I’m not a leader. But I’m not a follower either. I know how to be a member of a team as long as it doesn’t infringe on my freedom. I have reached some level of wisdom to stop shouting out loud that look how much this has helped me, do the same. Because even though we are members of the same species, we have different operating mechanisms, different levels of understanding, different trigger buttons. I like to learn new things and use them in my own unique way. I know we are all the same but different. I love getting feedback, but I know that’s other people’s perception of me, not who I am. I know I still have a lot of work to do and I try to enjoy the process, although I don’t always get it.
When I was young I kept every diet possible. Of course, they all failed, if I managed to lose a few kilos, I would put them back with a bonus after I resumed the diet I was used to. Or I was passing out of hunger, or because of the imbalances created by the lack of an eliminated nutrient. Or I couldn’t resist food “temptations”. I continued to whip my body and hide it in misshapen clothes for a long time. Until a certain point when I resigned. I no longer had the energy to fight myself about my weight. Plus, other unpleasant challenges had appeared in my life to “fight”. When I started eating gluten and dairy free I noticed that, in addition to the spondylitis specific pains disappearing, the pounds started to melt away slowly, one month at a time, until I naturally reached my optimal weight. There is a lot to say here. First of all I want to say, in capital letters: THIS WORKED FOR ME. There is no universal remedy, a panacea that unlocks all doors and banishes all diseases, something from heaven, from an all-knowing guru, that will miraculously make us well. Everyone has their own unique key, which they have to find on their own. How does he know he found it? So how do you know you have the right key? You put it in the lock and the door unlocks. No effort, no desperate door knocking or complicated calculations. It just works. And you can integrate that something into your life naturally and simply. I love food. But I don’t crave gluten foods. My mind doesn’t think of them as food anymore, my body doesn’t ask for them.
The second thing I want to say is that I haven’t replaced gluten food “crap” with other gluten-free “crap”. There was no such thing on the Romanian market then, or there were too few of them. So I gave up pretzels, strudels, biscuits, doughnuts, ice cream cones and other things to buy on the street or in the store. I didn’t give up sweets, I learned to make them at home, so I could control the ingredients and educate my tastes. It took me a while to learn how to make them, but it was worth the wait.
The third thing I noticed on my own skin: no matter how healthy a food is, if I’m tired, nervous or eat on the run it makes me sick. I get bloated, have gas or nausea, retain water or other unpleasant things.
The fourth thing would be: I ask my body what it wants to eat. Yes, that’s right. I run through the possibilities in my mind and notice the inner reaction. It’s like a kind of “craving”, but more internalized.
The fifth thing: no guilt. There are two sub-points here. One would be that you cannot eliminate certain foods that public opinion considers unhealthy, such as meat, sugar, alcohol, your body requires them and you notice that they do not harm you. And the second, when you know something hurts you, but sometimes you can’t help it. In the first case, ignore the general opinion about those foods, and in the second, assume that if you eat those foods you will feel sick afterwards. Without feeling guilty. We also need skids, we are people, not machines.
The sixth and last thing: enjoy yourself. Not as “the world” says, but as you like it. I like to eat in bed or on the sofa, while reading or watching a movie. In the morning I like to eat and drink warm and dense food, at lunch I have only a snack, and in the evening, until 6 pm, I have the main meal.
The rule is that there is no universal rule. There is no such thing as “it’s not done that way”. There is no “I, if I were in your place…”. You are not in my place. And neither do I in yours. Everyone has their place and it would be good if we could enjoy that place.