Food

I've been exploring the idea of understanding my body and what makes it feel badly.  Last year I paid a lot of money to go to a holistic naturopath.  First he did a preliminary body test to check sensitivities, weight, fat %, etc.  Then he sent me home with a hormone saliva test, and a strict diet of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, along with a cleansing drink to use three times per day.

Prior to this, my diet consisted of proteins (mostly meat), grains (mostly breads), potatoes, and some fruit.  Oh..  and Diet Pepsi.  That's it.  The diet part was going to be rough.  None of those things (except maybe some potatoes and some fruit), no soda, no milk, juice, or any other palatable drink.  Strictly water, and this nasty cleansing drink.

But, like I said, I had paid a lot of money, so for 3 months, I did as instructed.  I felt completely weak and without energy after 6 weeks, so I added eggs and a small amount of meat to the diet as a source of protein.

I felt really good.  I don't think I noticed it right off the bat, but eventually I did.  Especially after I completed the 3 months and decided that as healthy as that probably was for my body, I could not live like that long-term.  So, I started adding things in, one at a time.

I realized almost immediately that sugar was the source of my migraines.  It wasn't until I had a chocolate chip cookie, and had a migraine within 5 minutes that I realized that I hadn't had a single migraine the whole time I had been on the diet.  Prior to that, I had been getting them pretty regularly, at least 3-4 times per week.

I did the same thing for other foods, little by little.  I realized I am probably lactose intolerant, because milk gives me terrible gas.  I think I'm also gluten intolerant because any amount of bread makes me feel bloated, and gives me abdominal pain.

I haven't done any actual tests, although I have found a website that will test for all of those things, along with some others.  I think I eventually will, when I can justify the cost.  However, even still, knowing what I know, I try to avoid those food types.

But...  no dairy, no sugar, no gluten??  What else is there?  What am I supposed to eat!?!

And with that, I find it very hard to stick with it.  How does one go forever without eating a cheeseburger?  And let me tell you, a cheeseburger isn't a cheeseburger without the bun!  And besides that, now that I'm constantly thinking of food, what I can and cannot eat, I can't stop eating.  Even if it isn't something I shouldn't be eating, the fact that I'm eating constantly is making me gain weight at a considerable rate.  None of my clothes fit.

So I have to figure out how to come to terms with this, and come up with food choices that I LIKE, or just accept the fact that I will always feel yucky.  Before going on the diet I didn't realize there was any other way to feel, so maybe it's not so bad!