My Food Journey

I could write stories about food and myself.

As a small child, denying every possibility to drink a milk. At that time I lived in socialism and general propaganda was: every child must drink milk every day. It was almost an obsession. 

So there was a huge problem for my mum. How to get the milk into me. She wanted only the best for me. And I was so thin. 

As I started the school, milk propaganda got even worser. In the school we got a snack every day packed together with milk. And we had to drink it. There were teachers watching if we drank everythink. Drinking milk was healthy. Food intolerances like lactose were not known, not accepted. So I did what I was told, drank milk and suffered permanently from stomach ache.

Suddenly there were bananas on the market. It was not usual, something special. You could only buy them at Christmas time. So my mum did everything to get some for Christmas. I ate one and thought, I would die from pain. Pineaple the same. And many other sorts of fruit. My mum thought, we need to see a doctor. We did. Nothing found, I kept drinking milk and eating fruits, must be healthy…

No one got any idea about not tolerating fructose.

Moreover in my teenage time I started to put on more and more weight. I didn’t eat more as the others, my feeling was: I just watch food and I am one kilo heavier. 

When you finish primary school with 14 in Slovakia, you continue studies in a secondary school. A special occasion in your life. The objective was clear: loose weight, I believed I was overweighted. I spent summer holiday, as usual, at my grandmum. Grandmum had clear opinion on healthy eating habits. Listening to the comments regarding my weight and eating habits were so embarrassing to me.

I ate 3-4 pieces of potatoes and that was it. Spent whole summer rope skipping and lost finally weight. I was happy. 

It was my first fight with my body weight and not the last one. 

During my studies I put on more and more weight again. And I was so unhappy.

So I used to be jogging every morning for an hour, was counting calories, eating only healthy food as yoghurts, fruits and vegetables. Avoiding bread and other carbohydrates. Trying new diets. Not eating in the evening. Only water drinking. Huge amounts of water not to be hungry.

With the time I was tired of all the diets and calories and jogging, kickboxing, buying clothes, thinking about food, not enjoying food at all.

And then my husband got an idea of having a child. For me, the first idea that came into my mind was: I would get thick. 

Suprisingly it was my best time. I put on only 9 kg weight during my both pregnancies and after the birth I was thinner than before. My body suddenly worked. Smelling any food, especially milk or fruits, I was vomiting immedietely. Often I just ate rice for weeks, being happy and feeling good.

This brougth me to my first thougths on food intolerancies in my life. At that time I already lived in Germany, a country more progressed in healthcare compared to Slovakia.

I got diagnosed, long list of food intolerancies:

High lactose intolerance

High fructose intolerance

Histamin intolerence

Glutein intolerence

I was somehow happy. I finally understood my body. I started to take care of my eating habits to feel better and not to look better.

Vegan eating was not known to me at that time. It was too complicated for me. I was adding food by food on my positive list and observing my body and my feelings. My weight started to be a good friend of mine. Weight going up meant I ate something wrong, something I can’t digest. Fruit mostly disappeared from my food list. Eating only small amount of berries from time to time, no milk and milk based food. I finally felt well.

I started to look for restaurants with fresh kitchen, loved Italian ones.

I ate lactosefree joghurts for some time, and drank capuccino with lactose free milk, but I felt so heavy afterwards…. 

Salad with any meat was there for my lunch. Still skipping evening meal.

After some time I got my next diagnosis: 

Sluggish intestines.

Recommedation from a doctor to eat only once a day without counting calories, any food I could eat I should just eat it. Something as interval fasting. Once a day enjoying my food. The rest of the 24hours time my intestines should be resting.

Meanwhile I checked the intolerences by my children.

The son has lactose and histamin intolerancies.

The daughter lactose and fructose. She is avoiding meat since a baby.

So I started to look for new recipes to cook for all of us and make their and my life easier. 

At the end my daugther joined me to be vegan. Meat does not taste, fish is “staring” at her, are her words.

I started to cook vegan for me and her. After vegan food we feel better, not so heavy after meal, just happy and light.

My husband and my son still eat meat. It’s their decision. They often take our vegan food as a side.

So I tried to accept and give everyone what they need. Sometimes I cook 3-4 meals at the weekend.

I love it.

And I love to see happy faces.

Food is no issue anymore.

For the first time I understood I don’t have to be thin as a model to be me and accepted. And beautiful for someone and especially for me. That everyone has got an another body. 

And maybe there is something else, as a disease.

Secondly it took me time to accept my body and all the intolerancies and to live with it. 

I was so afraid that the same will happen to my children.

Now I understand I got the best body I could. I can take care of it and trying so many things was just the way how to find the best one for me. At the moment it’s vegan eating. 

I feel happy eating that way. I found new hobby with all of this - cooking.

Still I would love to be 2 kg lighter. Not denying it. Maybe one day.

I am beautiful today and I have always been.