I am not a label

For those of you who know me well I have been embarking on a gut healing protocol journey for the past 6 weeks. The idea was to remove ALL sugar (including fruit), dairy, alcohol and grains from my diet. No fermented foods or many other foods that we deem healthy. Basically what was left was a selection of nuts, seeds, eggs, meat and vegetables (and even some of theses were off limits). It’s been a roller coaster of a ride. From the initial headaches as my body withdrew from ...sugar, to less energy, lethargy, then increased energy and feeling lighter and brighter. I have experienced the full range of emotions along the way as well...anger, frustration, confusion, depression, clarity, joy and happiness to list a few. It’s been difficult to eat out and friends have often struggled to understand why I have committed to such a strict protocol, so here are a few of the reasons why: I needed to set myself a challenge, something to adhere to, in order to get my eating back on track, I wanted to commit and have an accountability buddy who has been alongside me every step of the way (this has been crucial for without her I would have surely failed), I wanted to give my gut a rest from refined foods and other nasties which are generally quite minimal in my diet regardless, but nonetheless had and do creep in. I wanted to lose some weight in order to get to my ideal body weight and I wanted to curb the emotional eating patterns that so many of us fall victim to. As I said the journey has been full on and technically I still have 2 weeks to go but what I have learnt through all of this is a deeper understanding of what my body needs, and more importantly what it doesn’t. What my emotional eating triggers are, and that they don’t define me. And most importantly that I am not a label...I am not vegan, paleo, vegetarian, pescatarian, carnivorous, coeliac, intolerant or anything else. I am all of the above and none of them at the same time! I choose to eat to fuel my body according to its needs. I choose to eat locally and organically if I can and I choose to eat what I want when I need. I really do hope we begin to remove the labels that ultimately segregate us and begin to accept others for themselves and whatever and however they choose to eat!