Eczema
Since I was 2 years old I suffered from eczema, my doctor at the time told my mum to cut certain foods like eggs and introduce them to me slowly, which my mum did. In my teens my eczema would flare up every now and then, and I would go on different creams and medication to make it feel and look better.
Alopecia
One day my mum was combing my hair and she noticed a massive bald patch in my head! She was so freaked out she started to cry and took me to the doctor. It turned out to be alopecia, which my doctor blamed on stress at that time. Seriously stress at age of 13? What for that cute boy in my class? I don’t think so.
Anyways I used steroid creams initially, but as soon as one patch disappears another appears and the cycle kept going. My doctor then recommended injecting steroids on my scalp and believed that it was a better options after trying out different creams, however it didn’t work for the long-term. Hair grew for a while but then another bald patch would appear somewhere else. Anyways I had enough after a year or two and I told my mum that I didn’t care if I lost all my hair. I was sick and tired of being treated for something doctors didn’t even know the root cause of it – they still don’t by the way! I do not believe stress causes alopecia, it certainly affects it and makes it worse but it is not the root cause in my opinion. If it was we would all have alopecia at least once in our lives!
My Weight Battle
When I was 14 I had my appendix removed! It was the best thing that ever happened to me, I’ll come to why in a second but first let me tell you what happened few days before that… My family and I were away at relative’s house that weekend. The first night I was in so much pain, but my mum did not take any notice, since I was a chubby kid and always ate too much my mum’s advice was “stop eating!”
I’ve always been a strong kid (and currently a strong woman!) so I dismissed the pain and played with my cousins until she kicked me on my tummy, the right side (where my appendix was!!!) that’s when I had to stop playing and I went to sleep! Next morning, I could not stop throwing up, my mum was so convinced I ate too much she continued not to take notice (please don’t hate her – she learnt her lesson). Anyway on the 2nd night, my mum had enough and my brother took me to the hospital which is when we realised it was my appendix and I was rushed into surgery.
Why it was the best thing that happened to me? Well, I lose 5kgs whilst staying in the hospital for 2 weeks, and when I went back to school, PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICED me as the pretty girl! Those 5kgs, fell off my body and face and people were actually able to see my long eye lashes now! 🙂
Anyway since then, losing weight was my goal, it started off being “healthy” where I was cutting DOWN on the junk, like chocolate, frizzy drinks and sugars and exercising every day, to cutting out pretty much everything except 5 apples a day! I loved how I was not the fat girl any more, people wanted to know my secret, people admired me for how much weight I lose I just could not eat food any more! Along with the 20kgs I lost, my period was gone too! It stopped for 9 months and that’s when I knew Sh** went down! My dad took me to the doctor and the doctor basically said, “if you keep going you won’t be able to have kids”! By the way, I never wanted kids, I still don’t but I do want to be able to! Who doesn’t right?!
One night my mum offered me a cake and literally begged me to eat it, I did and since then I just could NOT stop eating! I literally put on all the weight I lost gradually and I just could not lose it – at all! Until 18/19 years of age I battled with my food addiction. I went from the chubby kid, to the health expert to the fat girl again! Skinny was just not meant for me…… But I wanted it soooo badly! I didn’t care about my hair, my skin, my health I just wanted TO BE SKINNY!
Acne
When I was 17, I was diagnosed with acne. GREAT! Life keeps getting better for me! Anyway since I also wanted to take contraception pill my doctor recommended “Dianette”. Which was great, as it prevented me from getting pregnant and cured my acne – well at that time I believed it cured it! Fast forward summer 2012 my face flared up big time! OMG I looked like a monster, my face looked burnt – I am too embarrassed to share pictures but I do every time I share my story with a friend – to prove them that healthy food was my medicine! Anyway, it came out from nowhere, my face was red, flaky, swollen and super dry. So I went to the doctor and guess what? She said I had acne! I was furious, seriously acne??!! What I had was seriously not acne, it was an allergy, a reaction to something, my body was screaming “HELP ME”! This was definitely not acne! Anyway that’s when I knew I was alone in this journey, I had to figure this one out by myself I could not rely on any doctor to figure out my OWN body.
After trying out different creams and cutting out different foods from my diet, I decided to go Gluten Free. No sure why or how I figured it out but I soon realised it was the best thing I ever done. Instead of going to the toilet (to poop) once every 2-4 days I would do it at least once every 2 days! Not great but I could see an improvement. I also lose weight of course, but hey being gluten free is NOT a DIET for me! It was a lifestyle and I knew it from the moment I experienced that nice poop I had to change my eating habits! Sorry I talk too much about poop, but seriously you need to examine that stuff, because it can tell you a lot about your health!!!
Anyways it’s been over 3 years since I went gluten free and it is one of the best thing I ever did. Along with other changes and things I added to my lifestyle (which I will share in a later post) my overall health has improved significantly. I am not Celiac, but I do know for sure that I am intolerant and many other people are too – they just need to experiment and figure out what is best for their OWN body. Maybe gluten isn’t your problem, maybe its diary? Several studies have shown a link between dairy and acne. But don’t cut it right away if you have acne, it might not be the cause of it. I personally found that coffee caused or made my acne worse. Something about coffee, NOT energy drinks, NOT caffeine pills, but coffee specifically! It still puzzles me until now, but as soon as I cut coffee for only 2 weeks my skin cleared up and my migraines were gone!! For the first time ever I knew what it felt like to go through my day without a migraine!
Anyways, I think I may have shared too much about my health and illnesses but my point is that it was food that saved me! Cleaning, detoxing and just looking after my gut (still work in progress) is the reason why I do not suffer from acne, eczema, migraines, constipation, fatigue and bloating anymore! And in this blog I will share with you how I did through my recipes and tips that worked wonders for me 🙂
Check out My Transformation page !
Have a great day everyone X