Just the weigh you are

Apart from recently, I've only ever gone on a proper diet once in my life which was when I was in my first year at university where like most freshers, I was out every night drinking & having irregular meal times - you know what happens here.

However, my diet at the moment is nothing to do with weight or what I look like. It's something my GP recommended to me to improve how I've been feeling after I eat a meal which has been a LOT of pain.

I didn't go to the GP for a long time with this issue despite it affecting how I felt about food which wasn't a great because I love food. I love cooking.

But I'm so glad I finally went as I was put on a FODMAP diet which essentially is all about cutting out food groups that ferment in your stomach (yes, sounds gross).

"The term FODMAPS is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols.  They are a collection of poorly absorbed simple and complex sugars that are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables and also in milk and wheat.   After digestion of a meal, they pass through the stomach and small intestine unchanged and are either fermented by colonic bacteria releasing gas or expelled together with fluid."

The diet itself is quite strict & there's a huge list of food you need to cut out so it takes a while to get used to but once you commit, you really start to see a difference. It also made me cook a lot more especially at times after work when I'm tired as you pretty much have to make meals from scratch because pre-made meals or pre-seasoned food 99% of the time has an ingredient that is a big no no.

Currently I'm in the re-introdution phase of the diet which is when I've managed to cut out all FODMAPs for a period of 6-8 weeks & have had no digestion problems. I am now essentially 'testing' food out to see if they are a trigger - probably the worst part of the diet as you're playing russian roulette with your body but it does mean I can eat all my favourite foods again.

Luckily, I've only come into contact with 2 things that don't agree with me - kidney beans & chickpeas so I've become wary of anything from the bean-family or pulses. But apart from that, I am able to eat normally although some of my diet has remained - I now only use coconut or almond milk, rarely eat meat & have gluten-free pasta. None of these are a trigger for me but I'm a sucker for a routine & to me, it's healthier.

So for anyone that feels absolutely terrible after they eat something, definitely go to your GP first but things that helped me through my diet are:

• Complete Low FODMAP Diet - the best cook book I came across 
• ibsdiets.org - I printed off the can/can't have list from this website & used it as a reference everyday
• FODMAP by FM app - I only discovered this in phase II but is really useful to help you through the diet