Hello again!

If you've been following our blog, you've undoubtedly noticed that we've taken a bit of a break from blogging (a LONG break!).  Since Ellen's pain has been extremely debilitating these past few months, it's been hard to remain inspired to continue the upbeat tone of the blog.  But we've discussed it and we do want to continue with the project.  After all, we weren't looking for quick fixes (although deep down, maybe we hoped for one??).  It's still about healthy living and sustainable (which sometimes means slow) healing.

What Should Your Meals Look Like?

So by now we've given you a few recipes for the endometriosis diet (and many more are to come!), but you may still feel confused about what you should be eating on a daily basis.
Here are some tips to get you started.  Remember, we call this the "endometriosis diet," but really these rules apply to everyone.  This is the healthiest way to eat.

1) The salad is the main course.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but once you start eating this way, it will start to feel more natural.  You should be trying to eat a salad at every meal (well, maybe not breakfast...but even then I sometimes do!).  And as you dish up your food, try to think of the salad as the main event of the meal.  You should think of the other stuff (grains and other starches, meat/fish) as side dishes.  You're probably thinking you are going to get very sick of salad.  But there are so many wonderful recipes that you can try something different everyday.  Besides, you don't always have to eat your veggies raw (though that is the best way to get all their nutrients)--so, if you need a change, try steaming or lightly sauteeing your veg, or make it into a delicious stew.  We'll be posting tons of recipes here to help keep you inspired in the kitchen.

You've been planning what???

I love my sister with a fierceness that knows no bounds.  She is one of the few people in this world for whom I'd do just about anything to take away suffering.  I remember watching her cry as a preteen after having an argument with our parents and wondering why my chest felt like it was going to explode--why I wanted to tear her away from the grief she was feeling and just take it upon myself, since I could already feel it so acutely.  Seeing her disappointed was always more devastating than being disappointed myself so I spent a lot of time and energy trying to protect her from anything that I thought might make her sad, scared, disappointed, or uncomfortable.

The Endo Undo Diet

As you can see by the luscious veggie photo on our blog entrypage, a lot of this project is about food, food, and more food.  Diet was one of the biggest things we worked on as we formulated our plan.  So, what foods should you be eating?  We have compiled a summary here, though we'll get more specific in future posts.

Welcome

Welcome to Endo Undo, and thank you for looking.
As you read in the introduction, my sister Ellen (you'll hear from her soon!) was diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 15, after nearly collapsing with unbearable pelvic pain during practice for the school play.  Nearly 15 years later she still deals with severe and chronic pain.  On January 1 of this year, the two of us embarked on "Endo Undo," a project of our creation to experiment with natural healing methods and to document our journey.  We started a new regimen that includes a restricted (but delicious!) diet, exercise, yoga, and herbs (you'll hear more about all this stuff, along with other topics, in future posts).  Part of our project is to share what we learn, and that's where this blog comes in.  There are a lot of helpful endo resources out there, it's true, but not many that do what we aim to do.  So...we hope that you find this helpful, inspiring, entertaining, whatever.  If you have endometriosis (or if you don't) and are interested in hearing about our progress, please become a member and leave comments and questions.
By the way, we are new to this blogging deal, so please be patient while we work out the kinks.
Peace