The Reluctant Raw Foodist

 … are what greatly contributed to my  ill health.

During my teens, while at school, I declared myself to be a vegetarian and I went through  a stage of eating very little other than liquorice and drinking black coffee all day and then eating some vegetables at night. I was very thin. I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder but I definitely had one. 

Things changed and in meeting my first husband and cooking for all the students in our house my eating habits changed and I ate more and felt better for a time.

I had taken a lot of my symptoms for granted during my teens. I thought the diarrhoea and other symptoms were normal. My depression was put down to being a teenager and I reacted very badly to the contraceptive pill which I took for horrendous period pain.  

My symptoms got worse over the years. I consulted doctors and dieticians who advised me that I must eat from all the so called food groups.

Everyday I used to consume milk and cheese (favourite foods!) and most days I ate fish, meat and eggs and I regularly consumed quantities of coffee and tea. At several times in my life I returned to eating as an ovo/lacto vegetarian but when I left off meat and fish I increased the eggs and cheese. Caffe latte became my favourite drink after a workout. Sometimes I would have two  - after all, I had worked out very hard!.  I could not drink a lot of alcohol but I loved what I did. I loved sweet things and regularly succumbed to a chocolate bar or a piece of cake. I loved bread but I loved it more when covered in butter and cheese or peanut butter. Oh and marmite! I was a marmite baby!

Over a period of time I grew fatter and fatter and more and more miserable as all my symptoms worsened and then my hair started to fall out. My joint pain and body ache became acute and my energy levels were unstable. I became increasingly stressed out and tired. Tired to my bones. I struggled with increasing depression and the feeling that my body was out of control.  I reacted adversely to common chemicals and my skin would throw out sudden rashes with no warning.

I tried a number of so called diets…  When I went to Weight Watchers I tried WW sweets which contain a sugar substitute. I was so dizzy after eating a few sweeties and my already bad IBS symptoms immediately worsened! 

I used to think I could exercise it all off. How wrong I was. I could not outrun my ever increasing ill health.. It was a lot faster than me ….