For a very long time I have struggled with acid reflux. My mom had it, my grandma had it, it was something that runs in the family. I accepted it and took medicine when I needed it.
Over the past year, I’ve had a whole new world of flair ups. Enter: Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Once again, it runs in my family. I’m the fourth generation. So I accepted that I would need to need TUMS on hand as well as medicine like Gas-X and Pepcid.
Three months ago, my stomach entered a stage of constant bloating and constant discomfort. I just accepted this and kept going on with life. But I also became insanely tired. At this time my mom encouraged me to do the Whole 30 with her in January. I reluctantly agreed to do it.
One month ago I began experiencing actual pain in my stomach and other areas of my body. At this point, I decided that enough was enough. It was time to accept that I needed to make some changes. I decided that my mom was probably right seeing as the Whole 30 radically changed her life. I decided I also couldn’t continue to live with pain and discomfort until January.
Starting Monday, November 30, 2015, I will be doing the Whole 30 with a FODMAP diet adaption. FODMAP’s are foods that trigger flair ups in people with IBS and a few of them are acceptable on the Whole 30.
The Whole 30 is an eating guide that allows your digestive system to reset and heal from the flair ups it has endured over time. During this time I cannot have grains, alcohol, sugar, legumes, dairy, or peanuts. This is a very clean way of eating and it is supposed to be a miracle worker for people with IBS.
I’m writing this post to ask for support from all of my friends and family. This will be hard some days, especially the first week. It is a 30 day process. And I want to be all in. I want to allow my body to heal so that I can function in life without pain.
If you see me fighting to stay away from sweets or carbs, please give me words of encouragement and remind me why I’m doing this. If you see me looking defeated, remind me that at the end of this, it will all be so worth it. On days that I’m doing absolutely fantastic, let me know!
I hope that this journey that begins on Monday will encourage someone out there. Also, if you decide you want to join me at some point, please do! I would love to have all the support I can get!
Ms. Graciebelle
Tea & Marigolds 