First testimonials:
If you’ve changed the way you’ve eaten, please submit a testimonial! Whether it’s cutting dairy, cutting gluten, cutting sugar, cutting all three, doing the initial diet I had written, or going all the way to zero-carb, let me know how things changed and what kind of difference it made.
Thanks:
I got a lot of hell initially for changing the way I ate. From everyone. First I got hell for sleeping all the time (I couldn’t wake up… I was kind of dying). “If you didn’t sleep all the time you’d _____” (insert something I wouldn’t be suffering from if I stopped sleeping). Then I got hell for drinking all the time (drinking actually kept me awake). “If you stopped drinking your skin would clear up, you wouldn’t sleep all the time, you’d be less depressed, etc.” Then I switched the way I ate and improved and got hell for being a food weirdo!
Skepticism is healthy, but there was a lot of it, and it was hard on me. I got told I was hurting people around me, that I was going to die of anorexia, that I wasn’t going to produce breast milk, that I was crazy, Hell, the cult leader got thrown in there more than once…
The feedback on this website and on Facebook and Instagram has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve had vegans tell me they’re happy I’m healthier. Now and then I get someone telling me I’m nuts but that’s okay, I can understand their skepticism and I’m surrounded by so much positivity here that I’m not scared to write what I think.
I was very worried when I started this blog that I was going to get hell for eating funny. But I didn’t, not at all.
So thanks, everyone!
Yes, people like to label others in every conceivable way, but just keep doing what you’re doing Mikhaila because one of the best labels we can receive (imho) is ‘inspirational’ and that is what you are to so many. Thank you for having the courage and the love of helping others to speak out and share your experiences with chronic health problems and dietary interventions to ease and eliminate those debilitating conditions. Much respect and appreciation for all you do.
Hey Mikhaila,
You can be my cult leader anytime!! Boy, would that piss off “the old man”! Here he is lecturing hours on end to stand up for yourself, follow your guidance, don’t blindly follow clans. And his daughter is the leader of some subversive, clandestine, evil MEAT EATERS!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! Seriously, my misery is over in less than 2 weeks on this diet and it just keeps getting better.
KEEP BRINGING IT GIRL!!!!!!
Hey Mikhaila, I never had depression (lucky me… I’m very grateful for that) , but I’ve been suffering from intestinal issues as well as chronic arthritic pains and muscle pains ever since i arrived in Canada 25 years ago. I refused to take anti-inflamatory and pain medications as I wasn’t satisfied with the lack of diagnostic, and i wanted to know what i was suffering from before popping pills. About 2 years ago i looked at diet as a possible way to heal myself, so i tried different things. I did a food sensitivity test, but i completely discarded it, because what was on it was so restrictive, i thought it was crazy. So after watching forks over knives, I ended up going vegan for about a year and a half. Lost some weight, but some of the symptoms actually got worse. Then i saw a video where your father mentioned you, and i looked at your blog. Your shared experience gave me the courage and the extra push i needed to actually give a second look at my food sensitivity test, and I’ve decided to give it a go. I’ve excluded all the foods I’m sensitive to this last week, so it’s a little early, but for once I do have some hope thanks to you. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your life experience, and what you went through. LIke your father, you’re an inpiration to us all. I think going vegan for over a year helped in a way, because i gained some discipline in restricting what i eat. But since i stopped eating meat, dairy, eggs, i increased my soy intake and wheat dramatically….and you guessed it: soy and wheat are among the big no-no for me. So no dairy, no egg whites (so no eggs), no soy, no gluten, no rices, no grains, wheat, no nuts, no white cabbage, no beans, no peas, no coffee, no brewer’s yeast, no sugar except for honey. A very big surprise for me was my intolerance to sardines ( i had to stop taking my fish oil supplements because of that) and most nuts which i really love. What’s left is pretty much meats, greens, olive oil and fruits (with a couple of exceptions: can’t have figs, nectarines and pomegranate) . I’m crossing my fingers…in any case, God bless you girl, and keep up the good work. Good luck with your daughter, and enjoy every step of the way, they grow sooo very fast!
I can definitely resonate with people criticizing you for making drastic changes to your diet. I hate that eating inflammatory foods such as gluten, sugar, and grains is so normalized and people think you have an eating disorder or something if you don’t eat them. Also, I hate how people do not acknowledge that there is a huge connection between your mood and what you eat. People always thought I was crazy because certain foods would give me mental health issues! And people just basically acted like I was making it up or a hypochondriac. I felt normal for the first time in my life going on a caffeine free, dairy free low carb diet (obviously gluten and grain free as well, being low carb). I plan to submit a testimonial soon sharing my complete story! But I’m really tired of how it is not well known how your diet can affect your mental health, and people think you’re crazy for believing that, since most people are not aware of it at all and just think it’s simply some genetic “chemical imbalance” that can only be resolved with meds..
Hi Mikhaila!
I really want to start the same diet that you are on right now, since I have bipolar illness, skin conditions, a bit too much weight, nasty anxiety, and intense fatigue. I am wondering whether you only use the oven for beef, or you also cook it with oil. Can you suggest a cooking oil I can use for meat, since I don’t have an oven and will have to use a frying pan. If oil is not recommended, I would totally be willing to buy an oven and give my own testimonial in a couple of months.
Thank you for your time!
Hi Tribun,
I cook it with beef fat. I don’t know the proper name in English, its the fat from beef kidneys. But you can buy it at the butcher.
I have anxiety, depression, skin and gum conditions and fatigue… i started very hopefull two weeks ago and i see a small inprovements in my skin and my mood. Let’s see where this way of eating gets me. 😀
I wish you the best!
The kidney fat of beef is suet. For pork it is leaf lard. The best fat of the whole animal, from grass fed beef it can be deep yellow and soft at room temperature if the steer is eating spring grass. Yum
Obviously I’m pleased to hear you are well. But after watching your interview I started thinking about the curiously prolonged and variable reaction times to various foods or other intakes, which if I recall properly continued even during your elimination diet stages.
I would suspect the preservatives sometimes sprinkled over meat even, but commonly found in vast numbers of food products, alcohol, (wine not spirits) and most dreadfully, in medication. Preservatives by definition try to prevent the digestion of organic matter, which would in some cases delay the reaction time and may well produce the variability in times you noted if your were consuming a variety of medications with differing preservatives.
Someone I’m very close to someone who was diagnosed with Churg-Strauss which she has attacked with fury and determination by means of dietary management, including the the complete elimination of synthetic preservatives which affected her extremely badly, and has now controlled the allergic and intolerance issues similar (probably worse) to those you mentioned. Her physicians are now suggesting that at least for some of the intolerance issues, she is now well enough to try a form of aversion therapy for some of the foods she has eliminated.
But as someone who has barely had a days sickness in my life, I avoid preservatives like the plague.
Best wishes.
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