Celebrating one year of LCHF. As today has already started in some parts of the world I will post this blog for my tomorrow. 

ONE YEAR OF LCHF TODAY
I had more than one thing wrong because of what I was eating

Julie’s Blog 17/4/2017

Yeah! This time last year I started my new “Way Of Eating’ (WOE). I had been sick with IBS for many years and three months earlier I’d had a blood loss that had got me really worried. After a bowel scan where nothing was found to be wrong I thanked my God and then asked the doctor what do I do now? I was almost agoraphobic about going out for fear of embarrassing accidents, my intestines were always in a state of inflammation and painful and I was overweight just tipping the BMI at obese! And this IBS had been going on for some 40 years with no help from five operations in the area. But answer from any doctor or surgeon came there none.

Like many others these days the only recourse left to me was Dr. Google. A year ago last January I started an intense three months research on diets that might help. On April 17th 2016 I stopped having sugar in my coffee! That was the hardest thing to do. Of more importance I cut out all grains and sugar in anything. That meant all processed food. I ate only meats, fish, dairy, eggs, fats and minimum of vegetables. My life changed in so many ways.

This year I have stepped into a whole new world online. I discovered people all over the world who had come to the same decision to save themselves. It also made me realise that all my life had been blighted by my diet and particularly since 1970 food had changed. Although I cooked mostly from fresh I ate all the processed food everyone else ate and stuffed myself with LOW FAT when trying so hard a dozen times to lose weight that always crept back on. With a year of reading, watching wonderful lectures and interviews on video and following groups on Face Book I came to realise it was not only IBS that I had suffered because of this bad WOE. 

I had low thyroid that had made me think I had ME for many years until it was diagnosed because of muscle weakness and fatigue. I lost hair and my eyebrows. I had Arthritis in many joints bad enough that ten years ago I had to have two new knee joints. It is in my shoulders, hands and ankles. I had to lose my gallbladder. I had high Blood pressure as well. I got an stomach ulcer and Hiatus Hernia, ulcer now gone but hernia still there. And recently I had a realisation that my life long painful periods which disabled me every month even when young might not have been so bad with a better diet. A hysterectomy for this problem Plus two other operations. And now for the good news

My IBS is so much better that I now lead a normal life and can go out whenever I like. There is some residual damage to the gut which still flares up now and then and is painful. I came off of PPIs and and my High Blood Pressure medications. My Thyroxine has been reduced. I want to get off it altogether. My arthritis is less painful and I go walking, climb stairs normally and do Tai Chi. The arthritis can flare up sometimes. My blood pressure is within bounds but a little on the high side. I lost a little weight and am now only overweight. I think age has slowed my metabolism. This WOE does not seem to have helped these last two things. About the only thing that was better for me than most women was I didn’t suffer the menopause symptoms, don’t know why this is. Oh yes, My hair is growing back and stands up short on the top of my head.

There is one thing that makes me sad and that is seeing the rest of the world go by with every ill that can be laid at the door of the food people are eating. I wrote a short leaflet that I gave to my friends that asked for help after seeing my recovery. I commented where ever I could to help people on line and made up my page LCHF81 to post articles to help people understand and finally started a UK support group which is slow at catching on but has some good people joining now. 

At my age I don’t think I can do more but wish I could. Meanwhile I have stepped into this new world where I find social interaction hard, seeing the goodies in the shops even harder but know what I have done is right. I feel wonderfully well and able to enjoy my life. That is a blessing.

And so for my second year. I understand so much more now. I have honed my diet and think I get into mild Ketosis as I also Intermittent fast every day on 16:8, and only have two meals a day. I have reduced fat a little recently in hopes that some more weight might come off, not expecting it to be a lot. My meals are delicious and I enjoy eating them. I allow myself a small bit of 90% chocolate which has gone up from 85%. Well its hard to leave that other world entirely!