The other day Diana from My Marble Rye sent me a tweet:
I responded and explained that I’m not comfortable sharing my typical day of eating because I am so limited by my GI illness that I don’t eat in a way that others should emulate. Sometimes I get incredible emails from readers telling me I inspired them to work out, to join Core Fusion, to start running. The last thing I want to do is inspire people to eat the way I do.  I can’t eat fruits or vegetables for the most part, as well as most whole grains.
I eat to try and keep my pain and symptoms at bay. I don’t eat to live the healthiest possible life. I don’t want anyone to choose to eat the way I do. For me, it is not a choice.
I couldn’t agree more. And I am happy to tell anyone and everyone who will listen to me to eat real food! Lots of vegetables, fruit, sprouted grains/whole grains, nuts. To avoid meat and dairy when possible, but when you do eat it, try your best to make sure the animal was not part of a factory farm, was not given antibiotics and growth hormones, was not treated horribly. If an ingredient list has words on it you can’t understand, don’t eat it. Stick to actual, real food (that your body recognizes as FOOD) and you will have more energy, feel satisfied longer, have more energy. Then, along with your workouts that include regular strength training, you can get that “toned bod” Diana mentioned.
I do the best I can given the fact that I can’t eat the foods considered healthiest.
And even when I avoid everything I think bothers me, I still don’t always feel well. Right now I am starting another 3-Day Cooler Cleanse because I have spent the last four days in pain and I have no idea why. On Sunday night I strongly considered going to the ER because I was in the worst pain of my life; the only other time I remember hurting so badly was the last time I went to the ER. I didn’t go for a number of reasons, the biggest being that I know the source of the pain — trapped air in one particular spot right in between where the two sides of my ribcage meet. Even if the ER doctors believed me (which is doubtful) there is nothing they could do about this other than give me painkillers, muscle relaxers or anti-spasmodics. I have all those things at home. And considering I couldn’t even sit up or roll over in my own bed, the thought of sitting for who knows how long in a waiting room, filling out forms, was more than I could bear.
I stuck it out and on Monday felt well enough to go to work, although I was still hurting. I don’t do juice fasts often because not eating is hard. I love food and I always wonder, during the cleanse, why I am doing this. But I keep thinking back to that one juice fast in December, 2009. After that I felt great for 10 months. And I think about how much it hurts right now to eat anything; that same spot spasms after each bite. And I think about the fact that if I can’t eat, I’m not getting nutrients. These next three days will provide me with much-needed nourishment.
I haven’t exercised since Saturday, when I tried to run through the pain (bad idea). I canceled Refine on Sunday (not that it was much of a choice, I could barely stand) and after being up nauseous during the night last night, I purposely slept through my run today. Marathon training will still be here next week. I hope. Right now I am focusing on getting better. I don’t know why my stomach decided to do this now. I haven’t been sick like this in a couple of years. I do think that after this Cooler Cleanse, as I clean up my eating as best I can, I will be much better. And if I am not, it might be time to try to find a doctor again, one who actually understands. A very difficult undertaking.
So if any of you were also curious about what I eat to get a sense of my whole “healthy lifestyle,” I hope you can understand why I am unable to do that. Maybe one day. But not now.
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Check out my latest NBC New York GO Healthy NY posts:
Dori’s Quest: Indoor Cycling at SoulCycleÂ
19 comments on Why I Don’t Tell You What I Eat
2Pingbacks & Trackbacks on Why I Don’t Tell You What I Eat
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[…] other news, you might remember that I was having some really bad GI issues a few weeks ago. I started going back to doctors, had a mostly pointless endoscopy and then started feeling a […]
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[…] PR!And in response to a reader’s question about how I stay in shape, I also explained why I don’t tell you what I eat.Also in August I was the subject of an interview with my friend Ben Waldman of Motivate Your Ass […]
Amber
August 16, 2011 at 9:25 am (13 years ago)Oh Dori! I am so sorry you are going through this again. I hope the cleanse helps you reset and you feel better soon.
Cameo
August 16, 2011 at 9:26 am (13 years ago)Wow! I had no idea it was so bad. I hope you feel better! xo
Missy Maintains
August 16, 2011 at 9:47 am (13 years ago)Ugh sorry you are in so much pain. I hope this cooler cleanse helps! I totally understand why you don’t post your meals.
Kace
August 16, 2011 at 9:50 am (13 years ago)Oh I hope you feel better soon! : ( And I totally understand on the food and diet front. If I shared what I ate when I was at my sickest, wow. It was like, 500 calories a day of meat and carbs – no fruit, veggies, sugar, dairy, or even healthy fat. Nothing even remotely healthy! And I lost crazy amounts of weight and sadly some people in this world would be desperate enough to try it. So I think you’re def. right for not advertising it.
