I think I say that every December.  Oh well, life is about growth right?

I had a hiccup in my career path that left me back in unemployment land in September.  With not working, you have a *lot* of time to think.  More than I had ever hoped for but it has resulted in some major life changes. 

So the theme for next year is surrounding food, specifically sugar.  I don't have any vices (never smoked, rarely drink alcohol and no coffee - don't judge!) and so sugar aka chocolate became the one 'treat' that I could rely on when I was sad or bored.  Working at my last company, there was ample supply of it so it because a regular daily fixture.

Some health history...

In 2002 I had a Gallstone attack which lead to immediate removal of my Gallbladder (my Mom had hers out so my Albertan doctor thought mine should go too).  I had no issues prior to this and while the attack was horrible, what was to come was way worse.  My digestive system went into panic mode and from that point forward I had horrible digestive issues.  It wasn't food related unfortunately so there was no quick fix.  Not fun.

I had multiple trips to the Gastroenterologist and even a colonoscopy to see if they could 'see' what was wrong.  Unfortunately everything looked normal.  I was told I had 'IBS' which is really a blanket diagnosis for 'we have no idea what's wrong with you' and since there is no cure, I was back to square one.  Food no longer was enjoyable to eat because it didn't matter what I ate, I would get sick so I ended up eating anything, lots of sushi, pho and easy meals which lead to skipping breakfast.  I went in bouts of eating very little to eating a ton of cookies and yummy things.  A really bad cycle.

Fast forward to 2015 and I tried an OTC probiotic thinking that might help my gut issues.  I was in for a world of hurt.  The probiotics went to work and killed off whatever was causing my initial tummy problem but left me with new symptoms.  I went through 2 weeks of excruciating stomach pains and had to go on expensive (not covered by extended benefits) antispasmodic pills every day so I could digest food and my stomach every morning would blow up like a balloon (looking like I was 3 months pregnant) and as soon as I was upright and moving around, the pain and bloat would be gone.  This happened day after day. 

I then sought the help of a local Naturopath to figure out what the condition I was left with was.  A $200 test (also not covered by benefits) confirmed I had a high level of bacteria in my upper intestine (where bacteria should not live).  Also known as SIBO (Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth).  Basically the sugar I was putting into my body was feeding these 'bugs' causing a lot of discomfort.  I had two options: go natural or use antibiotics.  Antibiotics would also strip out the good stuff and while it was quicker (and free) I was hesitant to go down that path.  So natural it was.  

I ended up taking 4 supplements for 2 months.  Garlic, Cinnamon, Berberine + Oregano.  All natural antibiotics.  

I had no side effects and after the first course, I started to feel better.  The bloat was gone and I was digesting food again normally.   Just before the second course started, the symptoms resumed and I woke up every morning early with severe kidney area pain (It wasn't my kidneys but it hurt like hell).  After a few weeks on the second course, that pain dissipated. The last part to this cure was to go on a restrictive diet to kill off the rest of the bacteria.  I didn't want to do that.  So I emailed my Naturopath, thanked her for curing me and felt bad for previously referring to Naturopaths as 'quacks'.  I had never heard of them treating anyone successfully so I was skeptical but I'm glad that she helped me out and got me back on track.  

I went about 3 months before the lower back pain reared its ugly head and I knew that the sugar bugs were back.  It didn't surprise me though.  A recent job loss and a lot of time to mope and eat chocolate and goodies to 'make me feel better' surely invited them to multiply and here we are.  So I went online [Finlandia had the best prices] and bought more Berberine and Garlic in hopes I can just cure myself again but know this pattern will repeat if I don't do something about those damn sugar bugs.

I started off by visiting the library to find books on sugar detox.  I read 'That Sugar Book" by Damon Gameau.  He is based in Australia so a lot of the food mentions are products of Oz.  The book was well written and funny, I finished it off in one day.  It wasn't preachy and mostly research based.  He did one of those I'm going to fatten myself up and show you how bad sugar is.  Here is an excerpt.

I also am reading 'Big Fat Food Fraud' by Jeff Scot Philips in hopes of inspiring me to cook more healthy meals.  

So I'm on the start of a health journey.  It ain't going to be easy.  I am going to be cranky.  But in the end, I only gain a healthy body and remove a dependancy of something that isn't healthy.  Win win right? And finding alternates to sugary treats will be a fun challenge. Wish me luck!

Goals for 2017

1. Break up with my dependancy of sugar
2. Drink more water, a lot more water
3. Exercise, regularly