When you read all the information on my site and various natural based sites, it can be quite overwhelming. You look at the diet suggestions, exercise suggestions and lifestyle changes and you compare them to your existing lifestyle and wonder how you will ever achieve them. They seem far-fetched somehow ridiculous, extreme even. The idea of cutting out bread, dairy and meat are just ridiculous and something you could never even consider! Are you mad Mel? I love my meat and my cheese and I will certainly not part with my chips or chocolate!
Thing is, it has a lot to do with how you look at things. When I look at certain foods now, they are simply unappealing because I understand more about what they are really doing to my body.
I recently discovered more about bread and what they actually do to bread. They take out all the good stuff because it has a danger of fermenting and then they attempt to stick it back in. We are generally not eating anything more than thick powder. One of the video’s described bread as cement! Well, I don’t know if I would go that far but it certainly got me thinking about the true essence of what we are eating when we eat bread. How much nutritional value is it truly adding to our overall well-being?
I guess, I look at things a little differently now when it comes to food and what I put in my mouth. Every item I put in my mouth is there to nourish and benefit my healing and my body or it takes away from it. If it doesn’t offer nutrition and good energy sources, then I simply don’t want to eat it. My goal is to get healthy and heal my Endometriosis and if what I am eating is not in line with this, how can I truly expect that to happen? It is a daily decision that affects me on so many levels – even outside of Endometriosis.
Part of it is, is also learning about what foods really contain and how they impact on the body. It is so complex and I am seriously thinking of studying nutrition to get to understand it all. When we eat through nature though there is one golden rule: eat in moderation and eat as many super foods as you can! You will feel the change and significance in what you are doing immediately by eating organic Super Foods. These are the Aloe Vera Juices, Goji Berries, Spirulina….. It is not just that you will feel better, with more energy but that you will make better decisions. Once you invest in super foods (which can be quite an investment!) you don’t want to destroy what you are doing by then eating poorly. It kinda gets your mind in the right place with your eating and each decision you make when you are about to stick something in your mouth.
So, how do you take the first step?
The first step is just to be conscious of what you are eating. This is why diets are often effective because you have to follow something and keep track of what you are eating. Sometimes we eat things which we don’t even equate onto a scale that could be making us feel bad. I know I was reasonably good with most foods but then would eat heaps of chocolate and sweets to go with that – sometimes a slab a night as some of you already know J. I never recognized the sillyness in all of this.
Start with the basics and work backwards. It is about simply replacing one thing in your diet with something else and soon enough you have improved your diet overall. This could be replacing bread with salads for lunch, it could be replacing milk with almond milk or rice milk. Just pick one thing at a time to change and you will find the whole process easier. Don’t try and do them all in one go because you will hate it and find everything really boring! It is a slow and progressive process.
It is much like throwing a pepple in a pond. Once you start, it will become easier and you won’t even remember where you started 3,6 or 12months ago. What seemed so hard is now so easy and you feel so much better that it isn’t even a consideration to go back….
I know for me now, I don’t even miss meat, milk or chocolate – yes I know chocolate! Yes, there are days when I might have a little chocolate but I don’t have that obsessive tendency with it. I can easily walk past it in the supermarket and not want to buy 2 slabs at a go! Even when I have it, it someone doesn’t hold the same value or taste as good. Isn’t that so odd?
How do you feel about all this? Do you struggle to change your diet? What steps have you taken successfully? How do you feel since you made the changes? What do you struggle with the most?
Would love to hear your thoughts….
Author of Cure Endometriosis & Eating with Mel.
Hello! I have stage 4 endo and have been struggling with infertility for 3 years. Recently I have gained some weight…not too much, but enough for the light bulb to turn on and remind me that if I continue down this path, I will be overweight in no time! I was never a big exerciser…but I did enjoy walking. Recently I have stopped that too and have been feeling very unhealthy lately. I am looking for a simple, effective cleanse that I can use to get those toxins out (from my recent “bad” behavior) and jump-start some healthy weight loss as I begin my journey towards health again. Is there an “endo” cleanse or “diet” you can recommend? I thought I read about that in another article/post but I cannot find it. I would prefer something with easy ingredients as the fastest way for me to lose my “go get em” attitude is by looking high and low for weird ingredients that some cleanses/diets recommend. Simple, effective are two key elements for me. Any ideas/help would be a blessing! Thanks and love to all!
Nadia
Hi Nadia,
I have been working on that very kind of diet for the last few months! Check it out on http://www.eatingwithmel.com. Let me know your thoughts and hopefully you enjoy the programme! Walking is sooo good for you too!
