Hi everyone!

A few of you have been asking what my diet was like before all my digestive problems started. So I thought I would write this blog to show you my bad eating habits before I ‘detoxed’ in the hope that it might help any of you who might be going through the same problems I did, make some changes.

Before we begin you should know that I have always had intolerance to wheat and gluten but I never listened to it. When I was first felt an allergy to it ‘Gluten free’ products were not as easy to come by as they are today. I had to go cold turkey on them ALL but I would still crave non-gluten free foods such as bread, cakes and biscuits as they were in my head ‘off limit’ foods (don’t know about you but as soon as a food becomes off limits you want it even more…!) As a result I would still eat wheat and gluten every day.

My old diet:

Breakfast would be – Sugary cereal or Granola with semi-skimmed milk 2 cups of tea.

Snack- Chocolate bar and bottle of full fat coca cola

Lunch- would be a meal deal from Morrison’s, consisting of a sandwich, packet of crisps, chocolate bar and full fat coca cola

Dinner- whatever my mum had cooked for us which would be healthy but I would crave the cakes/biscuits in the cupboard and eat them for desert, or I would eat loads of chocolate that I had brought on the way home.

Coca cola was my best friend at this time. I needed it for energy to get me through the day, as I was always so tired from being bloated.

All this processed gluten food was not doing my gut or me any good. I knew I was going to make myself seriously ill one day if I continued like this.

I did not listen and continued eating the same until the summer of 2016 when my intolerances got serious. I was throwing up every day, had even less energy I was miserable and in a lot of pain. I knew I had done some serious damage to my gut health.

Indeed I had as I was diagnosed with IBS and a mild coeliac allergy…GREAT!!!

Making some changes:

If you are reading this and are having a ‘eureka moment’ right now then that is great. So many of us go through digestion problems but everyone tells us it’s ‘all in our head’ so we go on eating them until we do more damage then good. If I had listened to my body when I was first diagnosed with the intolerance and not listened to the people around me then I might not be a coeliac now.

I immediately got onto the web to see how I could cure myself without over the counter pills, I read about the benefits of being a vegan, the paleo diet even the cave man diet. But there was something in the protein fibres of meat that still made me sick so I decided to eliminate meat from my diet and it was back to square one…

I want to talk to you about a diet I came across that worked for me its called the ‘elimination diet’…sound familiar to any of you?

 

 Elimination diet:

The elimination diet is not as scary as it may sound it is actually very simple. This diet helps you to realise what foods are making you ill and what foods you can then ‘eliminate from your diet’. Its easy to get started, get a little pad of paper and jot down a few foods that don’t sit right with you at your meal times. My list was as long as my arm at first! But it helped me to recognise what foods were making me sick and then I knew what foods I had to avoid in general. Yours could be a wheat intolerance too or it could be a soy or lactose intolerance you don’t know till you recognise what it is.

Everyone’s bodies are different but if you can pin point yourself what does not digest well in you body then you can easily eliminate these foods and prevent serious health problems for the future.

My diet now:

I was now well equipped with the knowledge of what foods my gut could digest and what it could not, I had the tools I needed to change my life.

Breakfast is now- Glass of hot lemon water. A smoothie bowl or green smoothie, I use a mix of coconut milk and water. I also add Flax seeds and Chia seeds to my smoothies along with L-Glutamine powder to heal my gut.

Probiotic drink- very important must drink this for overall gut bacterial health as it will aid digestion!

Snack- Piece of fruit or coconut yoghurt

Lunch- Super food salad or a rice salad: which I fill with lots of raw and cooked vegetables. Adding salmon also for protein and it is a great source of omega 3.

Dinner- Salmon, potatoes and veg or I will add Linda McCartney sausages; you can also add chicken or lean beef if you know that does not affect you (meat for me does not sit well so I tend to only eat fish).

Since changing my diet:

This new diet plan to you may sound very simple and quite carb heavy but since stripping back my diet and eating intuitively I can not tell you how much happier I feel. I have lost a bit of weight gained so much energy and I am no longer bloated. I now do not reach for fizzy cola or coffee drinks for energy as I’m getting all the energy my body needs from the right foods instead.

It is great to be finally in control and I wish I had done this sooner.

Final note:

An intolerance is not in your head please don’t listen to people that tell you that it is. You know your body and when something is not right. Please listen to your body and maybe cut back a little on the foods that do make you sick.

Your gut health is very important for not only your digestive health but also for your overall mental health too.

I really hope this was an informative blog if you would like me to write more blogs like this please shout.

Lots of love

Charlotte xxx