Diet Reflections.

I think the hardest part of changing your diet are the days leading up to the "change". When you think about how "difficult" it will be to change and how hard it will be to "live without ____" the dietary change just seems harder and harder to achieve. But let me assure you: when you take the plunge and make your dietary change, it won't be that bad!

Some examples: when I was a vegetarian, I always said that I'd never give up my cheese and sweets. But here I am, almost three years later, functioning quite fine without my once beloved dairy and eggs. Secondly, I eat toast every morning and when my ND asked me to go a month without wheat, I thought my mornings would never be the same. But here I am, over a month later, and I'll admit that I fared very well on spelt, sorghum, and brown rice breads. I actually enjoying my mornings more with these new types of wheat-less bread.

Some more examples: it took me a long time to finally convince my Mom to try two weeks of gluten-less eating, and after two weeks, she kept on truckin' with her g-free diet. Now almost two years later, she's doing swell without gluten in her life. I'm very proud of her commitment!

Even more examples: during my first week at CCNM, I met a classmate that ate very unhealthy. Her ND wanted her to try a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. She said no. But with time, she eventually decided to try the diet. Well, that diet's long gone and she is still eating brown rice pasta and gluten-free granola bars. Also, she is now in love with vanilla soy milk and chocolate almond milk. Slowly but surely she started making other dietary changes too. I now see her snacking on kale salads, loving camomille tea, and slathering her g-free flax seed bread with natural sunflower butter. She's come along way and she should be proud of her dietary changes (I know I am!).

The moral of this story: if you are experiencing a health condition that may be improved by a dietary change, it is only "scary" until you actually take the plunge!
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As an aside, I finished up my hypoallergenic diet almost a week ago. It's nice to have my allergen-foods back into my diet rotation, but I can't say I missed any of the foods too, too much. Since eating wheat again, I feel bloated anytime I eat. Since I am happy to eat wheat-free foods, I won't mind limiting my "sensitive foods" (including wheat) to only a couple of times a week.

As another side, I only have one more exam left to write. Weeee!