I make a pretty conscious effort not to broadcast my eating habits for the sole reason that most people don’t understand and the conversation to justify the rationale behind whatever my current way of eating is can be downright annoying. An outsider looking at my dietary habits over the last 10 years or so might just chalk it up to me trying to lose weight like millions of other people in this country. However, for me, it is more than that. For me, tweaking my diet in the many ways I have done over the years is more of a quest. A quest for a way of eating that maximizes my health and keeps me feeling my best. Now don’t get me wrong, my weight is definitely a factor in this game. But I am 100% sure that if my eating is meeting the first goal then an appropriately healthy weight will be a byproduct.

When I was about 16 years old I got a boil in my armpit. This was the second boil I got in this location. This one got really bad because I didn’t tell my mom about it until I had spiked a really high fever and basically felt like I was going to die. When she took me to the doctor, the doctor suggested it might be necessary to remove my lymph nodes in this location if this kept happening. Being the skeptic that she is, my mom got the prescription for the antibiotics needed to treat my infection and made a beeline out of there. She had zero interest in listening to what she considered nonsense. So, when I got my 3rd boil, we didn’t return to the doctor. Instead, she pulled out a nutritional healing book and went to work devising a treatment plan. I don’t remember the whole regimen but I do remember that I took a ton of vitamins and drank chlorophyll (yes, like from a plant) multiple times a day. I have to imagine that I thought she was crazy back then BUT it worked! My boil disappeared. I don’t remember if I had more after that but I do know that this experience cemented in my mind the importance of nutrition, its power to heal, and the importance of having a healthy skepticism of traditional medicine.

I have never been one to actually drink milk, other than on my cereal. However, while in college, I noticed that it was making me breakout. I immediately stopped drinking milk and never looked back, another connection between diet and health. The next revelation came in my late 20s when a friend was having a lot of issues with digestion. She told me she was going to stop eating gluten. Curious, I decided to research this a bit and saw that for some people eliminating gluten caused improvements in a whole host of issues. I gave it a try too. At the time, I was feeling tired all of the time, getting headaches on almost a daily basis, and still suffering from frequent breakouts. Cutting gluten led to HUGE improvements in these areas. This was a game changer for me! At the time, I was a teacher with three kids and always VERY busy. Feeling better made life easier, so there was no going back… gluten had to go. Getting it completely out of my diet took a while. I would go weeks without it and then cave and have spaghetti. My face would immediately break out in a rash, a sure sign this food wasn’t for me. Now it has been probably 8 years and I don’t even crave things that contain gluten. I can walk right by bread, cookies (I use to be able to eat like 10, no exaggeration… ask my husband), muffins, etc. without a second thought. (Disclaimer – I probably still eat trace amounts of gluten in a seasoning packet here or there but this does not seem to cause me any issues.)

The next major change in my diet came in 2019. After playing around with many diets that have led to success for so many (Whole 30, Paleo, Keto, etc.), I couldn’t really say any of these plans left me feeling that great. I wasn’t sure what to do but I knew that I was having major digestive issues. I would eat and you could literally hear my stomach gurgling across the room. Luckily, I don’t embarrass easily and I didn’t have diarrhea or anything, although I remember wishing I did because I felt like that would at least get the problem out of my system. I began researching and somehow came across plant-based eating. The more I researched, the more I wanted to try it. I started with meat, on a Monday of course, because that’s when my husband and I start all of our diets, allowing ourselves to eat whatever on Sunday. So silly. Don’t wait for Monday. JUST START. Anyway, I made it through a week with no meat. Then I decided to give up dairy. For me that meant cheese and butter. I figured this would be a huge challenge, but somehow, it wasn’t. I was shocked at how easy I made these changes. My digestive issues disappeared! I also just generally felt better and while I can’t say I felt like I had tons of energy, I must have. I was working full-time as a middle school administrator, taking pre-reqs for nursing school at night, and managing a household, my husband and 5 kids, including a 1 and 2-year old. I lived to tell this story, so I must have felt pretty energetic!

I have also played around with soy consumption. Some research discusses the benefits and others the dangers. I am not quite sure what camp I am in just yet. At the moment, I am okay with eating tofu a couple times a week but try not to have any soybean oil or any foods that have soy as an ingredient. Not sure if this makes a difference but I am trying to observe and learn how it effects my body.

Oil is another ingredient that I try to limit. This is tricky too because there are many resources out their touting the benefits of certain oils. For me, I am not going to have zero oil but I do try to limit it. I have noticed that when I eat more oil, I tend to have more pain in my joints. Is this because I am getting closer to 40 or is it the oil? I am not 100% sure but I am trying to figure this out. Eating oil is also a matter of calorie density (a lot of calories for a tiny bit of volume) and in most cases, adding it to food isn’t necessary. I can saute veggies and roast potatoes just fine, without adding oil.

When I say to someone that I don’t eat meat, dairy, gluten, most oil, and many forms of soy, I can see their wheels start turning. Thinking through the foods they eat in a day and one by one realizing that these would all be eliminated causes one to panic a bit. Many people are left feeling as though I may be trying to starve myself. I assure them I am not and, if asked, tell them about some of the things I do eat – potatoes, rice, beans, fruits, veggies, gluten-free bread, tortillas and pasta, etc. I could go on and on. Today, there are so many options for people looking to go gluten-free or plant-based and the staples of the diet have been around for ages.

The bottom line is, I have learned that we are all different and food affects everyone differently. What works for others hasn’t always worked for me and it’s been an interesting journey to get to where I am today. I am still working on “cracking the code” and determining what best fuels my body. Learning how to eat in a way that makes me happy and feel my best is the ultimate goal!

Ariel