Catch 22

Damned if I do damned if I don't. Since becoming ill my stomach has been dicey at best. When I very first got ill back in May I couldn't tolerate food at all. My acupuncturist put me on a diet of double boiled rice, which is plain white rice cooked twice. Boring as hell to eat but at least I could get something down. Slowly I managed to add a bit of chicken or salmon to it and some plain vegetables. I then graduated to a Japanese inspired broth that had rice noodles, stir fry vegetables and soy and lots of ginger in it. I craved ginger. I used it in every meal. I drank ginger ale. I wanted ginger. I'm not much of a ginger aficionado so this was a bit odd for me but whatever was driving this my stomach was just fine with it. After a few weeks I graduated to real food again. Plain chicken or fish with plain vegetables and rice based products. No dairy. I even switched to almond milk so I could eat rice cereal again. After a month or so I could tolerate yogurt and eventually milk in tea but not a lot. Today I can eat plain food. Night shade vegetables and dairy are still troublesome and I absolutely can't have spicy food.  I also have to avoid cinnamon and fruit drinks.  I am on a nice bland English diet.

This poses a problem. I'm tired all the time and often have no energy to cook. However, if I go out to eat I often end up spending the evening in the John afterwards. My digestive system just can't handle the food. I'm not sure if it is the extraneous wheat, the spices, the ubiquitous mashed potatoes that get served with everything. I just don't know what triggers it. I wish I had the energy to stay home and cook every night. I wish I had the money to hire a cook. I think a macrobiotic diet at this point would be a good idea. I just need someone to cook for me.  Eating out doesn't seem to be working out well for me unless I stick to boring salads.  I miss real food.