Forced to become Vegan! (Ranting)
It's been a while since I have written about myself and my life...
So today I will be writing about how I was recently "forced" to turn vegan.
Yes, you read it right, forced.
I am not new to being vegetarian, as I was vegetarian in my younger years for over 18 years, and just a few years ago did I start introducing meat and chicken back to my diet.
This year, after a long ping ponging journey between doctors that mostly had no idea what they were saying or doing... I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, stomach ulcers, anemia, silent acid reflux, Coeliac disease (gluten and lactose intolerance), extreme iron and Vitamin D deficiency, some bacteria in my digestive system that seems to be perforating my stomach... and the list goes on and on and on... while none of the specialists I have been to could confirm any of the above, they have however not hesitated to test out a bunch of pills that counter worked each other and left me in a whole lot of pain, discomfort, hormonal issues, stress, nausea... and so on.
I reached the point where I felt like I was becoming a lab rat... and they were just testing things on me.
I have always been away from anything chemical, pharmaceuticals... artificial flavouring... and have tried all my life to eat as healthy as possible... but at the same time, I have had a very bumpy life with a lot of ups and downs, or to be more precise, more downs than ups.
In the last three years, since I moved to Norway, I have been experiencing all sorts of changes in my body, mood, health, sleep, breathing, muscles... and most changes were not on the positive side.
I have also been subjected to an enourmous amount of stress, lack of privacy, anger, unemployment, isolation... discrimination, abuse... you name it!
Last year, I lost my last living family member, my father, and with that I lost our family home... and all that mattered to me vanished in one go.
To top it all... my partner in life decided to separate... which added the cherry to the "cake"!
To keep it short, all of the above factors have almost broken me down, and I say almost because I went through hell and back on a daily basis, to handle the shitstorm that hit me from all sides in one go.
Now, on the realistic side, I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally... and I had no opportunity to relax. As soon as I fixed one problem, ten more were dumped on my shoulders... and being alone, in a foreign country with no real friends to count on... no family... it was no peach!
So anyways, back to how I had to turn vegan...
I am French, and in the 18 years of me being a vegetarian in the past, I never stopped eating cheese, I mean, cheese is in my blood! Not that one can find many good types of cheese in Norway... now, I have to stop eating anything containing lactose, among other things...
My other pleasure in life (every once in a while) was a good glass of French red wine... it's a no no now as well... (acid reflux and ulcers...)
My third French pleasure was "baguettes"... good ones are hard to find in Norway... but gluten free ones... are impossible to find... so bread just went out the window for me too!
Tomatoes, oh my lovely tomatoes... another nono!
What am I left with? Alcaline foods, no salt, no garlic, no onions, no acidic foods or fruits, no milk or dairy products, no meat, no poultry... I already never eat fish so that's off the list... hmm... all I have left is a few cereals, tea, greens, non gmo (if any) alternative products that claim to be "organic and ecological"...
For the last 3 weeks I have been eating only what I am allowed to eat... and I already dropped 5 kgs... is that healthy? Hell no! Do my doctors care? Of course not!
Gluten free options in the shops are almost nonexistent... there one type of bread... that falls apart when touched... god knows when it was made... corn pasta that tastes like cardboard when cooked... lactose free milk that tastes like paint and has a very long shelflife... gmo soy milk... gmo corn products... infertile gmo non acidic imported fruits... and of course an overpriced few shops selling what they claim to be organic products for which I cross my fingers, toes and everything crossable for it to be true!
This is turning into one angry ranting blog post... but I am sure some of you out there would probably relate...
I always loved making my own meals from scratch, bread & baked goods, fermented and probiotic foods at home... but when you become so restricted on what you can and cannot consume, that steals the fun right out of everything!
If I get hungry while being out and would like to get something to eat... I now waste a good 15 minutes to see what my options are... and end up buying a banana!
To all of you vegans out there, I know you might get pissed at my ranting... and would want to preach me about all the wonderful things that are out there and all the different recipes one could make... and so on and so forth... but seriously, it is NOT easy to keep doing it when you lose the joy of it.
