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12.5.13

It's not a diet: On changing my eating habits

Last Monday was International No Diet Day. I am very much of the belief that diets are terrible and that the best way to eat is unrestricted and in tune with our own bodies. Nourish your body, stop when you're sated, don't beat yourself up over your food choices and don't judge the food choices of others.

Having said that, on Tuesday I saw a naturopath who advised me to try limiting my starch intake to help with my ankylosing spondylitis symptoms. Since being diagnosed (years ago) no doctor has ever suggested I try this, but I did a bit of online research and it's a perfectly sensible suggestion. There have been studies into it and there's loads of anecdotal evidence online.

So, now I'm trying to reduce the amount of starch I eat. I've been very careful not to call this a diet or see it as depriving myself of certain foods. I can still eat starchy foods if I want to. Actually, I'm pretty excited about trying some new foods and experimenting with different recipes. I'm looking at this less like restricting starch and more like exploring new options.

So far the biggest change I've made has been at breakfast. Instead of eating two bits of toast or a small bowl of cereal in the morning I'm eating fresh fruit and yoghurt. And you know what? I'm enjoying breakfast! This morning I made it into a smoothie. It was awesome!

Other than that it's just been a case of having a salad instead of a salad sandwich or switching potatoes for pumpkin at dinner. I think the only things I would really miss are crackers and cake, but I can still have them if I want and I'm really interested in trying out some low-starch recipes I've found for them online.

As far as I'm concerned, I get to try out things like cauliflower pizza bases, zucchini 'pasta', almond flour cheese crackers and almond chocolate chia bites and maybe not be in pain for the rest of my life. That definitely doesn't sound like (or feel like) a diet to me.

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