I still struggle with diet changes. Especially when traveling. I think the moment you give in and cheat once, it becomes a habit. I’ve never gone back to eating the way I used to, but I have weeks where I eat more sugar or dairy than I should and I pay for it. Social situations are the most difficult and I feel very alienated from the “normal” people who can eat the typical diet. Not to mention I miss the old foods with a few exceptions. I do agree the changes hinge on paying attention to the way the food makes you feel. I barely miss milk nowadays because it created so many sinus issues for me. I can’t remember the last glass I drank but I think it’s been years now…If I have cookies, I have them with Almond milk!
Cookies and Almond milk just sounds beautiful! I think it is funny but the more I learn, the more my diet seems to change. I also notice how hard those changes are when I am then thrown back into what “normal” people eat. I do feel better everyday for making those choices but it is almost impossible sometimes being out or with friends who don’t share my passion for health – not that there are many of them left, that i haven’t convinced
I guess we can be leaders and help others see how much better off they will be long term for making those changes. I know many of my friends didn’t realise they were doing the sugar roller coaster for years and how much mroe stress it was causing on them. Information is fabulous! 
hi
this is for all friends who r suffering from chocolate cyst/ endometrioses..i have found an interesting site which gives a guarenteed cure from this pain..
http://www.homeopathyandmore.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
check this forum.
bye and take care
kirti
Thanks again for a wonderful article! I have just replaced milk (which I totally adored, even more than chocolate!) with Almond Milk and Coconut Milk. I am trying to see which I like better. If those don’t work for me, I am going to try Rice Milk next. I am so tired of the endo. controlling my life, and making me panic at that time of the month. I want so badly to make this change that I believe I can do it. I am also in the process of adding lots of fresh fruit to my diet, and trying to replace wheat and sugared cereals. Did you know that in the entire grocery store aisle of cereals that none the of so-called healthy cereals fit the endo. diet? They all either contain soy, or wheat, or sugar (lots of sugar!) Also, my husband and I are moving very soon. We are moving back to our small hometown, and will be staying with his parents until we get a place of our own (we will have our own apartment w/kitchen). Our hometown is small enough to only have one traffic light. I am worried about how to keep up my endo. diet when we move. How can I explain this new lifestyle to his parents? Any and all advice welcome.
Hi Debra! How exciting to move back to a small town. They are so much better for our health. Less stress and usually nicer people
Being committed to an endo diet is not easy and it can be much harder around others but I guess you have to weigh up how important it is to you. I always just say I am trying to loose weight or it is a new diet I am trying for my skin or something else. – if you don’t feel comfortable talking about endo. At the end of the day though, they are your family and they should understand how important your health and your healing is for endo. It does ultimately come from your energy about it and your commitment. They will sense that and will then try their best to accommodate. If you waiver, chances are they will feel you aren’t really serious.
I know! How scary that there isn’t any good cereals at the grocery store. I make my own muesli with stuff I buy from the health shop. That way I know what is in it and it tastes yummy too
hi Melissa.I have read your articles, and it really help me so much. Last January 2011, when I visited my OB Gyn for conceiving a baby coz we don’t have a baby for almost 8 years, she found out thru ultrasounds that I have Endometriosis. This was the reason why we don’t have a baby. When I knew it, I was terrible depressed coz I never expect it, I don’t suffer from any pain during my periods and in my last ultrasound everything is normal, but seldom suffer a little pain during contacts with my husband.
My doctor advice me to undergo laparoscopy. My Endo is about 3.5 on the right ovary & 4.5 on the other. My husband & I we’re prepared for the surgery. But one day I have talked to Aunt who have undergo laparoscopy month ago, and she told me that after 5 months her Endometriosis came back. So I decided not to undergo Laparoscopy..
As of now, I try to avoid foods that you have mentioned. I try also accupuncture, I was now on my 4th session. I try also charcoal & Mangosteen herbal capsule.
Hope you could help me Melissa, I will appreciate it much.
Thank you so much & God Speed.
Hi Kenneth and thank you for your comment. I am sorry to hear of your story and your loss. I am glad you are looking at natural methods of healing yourself. I would strongly recommend seeing a Traditional Chinese Doctor who also supplies you with herbal remedies for your endometriosis. They explain it as blood stasis. You should also get some Maca Root in tablet form and take this daily, along with some Aloe Vera Juice. It helps ease your digestion and your endo symptoms. Please keep reading as there is heaps of information on this site and also sign up for the video course which will explain a whole lot more. All the best and I hope you feel better soon!