FIRST STAGE: Weeks 1 & 2

~HYDRATION~

Water - 2l

The temptation when starting out with something diet-wise, is to be drastic, kick off with a bang - it feels more powerful, more motivating. So I was tempted to start with cutting dairy, or trialling probiotics, or something concrete like that. Actually I think I need to start with the basics. And what could be more basic than - water.

I have lived in a perpetual state of normalised dehydration for most of my adult life. Friends of mine easily swig on gallons of water a day, whilst I can go hours without a single drop of fluid passing my lips, and then wonder why I feel 'a bit heady' come the afternoon (Hmm is that an amount? A gallon? I'm so far removed from hydration that measures of volume are meaningless to me. A galleon? No I think that's a pirate ship.)

The struggle is real.

SO I'm going to make sure I drink 2litres of water a day.

Sounds easy, and I've promised myself this before - even when I was in hospital, and constantly told by every nurse taking my blood pressure every couple of hours "you're dehydrated, drink more water", and I actively tried to drink more, I still only managed a litre a day on average. My body is the desert, an arid inhospitable wasteland, and I must bring in the floods in epic, biblical proportions - which is, to me, 2 litres a day.

~CUTTING~

No MSG – I don’t tend to eat MSG anyway, the only things in my diet which sometimes have MSG are Pringles and ramen noodles, both beloved cornershop/hangover treats I’ll sadly have to forego! But it’s something I’ll now be actively looking out for and checking for.

No fermented soy products – I’m big on soy, being a veggie, but my main culprit for this is soy sauce – I have so much of this I'm basically sponsored by Kikkoman (the only soy sauce that exists as far as my taste buds, and my mother, are concerned!). So no tempeh, miso, or soy sauce.

No caffeine – I’ve been pretty much caffeine-free for a few years now, only decaf coffee and tea – but I’ve been having green tea regularly. I’ll cut this now, as it does still contain caffeine.

~KEEPING~

(for the meantime)

Chocolate - going to try and stick only to dark chocolate. But I can't make any promises, and I can't cut chocolate right now purely because of the fact that I’m due on. Come on guys, have some pity!

Dairy – I’m not really sure how to do this one. There is some discussion over cutting dairy completely, or just fermented dairy etc so am going to wait on this one before formulating a plan.

Certain processed products - I currently live on Amy’s range of frozen meals, which is an expensive and lazy way to eat, with untold pitfalls as I’ve always eaten these based on taste, calorie content, and the ‘appearance’ of health (eg. they are expensive and sold at Wholefoods) but really I haven’t investigated how healthy/unhealthy these are, and certainly not in relation to the brain. However, with my current physical recovery status, I can’t be standing for too long, preparing food isn’t where I’m at yet – so leaving this in place for the mo.

~ADDING~

Turmeric – I should really wait and add this separately, as it's not something I'm used to cooking with, or indeed ingesting in any form. But I’ve been dying to make my own version of this delicious hot drink I had recently at a place called Farmacy in Westbourne Grove – called ‘Golden Milk’ - turmeric, black pepper, cardamom & coconut milk. It was hearty and delicious, but to be frank, it gave me the runs! Which I suspect is the coconut milk – not something I ever really have in drink form. So I’m going to make my own, with almond milk and coconut oil, I’ve found a lovely sounding recipe on Nutrition Stripped that I’m dying to make.

I also watched a recent episode of 'Trust Me I’m A Doctor' extolling the health benefits of turmeric (in its’ powder form) and my mum recently brought me some, so it’s on my radar at the moment.

I don't think I've followed this recipe correctly

~OTHER FACTORS~

Period – this falls on my due on, and my actual on, weeks.

Medication – I’ve just started Propranolol (20mg a day) for migraine prevention, as directed by my neurologist

Recovery – my most recent surgery was 2 weeks ago, and I was in hospital for 2 weeks total (5 weeks previously in Summer)

Exercise – I’m living a pretty sedentary lifestyle at the moment, whilst recovering from surgery, so I’m sure this is having some effect. Once I’ve ‘nailed’ my diet, I’m going to explore exercise routine more fully – I used to use running as my main form of exercise, and it suited my personality and mindset beautifully, but I’m not sure it’s the one for migraines, so I’ve got yoga in mind as a starting point. But yes, exercise is on the back burner for the moment.