Hey guys, I’m Nora. I was Libby’s intern during my final year of clinical nutrition study. I recently caught up for breakfast with Libby and surprised her with my order: scrambled eggs with avocado and bacon. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was agape. Now, you are probably thinking “that’s the most boring breakfast order, what is the big deal?”. Not much, except that the last time I met Libby – last year – I was still vegan. Religiously vegan.

I’m now back on a balanced, omnivore diet, have never felt better, and have never been stronger and happier.

I asked Libby if I could share my journey, how I changed my diet and how it affected my overall health and wellbeing.

I’d like to ensure you that I’m not for or against any diet, I’m just here to share my own experience because I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you feel the same way I felt, when I followed a fully plant-based diet and when I was seeking my way to a healthier lifestyle.

This massive change happened by my own choice 7 months ago and oh boy, what a healthy and delicious 7 months it has been!

First, let’s go back to where it all started.

I was on and off meat before, for many times. 7 years ago, when I moved to Australia, everything I ate made me bloated and sluggish. I had started experimenting with eliminating different food groups to see what was causing the discomfort after meals. I stopped eating chicken and because I’ve never been a big meat eater - not because of the taste but because I LOVE animals and I felt guilty eating meat - I decided to go on a pescatarian diet… UNTIL I watched a documentary about fishing which made me come off seafood. Then, three years ago, I thought - why not stop eating eggs and start following a vegan diet? I’m sensitive to lactose so dairy was already a red light for me. What a brilliant idea, I thought. Well, I was proven wrong. Extremely wrong.

In the first few months, I thought I made the best decision! I felt lighter, I lost a lot of weight and I felt cleaner overall. I was also very proud of myself for having so much discipline to stick to something so restrictive. I was a happy camper until I started experiencing constant bloating… again! Every time I ate, I was bloated. Sometimes it was so painful, I could not stand up straight. I thought it was the legumes that I consumed to pump up my protein intake, so I drastically cut back on beans, lentils, chickpeas.

At the same time, I trained 5 times a week and loved getting smaller and smaller – and unfortunately, what I didn’t realise at the time, I also became more and more miserable, unhappy and unhealthy.

A year passed by, and no, I didn’t get used to legumes. It didn’t matter how slowly I tried to reduce my intake and then reintroduce them. I had chronic fatigue. I was irritated and always low on energy.

I decided to have a blood test to see if (hahah, IF?!) I was deficient in anything. Well, no surprise, B12, iron, iodine levels were extremely low. I thought, awesome! Now, I know, I just need to take a few different supplements and I’ll be sweet.

Joke’s on me.

I was still going to the gym religiously, 5 times a week. I followed a super strict, extremely ‘clean’ vegan, very low-calorie diet (sometimes I didn’t even hit 1,000 calories a day). I was very frustrated because for the life of me, I couldn’t build muscle, no matter how hard I was trying. At this point, my libido was basically non-existent along with my period.

I knew that I had to change my diet because the more I thought about it, the more evident it become that it all started after my vegan journey kicked off. But because I was the smallest I’ve ever been, I was terrified to eat anything else but plants to keep my slim figure.

I was already working with Libby at the time, as an intern. When I mentioned that I was vegan, I could see her facial expression changed. Not in a wrong way, more like, “ok, how can I help to get Nora better”.

She never criticised me for being vegan, but slowly tried to open my eyes that there is a way out of my misery. She slowly and subtly dropped in important research and facts about collagen, amino acids, BMR, L-glutamine (LIFE CHANGING), balancing the nervous system, gut-brain connection and the list could go on and on.

At one point, I had had enough. I finally realised that I needed to change something in order to get better. So I did.

For me, reintroducing seafood and meat into my diet happened just as quickly as eliminating them. One day, 7 months ago, I ate a grilled barramundi fillet. Oh, holy moly, I was in heaven!!!

My tummy was not bloated after my dinner, which was uncommon for me. So, I just kept going. Little by little, but consistently every single day, adding something new. Eggs for breakfast. Steak strips in my salad (chef’s kiss), pulled pork tacos, mince until I worked my way up to an eye fillet. A medium rare eye fillet with mash and asparagus. Obviously, being able to thoroughly enjoy my meals, the taste and consistency of food was just the cherry on top. The main effect that this change had on my body is that I started to feel and look healthier. Being able to eat whatever I want, without the fear of stomach aches and bloating, constant discomfort is just fantastic. On top of that a lot of things changed for the better:

my energy
my libido
my progress in the gym
my skin
my hair and nails
my sleep.

A lot of things went away:

my fatigue
my irritability
my impatience
my insomnia
my anxiety
my toxic obsession over food.

The list is endless.

All in all, I just wanted to share this with you because finally I reached the point where I’m fully confident in my decision. I no longer feel like I’m weak just because I was not being able to stick to something that made me sick. I finally don’t look at myself as a failure. I am strong and healthy and extremely happy with the diet change I made.

I know there are many of you out there struggling with the same issues and I want to reassure you that there is a way out if you want it.

I can also appreciate that it is a huge step to take, and might be hard but believe me it is so so SO WORTH IT!!! And I am proud of myself that I did it. But remember… it doesn’t have to be a radical change from one day to another. Take small and consistent steps towards your goal.

P.S.: If you want to make the change but don’t feel like you can do it alone, Libby is the best person to go to. She’s patient, non judgemental, extremely knowledgeable, and super supportive. She’s awesome. Almost as awesome as a side of bacon with your eggs on toast in the morning.

*Nora will be joining LMN as a nutrition coach from June 2024 specialising in body recomposition, weight loss, hormone balancing and PCOS.

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Vegan to omnivore - Nora's story.

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