Do you ever find yourself scrolling through foodie posts, reminiscing about life before MS and the Wahls protocol, the freedom that you had to eat whatever you wanted without any real consequence. You ordered whatever you wanted off of a menu when you were at restaurants, and you could go to a party and sample any food without asking, 'What's in this?' You know that following your MS diet has way more pros than cons. But you also wonder if you'll ever get to enjoy good food again. Today's episode is listener requested, and we're talking about how to deal with the emotional and mental side of following a restricted diet. You can do all the food swaps on a practical level, but how do you deal with the fact that you're constantly feeling deprived from good food? You know that this diet is in your best interest, but how do you maintain it without feeling like you're constantly missing out? There are 1 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the US. So that makes you one in a million. And you have a special purpose in this world that no diagnosis can take away from you. So if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis,

Hello, my friends. I have a question for you. How is your heart today? Not your physical heart. I trust that that's pumping well, but how's your emotional heart? This is a question that a friend of mine used to ask me and I loved it because first it made me realize how much I ignore my heart when someone's asking how I'm feeling. I typically respond in one of two ways. First, the classic, I'm doing good, just keeping busy. Or I would talk about the latest worry on my mind because my mind was always the loudest voice. But when my friends started asking me what's on my heart, it changed things. Like there was a shift in my response because it forced me to ask, how is my heart today? What's on my heart? And I thought that this was so relevant to share with you for today’s topic

of eating feels so stressful. This is something that should be good news. You can start to feel better in your body and have a better chance of managing your diagnosis by simply changing the food on your plate. But the reality is it is anything but simple. It's complicated and it's emotional because food isn't just about fueling ourselves. It feeds our heart too. Food is enjoyable. I mean, it brings our family together around the kitchen table every night. It helps us to carry on family tradition with like great-grandmom’s recipe during the holidays. And it helps us to celebrate special moments like anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings. So it's easy to feel disappointed when you're not only having to live with a chronic illness, but you're also having to follow an ultra restricted diet for the rest of your life.

So what gives? Do you just say, screw it? I'm going to eat what I want. MS is hard enough. And I don't want to have to make my life any harder. Or do you say, I'm not letting this stop me. I know, I know in my bones that my food will help me to feel better. But also, I legit need to figure out how not to feel so deprived all the time. If this last one sounds like you, then this episode is for you. And if you're in the first camp, I 100% respect that.

End up answered and on the podcast. So here are the five questions that I'm going to cover for us today. Number one, how do I deal with food cravings and the feeling of constantly missing out on my favorite foods? Number two, what are some practical tips for making the Wahls protocol feel less restrictive and more enjoyable? Number three, how can I stay motivated and committed to the Wahls protocol when I don't see immediate results in my MS symptoms? Number four, are there ways to socialize and enjoy eating out without feeling like I'm derailing my progress? And number five, how can I shift my mindset from focusing on what I can eat to enjoying the foods that I can eat on the Wahls Protocol? So this is a lot, obviously.

There is a lot packed in each of these. I mean, I could make an episode on each of these questions, but I am going to try to answer them all in this one episode. So let's get started here. The first one, how do I deal with food cravings and the feeling of missing out on my favorite foods? Oh my goodness. I mean, if this is not the most relatable question, and I think it's a very raw and honest question, when you're dealing with an emotional experience in life, such as getting diagnosed with a chronic illness or dealing with a new symptom or in the midst of a flare, we want to be comforted. We are looking for things that will help to ease the emotional pain that we're going through, let alone kind of physical pain. I mean, with MS.

mental level. So I've talked about this in depth in many of the previous episodes, but really focusing on how can we help to lighten that emotional load by acknowledging the emotions that we have and finding a healthy way to process them. Because the option of just like not reaching for food and then.

So number one, when you are dealing with food cravings, there's a lot layered into that. So it's important for you to have a new tool to manage any emotions that may be coming up. And the other thing is also deciphering like what is triggering the craving. So is it something that is emotional? If not, maybe it's something from a nutritional perspective. And I know for me, before starting The Wahls Protocol, I had more sugar in my diet. And the more sugar you have in your diet, the more likely you are to crave more sweets.

