This time last year I was in Tenerife after running the London Marathon just chilling out on the beach, eating and drinking too much.
This time in 2018 I was on a beach in Fiji watching my close friends get married, then I went off exploring the Islands for a week.
And this time in 2017 I was busy climbing over ‘The Rock’ and avoiding monkeys in Gibraltar.
Now its 2020 and I’m up to day 62 of quarantine!
That’s right day 62! To be honest I cant believe how i have managed that long. I only counted the days for this story too otherwise I would of continued to be oblivious. In circumstances like this i feel like ignorance is bliss.
It has been an emotional roller-coaster of a journey some days I am quite content sitting at my desk next to the window working away in the sunshine. I even think there has been a few days when I got sunburnt.
Other days its been a real struggle to even get out of bed in time for work but I am managing to push myself to shower and get dressed. Nice hair and makeup are a thing of the past!
There has also been some really good day, catching up with old friends on zoom, playing a quiz or two. Getting back into drawing, origami and all those things I used to love doing but never had the time because of what my life has become. But I think the biggest take away for me has been rediscovering my love for food.
Over the past 5 years I have had a very unhealthy relationship with food and I think to some extent it could be classified as an eating disorder. It started with an intolerance to almost everything you could imagine and for 2 years on and off I was on a gluten free, dairy free, soya free, sesame free, FODMAP diet. Yes that’s right and I’m a pescaterian who occasionally eats chicken, so you can see why I developed a hatred for food, as everything I would eat would affect my stomach badly in one way or another. With professional help I got through that and could tell when things were getting bad again and I would be strict on my diet. Then I got sick again and spent a year going through every single digestive system test you could imagine and after 12 months I was diagnosed with gastroparesis. Which in turn was also like being diagnosed with diabetes again as i needed to keep a food diary and keep track of how I split my bolus for everything I ate and how it affected my blood glucose levels.
For those who have ever had to do this you will understand how much of a pain it is to record every little thing you put in your mouth. So I decided that it was easier to skip a meal or two here and there, besides one of the symptoms of gastroparesis is never getting hungry so that was never an issue for me.
Fast forward to the Corona virus pandemic lock down and just before it started, I got a new housemate from Argentina who is a secret chef and who has cooking in her blood. We have spent many evenings and weekends cooking and playing around with gluten free flour and maize flour and learning how it reacts to different ways of cooking. I don’t know if its the time and energy put in when making the food or the actual taste of something made from scratch or even the fact that I am learning that Gluten Free flour or alternatives can taste great and be used to make all those dishes that I love. But I know one thing is for sure……I love food!!!
