The Art of Running in the Rain

I haven’t shared on the blog about the many digestive difficulties I’ve had throughout my life.  This is mostly because I hate when people talk about their ‘food issues’/intolerances when it hasn’t been asked for.  But, as this is such a big part of my life, and ultimately a major health issue I’m going through right now I thought I would divulge.

It all started when I was really little. When I was a baby my mom would feed me and directly following I would cry and cry and cry.  I won’t go into too many details, but since then my life has been fraught with digestive upset leading to nights of severe pain and difficulty sleeping.  At certain points in my life I could pinpoint the upset to dairy, but as time has gone on there is no clear connection.  I’m still trying to get to the root of many of these problems, and one way was to test for allergies.  I’m happy that there seems to be more money allocated to research in digestive sciences, but in all actuality it’s still not great.  There are blood tests for allergies, but they often provide false positives.  Doctors have what are called “food challenges” and those have been found to be fairly accurate when identifying allergies and intolerances. The challenges consist of ingesting the food that your concerned there is an allergy or intolerance toward and if there is no reaction, gradually increase the amount, if there is no reaction you are declared allergy-free.

Now graduate school created in me some OCD and scientific tendencies that lead me to do certain things in my life with as much structure as possible.  Because I see the flaws in the ‘food challenge’ described above, predominately the fact that you may have ingested other foods recently which could be causing the reaction, I have decided to embark on a more structured ‘food challenge.’  After much research, the Whole30 is the way I’ve decided to go.

I purchased the book this weekend and it has been so interesting, I’ve had a hard time putting it down.  In essence, for the next 30 days I will be eating whole foods consisting of vegetables, fruits, fats and proteins.  The idea (for me) is to rid my system of foods that I may be intolerant/allergic to, and the ten days following the program I will systematically re-introduce foods that are often associated with allergies/intolerances (e.g., legumes, dairy, gluten-free grains, grains containing gluten).  In all honesty I’m hoping to determine that it’s food related, because the other options don’t seem great

I’m in the process of ruling out any major ailments through medical procedures, but I know that if there is something medically wrong, then the Whole30 won’t hurt.

I’ve already done some food prep from the Whole30 book, I made my own ketchup and mayo, as well as a frittata (recipe to come).

I do feel a little nervous/excited.  I’m nervous because I’m very much a moderator, and I love occasional treats….donuts 🙂  Whenever I withhold food I’m taken back to a bad time in my life when I had disordered eating.  Because of this I’m going to proceed with caution and analyze only to a point that is enjoyable and rewarding.  I am very excited as well because I feel the Whole30 staples are in line with many of the foods I already enjoy eating.

My goal is to do weekly recaps on the blog, both to assess my progress (specifically how my stomach is feeling) and to maintain some accountability.  I also plan to share some of the recipes that I create during the program.  Hope you enjoy!

Be well.