So today I will be writing about how I was recently "forced" to turn vegan.
Yes, you read it right, forced.
I am not new to being vegetarian, as I was vegetarian in my younger years for over 18 years, and just a few years ago did I start introducing meat and chicken back to my diet.
This year, after a long ping ponging journey between doctors that mostly had no idea what they were saying or doing... I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, stomach ulcers, anemia, silent acid reflux, Coeliac disease (gluten and lactose intolerance), extreme iron and Vitamin D deficiency, some bacteria in my digestive system that seems to be perforating my stomach... and the list goes on and on and on... while none of the specialists I have been to could confirm any of the above, they have however not hesitated to test out a bunch of pills that counter worked each other and left me in a whole lot of pain, discomfort, hormonal issues, stress, nausea... and so on.
I reached the point where I felt like I was becoming a lab rat... and they were just testing things on me.
I have always been away from anything chemical, pharmaceuticals... artificial flavouring... and have tried all my life to eat as healthy as possible... but at the same time, I have had a very bumpy life with a lot of ups and downs, or to be more precise, more downs than ups.
In the last three years, since I moved to Norway, I have been experiencing all sorts of changes in my body, mood, health, sleep, breathing, muscles... and most changes were not on the positive side.
I have also been subjected to an enourmous amount of stress, lack of privacy, anger, unemployment, isolation... discrimination, abuse... you name it!
Last year, I lost my last living family member, my father, and with that I lost our family home... and all that mattered to me vanished in one go.
To top it all... my partner in life decided to separate... which added the cherry to the "cake"!
To keep it short, all of the above factors have almost broken me down, and I say almost because I went through hell and back on a daily basis, to handle the shitstorm that hit me from all sides in one go.
Now, on the realistic side, I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally... and I had no opportunity to relax. As soon as I fixed one problem, ten more were dumped on my shoulders... and being alone, in a foreign country with no real friends to count on... no family... it was no peach!
So anyways, back to how I had to turn vegan...
I am French, and in the 18 years of me being a vegetarian in the past, I never stopped eating cheese, I mean, cheese is in my blood! Not that one can find many good types of cheese in Norway... now, I have to stop eating anything containing lactose, among other things...
My other pleasure in life (every once in a while) was a good glass of French red wine... it's a no no now as well... (acid reflux and ulcers...)
My third French pleasure was "baguettes"... good ones are hard to find in Norway... but gluten free ones... are impossible to find... so bread just went out the window for me too!
Tomatoes, oh my lovely tomatoes... another nono!
What am I left with? Alcaline foods, no salt, no garlic, no onions, no acidic foods or fruits, no milk or dairy products, no meat, no poultry... I already never eat fish so that's off the list... hmm... all I have left is a few cereals, tea, greens, non gmo (if any) alternative products that claim to be "organic and ecological"...
For the last 3 weeks I have been eating only what I am allowed to eat... and I already dropped 5 kgs... is that healthy? Hell no! Do my doctors care? Of course not!
Gluten free options in the shops are almost nonexistent... there one type of bread... that falls apart when touched... god knows when it was made... corn pasta that tastes like cardboard when cooked... lactose free milk that tastes like paint and has a very long shelflife... gmo soy milk... gmo corn products... infertile gmo non acidic imported fruits... and of course an overpriced few shops selling what they claim to be organic products for which I cross my fingers, toes and everything crossable for it to be true!
This is turning into one angry ranting blog post... but I am sure some of you out there would probably relate...
I always loved making my own meals from scratch, bread & baked goods, fermented and probiotic foods at home... but when you become so restricted on what you can and cannot consume, that steals the fun right out of everything!
If I get hungry while being out and would like to get something to eat... I now waste a good 15 minutes to see what my options are... and end up buying a banana!
To all of you vegans out there, I know you might get pissed at my ranting... and would want to preach me about all the wonderful things that are out there and all the different recipes one could make... and so on and so forth... but seriously, it is NOT easy to keep doing it when you lose the joy of it.
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