The Ugly Truth About Reversing Digestive Disease

Recently, I was doing a marathon session of 1-on-1 private consultations and toward the end of one of the calls a woman asked me a curious question.

Client: “Jordan, do you think I can do this? I mean, I’ve been through so much. I’m so sick right now. I know you’ve helped a lot of people… but can you help me?”

Me: “(silence)”

Normally… I talk too much.

Not this time. This question froze me.

It’s been a few days since that call and I’ve thought about this question every moment since then. I’m finally ready to answer it (sort of).

So here it goes…

After working with thousands of people over the years, I realized I can tell pretty quickly whether or not a person will be successful simply by reading their email or blog comment… or even talking to them in person.

And no, I don’t have magic powers. I used to think it was intuition.

Or maybe because I’ve seen so many people get healthy over the years.

But now I think I was seeing something different…

The People Getting Healthy Seemed to Have “IT”…

I could tell how successful they were going to be because I was seeing whether or not these people had “IT.”

What is “IT”?

“IT” is when they want health bad enough…

More than anything else.

See, it’s one thing to talk about wanting to be healthy.

It’s one thing to dream about being healthy.

It’s one thing to feel like you want to be healthy.

But it’s another thing to make the choice to put down that pizza in front of your friends…

To say NO to that Doctor that says diet doesn’t matter…

To say NO to watching that movie when you need to go to bed…

To spend the time cooking food that’s going to heal you when your body craves take out.

You can’t just WANT to be healthy… you’ve got TO BE healthy… and health will follow.

Having “IT” Means You Want Health Bad Enough

Look, we know this stuff works… for those that want it bad enough.

For example, we’ve been helping over 20,000 people the last four years and it’s gotten to a point where we need a team to manage all the testimonials we get on a daily basis.

Part of their job is to document all the testimonials coming in from blog comments, Facebook comments, emails, survey responses, etc.

These are testimonials from people that have “IT.” People that want health bad enough. People that won’t accept any outcome OTHER than health.

They embody having “IT”… they choose health moment by moment.

Here’s a few of their incredible stories about reversing digestive disease:

 

“Within a week I had reduced my symptoms to maybe three stools a day”

I was first on the SCD diet about 15 years ago. And I lasted for about three years. It was really quite good. And then I guess at the advice of other people who tried adding gluten free products and that sort of thing. And things progressively, I guess, went downhill from there. And then kids came, and things got busy, and I thought I’ll just plot along as I was. And I had a bit of a crisis about two years ago, health wise. I had a relapse. Things weren’t good. I couldn’t take the kids to school. I was in bed. And I just thought SCD is the only thing that helped me. And I’ve just got to go back on it.

Before I went on the intro diet I was weak, I was constantly on the toilet. I would take the kids to school, and come back home, and go to bed. And after I went on the intro diet again, within a week I had probably reduced my symptoms to maybe three stools a day. And I felt like I had so much more energy. And I didn’t have pain.

I loved the way that your book focused on being really simple. And putting in one thing-going back to just eating a few things, and then adding things one at a time every few days, and taking a lot of notice about what signals your body was giving you.

I love Elaine’s book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, and I think it’s a really powerful book. It’s very easy to lose track of having to start very slowly. And it’s easy to sort of start just thinking it’s okay to take out grains, and starches, and dairy, and start just eating everything, which is a mistake I made when I first read the book. And then I re-read it fairly soon after again, realized the mistake, and I went onto the intro diet myself, which helped. But for many people, I think that is the main problem.

Viv W.

