it did show dairy intolerance. Also it showed intolerance to eggwhites, soy, yellow/green peppers and apple. This boggles my mind! Apples? But nothing else.

So I kept trying to find something...something to help me. I have been getting stomachaches, which I did not have before. Before, if i messed up my diet, I had stomachaches in the lower ab area, but now I have around my lower ribs, so in the area of my pancreas, live and gallbladder. But I have never had huge gallbladder cramps like people, who cannot eat greasy food. My pain kinda comes and goes, it is mostly not strong pain.
But I am getting really freaked out...

So I have started the AIP diet 3 days ago. First two days i had a headache, just like when I stopped eating gluten and had withdrawal symptoms. I knew this would happen, but I thought I was "over it".

It seems not. I think my body got used to eating rice just like pasta and flour before. Also I think my body is crawing sugar as well. I read online that people substitute the "filling" carbs they had in the past with pumpkin and sweet potatoes. So I bought some today and will incorporate them more into my diet because I really missed that satisfied weight in my stomach that I cannot achieve with just meat and salad type of veggies.

Before this I was transitioning to being a vegan but had to stop it due to the AIP diet. I am also drinking bone broth.

It has only been 3 days so I am not sure if this is helping or not, but what can i lose? Other than my money, bcs it costs way more to buy so much food, because I consume more of vegetables than before. Anyway...

My issues is with exercise. Today I was supposed to have a longer day of running (I am preparing for a half marathon). Today 12 km-s were on the menu, and even though I ate a good amount of carbs beforehand so that my carb stock is there for energy, I still felt dizzy all the way throughout the run. If I did not look down on the road in front of me, I felt dizzy. so after 6 km-s I stopped because I was afraid I might collapse.

Is there anyone here who had these issues in the beginning? Will this get better and I should give me body time to adapt to the new way of eating? I thought I was already eating a lot healthier being gluten and dairy free, but it seems I was still somehow drugged by food...

I did a diary of my meals today to see if I was maybe not consuming enough calories, but it seems like I am doing OK.

Sorry, this became a long rant...I am just so tired of all this. All this autoimmune BS. People out there just enjoy their life and eat what they want while I am here, eating all healthy and exercising and still having health issues. Not fair.

LiftHeavyThings27105 · October 2017

@Sjudit84 - Dang! So very sorry to hear about this. Not sure that I can offer anything that benefits your specific issues. I am not familiar with the AIP Diet (I mean, I *know* what it is.....essentially a really controlled and restrictive Paleo-ish nutritional plan....I just don't have any real-world experience with it).

Your English is really really good. I would never have guessed that a "foreigner" (I guess that the PC term is "someone whose mother language is not English) wrote this post. I lived in German for several years after graduating from University here in the US and my German is dang good....but not as good as your English.

What I can offer is this......

Generally speaking, a Doctor (read: MD) is not going to be the best source of information when it comes to nutrition. Generally speaking. Have you considered speaking with a nutritionist? See how I am so willing to spend your money? LOL! I mean, it might be worth a shot.

And, not sure what the insurance is like in Romania (I have a buddy from Bucharest, so a bit familiar with your country) but I am guessing that it does not pay for this kind of thing?

Hopefully someone in this forum will have some real world experience with this and can offer some experiences based on his/her bout with the AIP Nutrition Plan.

Crossing my fingers for you! In German, I am pressing my thumbs! Yep, that sounds really funny translated from German to English!

Hamsibian · October 2017

You cut out a lot of things at once, so give your body time to adjust. Do some light exercises at first, then work your way up once you get hang of the food. and AIP doesn't have to be low carb. Sarah Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom, is anti low carb (barring any additional medical issues). It also doesn't have to be expensive - you're not eating out as much/at all, you don't need to buy the flours or bagged snacks, and go for local foods over organic, conventional produce is fine (check the dirty dozen if it's important to you). ALso, check the discounted section for meats. For instance, just yesterday I bought a local grass fed chuck roast at the co-op. Originally 9.99/lb, but it was on sale AND in the discounted section. I would have paid $6.70lb, which would have been an amazing price at that (I work there, so I also got an employee discount at $5.73/lb). You just have to be smart about your budget, and you'll end up saving money in the end.