It's just this one moment. So like, what can you do to get through this moment? And what if this is the strongest sugar craving that you ever have? What if like the next one just gets, what if they just get easier from here on out? So I knew that as I was pulling back on sugar, that I would have that initial increase in the sugar cravings. But I really was intentional with telling myself, like, this is something that will get easier, but you just have to kind of like get through this moment. So again, that kind of like circles back to what are the other tools that you have? What can I do in that moment when I'm dealing with a sugar craving? Can I go for a walk? Can I go to pull out my journal? Can I grab some water? Can I call a friend? Like a lot of different things that you can do. But then continuing on the note of identifying the root of the craving,

something like sugar, which is ultra addictive, is there a nutritional deficiency that you need to address? So can you identify the root of the craving and address that? But then also remembering that your cravings most likely will shift in time. The more that you are having healthier foods, more nutrient-dense foods, the more those nutritional deficiencies get addressed. So if you're at the beginning,

but it makes it harder to get through when you're doing that cold turkey approach for most people. And it's a personal decision. Some people do really well on cold turkey. Other people are like, 'I need to take a gradual approach.' And with a gradual approach, it can make it easier. So here's what I did. When I was first starting, and I, my, and to be fair, like my diet in the beginning wasn't awful. I was a nutrition coach. So I was already kind of like very well aware of things, but it also wasn’t at the level of the Whole30 protocol. And I knew that I could take a cold turkey approach, but I didn’t want to because there was so much else going on in my life at that time.

I’ve shared with you guys before. My mom passed from a 10-year battle of cancer just six weeks prior to my diagnosis that came completely out of the blue. So I was dealing with a lot of emotions. I was in a storm. And to then make such drastic changes in my diet was really challenging. But I also knew I wanted to get on the other side of it. So I did take like, I took a more, I guess you could say more of a gradual approach because I, in some aspects, like I was cold turkey in that I said, 'I don't want any gluten or dairy.' Like those are hard no's on a dime right now. But for something like the foods that I was eating on a daily basis, like if I would like to have a cookie at the end of the day, I would go to the grocery store and find some cookies that were gluten-free and dairy-free. So I really tried to find some things that could help fill the gap in between. Then once that became easier, I took the next step of like, okay, they're gluten and dairy-free, but they're still processed.

Helpful to you. So how do I deal with food cravings and the feeling of missing out on my favorite foods? Number one, can you try to get to the root of the food craving and then address that? Number two, can you know that it will change in time as you start to eat more of the whole foods approach? Those nutritional deficiencies get filled. So those cravings become less and less.

Similar experience. So again, I'm going to touch on that a little bit more in this next question. So let me transition here. What are some practical tips for making the Wahls protocol feel less restrictive and more enjoyable? My first tip for this, stop counting. Stop counting the veggies. We have become so obsessed with measuring the nine cups and that's never the intention of the Wahls protocol. The intention is for you just to eat more vegetables on your plate and specifically in the ratio. So like, yes, still focus on leafy green and deeply colored and sulfur rich. But put your measuring cups away. I mean, if you're just starting out and you want to have a general sense of like what one cup of leafy green looks like or what one cup of broccoli looks like, great.

Do that for a week or so, but then put them away and just focus on getting more vegetables on your plate today than you did yesterday. That's going to make it feel a lot easier and not as like rigid and restrictive. The other thing is, can you convert some of your favorite recipes to be gluten-free and dairy-free? There's a lot of other parameters around the Wahls protocol, but I share this because I feel like those are the two heavy hitters that you really want to dial in on in the beginning and stay consistent with. So for me, one of the things that I missed the most in the beginning were quesadillas. I was eating a lot of quesadillas before because I was going out with friends and whenever.

And so what I tried to do was really just find an alternative that I could make at home. And that's why I love the Siete Cassava Flour Tortillas because they are fantastic to use. And then I found Daiya Cheese, so I can make my own quesadillas at home. Are they the same as ordering them out at a bar or a restaurant? No, but they still help to satisfy that craving for the quesadillas that I so loved. The other thing I miss is pizza.

I think Whole Foods sells it. Wegman sells it. And you just defrost it. You roll it out. And then I put tomato sauce and then the diet cheese on top. And that helps me feel like I'm still getting pizza into my diet because I crave that. I miss it. And it's not awful. I mean, is it perfect? It's not a whole food, but no, I don't eat whole foods 24/7. So I choose my standards and I say, I'm not compromising on gluten or dairy. So I found a pizza dough that can still allow me to stay gluten and dairy-free by still enjoying pizza. And then the other guilty pleasure that I so desperately

want is a birthday cake that has gluten and dairy and sugar and soy and eggs and all of the things. So I looked for recipes and I can now make a birthday cake on my own. I also found a bakery that is probably about an hour away. So it's a drive, but it is all allergy-friendly. So I can get a vegan, gluten-free vegan birthday cake there. I don't get it often. I might get it twice a year, like Mother's Day and my daughter's birthday. Those are like my two go-to times. And what I'll do is I will intentionally try to save a couple slices from that cake and put it in the freezer so that if something comes up and there's a wedding or a birthday or whatever it is, I can pull a slice of that out. So what does that do? That forces me to manage my portions when I do get it.

