There’s a lot of pressure in this World around diet. And I’m not just talking weight loss.
I’ve been on a lengthy journey with my diet and with each stone I’ve unturned along the way I’ve tried my best to invite people onto my journey too, in hope that they too can follow in my footsteps and improve their eating habits for the betterment of their overall wellness.
What I’ve learned, however, is that this approach only added to the noise and pressure that we see and feel in today’s society about the way we ‘should’ do things. Which only causes further guilt and self worth issues when we don’t achieve these things. And in hindsight, there are things that I wouldn’t have embarked on had I had this realisation earlier on. However, isn’t that the beauty of life? That we live and learn.
Now I feel it my duty to share with you my story of health and diet discovery, and perhaps you may find the ending somewhat surprising to read. I certainly know it surprised me!
I have suffered with a whole host of chronic ailments over the years, just like my father did. My issues have included acid reflux, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, allergies, stress, depression, insomnia, to name a few…
My Dad went through every medical means possible with no significant results to show for it. Then ultimately died aged 59 from a disease with no known cause. Of course, this spurred me to take control of my own life in so many different ways, health/diet being one of them.
I have done every diet you can possibly imagine. Lactose free, gluten free, sugar free, calorie controlled, time controlled, portion controlled, meal replacement, paleo, juicing, ayervedic, vegetarian, the list goes on…
I’ve also taken every kind of supplement under the sun, to the point where I felt like I rattled when I walked! And there were definitely some improvements with some of them, but ultimately the ailments returned after a while, for no explainable reason.
Some of you may know that I see a medical herbalist. We’ve been working together for a couple of years now, and I’ve had better results through her methods than I have through mainstream medicine. A few months ago, to my surprise, she suggested that I try a carnivore diet. 😱
Being a yogi, there’s a lot of pressure to be vegetarian or vegan, due to Ahimsa, the yogic belief of non-violence. Sadly, there’s also a lot of judgement in the yoga World around this matter. I recall being at an event and one yoga teacher (who happened to be a Swami) giving another teacher a really hard time about eating meat, which made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. From then on, at any event with yogis I felt that I could only bring a vegetarian lunch. I’ve never quite managed vegan but I did cave to the pressure and became vegetarian for some time.
What’s interesting is that I started to develop allergies to all fresh fruits and vegetables. I’d been juicing for years, and one day I just couldn’t stomach it any more and had to stop. Then when I went vegetarian, I really started to notice my inability to eat fruit, then gradually most vegetables started to creep in and get added to the ‘no’ list. Until I was really left with just eating carbs, which made me feel SO much worse.
So I decided to embark on this challenge of being a carnivore, eating only meat, dairy and eggs. I’ve been dreading telling this story for the longest time, because of fear of judgement. But I have to remind myself that Ahimsa is also about non-judgement, and for those who wish to judge me, I remind you of this.
To my absolute shock, it bloody worked! You may be wondering how I get the vitamins and minerals I need without fruit and veg, well the theory of my herbalist is that you are what your food eats. So if I eat grass fed, free range, organic animal products, then I’m getting the nutrients via that. And I have to say, she’s right! I cannot believe the improvements. I finally feel like I’m back in the World again, I hadn’t realised what a coma I’d been living in for so many years. Luke is back!
So am I suggesting this diet is for you? Absolutely not. Because here comes the truly fascinating part…
When I discovered Human Design, I learned that my digestive type is the earliest form of human digestion, meaning ‘Hunter-style’. I was floored when I learned this! My body is physically telling me not to eat carbs and not to eat fruit and veg, so what’s left? Animal products. Which is exactly where I’d gotten to through my years of trial and error, exactly what my herbalist recommended, and there it was written in black and white on my Human Design chart. I was both shocked and filled with awe when I learned this. Truly amazing.
I wish now that I’d been able to share Human Design with my Dad, and perhaps he may have had greater success with his ailments too. And although that’s not possible, I can move forward with my children and ensure that they know their Human Design digestion type so that perhaps they can avoid the stresses that both myself and my father have gone through.
The digestion types aren’t just about what you eat, for some people, they’re about how you eat. For example, my eldest daughter needs to eat in daylight hours, and my youngest daughter is better with cold foods, whereas my husband needs to eat on repeat (e.g. same thing for breakfast and lunch every day).
The big lesson here is that not one thing works for everyone. Diet is unique to each person. I’ve had to learn that the hard way, so in reading this, I hope that you can be open to learning from my mistakes.
If you’d like to learn more about your Human Design digestion type just give me a shout 😊🙏🏻💛
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