And we’re off!

Thanks for coming to check out my new Low FODMAP blog!

I’m so excited that you’d like to share this fun, but sometimes tricky journey with me! I can’t wait to start sharing my favourite low FODMAP (and often gluten free) recipes with you. 

So lets start with a little bit about me. I’m Amy, I’m 23, have just graduated from uni (YAY!) and I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in February 2019 and have been following the low FODMAP diet ever since in the hope of getting rid of my tummy pain and everything else that comes with having IBS. 

I first went to the doctor thinking that I was lactose intolerant so came out with a pretty big shock a few appointments later with a website to look up about all of the different foods that I couldn’t eat. Looking up the Monash University website had me in tears! I’ve always been quite a fussy eater so to find out that even some of the things that I did like or had learned to like were off limits, I was pretty heartbroken to say the least!

So after a few days (probably closer to weeks if I’m completely honest), I got out my laptop and did the first thing that any millennial does these days when we don’t understand something – a google search! I had been thinking that on this diet I would struggle to eat much more than just plain rice and chicken with a bit of carrot thrown in every now and then, but I was pleasantly surprised with the number of delicious looking recipes that I found. There were a few of my trusty favourites (like Thai Green Curry and basically any other curry out there!) there just waiting for me to get my apron on and give them a go! And give them a go I did!

So I followed the Elimination phase of the diet for a solid 6 weeks until I felt like I had total control of my symptoms. I think I was quite lucky that my symptoms calmed down as well as they did because within about 3 weeks, I was feeling so much more like my normal self again. I wasn’t constantly worried to eat something in fear of having horrible pain afterwards. This was so much more than just sorting out my body though because after month and months of constant pain after eating, I had developed a rather unhealthy belief that everything was going to make me feel awful. 

So after a few more weeks and less pain, I started to get my mind under control too and then I began to enjoy food and cooking again. Using everyone else’s recipes were (and still are) great and allowed me to get symptom control but I wanted to feel that I had a greater level of control over what I was eating in my reintroduction phase and start experimenting again with my own recipes. 

That’s where this blog comes in! I’ve been putting together recipes for a while now (as some of you will know from following my @learningtolovelowfodmap journey on Instagram ) and would love the opportunity to help others just starting out on the low FODMAP diet have delicious, healthy but more importantly tummy friendly food that you enjoy eating and are proud to make. 

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and making these recipes as much as I have enjoyed creating and sharing them with you.

Amy xx