A single dietary change eliminated my crippling anxiety and gut issues – anyone can do it and it doesn’t cost a penny

If you had met me a few years ago, you would have seen a cheerful, social, career-oriented woman who always seemed to be together. I was the classic people pleaser, always saying yes, always pushing myself to be the best, and holding myself to impossible standards.

Behind the smile, a voice inside me was screaming for help.

I was in my early thirties, working long hours in a high-pressure job, constantly stressed, constantly ‘on’ and constantly sick. I’ve always been sensitive to certain foods, but over time, what started as occasional bloating or discomfort turned into complete digestive chaos.

Paralyzing stomach pain, brain fog, burping, bloating, itchy skin, you name it. If someone accidentally added garlic to food, I would spend the night in agony.

What about stress and anxiety? It was brutal. I was never quite there. I was always worried about what could go wrong next. I looked happy on the outside, but I was fuming inside.

At worst, even leaving the house felt like a risk. I didn’t know how my body would react and the embarrassment was overwhelming. I would make excuses to skip dinners or parties because I didn’t want to explain why I couldn’t eat this. I felt like I was letting everyone down, my job, my friends, myself.

Finally my body said enough was enough.

I’ve always had a pretty healthy lifestyle. Since I grew up on a farm, I would dance, ride motorcycles and horses, play netball, and spend all day outside. It was a naturally healthy upbringing. But when I started college, bad food and alcohol crept in. And I was ignoring the signals my body was sending me.

‘I was sick all the time. I went from a life of clear skin to crippling cystic acne. ‘I lost my spark’ says Cat

Looking back, my instincts had been trying to get my attention for years. But even so, I was too busy smiling, pushing through fatigue, trying to be perfect, and ignoring every red flag.

By my early thirties it was no longer optional. I was constantly uncomfortable. I went from a life of clear skin to crippling cystic acne. I lost my spark. His friends started saying, ‘You don’t look like yourself.’ They were right. It wasn’t me.

When your gut is closed, everything feels bad. Food made me anxious because eating often made me sick and anxiety made my gut worse. It was a vicious cycle that I couldn’t get out of.

That’s when I found a doctor at the National Institute of Integrative Medicine (NIIM) who helped me focus on rebuilding my gut health. I was diagnosed with SIBO and low secretory IgA, which meant my gut was inflamed and exhausted.

I started a low-FODMAP diet (which restricts certain carbohydrates to help manage digestive symptoms like bloating), cut out alcohol, and started trying fasting. Not to lose weight, but to heal.

I heard about the importance of fasting from my mother, but in a podcast, Dr. When I listened to Mindy Pelz something clicked. He said fasting is a way to reset the body, not punish it. He explained how in ancient times, when we were injured or sick, our bodies naturally fasted to activate healing. This was my ‘a-ha’ moment.

I’ll be honest. Fasting was difficult at first. People talk about the benefits, the energy, the clarity, but they don’t talk enough about the hard part. Sullen mornings. Headaches. The mental battle of trying to overcome old habits and automatic behaviors.

This resistance is real and it is something we need to be more open about. Changing your relationship with food and yourself is non-linear. Disturbing. You make mistakes, you get frustrated and you wonder, ‘What’s the point?’ you think.

The cat (pictured) found fasting ‘difficult’ at first, but soon discovered the many benefits it offered

‘As I healed inside, something deeper began to change. “I started noticing patterns, like how my gut would inflame when I said yes to something I didn’t want to do,” Cat says

In those moments, I had to learn something I was never good at: kindness…to myself.

The harder I was on myself, the worse I felt. But when I started treating myself the same way I would treat a friend, with patience, encouragement, and forgiveness, something changed.

I began to see fasting as a rest, not a deprivation. A reset. And when I approached him that way, my body reacted the same way.

I usually fast in the morning and eat twice a day, but I like to mix things up occasionally. Dr Mindy Pelz recommends changing up your fasting routine occasionally, so sometimes I’ll do a 30-day reset (which aims to align eating with menstrual cycles to maintain hormonal balance) or a longer 3-5 day fast with it. It’s been great for my gut health and helps balance my mood.

Gradually the swelling subsided. The fog has lifted. The constant anxiety – that tense, hyper-alert state – began to fade. For the first time in years, I felt calm.

That’s when I realized it wasn’t just about the food. My instincts and my mind spoke the same language, I just never stopped to listen.

As my gut healed, something deeper began to change. I started noticing patterns, like how my gut would flare up when I said yes to something I didn’t want to do.

I realized that my body was keeping score of every emotion I swallowed. ‘Of course I can do that’ when I really can’t. I ignored my own boundaries every time.

I spent years thinking I was smarter than my body, that I could think of a way out of stress. But it turns out my gut is smarter than my brain. It was forcing me to stop living out of harmony.

Fasting helped me reconnect with my body’s signals. It taught me to slow down, rest when I need to, and stop listening to that quiet inner voice that says ‘this isn’t right for you.’

My life looks completely different today. I am now freelance. No more corporate stress or 12-hour desk days. I’m dancing. I’m meditating. I’m walking my dog, Loki.

I also made one of the hardest and most healing changes: I changed where I found my joy.

For years, my social life revolved around food and alcohol. Long lunches, after-work drinks, weekends were shaped by what we would eat next. But these were burning my stomach and draining my energy. They connected me at that moment, but left me feeling bad for days afterward.

So I replaced them with things that would fill me up without any problems.

I started dancing again, mostly Brazilian funk and Afrobeats, the kind of dancing where you don’t care whether you look good doing it or not, because you’re in the moment.

Then came improv and acting classes, and it gave me something I didn’t know I needed: permission to act. To be imperfect. Failing spectacularly and laughing about it.

I even learned to DJ last year, which is something I would never have done when I was stuck in that anxious, perfectionist mindset.

These spaces still bring me joy and connection, but they don’t make me sick. They fill me in a way food and wine never could.

I also learned to rest. As women, we are so conditioned to move forward and ‘move on’. Now I rest when my body tells me to rest. And guess what? The world is not falling apart.

My creativity also returned. When your gut is inflamed, your brain becomes foggy. When your gut is calm, your ideas begin to flow. The connection between mind and body still amazes me.

I cook simple, colorful meals (my grocery list is basically just the fruit and veg section). I still fast most mornings. It’s not about restriction, it’s about rhythm. Listening.

Healing my gut has helped me set boundaries in every area of ​​my life. I no longer say yes out of guilt. I no longer push myself until I crash. I no longer measure my value by how much I can do for others.

Fasting taught me that healing doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. It’s about creating space in your mind, body and life. And it’s free.