Theodora
August 16, 2011 at 10:00 am (13 years ago)I respect you so much for this post! I definitely post a lot less of my food when my stomach is acting up, for the same reason.
Katherine
August 16, 2011 at 10:21 am (13 years ago)Hope you feel better! I love your honesty about the matter though and I totally respect your reasoning for not wanting to share what you eat.
Jess
August 16, 2011 at 12:37 pm (13 years ago)I don’t blame you for not wanting to share your eats because you are so very restricted given your stomach issues. I feel bad that you are struggling with it right now – I hope the cleanse helps or SOMETHING helps because I can’t imagine how uncomfortable and unhappy this must make you feel. 🙁 Hang in there ok?
Yaara
August 16, 2011 at 12:57 pm (13 years ago)Dori–I hope you feel better soon!! I am so sorry you are going through this again. I know what it feels like to have GI issues–it sucks. You’ll get through it though. If you ever want to talk/vent whatever you can always shoot me an e-mail/facebook whatever.
Mallory
August 16, 2011 at 1:15 pm (13 years ago)I wish we were closer so we could help you out more…mostly that we could just make this easier for you and somehow do something to make it go away! I think that compared to where you were when this all blew out of control the first time around, you are SO much stronger and smarter now and are taking the right steps to take care of your body as best you can with the knowledge you have. I hope the cleanse helps so that you can get back to marathon training ASAP! And we are of course sending you big family hugs from far away!
Krissie J
August 16, 2011 at 3:32 pm (13 years ago)I don’t share my daily eats and I don’t even have GI issues. I’m so sorry you’re not feeling well and hope the cleanse helps! Instead of sharing all of my food, I mostly just focus on a particular item where I thought the recipe was worth sharing, or if it was something I was insanely excited about. I applaud you for not wanting to direct people in the wrong direction. I think a lot of people can forget someone may eat a certain way because they have to, not because they want to be skinny.
Grace @ Balancing Me
August 16, 2011 at 3:42 pm (13 years ago)Amen, sistah! “Eat REAL foods!” I’m with you all the way.
(Not going to lie, though, my body can process steel if I chose to ingest it, so I do put it through a lot of abuse with foods that are not-so-real. Please forgive me.)
Lindsey @ Eat, Read, Run
August 16, 2011 at 9:55 pm (13 years ago)So sorry you have had such pain lately. I’m hoping the cleanse helps you. I have been thinking about doing one. And u r right – marathon training will be there when u r feeling better. I’m pretty sure I took like 9 days off from running during my second training when I was deathly sick with a sinus infection. Health has to come first. Feel better soon.
Jen Correa
August 18, 2011 at 11:22 am (13 years ago)I have a friend who has the same issues with food as you and I always feel so bad. She had her gall bladder removed and she just cannot eat so many foods now. I think it is extremely responsible of you not to blog your food for this reason. 😉 Kudos and good luck!
Laura Yamin
August 18, 2011 at 12:45 pm (13 years ago)Thank you for your honesty. I completely understand where you are coming from. I am sorry to hear that right now things are flaring up this will pass. I hope the cooler cleanse is helping your body. Again thank you for your strength and honesty to share this.
Sam @ Mom At The Barre
August 19, 2011 at 12:57 am (13 years ago)I think it’s really responsible of you not to post your eats. Shows the kind of person you are.
I’m so sorry that your stomach is acting up again. I hope the cleanse provides you with some relief. But I do think, hard as it may be, that it may be worthwhile to talk to another gastroenterologist. You are so young and this is really affecting your quality of life.
Christine
August 19, 2011 at 8:38 pm (13 years ago)Wow – I am so sorry you have to go through these stomach issues! I have even more respect for your running/racing/fitness pursuits after reading this. You’re an inspiration and I hope you feel better soon! xoxo
Heather
August 28, 2011 at 1:29 am (13 years ago)Hi Dori,
I just stumbled on your website so haven’t read it yet so forgive me if I’m stating the obvious, but trapped air that hurts sounds like carbonic gas. Do you do colonics or enemas? Carbonic gas comes from miscombining food or drinking carbonated beverages and it creates gas bubbles that have to come out one way or the other (ie. burping or farting). And sometimes they get trapped and really really hurt. Since I’ve started food combining that pain and ER visits are a thing of the past. Check out the work of Natalia Rose. If you find yourself in pain, book a colonic that day or do a home enema with hydrogen peroxide as it magnetizes the carbonic gas to exit your system. Good luck!