Whole Foods or some other allergy-friendly store. So check that out. And again, that's just for me because that's one of my favorite foods that I enjoy. And I hated feeling like I would never be able to have a slice of birthday cake again. But I am by no means promoting us eating birthday cake on a regular basis. You may say cake doesn't do it for me, Aline, but you know what does? Cinnamon rolls or pancakes or waffles, or I don't know whatever it is for you.

And then at the end, I'm like, I really didn't even enjoy that because I was so busy doing other things. So it actually forces me to be a more mindful eater, which is really a good thing. And this is for like some of the more indulgent foods that I was talking about, like quesadilla, pizza, birthday cake. But for some of like the everyday things like chicken pot pie, that's something that I really enjoyed growing up and I still enjoy. But I can't go to like Boston Market and get their chicken pot pie anymore.

And you don't have to do it all at once because again, like how can you chunk this down? If you listen to this podcast before, you know, I'm always about finding the simple step to start with. So as you're listening to this right now, is there something that you are like forever missing since you've been on the Wahls protocol? And how can you either find an allergy-friendly version of it that you can buy or make? And just right now, just look for that brand or that recipe. Then the next step,

let me know your results. Send me a picture, send me a note. I love to hear about these things. And I will also say, if there is something in particular that you are missing or craving, let me know that too, because I am always working on some different recipes that I add into my coaching program and into my courses. So, all right, number three, how can I stay motivated and committed to the Wahls protocol when I don't see immediate results in my MS symptoms? Like that's what we're doing it for.

But the one caveat is you don't see as immediate of results in your symptoms. So one of the things I've asked myself a lot over the course of following the protocol and making all these different changes, and I would ask you as well is, what's the alternative? Like, what is the alternative? Is the alternative to go back and eat the foods that I know definitely will not support my health? No, like I'm not going to just like abandon this and say like, all right, forget it. I didn't get results within the first month, so I might as well just go back and eat the other foods. No, because here's the other thing that I love, like I love playing like little mind games, I guess you could call them, I don't know.

But I often remind myself, it's like, You never know what this diet is helping you to ward off. The intention of this is to help you feel better with managing MS, but there also may have been something brewing in your body that you will never know about because it got reversed through the changes that you made in your diet. And you will now never have to deal with that because you said yes to this diet. That's a pretty cool idea, isn't it? We never know what's brewing inside of us. And the idea, even if it's like,

really helpful to think about as you're making these changes and you're like, not seeing anything yet. When? Like, when are we going to get there, right? On the long road trip? When are we going to get to the place where these MS symptoms get alleviated? And Dr. Wahls does often remind us that sometimes stabilization is progress. Like those, those are the results because you may not ever have to deal with them getting worse, which they may have been on track to do, but you stopped that through this diet.

And for your body to have to reverse some of the damage that these foods, these processed foods that seem relatively normal. I mean, they're on the shelves in the grocery store. So how bad that can they be? But the reality is they weren't supporting our health. So we have to reverse some of that. And that does take time. Do your best to not put a timeline on your healing. Fuel your body with good foods and give your body the time it needs, however long it needs to heal. And then the other thing I would say is it's really important to get in community, like find someone that is making this lifestyle more realistic and appealing and follow them. That is always my intention in everything that I do with this podcast, with social media, with the coaching program that I created, with the course that I created, like

Oh, this is a good one. How do you eat out at a restaurant? How can you eat out when there's so many uncontrollables? So here's what I have personally found helpful. First, if you are eating out, especially with like friends or family, how can you be part of the discussion of recommending a place that you're going to eat at? Or how can you start to kind of like guide that decision process? Because, if you can do the work ahead of time and identify like, okay, personally,

so I get coconut aminos and it tastes and looks exactly like soy sauce. So my point is that I will identify where are some restaurants that I know are pretty easy for me to eat at that I know others will enjoy too. So sushi is one. Relatively speaking, I can pretty much find something to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Like I can do some tacos on a corn tortilla. The only catch, again, going back to the soy allergies, it's really annoying.

