Welcome to Plant Based Belly! Wow, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’m so excited to share all about my journey with food allergies and discovering I have IBS. I hope through sharing my stories and what has worked for me can help you along the way!

I’m a foodie, always have been always will be. My favorite memories were waking up on a Saturday morning to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes, biscuits and gravy and the classic eggs and toast. So, you can believe how hard it was for a twelve-year-old to learn she was allergic to the foods she loved oh so much. My journey to finding this out was a long one, one that I’m still going through to this day. I remember the stomach pains, being in agony and never knowing why. I was so active and always playing outside it didn’t make sense to me that I was feeling the way I did. Almost every day for two years I would have stomach pains. Never knew when they would come in the day but always knew it would happen. No one should go through that mentality. I definitely think I hid how much pain I was in from my parents. I always told them I was in pain but never how frequent it was. They always brushed it off to be the over-dramatic kid I was, and yes, I knew that I could be dramatic, but this was different. Finally, after an instant where my mom saw me first hand lying on the floor in tears holding my stomach, she knew something was wrong. Tests confirmed that I was severely allergic to gluten and dairy. I was so shocked I didn’t want to believe that was what was wrong with me. I honestly would’ve rather had something else because the thought of not being able to eat the things I loved the most was unexplainable.

But I’m here to tell you that getting diagnosed with those two allergies was the best thing that could’ve possibly happened to me. My daily stomach pains started to go away, I became less puffy and I realized what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I still had a passion for food and becoming allergic wasn’t going to make that go away. I thought to myself, I can’t be the only person going through this? I can’t be the only person who loves breakfast food but doesn’t have the option to get what they need at restaurants? So here I am telling you that one day I will open my own 100% gluten and dairy free brunch café. Café Chaille’.

I wish that that was where my road to dealing with stomach pains, and food allergies ended, but sadly its not. I had about a good seven years where I was free of stomach pains and getting a handle on gluten and dairy free foods- that’s a whole other blog post😉. At the end of April of this year my stomach pains came back and this time it was a whole new ball game. Not only did my stomach hurt but my belly blew up looking like I was 6 months pregnant. Below is a visual for you.

The crazy thing is that this picture is on a “good stomach day” which I say that because even though this looks crazy uncomfortable, I can manage the pain. I could not get this pain to go away. I was taking comfort pills that help foods digest in your stomach, gas and bloating pills if my stomach did get big and still nothing worked. We had to go back to the doctors to see what was wrong. Immediately, the food allergist knew exactly what was wrong with me. He told me I’m showing all the symptoms for IBS and that he’s almost 100% positive that is what I have. Yet again, I was not expecting that! The term IBS always disgusted me for some reason. Irritable bowel syndrome just doesn’t sound like the greatest thing in the world. I think I was just really embarrassed. I felt uncomfortable knowing I had something wrong with my bowel and knew I never wanted anyone to know. But looking back when I found out three months ago, I find that so silly. I should’ve been glad I found out what was wrong with me and thankful that I was put on a diet that has helped me tremendously reduce all my symptoms I was dealing with. Knowing what I know now about my food allergies and IBS and what has helped me is the sole purpose of my blog. I know what works and what doesn’t work for people that are struggling with these same things and I know I am NOT alone in this journey. That is why I’m so excited to start this blog and share everything I know with you. I hope by sharing my vulnerabilities and how I get through them, you too, can feel comfortable and hopeful about your dietary struggles.

Many Blessings

Sophia Chaille’