Taking it back a few years…

No, there won’t be any pictures here. Not because I’m embarrassed to share them- I always love a good laugh at the styles and the silly things I did- but because they are all packed away and it is much too late to be shuffling through boxes in the attic.

But on a more serious note – I want to talk to you today about a recent experience I had. It brought me to tears. Not because I was sad or felt bad about myself, but because I felt so bad for the younger version of me. Confused? Let me explain.

I have a few food intolerances – milk and gluten. I eat a plant-based diet, so I don’t eat dairy, making it easy to avoid. Gluten, however, can be much trickier. Sometimes it sneaks in when I least suspect it. Sometimes in small doses, it doesn’t bother me. The latter was the case over the weekend. I ate a bite of falafel and several hours later I felt awful (I falafel?). We were heading out to dinner and I out on my jeans – the only clean pair, my smallest pair. My stomach already felt bloated and I had pressure down through my waist band into my pelvis. It’s unpleasant, but it happens when I eat gluten. While riding in the car, my pants felt really tight. I was super uncomfortable, and I realized – this is EXACTLY how I always felt as a child – from elementary into middle school. . My pants always felt too tight. I felt I was always gaining weight. I played outside, we ate “healthy”. It never made sense, but I was chubby and nothing fit. Then I realized something, and this is where my tears kicked in. Sitting there, feeling that uncomfortableness I hadn’t felt in years, I realized that I probably could have avoided a lot of heartache if I had just listened to my body. If I had learned to tell which foods made me feel sick. If I had known that stomachaches were not normal. Painful bellies were not normal. I felt sorry for the little girl that had to go through this without ever knowing it wasn’t her fault she couldn’t find pants that fit. It was her diet’s fault. Too much dairy, too much gluten, and WAY too much processed foods – fat free or not, they were processed.

In sharing this with you, I hope to shed a light on a very big, and very important, issue. You don’t have to be uncomfortable. You don’t have to feel heavy and bloated. You can use foods to make you feel good, rather than awful. You don’t have to deal with pains and stomachaches or huge amounts of other symptoms.

 

How? Eat more vegetables. Eat less processed foods. Eat more whole foods – even grains. Cut out wheat and dairy. Drink more water. Move your body. Listen to and tune in to your body. Know that not all mainstream ideas of “healthy” really are. There are so many different types of food intolerances that often go unnoticed, undiagnosed, and are not believed, but they can cause serious mental and physical discomfort. By looking deeper into your diet, and cutting out the things that cause these intolerances, you can feel lighter, freer, and happier.

I’ll be posting a lot on this topic throughout the week. Leave a comment below if you have ever suffered from a food issue and how you have overcome it. For more information, send me a message or leave a comment – we can always work one on one to relieve any digestive upsets you may be experiencing. (FYI, initial consultations are completely FREE and can be done over the phone or skype if you live far form me). Let your journey to pain-free eating begin today! For tips on how and why to Treat YourSelf, sign up for the weekly newsletter. And as always,

Peace and love,

Jessi