“Lauren, what do you eat?”

I’ve had so many requests via email, Facebook and in blog comments requesting to see my daily menu, as well as what supplements I take and how I incorporate healing practices into my life. I’m more than happy to share what my typical meals look like, but I do need to preface it with a few disclaimers:

• This is what I eat and what is right for my body. This isn’t a template for what you should eat.
• Even though my colitis symptoms are under control, my body still has a TON of healing to do. I’m very limited in what foods I can tolerate because my small intestines are very inflamed.
• UPDATE: I’ve been following my adaptation of the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol recently, so this post is out of date. A better idea of my current diet is in my Paleo Batch Cooking Routine.

Morning

I wake up around 7:30 or 8. Then I slather my face with raw honey and leave on my honey mask while I make and eat breakfast. The first thing I do in the kitchen is to drink about 1/2 cup of filtered water with 1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar (read my detox post here for info).

For breakfast, I usually prepare a batch of butternut flatbread. Except recently, I’ve been using applesauce in place of the squash and I add a big pinch of cinnamon to the batter. YUM!

After breakfast, I wash the honey off my face. You can read about my DIY skincare routine and natural makeup favorites, if you are interested. Then I spend an hour on emails, blog social media, replying to comments, etc. I’ll work on either homework or blog stuff until lunch. Two or three days out of the week I have a mid-morning ballet class and that is quite the workout. I’ll sip my adaptogenic sports drink during class to help keep my hormones healthy.

Afternoon

For lunch, I usually enjoy a protein (wild salmon, some form of grassfed beef, eggs, pastured chicken). I’ll cook a roast chicken, a pound of salmon or beef every couple of days so I can have it for lunches and dinners. The preparation always includes healthy fat like grassfed butter or coconut oil and plenty of sea salt. I accompany it with a bowl of strained goat milk yogurt and a spoonful of honey or a fruit and yogurt smoothie (recently, I’ve been doing banana + mango + my homemade yogurt).

I also try to incorporate some form of liver once or twice a week, such as homemade paté or liver-and-beef-meatballs.

My homemade yogurt is one of my dietary staples. Because it is raw (not heated above 110 degrees) it is packed full of live and beneficial enzymes. Plus, it boasts a hefty dose of probiotics and bioavailable vitamins. It is also a great source of protein and healthy fats. For those of you who are not familiar with this SCD/GAPS yogurt, it is fermented for a full 24 hours, rendering it completely lactose-free and very digestible.

Then I get back to my computer (usually on my DIY standing desk) and start to chip away at my homework and blog projects. I’m taking online college courses and also a nutritional training program. When I need a break, I’ll bounce on my mini trampoline to get my lymph flowing. I’ll also snack on more yogurt or my adaptogenic sports drink or some fruit or something like that. Afternoons often include meetings with members of my nutritional training program and Skype visits with across-the-country friends.

Evening

We always eat dinner as a family when my parents get back from work. I cook a separate meal because I can’t eat what Mom, Dad and sister eat. Often, Mom will prepare a protein that I can have. I am not really able to tolerate raw vegetables and so I often have a really well-cooked veggie serving with lots of butter and salt. 

After dinner, if I have completed my (gosh-darned!) homework, my family will often watch a Netflix movie or take a short walk. (Or, if it is Tuesday evening, we’ll watch So You Think You Can Dance.)

I spend 20 minutes before bed doing some stretching and yoga to relax. I like to listen to an audiobook while I do it… audiobooks are the best thing ever! It is like story time for grown-ups.  And then I’m in bed by 10.

I forgot to mention that I also try to sip a bit of homemade, well-salted bone broth when I feel thirsty during the day. If I have my act together, I have a pot of bone broth brewing and some extra broth in the freezer. But I don’t *always* have my act together.

My daily supplements

I’m going to do a whole separate post later this month about the supplements I take, because I’ve been asked frequently about it. I do believe some carefully selected supplements are highly beneficial, especially when it comes to healing the digestive tract and inflammation.

So… that’s a typical day of what I eat and do. I hope it answered some questions for you. But please do not replicate my menu and think, “This is what Lauren eats so it must be the perfect diet.” Nope, that’s not how it works! We are all different and you have to tweak your healing diet to fit YOU.

As you may be able to tell from this post, I still have a LOT of healing to do. I’m super limited in what I eat and I have to make a conscious effort not to stress, overwhelm or exhaust myself. In particular, it’s difficult for me to travel and to eat at restaurants. Although my colitis symptoms are under control, my body is far from strong and healthy. It’s going to take years to get well, but I know those coming years are going to be brimming with new knowledge and valuable experiences. I hope to make enough healing progress in the next year so that I will be able to transfer to Bastyr University (a naturopathic college) in 2014.

Do you have any favorite “staple” foods or ingredients? Are you following a grain free diet or a healing diet of some type?