Hi, I’m Natasha, and IBS stole years of my life.
For years, flare-ups, belly bloat and mood swings robbed me of time, energy and self-belief.
Everything made me sick. Lunch could put me in a coma. Big goals seemed impossible. All I wanted was to feel normal, though I’d no idea what that meant.
For more than two decades, I was at war with myself.
Until l made changes that forced me to change the conversation with my body.
In 2014, I quit alcohol and joined a gym.
In the early days, I loved working out because it relieved the worst of my IBS symptoms, belly bloat, constipation and fatigue.
Then I started to experiment with diets. I’ve tried them all, from Paleo to IF and Keto. This turned out to be bad for my IBS body.
Because IBS restricts the variety of food I can eat, I wasn’t eating enough to fuel my workouts and this caused serious disruptions to my hormones. The result? I went into early menopause and had a nervous breakdown.
This is the sickest I’ve ever been. I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t work, eat or sleep, couldn’t get anything done, and felt trapped by a terror I couldn’t name. Plus, I couldn’t workout because my body was too weak.
At this point, it seemed like I had no choices, nowhere to go. As a person with IBS, I’ve never had much help from the medical community, so going to the doctor seemed pointless.
Despite my confusion, I made the best decision I’ve ever made.
I decided to study nutrition to figure out what was going on with my body.
I became curious, really curious.
Over the next two years, I immersed myself in the world of sports nutrition, learning the function of food, the role of exercise, the importance of sleep and active recovery, and deepening my understanding of biology, hormones and mental health.
A few years on, it’s not too much to say I’m a different person.
Today, I understand the rhythms of my body, and know what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, how to get good sleep, how to relax and recover, and most importantly, how to walk away from things and people that don’t serve me.
This journey was not easy. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, as well as the most rewarding.
Today, I’m a certified sports nutritionist (PN1) and in training to be a kettlebell trainer.
Today, I see food not only as fuel for my body but also as a gateway to my story.
Today, I want to share my knowledge with the world.
Today, I want to work with other IBS people and help them alleviate the symptoms of IBS.
My advice is drawn from a wealth of personal experience as well as study and ongoing investigation. Not only have I researched these topics, I’ve lived them, and much of my work is driven by a need to maintain my own gut health.
WORK WITH ME
The Greeks have a saying: know thyself.
By providing you with food guidelines that examine your eating choices and daily habits, I’ll help you “know thyself,” giving you nutritional tools that change your relationship with IBS and food, and serve you for the rest of your life.
The IBS Kitchen 