24-Hour Urine Collection Diet (Day Three of Three)

It's safe to say that by day three, I was sick and tired of eating my 24-hour urine collection diet (as I've coined it). If you don't know what I'm talking about, then I strongly advise that you go back and read my blog posts part one and part two where I provide a detailed explanation. For your benefit, however, I will briefly explain.

I consulted my doctor about wanting to have my stress hormones tested, given that my health condition—pelvic floor dysfunction—has been doing such a number on my mental and physical well-being. The most effective way to do so, explained my doctor, would be through a 24-hour urine collection test. And so, I signed on; in doing so, I also signed on to a three-day-long diet. This diet completely restricted: bananas, plums, kiwis, caffeinated beverages, chocolate, vanilla, nuts (especially walnuts), avocados, tomatoes, and eggplants. These specific foods can skew the data, when testing for VMA, Metanephrines, and 5-HIAA; therefore, I couldn't eat them the two days before testing or the day of testing. Let's just say that by the time day three rolled around, I was dying for a banana... or chocolate... or an avocado.

Day three started like the first two days. What do I mean by that? I mean that breakfast was pancakes. Not just any pancakes. Oat/Coconut flour pancakes which contain: 1/4 cup of oat flour, 2 tbsp of coconut flour, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 tsp of baking stevia, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and a sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt. This day, I stuck to what I knew, when it came to toppings: Walden Farms cinnamon raisin "peanut butter." So light, fluffy, and—wait—not satisfying.

Lately, I've been doing this thing where I always follow breakfast up with what I call a "post-breakfast snack." It varies from day to day. On day three, however, it was something a little odd. As weird as it sounds, I mashed up a quarter of a large steamed Japanese sweet potato. And then, I mixed in half a serving or so of Yoso plain unsweetened coconut yogurt and half a scoop of Vega coconut almond protein and greens. It seriously reminded me of creamy coconut pudding! I ate the entire batch because #whynot?

As per usual lunch was oatmeal. Specifically, it was: 3/4 cup of quick oats, 1-1/2 cups of water, 1/2 tbsp of ground flax seed, 1/2 cup of riced cauliflower, some diced peaches, baking stevia, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and pink Himalayan salt. The toppings consisted of: more diced peaches, Walden Farms cinnamon raisin "peanut butter," hemp hearts, unsweetened shredded coconut, and black chia seeds.

Lunch was followed up by a serving of Yoso plain unsweetened coconut yogurt. Too, I made myself my daily hot coconut oil drink. By now, you should know the drill: 1 tsp of extra virgin coconut oil, 1 heaped tsp of decaf instant coffee, 1 tsp of Krisda stevia sweetener, a shake of pumpkin pie spice, and hot water. Perfection.

Shocker: Supper also wasn't a shocker. In other words, my first course was a large plate full of baby spinach, red delicious apple, pepitas, and prepared yellow mustard. And then, the main course was sautéed onion, garlic, celery, white mushrooms, green cabbage, red cabbage, and flaked light tuna (all cooked in turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and pink Himalayan salt), topped with a generous sprinkling of hemp hearts. I know you're all probably tired of hearing about it, but I wouldn't be eating nearly the same thing three days in a row if it weren't delicious. Also, just let me say that I know I shouldn't be eating a can of tuna on the daily. It's just that, with all of my cravings throughout the day, the only thing that really filled me up was a protein-packed can of tuna (packing in 30g, by the way). Now that this short-lived diet is done, I'll definitely be limiting myself a bit more.

Following supper, I wasn't quite full. I had eaten a fairly large portion, on this night. Still, I was dying for a chocolate protein bar or a store-bought coconut macaroon (all of which seem to contain either vanilla or chocolate flavouring, unfortunately) or something thick, creamy, and avocado-y. Sadly, I had to hold out with my dietary restrictions just a little bit longer. And so, after going back and forth between the pantry and the fridge four or five times, I settled on jazzed-up rice cakes. I've been focusing on limiting my grains lately, so this wasn't an ideal "dessert," in my eyes. However, I needed something to do the job of filling me up. That being so, I topped three brown rice cakes with a 1/4 scoop of Vega coconut almond protein and greens mixed with water, lots of hemp hearts, and a sprinkling of pepitas. And that was that.

In celebration of being done with this short-lived diet, I would like to say a few words of closing (because I'm a little over-the-top). I would, first off, like to thank Vega for making a protein powder that (as far as I could tell) doesn't contain vanilla or chocolate flavouring; I wouldn't have been able to do it without their product. Second, I'd like to thank Walden Farms for creating a faux peanut butter. Given that (1) I'm limiting my legumes (especially peanuts), (2) I couldn't consume nut butters, and (3) I was late to the game in remembering that Yoso makes a plain coconut yogurt, their product was an essential topping for my pancakes and oatmeal throughout these three days. Third, to whatever God or Creator there is, thank you for providing human beings with tuna, Japanese sweet potatoes, and all vegetables. Without them, I really don't know where I would be.