"If You Can't Eat ALL THAT, What CAN You Eat?" Let's Talk About It

Okay, so I must admit, it's been pretty interesting thinking through HOW I'm going to really work on defining this diet and doing this overhaul given the fact that my body is quite 'sometime-ish' when it comes to food.

Let me explain:

My body has seriously gone through the ringer when it comes to weight fluctuations and skin break-outs due to my gut health. Over the past 2 years, I've systematically worked on reducing the red meat in my diet and this has definitely helped, but I know there's more to do.

This is interesting, though, because I generally have been a 'clean' eater in terms of the way food is prepared in my home. I literally learned to make fried chicken like earlier this year because I refused to put oil in my body with the very thought of 'deep frying' something. The majority of my foods are boiled, stewed and stir-fried.

Additionally, I've always been a picky eater. When I was a toddler, I hated avocado, breadfruit, callaloo, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and the list goes on, really.

To this day, I don't fool around many foods that are typically loved by many - like sweet potatoes, dasheen, cocoa, and more.

However, despite all that, in the past 7-10 years, I have found that my body has also grown intolerant OR selectively tolerant to certain foods, like:

• Eggs

• Mayonnaise

• Oil

• Condensed Milk

• Corned Beef

• Pork

• Beef

• Sausages

• Anything Curried

• Ackee (sometimes)

• Mango (sometimes)

... and more

As you can well imagine, the lists above have made it very difficult to maneuver the actual enjoyment of food. But, in pushing to deliberately experiment with what CAN work for me, I've realized that food preparation approaches, specific ingredients like garlic, and a few other hacks will actually change the game for me.

And, funny enough, these changes that I need to implement are beautifully housed in the Mediterranean Diet, while I still pay homage to Caribbean cuisine. To get more specific, I'm going to be exploring recipes and preparations styles from 8 specific territories:

Caribbean:

• Jamaica (Duh)

• Mexico

• Belize

• Trinidad & Tobago

Mediterranean:

• Greece

• Turkey

• Lebanon

• Italy

So, needless to say, I don't make this decision lightly and I haven't begun this journey on a whim. I'm really looking forward to seeing the changes that I know are about to take place.

In case you wanna watch the video that breaks it down in a more candid way, check it out:

Until next time, fam!

Cee