🎯 Your Wellness Plan 101
Everything you need to know to get the best out of the diet
I just wanted to give you a quick rundown of the different wellness plans.
We’re going to look at:
🟢 The differences between each of the plans
🟢 How to choose the right one for you
🟢 How you can adapt them to suit your needs
Different plans to suit different people
There are 3 different plans. Each is based on the same core premise (no starch, no/low sugar) but they also incorporate additional measures which have helped me and many others.
That’s because when you are targeting gut health and the microbiome you want to be absolutely sure you cover every base. You only want to have to go through this phase once! While some people are fine eating nightshades (tomatoes, aubergine, bell peppers etc) others find they cause them problems. The same is true with eggs, oxalates and inulin.
Each of the Wellness Plan strands is designed to be roughly proportional to risk-reward level and time-scales, in my opinion. We all have different genes and microbiomes, so what works will vary slightly between individuals. That’s why it’s vital that you test everything and track everything. Stay open-minded so that you can make tweaks as needed. Figure out what works best for you.
I want you to get the best results in the fastest time possible, which is why I recommend the ‘Strict’ plan but understand that might not be possible or practical for everyone. We are have different things going on in our lives, different access to foods and so on.
Important: Whichever plan you choose, remember none of these are your forever diets! Even though they might look strict, they are means to an end. Once you get to ‘pain free’ you can start adding foods back in.
The goal is to figure out, over the course of the next month… 6 months… or 12 months, something that could have a dramatic, and even life changing, effect on your ankylosing spondylitis. That’s my absolute hope for you. As with anything in life there are no guarantees but that is the goal.
Let’s go through each plan option one by one:
The ‘easy going’ plan
🟢 Has the most variety of foods
🟢 Includes some alcohol
🟢 You are more likely to feel ‘full’ as it includes eggs
🔻 It’s the riskiest plan. There are more foods/drinks you might react to
🔻 You could put in all the work, only to find you’re still triggered by one of the ingredients
🔻 It could take much longer to discover what works and what doesn’t
This is still a very strict diet, but it does give you a lot more options. I still think it has a decent chance of yielding some positive results.
The middle ground
🟢 A little more strict than ‘basic’ but excludes oxalate rich foods
🟢 Includes some alcohol (but I recommend avoiding at the start)
🟢 Could be a happy medium if you are struggling to go ‘strict’
🔻 There is still a risk there will be foods/drinks you react to
🔻 As a result it could delay your findings
🔻 It doesn’t include intermittent fasting (a gamechanger for many)
This is a much more flexible diet than the basic plan. It should still be okay for most people, in terms of avoiding the main trigger foods that tend to flag for people who follow diet to manage their AS.
The fastest route to success
🟢 Strips out ALL the common trigger foods to give you the very best chance of success
🟢 Most likely to get you results in the fastest time possible
🟢 Includes intermittent fasting which can yield very fast and powerful results
🔻 You need a lot of willpower for this one
🔻 You’ll be eating a lot of the same foods to begin with
This is the recommended plan. If you’re going to turn your life upside down you might as well make sure it’s a one time thing. This gives you the best risk/reward ratio (in the fastest time) of any of the plans.
Tips to make a plan that works for you
Mix and match!
Please tailor bits from any of the plans to suit your needs. For example you might want to follow the strict plan for food but add in some alcohol. Or you might want to do the basic plan but add in intermittent fasting
Avoid the following foods at all costs
When you’re starting out it’s really important to avoid the ingredients on this list.
Give it time
This isn’t an overnight thing. Some people start seeing some results in a few days for others it can take months (sometimes several months). It took years for the AS to take hold so give your gut time to recover