How do you eat healthy?

I hear you on this. I too am dieting and really have a hard time if I eat too many fruits or any uncooked vegetables. What I have done is just really cut down on portion size. I eat cereal with strawberries for breakfast or yogurt with strawberries (I'm not having a problem with them but I do if I'm flaring). Lunch is one of the diet meals from the grocery store and dinner is whatever I make for the family but alot less. I eat pretzels or popcorn for a snack and at night I eat an ice cream sandwich or frozen yogurt bar both only have a hundred to a hundred fifty calories. If I want chocolate or a cookie I have it but I don't go crazy. Its had to be a lifestyle change. My husband also got me a exercise bike at the beginning of January and I was riding it 6 days a week but now I'm doing it 4 days a week for 45 mins to an hour. I've lost 22 pounds and want to lose another 15-20. Good luck...its a hard road especially if your not feeling great. Some days are much harder than others but if I have a bad day its ok. Tomorrows another day.

I can't eat broccoli either, or shelly beans just green beans. It took me a year to find out what my colon tolerated and then another year of following that list. Now after 2 years my colon is healed enough that I can add more foods back in. I cannot give you a list of foods that your colon will tolerate, that's between you and your colon.

The fact is that SCD is a healthy diet, whether you have IBD or not. Removing starches, gluten, most dairy and sugar will create a healthy body and is easier for most UC'ers to digest. And Paleo is pretty close to SCD and is healthy too. You seem to be resisting them but are not happy with your veggie diet so all I can say is listen to your gut, keep a journal and do it your own way.

Try cooking your vegetables thoroughly. I've even known people who pureed them to help break down the fiber. Beans and cruciform veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc.) may be off your list for while, though. They're known for creating gas and causing problems in many people with IBD. Fiber is your culprit. Even now, in full remission for years I can't eat bran cereals or shredded wheat because they cause me problems.

I'd try the popcorn snacks very carefully, because the hulls on popcorn bother a lot of us.

I think you guys are missing the point when I say I'm not interested in a special diet -- I say "I can't eat broccoli" and the response is "so don't eat rice either"?

I want ideas of what I *can* eat not more of what I *can't*. Everything you read everywhere about a healthy diet says "eat more veggies" so unless there's a special UC no-veggie diet I don't know about... I'm wondering what healthy food is likely to be safe.

Pureed is a good idea though, thank you. I can make soup!

If you say you are ok with salads, just look what they are made of. Salads, I get it. But some raw carrot, a little of celery root, cucumber (maybe not the healthiest one, but still some veggie), tomatoes (try them peeled, if seeds bother you, blend them and make a home raw tomato sauce). Spinach; you can eat it raw, or make a delicious sauce from it.
If broccoli, asparagus etc give you a trouble, try to avoid them in your soups or pureed sauces. You can try some zucchini, squash, pumpkin. Add some parsnip; if you are unable to get a parsley root into your soup, boil a parsnip. It is sweet and a little tangy when boiled. I like it
If beans are off - have you tried lentils? Those sometimes are easier for the guts than "regular" beans, even green bean.
If raw carrots are off, puree or steam them. Raw carrots can make you go, when boiled usually make it harder to go.
I would suggest also beetroots, but you have to try with them on your own. Boiled usually makes you go, sometimes even cause a light D. But not for myself, and I love them. So, try them.
As for potatoes. They are not so bad, especially baked. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2770/2

I am a soup advocate. I love soups, not all of them of course. I grow up eating them, learned how to make them from a scratch. My family like to eat soup as well. If my kids were a little more into sauces and purees, I would make a lot more purred soups. But, since they don't like thick stuff, for a time being I'm stuck with chunky soups.

Hope it helps!

Steamed Pumpkin (and carrot and/or Caulifower if you like) with slow cooked/roasted chicken with chicken stock (home made) soup is one of my go to meals.

