YES Foods- What are YES Foods?
I’m so glad you asked. YES foods are the foods that fuel us, that stabilize us, that heal us.
How do we find our YES foods?
It’s tricky. For me, personally, I always like to take things back to the Atkins Acceptable Foods for Induction list. When I eat from this list, although things feel limited, my body feels much much better. I know this because I have lived it.
That being said, I have reviewed a LOT of medical diets, mostly in horror. Heart healthy diets instruct the opposite of what my body has responded well to in the past. Lots of complex carbs. Lots of raw fruit that I don’t digest well. Lots of doctors that will just shove a food list at you having no idea what havoc it will wreak in your body.
I’m terrified of getting Heart Disease and being told to eat like this. I need to keep my carbs under 20g per day. Meat and fats don’t hurt me. Grains, root vegetables, several other categories of vegetable and all fruits DO hurt me.
I’ve lived the changes it makes. I know how severely my body punishes me for even considering the “better foods” above, much less the “best foods.”
How do I know what my YES foods are? Research, Experimentation, Documentation, Analysis, More Research.
According to HypermobilityClinic.org those with hypermobility syndrome should:
- Limit processed foods
- Limited saturated and trans fats
- Avoid sugar substitutes
- Consider going gluten free
Strangely, the Atkins diet agrees with all but the saturated fats bit.
I will continue to incorporate new knowledge into the plan as I encounter it as long as it doesn’t indicate that I should do things which I know do hurt me.
I’m still going to start with Atkins Phase 1, Induction, when I’m ready to fully jump in. For now, I’m going to implement little changes every day that get me closer to Induction. I’m hoping to be Induction Ready in July.
We will see how it goes.
Getting Started
If you don’t already have an idea of what the core of your “YES Diet” should be, explore which foods reliably feel safe. Be warned, this can be misleading. Frequently, I haven’t known that something was making me feel worse, until it stopped and I felt so much better.
Create a large enough list to build a one-week meal plan from.
Think of safe foods you can eat on repeat, with some variations. I can have salad every day, but one day it’s topped with hamburger patties: the next day it contains lunch meats and black olives: the next day it’s grilled chicken and sauteed onions. This can be simple AND doable.
The easiest way for me to think about the way I need to cook on induction is the SSSS Meal Prep Method. SSSS stands for Sunrise, Salads, Soups, and Stirfries. All enable me to blend the green vegetables I can tolerate, and need for vita-nutrients, with the meats that are the safest food for me. All three enable me to create a variety diet, that doesn’t become boring, from my list of YES foods.
Sunrise- Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach, mushrooms, Onion, Black Olives, Cheese (Yes please!).
Salads- I like a bed blending spring mix and chopped iceberg. Additions include Green/Black Olives, Pickles, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Celery, Zucchini, Onion, Mushrooms, Burgers, Bacon, Chicken breast, Pulled Pork, Lunch Meats, Fish.
Soups- Intense flavor and a budget saver! Chicken Leg Quarters, Shredded Beef, Pulled Pork, Ground Beef, Celery, Onion, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Spinach. Bacon.
Stirfries- Chicken Thighs, Diced pork, Shaved Beef, Bok Choi, Cabbage, Spinach, Snow Peas, Broccoli, Riced Cauliflower, Asparagus, Celery, Onion, Mushrooms.
I should give up coffee. I think I’m going to try this with 2 cups a day, one at home, and one at work.
I’m not going to monitor my diet soda intake. It doesn’t affect me, and I am giving up enough. (Oh, I really don’t like to think of this as what I’m giving up. So, I’m just going to let go of anyone’s criticism of what I think I should eat, because they aren’t in my body. I will be gaining so much as this improves my every day life. I know the food is amazing, and missing “what I’m giving up,” requires my feeling sorry for myself, and that works against all of this.
I will explain why I’m doing what I’m doing. I will not waste my time endlessly justifying what I need. For more on boundary work visit toxicitytoolkit.wordpress.com )
Also, water with water enhancer is still water. Full stop.
Start date pending.
Survivor Literacy 
What do you think?