My journey to natural living started with hives and vomit. A major surgery had basically reset my entire body. My immune system was shot, I was constantly getting sick, and unbeknownst to me had developed multiple new allergies.

Life kind of sucked.

I did everything: food journals, herbal remedies, GI tests… You name it. I even (briefly) went full vegan. (You can read about the reasons I quit here.)

Celiac disease was just coming to the forefront of peoples consciousness, and I considered that as a possibility since every time I had bread I got sick.

After about six months throwing up, having terrible indigestion after every meal, and generally feeling like garbage all the time, I broke down and did blood allergy testing.

Turns out I’m allergic to eggs, a protein in beef, and yeast. I’d been partially right: meat and bread was killing me, just not for the reasons I thought.

So goodbye steaks! And goodbye bread! and goodbye to condensed soup, pre-packaged meals, 75% of the salad dressings on the market, most marinades, soy fake-meat and almost every premade meal in the freezer aisle…

Wait, what?

Yeah. Turns out that going vegan doesn’t always mean going healthy.

Have you ever read the ingredients of the products you buy on a regular basis? Did you know that Progresso soups and almost all Morningstar Farms products have yeast in them?

Yeast extract is used as a flavor enhancer/preservative in literally thousands of products that you probably use every day.

And I’m allergic to all of it.

Let me tell you, the first six months were HARD. I took a good 60% of my food out of my refrigerator and pantry, never to be eaten again. I quit eating out entirely. I lost almost 15 pounds because I couldn’t figure out what I actually COULD eat that wouldn’t make me miserable. I went through the withdrawal period no one should ever have to go through: no more bread. (I couldn’t go near a bakery for a year without salivating.)

While I mourned, pitifully, of my inability to eat croissants, my body was undergoing another reset. My new diet was cleaner and less processed. I was cooking more from scratch so I knew all the ingredients. I was eating fresher, more natural, and better quality food overall.

And you know what? Once I got the toxic allergens out of my system, I felt better than I ever thought I would. I stopped throwing up, my indigestion dropped to a minimum, and my quality of life skyrocketed. I had more energy and I was happier. All because I dropped the one pesky little ingredient that was making me miserable.

The moral of the story: don’t get sucked into fad diets. Find what works for you, customize, and stick to what gives you a benefit. Gluten free and vegan wasn’t what worked for me (kudos if it does for you!) and it wasn’t until I had fully customized my diet that things started turning positive.

Now, I’m in the best shape of my life, since more energy and less sickness means I’m able to exercise almost every day. The foods I eat are good, packed with protein, natural vitamins, and easily absorbed because they’ve gone through minimal processing. I sleep great and I’m more productive because I feel alive instead of muddling through every day. 

What about you? Have you tried any fad diets? What kind of diet helps you feel your best?