It is a pain for sure, and I feel the same way you do at times. We have to work 100% more to try to feel better, but it's not going to happen over night. Focus on food first, then sleep and stress management, then exercise. I started AIP when I was bedridden, felt relief within three weeks, but could barely walk from one room to the next. I slowly worked my way up with exercise, and a year later I started weightlifting 3x a week. It's a learning process - things will get worse before they get better, but it will be worth it. If you are on FB, check out AIP Support.

Sjudit84 · October 2017

Hamsibian wrote: »

You cut out a lot of things at once, so give your body time to adjust. Do some light exercises at first, then work your way up once you get hang of the food. and AIP doesn't have to be low carb. Sarah Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom, is anti low carb (barring any additional medical issues). It also doesn't have to be expensive - you're not eating out as much/at all, you don't need to buy the flours or bagged snacks, and go for local foods over organic, conventional produce is fine (check the dirty dozen if it's important to you). ALso, check the discounted section for meats. For instance, just yesterday I bought a local grass fed chuck roast at the co-op. Originally 9.99/lb, but it was on sale AND in the discounted section. I would have paid $6.70lb, which would have been an amazing price at that (I work there, so I also got an employee discount at $5.73/lb). You just have to be smart about your budget, and you'll end up saving money in the end.

It is a pain for sure, and I feel the same way you do at times. We have to work 100% more to try to feel better, but it's not going to happen over night. Focus on food first, then sleep and stress management, then exercise. I started AIP when I was bedridden, felt relief within three weeks, but could barely walk from one room to the next. I slowly worked my way up with exercise, and a year later I started weightlifting 3x a week. It's a learning process - things will get worse before they get better, but it will be worth it. If you are on FB, check out AIP Support.

I am not eating low carb at all. I am actually eating more carbs than what is recommended by MyFitnessPal for a day. But the carbs I eat now don't seem to fill me up the same way rice, rice noodles, rice and corn flour and stuff like that did in the past. Tbh, the biggest thing I cut out was sugar and rice. I did not eat eggs and soy products that much and beans always made me bloated anyway...

Since going gluten and dairy free, I basically never ate out anyway, bcs most restaurants here in my country don't cater to that...and cross contamination was likely.

Thank you for the FB recommendation, I will for sure check it out! I know I am being too impatient, like always.

When did you start reintroducing foods btw? after how much time? And what could you reintroduce in the end?

sofchak · October 2017

As a runner with an autoimmune disease myself (psoriasis), I recall having issues when I initially experimented with my diet - not dizziness, but severe lethargy as early as mile 2 (when training for a marathon, that’s a scary thought).

Rest assured, experimentation helped solve the issue for me. I moved around meal times and really started focusing on when I was eating my starchy foods to maximize the value. I went on to run my first marathon, my first Olympic triathlon and my first ultra 50k this year after scrutinizing my diet and following through on appropriate changes.

I would say be patient - one bad run does not make a trend. Play around with the timing of your meals and journal how you feel when you run to look for what’s working and what isn’t.

Good luck!

Sjudit84 · October 2017

CWShultz27105 wrote: »

@Sjudit84 - Dang! So very sorry to hear about this. Not sure that I can offer anything that benefits your specific issues. I am not familiar with the AIP Diet (I mean, I *know* what it is.....essentially a really controlled and restrictive Paleo-ish nutritional plan....I just don't have any real-world experience with it).

Your English is really really good. I would never have guessed that a "foreigner" (I guess that the PC term is "someone whose mother language is not English) wrote this post. I lived in German for several years after graduating from University here in the US and my German is dang good....but not as good as your English.

What I can offer is this......

Generally speaking, a Doctor (read: MD) is not going to be the best source of information when it comes to nutrition. Generally speaking. Have you considered speaking with a nutritionist? See how I am so willing to spend your money? LOL! I mean, it might be worth a shot.

And, not sure what the insurance is like in Romania (I have a buddy from Bucharest, so a bit familiar with your country) but I am guessing that it does not pay for this kind of thing?

Hopefully someone in this forum will have some real world experience with this and can offer some experiences based on his/her bout with the AIP Nutrition Plan.

Crossing my fingers for you! In German, I am pressing my thumbs! Yep, that sounds really funny translated from German to English!

