"Tweaking my diet"

For those of us who suffer through the debilitating symptoms of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), I would like to gripe a bit about my condition. I have been suffering now for about 24 years and it has either been really good for me or really bad. People say that you have to be positive in situations of illness and I have been trying my darnedest to be as positive as one can, with excruciating bouts of spasms and not to mention the ever-increasing roller-coaster of toilet activities. I am so over this condition that I am truthfully saying I am clinically depressed!

For those who want to judge me in that statement; to hell with you! You have no idea what I have been through. I have been on a eat 6 meals-a-day diet, I have been on a lactose-free diet, I have been on a gluten-free diet; I have had a colonoscopy  and an gastroscopy and now I am tweaking my diet again and are on the FODMAP diet.

I am sure those who have IBS understand what this entails, but for those who don't FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligo-saccharides And Polyols. So what the hell does that mean? These are sugars that can be poorly absorbed. They are found in a wide range of foods and include:

* Fructose in excess of glucose (found in fruits and honey).

* Lactose (found in milk and milk products).

* Sugar Polypols such as sorbitol and mannitol (found in some fruits and vegetables and often 

    added  as artificial sweeteners).

* Fructans - fructo-oligosaccharides or FOS (found i wheat, rye, onions and garlic).

* Galacto-oligosaccharides or GOS (found in legumes such as chickpeas).

Now that seems a lot to take in but what that means is my diet is crap and I have to cut out anything worth eating. 

So, from now on in I cannot eat chocolate (Oh my favourite thing in the world), cheese ( Oh tasty is the best), and many fruits and vegies I love such as watermelon, apples, asparagus, pears, plums, cauliflower and mushrooms. The most thing I will miss is bread containing wheat, gnocci ( Oh no not the gnocci!), pasta and crackers and this is only a small amount of things I will have to give up. 

You will now find me in the health food section of my local supermarket trying to find anything that contains none of the above FODMAP's. Yes that is almost impossible but that is where I will be. 

Tweaking my diet is the only way I can gain back my life; if I can remember what that looks like!

For all those FODMAP-PERS out there, I know how you feel. If you all have any advice for me or some excellent recipes, please send me the links. I will need all the help I can get.

  

Tweaking My Attitude

What can I say to those friends who took the time to follow my blog. It isn't a blog or at least it hasn't been a blog, instead it is some random girl who pops up every year and rambles on for several paragraphs. Guess what I am doing it again. I am sorry! I have neglected my duties as a blogger and have now decided to pull up my boots and get cracking. I have several reasons for not blogging but I am sure you do not want to hear them Or do you?

1: Laziness seems to creep up on you when you least expect it.
2: Laziness seems to creep up on you when you least expect it. Oh! I have already said that. Well it is true, I have neglected you all because I simply could not be bothered writing anything for what has been a year. I have officially lost my will to write and I do not know how to get it back.

Writing websites claim that you have to keep forcing yourself to write anything, even if it is only a sentence a day. Well I am starting to think they are right because it is like anything, if you do not practise you lose the ability to do it.

You are probably wondering why it is has taken me so long to recognise that I have been my own worst enemy. It is simple:  The ability to deny. Yes I have denied that I have a serious problem with procrastination. I think my internal dialogue is faulty and for that reason I am making it my excuse.

University taught me a lot BUT not exactly what I needed it to. It taught me to be organised. I have always been organised so that wasn't a hard lesson to learn. It taught me to research. Yes I can do that. It taught me to be proactive in my own goals. Well that says it all doesn't it? I haven't been proactive because I just haven't. I somehow lost my way and I hope that you all can help me get right back on the path or should I say on the horse.

So, on a positive note I have decided that it is time to stop wallowing in my own self-pity and write something for me, NOT for you or the reader (as they are always telling us) but for me. For my sanity because if I do not do this, I will be forever angry at myself.