Ask the server if they can give me some cut up veggies like carrots or cucumbers, whatever they have. So I can still kind of like have that dipping experience with the guac. Or, I am also known and not above traveling with my own chips. I tucked that bag of Siete cassava flour chips in my bag and I will just bring them out. I try to be discreet about it. Like I'm not going to be tacky about it, but that way I can still enjoy chips and guac. And I've ordered the guac, like I'm paying for it. So it's not like the chips are just like a side.

Call the restaurant ahead of time. Hi, this is Aline. I'm coming in for a reservation this Friday night and I have some food allergies. I just wanted to know if I could talk with the chef or the manager about it. Call at a time that is not super busy for them. Do not call during like the lunch or dinner rush hour, call on an off time. Talk with the manager or the chef. And what I typically do, hey, I have some allergies. I'm coming in this Friday. I looked at the menu. I identified two meals or like whatever it is

down to something that is very specific. Here are my allergies. And here is the specific meal that I am looking to order. Because I know when people hear I can't have gluten, dairy, soy, nut, or egg, that's super overwhelming. And they're like, yeah, no, we can't. I'm sorry. We can't accommodate that. There's a restaurant down the street. Go check them out. So I might say that I saw a salmon dish on there. And can that be made allergy-friendly? And then as sides, can I just double up on veggies?

That can be challenging because number one, it's work and you kind of feel like, I don't want to make a big deal about this, but I also don't want to compromise on this. And I feel like they should be offering some more gluten-free options. So I kind of want to speak up so that I can get some more options, but how do you delicately dance on that? For the work experience, I would definitely find out who typically does the ordering and I would have a separate conversation with them ahead of time. This is not something that I'm addressing in a team meeting. This is something where I'm like, 'Um', when I'm going to a wedding, I 100% call the venue ahead of time, let them know I'm coming. I have some food allergies, what is being served, and then make sure that at least my entree is something that I can eat. But I'll admit my husband and I went to a wedding, um, probably about a year or two ago. It was in Philly and there was a little bit of a gap between the ceremony and the reception, but we were going to go and it was going to be a big cocktail hour. And we knew this was like a fancy dancy wedding.

Me. It's not worth it to me. But what I did is, I went ahead of time and I had a special meal so that I felt like I got a quote-unquote treat or like special food that helped to make that experience a little bit easier. Or if I know that I'm going someplace and they're having, like I talked about, like birthday cake that I know I won't be able to have. Well, then maybe I have some gluten-free, dairy-free, all the things free cookies that I either bring or have at home.

So last question here, how can I shift my mindset from focusing on what I can't eat to celebrating what I can eat? Now I'm going to be a hundred percent honest with you here. One of the greatest gifts that I think the Wahls protocol has given me beyond the ability to better manage MS and feel better in my body, which those are pretty, pretty big pros, but it's also given me the ability to focus more on the time that I'm spending with family and friends

on the people that I am spending the time with. I'm so much more present in conversations because I'm not distracted by the food. So maybe this is something that you find that you're able to do as well. You're able to spend more time having conversations with the people that you're eating out at a restaurant with because you looked at the menu ahead of time and you're not spending the first like 20 minutes trying to decide what you're eating. I've already looked at the menu, I've talked with the restaurant, I know what I want. So that means I get a bonus like 10 or 15-minute conversation with the person next to me. And then the other thing is I have peace of mind

because I am doing my best. And that gives me peace of mind to know that I can't look back on regret. I have done my best and the rest is in God's hands. I truly believe that. Again, no day is perfect, but I do my best each and every day, and then I just have to surrender the rest. So that's one of the things that really keeps me motivated, regardless of how soon or how long it takes to feel the benefits of it. I'm like, but I'm showing up and I'm doing my best, so I can't look back on regret. And look, the reality is you can eat whatever you want. But one of the things I would often tell myself is just that.

You can eat whatever you want. Nobody is going to stop you. However, you can choose to eat certain foods so that they support your health and energy again, so that you can enjoy life because that, that my friends is what this is all about. Giving you the health and the energy to truly enjoy life. Now, that brings us to the end of our list here. I know that I can go on much longer about these topics, but I do hope that I helped to address some of the main points here. And of course, I want to hear from you, like what helps you feel less deprived on the Wahls Protocol? Or are there any foods that like you found that were really helpful in finding a good swap for a food that you have missed? Or like I said, are you missing a particular food, a particular recipe?

Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events and programs, head over to alinebrennan.com. See you on the next episode of my MS Podcast.