Thanks, that's nice of you to say! Learnt most from Cartoon Network, I used to watch a ton of TV before internet was a thing.

My mom was always angry at me but...at least something good came out of it!

Sadly the health insurance is very limited when it comes to gastrointestinal issues. I would need to consult a private doc for money for sure. Right now I am taking a break from work (as in, I am not working for a multi company that sucks the life out of me

) and would like to go abroad to work for a while but I can't leave until I know for sure what is up with me...who knows what kind of health insurance I had if I was abroad...

Danke für das Daumen drücken.

I have learnt German the same way I did English...

(too bad I cannot speak something more....popular, like French, Spanish or Mandarin

).

Sjudit84 · October 2017

sofchak wrote: »

As a runner with an autoimmune disease myself (psoriasis), I recall having issues when I initially experimented with my diet - not dizziness, but severe lethargy as early as mile 2 (when training for a marathon, that’s a scary thought).

Rest assured, experimentation helped solve the issue for me. I moved around meal times and really started focusing on when I was eating my starchy foods to maximize the value. I went on to run my first marathon, my first Olympic triathlon and my first ultra 50k this year after scrutinizing my diet and following through on appropriate changes.

I would say be patient - one bad run does not make a trend. Play around with the timing of your meals and journal how you feel when you run to look for what’s working and what isn’t.

Good luck!

Holy Molly, you are something! Congrats on achieving all these milestones! Thank you for the insight!

Hamsibian · October 2017

Sjudit84 wrote: »

Hamsibian wrote: »

You cut out a lot of things at once, so give your body time to adjust. Do some light exercises at first, then work your way up once you get hang of the food. and AIP doesn't have to be low carb. Sarah Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom, is anti low carb (barring any additional medical issues). It also doesn't have to be expensive - you're not eating out as much/at all, you don't need to buy the flours or bagged snacks, and go for local foods over organic, conventional produce is fine (check the dirty dozen if it's important to you). ALso, check the discounted section for meats. For instance, just yesterday I bought a local grass fed chuck roast at the co-op. Originally 9.99/lb, but it was on sale AND in the discounted section. I would have paid $6.70lb, which would have been an amazing price at that (I work there, so I also got an employee discount at $5.73/lb). You just have to be smart about your budget, and you'll end up saving money in the end.

It is a pain for sure, and I feel the same way you do at times. We have to work 100% more to try to feel better, but it's not going to happen over night. Focus on food first, then sleep and stress management, then exercise. I started AIP when I was bedridden, felt relief within three weeks, but could barely walk from one room to the next. I slowly worked my way up with exercise, and a year later I started weightlifting 3x a week. It's a learning process - things will get worse before they get better, but it will be worth it. If you are on FB, check out AIP Support.

I am not eating low carb at all. I am actually eating more carbs than what is recommended by MyFitnessPal for a day. But the carbs I eat now don't seem to fill me up the same way rice, rice noodles, rice and corn flour and stuff like that did in the past. Tbh, the biggest thing I cut out was sugar and rice. I did not eat eggs and soy products that much and beans always made me bloated anyway...

Since going gluten and dairy free, I basically never ate out anyway, bcs most restaurants here in my country don't cater to that...and cross contamination was likely.

Thank you for the FB recommendation, I will for sure check it out! I know I am being too impatient, like always.

When did you start reintroducing foods btw? after how much time? And what could you reintroduce in the end?

Sorry, it was really early when I responded. I missed some important stuff regarding the carbs. My bad!

You will have to play around with your macros and timing of meals and snacks to see what satietes you more. MFP is just a guideline, but upping protein in the morning has been a huge game changer for me.

I felt relief on AIP within 3 weeks, but it was almost a year this April that I reintroduced eggs. It's the only thing I have reintroduced so far, but only because I had a lot of outside stuff to deal with that the stress was enough for my body to take. I also traveled recently, and knew that some of the food I ate was cooked with canola oil. At this point in my healing, I can be more relaxed about that stuff without major impact. Now that things are more stable, I am going to try reintroducing green beans and some seed spices next.

And one bad workout is okay. My lifting today was pretty rough, and I imagine the poor sleep I had the night before affected it. Go easy on yourself, and like I said before, focus more on food and sleep atm. Everything else will fall into place.

How can you take longer runs on an AIP diet?

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