An Introduction

I remember the first cheeseburger I ever had... wait, no I don't. That would be like saying I remember my first breath, or the first thought I ever had. That is to say that since I can remember I have been a meat-eating, dairy consuming individual. Unless your parents were hippies or something, chances are you grew up that way too and never really questioned it. That being said, this blog will not be a platform for me to denounce all things meat and dairy.

Here's the story:

As long as I can remember (for reals this time) I've had a complex relationship with food. I love food. I love trying new foods. I love my parents' cooking. What I don't love is the fact that for my entire life I've had a hard time digesting anything. No, I do not have an eating disorder, and yes, I'm sure a lot of people in this world have much worse digestive issues than I do, which I won't get into for the sake of your own stomach.

Now here's the deal:

I'm on a quest to find out what is wrong with me, or my digestive tract once and for all. Here's what you need to know...

• I am a 23 year old white male
• I am lactose intolerant, but still consume dairy products other than milk, such as cheese
• I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day (black, no sugar)
• I weigh approximately 185 lb. and am roughly 5'9"
• I eat most of my meals at home and limit myself to fast food maybe once or twice a week
• I work out 3-5 times a week, including lifting weights and jogging 15-20 min.

My plan is to go one month (beginning tomorrow, 9/22/2010) without eating any meat, sugar, salt, wheat (other than whole grains), white flour, coffee, eggs and dairy (also no beer). The purpose of this exercise will be to see how my body and mind react to the complete absence of these foods. If I find that I feel much better, and that food allergies are the cause of my issues, I will then slowly reintroduce each of these things back into my diet until I figure it out.

Today I figured I'd go out in style. Here was my day in food:

Breakfast - Half a bagel with salmon cream cheese, a jelly donut and coffee

Lunch - Bacon cheeseburger and fries - followed by coffee

Dinner - 2 slices of pizza, one sicilian and one sausage and mushroom, salad, followed by coffee and some birthday cake (happy birthday, Dad!)

I haven't gone food shopping for this adventure yet, so my breakfast tomorrow will probably consist of fruit and a honey and oat Nature Valley granola bar to hold me over until lunch.

Here goes...