I wanted to use my first blog as a bit of an introduction. As you can see from my bio, I’m a married 26 year old who’s been on the BTD a while. I have a heap of allergies (thanks to an inherited hypersensitive system) and had numerous antibiotics as a child. To expand, and let you know a little bit more, I found the BTD through a GP. It seems like ages ago now, but it was during a particularly bad health period when I was passing out on a regular basis, having sore joints and becoming increasingly hyper-reactive to everything from perfumes to foods to everyday cleaners. So, in an effort to regain a normal life, I went into the BTD full force.

The changes started to happen right away. Coming off soy cleared up my skin, my joints started to stop aching and my blood pressure normalized. Now, I’m not going to say that since then everything has been great, but from a food perspective it’s been a lot easier. Once you start really focusing on the beneficials and limit the avoids (as well as any specific allergens that you have), you start to feel a lot better.

The thing is though, that food is just one part of the story, a lot of things depend on other factors as well. For me, stress is a big trigger. I developed CFS and a mystery virus in 2004, no matter how well I adhered to the diet, I had reached a low point again. I had an inflamed liver and my system was completely out of balance, a reflection of my life at that time when I’d just moved across the country and felt completely out of control. My body responded the only way it knew how, by seeing everything as a threat. That meant new allergies (goodbye tomatoes) and new challenges.

So, this time, we took a step back and looked at everything. From our routines at home to when we were eating to the cleaners and environmental factors that I was exposed to. This started to help and I have to admit, that although BTD is a big part of the picture, sometimes it's those other triggers that need to be investigated as well. I'm looking forward to sharing with you some of the issues that I've faced, some O-nonnie recipes and some tips/hints on researching issues that you're interested in.

On a lighter note, I work full-time (as a Business Analyst) and study Law part-time. Thus if you ever want someone to commiserate with about trying to do both, I’m a willing listener (and some time procrastinator!). Feel free to e-mail me about anything and I'll aim to get back to you ASAP.

Thanks for taking the time to read,

Bec