Thursday, November 14, 2013

My Journey to being HEALTHY!


Welcome!!!!

If you happened to land on my blog you are probably like me and living the good life (or not…haha…I couldn’t resist), looking for some delicious meals, or a combination of the two. Even if you are ‘gluten-deficient’ (not me…that’s for sure…haha) I can guarantee that you will enjoy these yummy recipes.

I have always been a ‘foodie’ and I love trying new recipes; however when I discovered that I couldn’t tolerate ‘gluten’ I shut down. I have been GLUTEN FREE for almost three years (but looking back I have always become ill after eating). About three years ago (and two other previous times) an extremely stressful period (GRADUATE SCHOOL…what? stressful?) of new responsibilities and a clinical internship created the perfect timing for me becoming sick….very, very sick. I will leave out the DETAILS but over a few months I lost weight, struggled with fatigue, couldn’t think straight, emotions ran wild, painful stomach upsets (use your imagination J), irritability, and the list could go on, and on, and on….

After repeated visits to the Gastroenterologist and Emergency Room and succumbing to the pokes and scopes (If you need to know about the tests…I literally have experienced them all…I even swallowed a PillCam!!!! J), I left with a BIG bill and was given a diagnosis: IBS-D. Hooray, I didn’t have anything life-threatening; however, I felt like it was a diagnosis that came with no answers. I did know food and stress were the culprits, so I began researching elimination diets (not for the faint of heart…that’s for sure). After eliminating every possible food and continuing the elimination diet for nearly 1.5 months, I finally felt….NORMAL….or at least that is how I describe it. For the first time in nearly 23 years I didn’t get stomach aches after every meal, fatigue decreased, irritability decreased (parents thank me all the time for this one J), getting enough sleep improved, and it goes on and on. Well now the real test began (so hold the applause…that was just the beginning); which food was the culprit? You probably know by now because of my opening line, but GLUTEN was the number one trigger for all of my symptoms.

You may be wondering how my Gluten Intolerance led me to writing a blog…. As I mentioned above, I am a ‘foodie’ (meaning just that; I love food). But when I was discovered that this little protein found in wheat, rye, barley, etc. was making me sick I ran from food, didn’t want to cook, and even was afraid to eat. This blog helped me two-fold: I learned to LOVE food again and it has helped my stress levels too (other trigger to my IBS-D). So with that, I leave you with a compilation of some of my favorite recipes as I make them and maybe a little more time permitting.

God Bless!

 

 

 

 

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