I make it into a broth, puree the steamed pumpkin and veg (1-2 cups), mix it in a saucepan with the chicken stock (about 1 cup of liquid chicken stock), add some of the soft slow cooked meat from the chicken and then heat it up, once it's steaming hot, crack an egg into it stir it around (breaking up the yolk) for a few seconds and the egg will cook almost instantly. Take it off the heat pour it in a big soup bowl = pure tasty nourishment. You don't have to puree the veg if you don't want you can just have small bits of steamed veg.

Egg (2 eggs) + steamed pumpkin (1/3 cup) + nutbutter (2 tbs) pancakes is another one of my favourites at the moment. Just mix it all up (you don't need the nut butter either) and gently fry in a pan using either butter or coconut oil. YUM.

Post Edited (Jimbo NZ) : 5/8/2012 11:20:01 PM (GMT-6)

This is what I've just made for supper (mid flare):

Minty Pea Soup
500gms frozen minted peas
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 liter chicken stock (could also use clear broth or consommé)

Place stock, peas and diced potato into a pot. Simmer until potato is cooked. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Blitz with handheld blender (or just put in blender) until smooth and there's no lumps. Water down with hot water if too thick. Swirl through natural yoghurt ( or cream) and eat.

Very simple, healthy and doesn't upset my tum.

Iceburg lettuce KILLS me but I really have no issue with Romaine. But I totally understand the frustration....it's like, maybe I should just live on air?? I am still on a restrictive diet but now that I am in remission, I can eat more fruits and veggies than before. You just have to find what you can tolerate and what you can't. We are all so different. But don't give up on trying to get the fiber in any form you can. I avoided fiber for years, including supplements, because it would make me soooo much worse and the end result of avoiding fiber for over 15+ years is that now I have to deal with Diverticular disease.

Hoshi: start keeping a food journal. If the food doesn't bother you, keep eating it. If it does, don't eat it.

What works for one, might not work for another.

Beans are legumes, not vegetables. To be considered "healthy" on the diets that allow them, they should be soaked before eating to remove the phytic acid. There are different protocols for soaking beans depending on the type.

One thing that may help you eat the cruciform vegetables is chewing them more thoroughly. I find that helps me a great deal. The juicing suggestion is a good one if even that doesn't agree with you.

As for not wanting to follow a special diet, everyone follows a diet. You just have to find what works for you.

Seems to me you have a probably with veggies that commonly cause gas. This is fairly common. These veggies can cause gas and discomfort which is exaggerated in someone with an already irritated digestive tract. with Since you know you have an issue with them, avoid them until you're in a good, solid remission. I would also avoid cauliflower, brussels sprouts and other cruciferous veg if you're having issues with broccoli. Basically if you notice anything bothering you, cut it out til you heal. I have to do this with spinach, as much as that pains me (I love spinach, but it hurts so much!). Do any other veggies bother you?

Sweet potatoes/yams are absolutely good for you! And gentle on the stomach. Potatoes are ok, but I count them as starches nutritionally. Since you say you're not on a special diet I'm assuming you're not veg or vegan. You might do well with a chicken cacciatore recipe (brown chicken in a pan, saute sliced/quarted mushrooms, garlic, onion and bell pepper, add chicken back with canned tomatoes (plum plus crushed workes great) and herbs (basil, oregano, parsely) and simmer until falling off bone and serve over rice or pasta. My fiance and I love to cook so I'd be willing to help find other healthy recipes that work around your sensitivities.


"To be considered "healthy" on the diets that allow them, they should be soaked before eating to remove the phytic acid. There are different protocols for soaking beans depending on the type."
How do you cook dry beans without soaking them? Isn't that a required step to not feel like you're eating, say, many tiny rocks? I didn't realize that people ever skipped this step.

Most beans you buy canned or prepared are not soaked properly before preparing them. I'm talking about 8-12 hours in most cases. Some protocols call for rinsing and re-soaking at least once during that time frame in addition to a final rinse at the end. The soaking I'm talking about doesn't refer to the fact that they are in water when you cook them. I'm talking about the prep.