So your stomach’s been having problems that just won’t go away. One of the first causes your doctor will explore is a food allergy. You have two options when trying to figure out if you have an allergy or not. You could either have your doctor run a gambit of testing on you or, you could go on a three week diet. Neither sound like very good options, but I opted for the diet because I wanted to try and solve my problems without a doctor if I could.

If you’re not familiar with elimination diets, they generally last three to six weeks and you cut out all foods you eat regularly. The first three weeks, you cut out everything you need to, and if you notice a difference by the end of the three weeks, you gradually add in foods every three days, until you’ve found the culprit(s). In my elimination diet, I eliminated all dairy, eggs, gluten, citrus, caffeine, onions, peanuts, corn, and all added sugars. So what in the world did I eat? Well, I’ll tell you what, I ate healthier than I had ever eaten in my life, I didn’t starve, and I actually had fun doing it. And I learned that no matter how much you depend on a food as your staple, you won’t die without it, I promise.

So how do you survive? What do you eat? How do you satisfy your cravings? Two things will become your best friends no matter what you’re eliminating and they go by the names of ‘Pinterest’ and the ‘Health Food Store.’ I seriously couldn’t have gotten through all three weeks without these two superheroes by my side.

If you don’t use Pinterest already, it’s a wonderland where vegans, Paula Deans, and paleos alike frolic in meadows of healthy ice-creams and legendary barbeque ribs. It’s generally seen as a website used by the feminine population, but drastic changes to your diet call for drastic measures, guys. We’re all family on the internet. I still have recipes for cauliflower chowders, breakfast cookies, pancakes, and much more saved on my Pinterest account. I actually had to create three separate boards for all the food I was pinning because there were just so many good ones to try. You can check out my main board here, or if you’re having a hard time satisfying your sweet tooth, click here and salivate over kosher ice-cream recipes.

And of course, once you’ve accumulated a good stack of safe recipes, you’ll want to buy ingredients for them. And where’s the best place to find these sometimes unusual ingredients? The health food store. Whether it’s Natural Grocers, or LifeSource, they’ll come flying to your rescue with gluten free alternatives and vegan foods galore for all your new dietary needs. For me, Coconut Milk, Almond Butter, and Gluten Free Oats became my new favorite staples (I capitalized those on purpose).

So no matter what you have to eliminate from your diet, don’t worry. You’ll survive. You won’t starve. And you can take on all six weeks if you need to with courage, because in the end, it’ll be worth it, I promise.