30-day No Pasta Challenge

So Pasta is one of my favourite foods, if not THE favourite and ultimately, I eat too much of it! I love everything about it: the different shapes, the sauces that go with it, the cheese that inevitably goes on top of it! As you might know from my other posts about this Italian delight, one of my favourite dishes is spaghetti with garlic, chilli and olive oil and I would say I eat this once or twice a week…at least.

The only problem is, I also suffer pretty regularly with stomach discomfort and bloating (I’ll leave it at that and spare you the detail!). I’ve suffered from this for a while now (well years I’m ashamed to admit) and  as much as it pains me to do this, I need to see how my body reacts when I deprive it of the carborific goodness.

I’ve always known it’ll be down to something in my diet (rather than poor health or a disorder), but I’ve never wanted to look into it properly in case I’m told that I’m allergic to something I really enjoy eating. I don’t know what I’d do if I was told I had a wheat allergy for example, as I love eating wheaty things way too much!

But if I’m completely honest with myself,  I’ve always suspected my stomach reaction has something to do with wheat or gluten, as it seems to happen most when I eat starchy white food like white bread and pasta. I think it’s been going on way too long for it to be a coincidence so I need to start eliminating foods to see what it might be.

I am therefore embarking on a 30-day No Pasta Challenge. That’s right. I am going to go for 30 days without eating pasta, in the hope that I might discover the reason behind my stomach discomfort. I’m by no way saying this is a scientific experiment and I’m fully aware that there will be plenty of other foods in my diet that potentially contain the same thing that is making my body react in such a way, however Pasta is the thing I would say that I eat most. So I feel it’s the one food that if I cut out of my diet, will have the most significant impact on the way I feel. A sort of pasta detox if you will.

It started yesterday, Sunday 18th August and will end on Tuesday 17th September. I’ll post the occasional update and recipes of things that I’m eating during my pasta-deprived month. If you have any suggestions of things I can fill the pasta-shaped void in my life with, then please comment below.

If you also want to embark on a 30-day No Food Challenge of your own, tweet me (@HollyNicol) with the #hollygoeslightly so we can share tips and motivational insights 🙂

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