Hello Bag Changer
You say [elsewhere on site] that 2023 has not been a good year for you .....
Envy to be able to eat freely ......
I have had my colectomy for many years ..... [ and my Mother had a colosotomy] ... hence the reply to this Diet Post:
IMHExperience I have found over many years/different situations I have experienced, that at times of exascerbation the cutting back to basics of what few types of food suit us personally - although 'boring' is the best way forward.
If only potatoes, for example - BECAUSE from the point of 'good stability for us personally - WE CAN THEN ADD A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF ONE SINGLE FOOD and then monitor that addition ...... [if OK continue in moderation - if not - dismiss for the moment - or reconsider in what form to try it again]
And gently, little by little, [YES I KNOW IT IS LABOROUS - BEEN THERE - we can add another - and if the result is 'iffy' - then go back to the OK point - yours being pototoe and carrot for example - and maybe just have ONE - and I literally mean 'ONE sprout [for example] - and savour it - and "surround" that one sprout by then eating a little more potatoe after it "to cushion" its throughput .... IMHE you can then add another small something etc ..... and by doing this one can often build up to an increased range of what you like - but in moderation.
ITS ALL ABOUT BALANCE AND LEARNING WHAT THE REMAINING ABDOMINAL TRACT CAN WORK BEST WITH [and I really mean work best with - not just tolerate - but actually work WELL AND OK!
Hope this may help ....
A little personal sharing here : after 8 years of careful management following my colectomy - I was able to go back to a pretty open range of foods - but I learned in what proportion and in what combination my system would tolerate what ..... yet when a 'flare-up' occured , then back to basics - allow a "settling" and then onward - its all about BALANCE and learning what is OK for us personally.
[Yet did you know, for example that a tomatoe is related to the nastursm which is poisinous - yet I LOVE tomoatoes ...... so undaunted sometime I have to revert to de-seeding - and only having half a tomatoes [along with other balacing food] at any one time - and , even to this day, I STILL de-skin a tomoates [cut into 4 and use a sharp knife on a board to de-skin each quater - discard the skin or make into roses for decoration!] :-) ...... JUst 1 eg ... there are many others. BUT it DOES mean I can still eat tomoatoe, yet if I did not manage HOW I eat it I would be literally on back! BUT MANY OF US EAT CAPERS! Also in context, the wild ancestor of the carrot was also poisinous.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY - it DOES know best ..... but we often just ignore ourselves ...... You, Bag-Changer have [presumably] been used to eating pretty much all sorts of food - proably whatever you fancy - and the pathways in our brains get "used" to our preferences for - eating / doing things etc .... BUT WE CAN TAKE STOCK AND CHANGE ..... and, honestly, it can become better, once we get the true hang of what may be better for us [and like, in moderation] - our former preferences once we know HOW best to treat ourselves.
I know somebody well, [who actually does not have a collectomy] whose staple diet is Potatoes, Fish and carrots - yet a lot of commercially grown carrots hold no appeal for him whatsoever.
Try to stay positive.
I know its rather a f--k at times - but we CAN DO THIS! - Keep on trucking .....
One could conclud the 'PErfect' Diet is an ever evolving process - but we can work out what our staple OKs are - and build on those for a happy variety, which needs to be modiefied from time to time.
BIG SMILE
Keep experimenting.
Best Wishes for a less 'orrible time going forward
sending You and Yours festive wishes
Jayne