I love the Batman movies, the ones with Christian Bale (how hot is he!?) and I particularly love The Dark Night with the most awesome Joker played by Heath Ledger. There are two things the Joker says that I think are great: 1. the bit about when you have a plan nobody panics (I apply this concept in work almost every day and find it to be highly effective, by the way); and 2. when he says “why_so_serious!?”.

I have RP and I have no idea what’s causing it or what may stop it or if that’s even possible. I’m reading a tonne about nutrition and so on to help me understand how my body functions and what may be a potential solution (always assuming diet is the controlling factor). But I’ve found that in the past month since starting this blog, I have become more concerned about what I’m eating, less certain that I know what’s right and wrong, and actually a little anxious about what I’m putting into my body. So, I’m now thinking that I need to apply the “why so serious” logic to my problem.

I have RP, so assuming diet is a contributing factor, what I’ve been eating isn’t working or is potentially causing the disease. So, if I change to another diet, it will either make it better or worse, and until I do it, I won’t know. So, why so serious!?

I’m a deliberator in many things and my husband and I often take a week to decide where we’ll go for dinner on a night out. We over think and it’s not necessary, at least not in this instance. Now, I’ve already made some changes since being diagnosed with RP almost a year ago. I’ve gone gluten-free (doesn’t seem to have done the trick, although the instances of my flares has reduced and the severity seems less), I’ve very recently gone dairy-free (also doesn’t seem to have made a conclusive difference), but what I haven’t done is bit the bullet and taken all the inflammatory foods out of my diet, which deep down I think will make the difference. My problem is that I don’t want to because I feel like I’m giving up things, even though I know what I’m potentially gaining (a longer, healthier, pain-free, life with my wonderful husband and daughter) is much more attractive than a steak, creamy blue cheese or melted chocolate ice cream.

So, as of tomorrow, I am going to be a gluten-free Vegan. I commit to doing this for 60 days to see if there are positive results, i.e. no flares. If I have no flares and I feel like I’m missing out, then I’ll experiment with reintroducing some foods that I want to eat.  If I don’t feel like I’m missing out then I’ll continue on the Vegan path.  My deliberation, if this all works out, is then going to be whether or not my daughter should be doing the same thing for her health…. my husband too.  That’s a hurdle yet to come, so no stressing about it for now.

If, on the other hand, during the 60 days, I do have flares, then I’ll then eliminate all inflammatory foods, per The Plant Pardox, from my diet and embark on that plan for a further 60 days to see the outcome. I know I’ll wake up in the morning and wonder what the hell I’ve committed to doing, but as I type I’m highly conscious of some flare-type feelings in my ears, and I just need this to stop before it becomes really serious. So, it’s a done deal….. gluten-free vegan for 60 days.

Wish me luck!