Beginning of a journey

We are Eastern Orthodox Christians, and our Lenten season requires a vegan fast.  I'm not always very good about keeping the proper fasts, but this year I decided I was going to do it.  I was 33 and starting to realize the value of my health and youth.  My youngest child was 7 years old and I could no longer blame my size on having "just had a baby".  I was unhappy with the way I looked.  I was unhappy with the way I felt, and I knew I had to fix it now.  For years I had been saying I would get healthy before it was too late, but when is it "too late"?

My genetics leave me predisposed to weight issues and health problems associated with weight issues.  I had always promised myself I would beat the odds, and I wouldn't fall into the trap my heredity had set up for me.  That day was always down the road, and I kept putting it off, because I knew it would be really difficult to give up the foods I knew were not good for me.

Along came Lent toward the end of February this year.

I began my Lenten fast casually and without much thought.

My birthday is in the second week of March, which was about 2-3 weeks into the Lenten fast.  A couple friends got together and made it a really wonderful birthday for me.  I decided to go off fast for the day, and had cheese pizza, birthday cake, and "crack".

It was a very happy birthday for me and I felt a lot of love. :)

The next day I woke up with an awful headache and felt nauseous.  I was worried I had a virus.  As the day went on, I didn't get sicker, and I felt similarly the next day, except the headache had become a migraine.  Then I realized that this was the first headache I had had since I started Lenten fast.  *lightbulb moment*

Before this I was getting headaches about 70% of the time, and migraines about 20-40% of the time.  The migraines were typical and debilitating.  Luckily, I work from home and have co-workers who were understanding and would help fill in the gaps during my down days.  I could usually get rid of the worst part of the migraines with ibuprofen, but I would need to take 800-1200mg to take the edge off.  Of course that was way too much, and I knew if I kept that up for too many years I would do serious damage to my internal organs.

Suddenly realizing that I had not had a headache in a few weeks, and then having one for a few days was enough to make me take this food elimination thing more seriously!  Almost anything was worth not having any more headaches!  I had suffered from them as long as I could remember.  I was back on the vegan wagon!

The last week of March we went on a cruise.  It was our first cruise and I was getting things ready the week before.  Part of my usual vacation preparation routine was working hard to try to get rid of the acne on my face.  This time I didn't have any acne, and it was the first time I could remember having clear skin since before puberty.  It felt so good!!

During that cruise I decided I was going to stay vegan during the regular meals, but was open to eating meat/dairy for a few special meals, and that's what I did.  The ship's enormous buffet had plenty of vegan options for me, and I ate a lot of curries and naan.  I didn't feel deprived at all and enjoyed my meals.  We had reservations for a couple nice dinners in the nicer restaurants on the ship, and I allowed myself to eat what I wanted during those dinners, but tried to be careful with consuming dairy.  I did have crème brûlée once and had some amazing steak at Qsine.  The great thing about this restaurant is everything is served in tiny portions, so I didn't eat too much of any of the foods I am sensitive to.

It was really great and I was able to have enough of a treat to feel like I had been spoiled, but little enough to not feel icky.

And so began my journey into eliminating foods from my diet, then reintroducing them and monitoring how my body reacted.