A (Hopefully Temporary) New Way of Life

After a visit to my wonderful doctor (not kidding, I really do love her!) I am now on what is technically called an elimination diet.  I call it the "eat nothing that tastes good" diet.  In an effort to get to the root of some of the health problems I have been having, I have to spend 4 weeks NOT eating the following:

Oranges and orange juice, all dairy and eggs, wheat, corn, barley, spelt, kamut (don't even know what that is), rye, pork, beef/veal, sausage, cold cuts, hot dogs, shellfish, any soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, corn, butter, margarine, shortening, any processed oils, salad dressing, spreads, alcohol, coffee, soft drinks, refined sugar, white/brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, chocolate, ketchup, relish, chutney, soy sauce, bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.  Bored yet?

Did you know that baking powder usually contains corn starch?  That the vinegar in ketchup, mayo and mustard is usually made from wheat or corn?  Canned tuna often has soy in it?  I know that now.

I'm not going to kid you, this is hard.  Thankful I like grilled chicken and veggies and rice.  I'll be expanding my (non-yogurt based) smoothie menu and reintroducing myself to my juicer, if only for the sake of variety.  Wish me luck!  At the end of the 4 weeks I reintroduce each type of food, about 1 new one every 3 days, to test for reactions.  I've got a bad feeling about dairy.....