The Journey Begins

Hi, my name is Bel and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I am a business owner. I run my own successful dog training, walking and minding company. I have one cat and one dog, and one love of my life living with me. I am very grateful for my life at this moment in time.

Back in 2010, after two bouts of Iritis (inflammation of the iris) within 11 months of each other, I was systematically diagnosed with a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis, at the age of 23. When reading about this condition I was quite devastated, thinking I was doomed to a life of inflammation, pain and eventual immobility from spinal fusion. My husband (boyfriend at the time) helped me research the condition more and try to find ways to help limit the inflammation in my body.

In January 2012, I decided to try (what I believed to be) a no/low starch diet. After 12 months on this diet, with a few cheat days in between, I realised it wasn't working and my husband (now fiance) helped research more and find out about all the hidden starches in processed foods, fruit and vegetables, as well as the anti-inflammatory pills taken to combat the inflammation.

So January 2013, I decided to remove all root vegetables, bananas, dairy, legumes, lentils, all grains, all numbers and preservatives. I started learning new recipes and how to make dressings, sauces and marinades from scratch. A new world had been open up to me. I found a new hobby that would keep my mind active and plate full of food I could eat. I started an Instagram account to keep track of my meals (for future meal ideas when I was stuck) and to see what others with my condition were making to help improve their life with AS. #ankylosingspondylitis was showing sad results. No one else was posting food that other AS sufferers could safely eat. It became my mission to help. If others in my position couldn't come up with tasty meals how on earth were they going to avoid the foods that triggered inflammation?

After 12 months on my new "diet" (lifestyle change) with the information I had, I felt a little better, but not enough to feel like it had made a significant difference. My husband (now husband) agreed that we needed to find another solution.

After more research and joining AS support groups on Facebook, I found out at this point that there are SO many considerations when trying to avoid starch in foods. It is hidden EVERYWHERE! What I thought was safe was in fact not. Zucchini is safe when raw, but fry it up in a pan with some olive oil and it releases the starch and you are done for. I also learned that the nightshade family of vegetables, while low/no starch can cause issues for people with AS and other arthiritic conditions.

This is when I got serious...

I was sick of being in pain and irritable and moody with my husband (I'm thankful everyday that he put up with me...and still does). I wanted to feel like others without auto-immune conditions. Pain free. Healthy. Active. Happy. I was determined to find the solution to this, even if the medical professionals want us to take pills and injections. I wasn't having any of that in my body.

And so my journey as a blogger begins.

Today I am pain free, for now. I am still learning what foods I can and can't have but I want to share my incomplete journey and allow people to learn along with me and gain knowledge from my experiences so they can have a better understanding NOW about their condition before it progresses unnecessarily. Allow them the opportunity to feel pain-free the DRUG-FREE way.

I also want to share my own meal ideas and recipes that I have created on this journey to give others a boost up with their knowledge of cooking, to give them a chance to cook healthy, delicious food the RIGHT way for them without scanning 100's of recipe websites looking at food they can't have, as I did.

So come along with me on my journey. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. We will find the answers together.

~ AS Angel ~