My sister suggested that I arrange an appointment with
Katherine after she had consulted her. I had been diagnosed with IBS for over 20 years, I had seen dieticians and had sensitivity testing done. Whilst I knew certain foods made my condition worse, there were days when I would be ill and could not understand why. In addition to this,I have bronchiectasis, a lung condition that causes a build
up of thick and sticky mucous that can only be removed through daily physiotherapy, plus I am generally on anti-biotics at least 6 times per year.  I also have a
skin irritation which can be aggravated by food and infection.

After an initial consultation and some scientific testing of samples,I was put on a restrictive diet with some supporting supplements. At first it was hard to keep going with the diet but my bowel had started to improve so I persevered. Christmas was a turning point, getting through the festivities with no sweets or alcohol was a real challenge but as January arrived I started to feel a lot better.  I wasn’t having any diarrhoea I had more energy and my skin had improved.

Three months on I can now tolerate all foods with exception of onion, foods that previously caused me to dash to the toilet no longer do.This is exactly where I wanted to be, my diet is more varied, and I am much healthier (I will never revert back to the black coffee and sweets that I was living off previously).

Now, I snack on apples and carrots, daily, and eat lots of mackerel.

What I didn’t expect however was the other positive changes I would experience.With the change in my diet my previous skin condition is almost healed.  I rarely have to use my medication. Also, I haven’t had to take anti-biotics for over a year as I haven’t suffered
with any chest infections, which also means I haven’t had the need for steroids. My immune system has improved as I am better able to fight colds/virus’, and am now doing regular exercise.

Despite finding it hard initially I am very happy how things have turned out, and grateful to Katherine for improving my life.

Having suffered from IBS symptoms (particularly diarrhoea, bloating and cramping) for as long as I can remember, but getting increasingly worse over the last year, I was given Katherine’s number from two different sources, so I thought I’d give her a try. My doctor had given me many tablets and drinks, none of which had worked, and the gastroenterologist had discharged me as he seemed to be at a loss. Katherine recommended a few simple dietary changes, and a stomach acid test, which bizarrely was the thing that has turned my symptoms completely around. I’ve totally changed what and how I eat, but because I feel immediately better, it’s been easier, and with the supplements that Katherine recommended, I now feel completely ‘normal’ most of the time. I’ve started to get my social life back, and I’m no longer checking for toilets everywhere I go. I can’t thank her enough.

Why not see if Nutritional Therapy can help you as well.

Katherine

1. Don’t be impatient and expect instant results you have to be able to maintain whatever changes you make for the long term. It is very easy to set yourself up to fail, try and take a long term view.
2. Allow yourself mistakes, the all or nothing approach doesn’t work, remember the weight loss in some respects is the easy bit keeping it off is when the hard work really starts. It is important to overcome setbacks and move on.
3. Try and get to the root cause of the weigh gain and address it, for instance was it stress that caused increases in appetite or comfort eating.
4. Make sure you add in plenty of rewards to encourage compliance.
5. Avoid weighing yourself daily your weight will fluctuate and an unexpected reading can really set you up for a bad day. You have no control over what the scales say but you have control over your food focus on that.
6. Avoid going for long times eating very little and feeling hungry all you do is slow down your metabolism so weight loss becomes even harder.
7. A diet that focuses solely on calories counting and doesn’t consider the quality of the food can leave you nutritionally deficient tired, hungry and depressed, all three of which make it unsustainable in the long term.
8. Losing weight is around 80% diet and 20% exercise whilst adding in some exercise will help don’t be fooled into thinking weight loss will come without changes to your diet.
9. Find a source of personal motivation and refer to it often. Remind yourself why you want to lose weight.
10. Only a true lifestyle change can make weight loss sustainable and it can take time to change a lifetime of habits, however everyone can do it.

A diet that encourages weight loss over time will inevitably help you to form better habits and become the beginning of a lifetime of healthy eating.

In my opinion a good detox is a month of eating a very healthy diet and cutting out all of the alcohol, caffeine and sugar, fat and salt-laden processed foods that can make up a large part of people’s daily food intake. It shouldn’t be too extreme so as to omit essential nutrients but a healthy balance. Whether this allows your body to release toxins or not is controversial. All I know is that you sparkle at the end of it. The ultimate aim of a detox has to be to feel terrific. Quite often clients feel worse before they see improvements but the ones who stick with it report increased energy levels, a clearer head, brighter eyes and skin and weight loss. In a number of cases problems that people have been plagued with for years such as bloating, headaches or skin problems have improved or disappeared. The long term aim is to improve the diet for a lifetime rather than a short period and quite often habits developed during this time become life long. These good habits include eating more fruit and vegetables, drinking more water and cutting down on junk food and processed foods. They also help you to think about what you’re eating, force you out of your food comfort zone to try new things, experiment and find tasty healthy food. It can be very motivational taking charge of your health.

If you would like to try a detox to help improve your health or achieve your new year’s resolution why not get in touch.

1.  Write down your resolutions, make them specific, positive and realistic and don’t be greedy one or two is enough.
2. Reward your self for achieving. Break your goals down and plan rewards for various stages.
3. Get some help – trying to make changes on your own gives your inner saboteur plenty of chances to derail your best intentions.

Creamy Dahl Soup (serves 6)

 1 large onion, roughly chopped

2/5cm/”” fresh ginger, peeled and grated

3 garlic cloves, halved

15ml/1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 heaped teasp each of ground cumin, coriander and turmeric

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped (or use 2 very large sweet potatoes)

350g/12ozs/1½  mugs of split red lentils

1.75 litres/3 pints veg or chicken stock* or water

Black pepper to taste

Natural yoghurt to serve

Fresh coriander or parsley to serve (optional)

 Sweat the onion, ginger, garlic in the oil and 1 dsp water, cover with a lid, for a few mins, then add the spices and cook for a further 2 mins.  Add the carrots, parsnips, lentils, stir well, then add the stock or water.  Bring to the boil, cover and simmer 30 mins, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Puree in a blender,  and season to taste. Serve with a small dollop of  natural yoghurt and, if you like, a scattering of coriander or parsley.