I have recently changed my diet from “whatever” to flexitarian. I’m sure you know by now that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, (among many other things) and I have been searching high and low for relief. I do lots of research on my own and do not endorse my diet or treatment for anyone else. Everyone is different and it seems that everyone’s relief is as unique as they are.
One of my most vicious symptoms I suffer from is actually a comorbidity of my official diagnosis. A comorbidity is a different disorder or illness that comes along side another illness or disorder. IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is not caused by fibromyalgia but often occurs along side it; meaning that you can have one without the other but if you have fibromyalgia, you probably have IBS. By the time I finally decided I had to do something about my diet I was in the bathroom getting extremely sick every single day for weeks, and weeks, and weeks.
I decided that I had to figure out what was causing this. I was missing important things. I wasn’t able to leave my house. I was having to cancel hair clients. I was miserable. My stomach was hurting pretty badly, all the time. I did research of things people often remove from their diets and why. I quickly found lots of information on veganism and vegetarianism. I was reluctant to remove meat from my diet at first because I’m admittedly a picky eater, and I am not good at sticking with “diets.”
Then I gave myself a date to start my new diet. I figured it would be easy to give up meat for lent. It was be easy to explain, and it would be easy to keep track of. Lent has set dates that change every year according to the Easter season. This also gave me time to back out of this decision so I wouldn’t have to change my ways. But needless to say, I didn’t magically get better from not changing my diet. So I gave in and decided that I was going to give up meat. I don’t think that I could give up dairy (thank goodness it isn’t my issue). I thought going vegetarian would be so much easier than veganism, for a picky eater like myself.
I immediately quit getting sick. I immediately quit feeling as sensitive to touch (which I didn’t even realize that I was struggling with, until I was better, thank goodness). It has been the easiest change to my diet I’ve ever done. I made it all the way though Lent like a breeze. This has been the easiest change I’ve ever made in my life EVER. I have felt so much better. I have even had an issue getting prescriptions refilled due to coranavirus, and without meat I’ve not experienced symptoms as bad as I had anticipated. I can only attribute this to the fact that I’m not eating meat.
Now that I’m one this dietary path I am more comfortable saying I’m a flexitarian than a vegetarian. A flexitarian is someone who is plant based most of the time and will have meat on occasion. For me this means I’m vegetarian unless I feel like eating meat in a meal will be worth getting sick over. It is worth noting that I have tried meat a couple of times since Lent and I have gotten sick EVERY. DANG. TIME. I think that the flexitarian mentality is the easiest way for me to feel like I’m never missing out. I will always have the resources to eat whatever I feel is best. And this way I NEVER have to miss out on my mother and father-in-law’s world changing cooking! Because they are the best cooks on Earth!
For me this is what works. I in no way endorse this choice for anyone else. I do encourage you to do your research, and make choices that are best for you. I don’t even make my family commit to my diet. I just modify my meals from whatever I make them. I encourage you to try it out and see how you feel. And if you do decide to make this change for yourself, make sure you’re adding protein back in to your diet. Stay home, stay safe, and wash your dang hands.
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