“All of my symptoms were gone and the colonoscopy was clean except for those two spots”

When I first got sick last November, my husband found the diet right away, like within a couple days after being diagnosed. And I looked at the SCD legal list and I just cried. I was like, “I can’t do this.” They just gave me the Asacol, and I took it, and I was like, “Give me the Asacol. I don’t want to change my diet.” So what I said to my husband was, “I will do it for a week or so, and see how I feel. And then I’ll just go back to gluten free.” And that’s what I did. And it turned things around literally in five days. So I was like, “Okay, I’ll add in the gluten free stuff and see how it goes.” And it was totally fine until February, and I started backsliding again. And at that point, I decided I just kind of knew in my gut that I had to try it. So at first, the obstacle was I just don’t want to change my diet. And there are probably multiple reasons for that. I used to have an eating disorder, and I had finally gotten to a point where I was like okay with food, and no eating disorder. And food was my friend, and I liked to cook a lot. And I couldn’t imagine not cooking and baking some of the things that I’ve always made. So it just seemed like too much for me.

So the first time I went on SCD, I went from having bloody diarrhea like five or six times a day, and there was blood in my stool, to just once or twice a day. And the blood stopped. And it stopped after starting SCD within five days. And my stomach didn’t. You know that ache you have in your stomach, the overall pain where something is hurting? That went away also within the five days. And it didn’t come back again until February. I started feeling nauseated every time I ate, and it was especially when I would eat something with sugar. And I also started getting canker sores in my mouth. And so I just knew that I had to do something different. And by that time, I had done the research on the medications, and I knew I didn’t want to do that. So that time, I think I started the diet on February 16th, and I had a colonoscopy at the end of the month, February 28th or something. And within that amount of time, the nausea was completely gone. And no more canker sores. I had also started getting acne back on my skin. And in that two weeks, the acne was gone. And when I got my colonoscopy, it was clean except for two spots of inflammation. And granted, I wasn’t having any blood when I started SCD the second time, but all of my symptoms were gone and the colonoscopy was clean except for those two spots. So that was really powerful for me. Because I just knew. You know where you just know? So having only two spots of inflammation was just amazing to me. And my upper, my small intestines, they did an endoscopy as well, and that was totally clear. So that was awesome.

I had gone to the GI, and I had told him that I had cut my Asacol in half and he was like, “Make sure you don’t get off of it completely.” He just doesn’t think the diet has anything to do with why I’m doing well. Next we were applying for life insurance. And all of my blood work was completely normal.

At first I told my doctor how I was eating. And the first time I had talked to him he was like, “Ah, let me know how it goes. That sounds kind of awful.” But the second time around, after seeing those numbers, I talked to him about it again and I could just see his wheel turning. He was really impressed. So that was really satisfying for me to just be feeling so good, and also see that the numbers were like, I’m probably healthier now at this point than most of my friends who don’t have a GI inflammatory disease.

For me, the eBook helped to get started, and the phasing was really helpful. Because I’m someone who kind of falls on my face. I have to try things, and then I find out after the fact that I did it wrong. And so the phasing was really helpful to know that I had to eat only pureed fruits and veggies for so long before I could try to eat them whole and cooked. And just kind of to know what to expect about when to introduce what kind of food. That, for me, was really, really helpful. And, of course, I started the almond flour way too soon. And I was so excited because I loved baking, and I loved eating the almond flour stuff. But one day I baked an almond flour cake with honey and that whole thing, and I ate it, and my stomach just blew up like a balloon and I was in pain. So I was convinced it was contaminated with gluten. So I kind of went about that backwards as well as the dairy and the eggs. But I just didn’t think I had leaky gut very bad. I was just in denial. So, had I listened to all of that, it would have been really helpful.

I already have recommended the book to other people. I would recommend it to anyone because I just feel like my health is so much better than it’s ever been.

I know what it’s like when you’re like, “Oh I have stinky gas all the time, but that’s normal”. I don’t want to be the know-it-all person who is like, “Well just so you know” But at the same time, I just try to keep it like, “Well, this is what I’m doing, and it’s worked really well for me. Let me know if you’re ever interested, and I’d love to talk to you about it more.” That’s the kind of thing I do. And then if someone asks me specifically, “What are you doing, and do you think it would help what I have?” Then I’m all about going all into detail with it.

This is just really powerful, not only for your GI system, but for your whole body. My skin has never been as clear as it is now. But I also have a foot injury, and my Achilles has been injured. My feet actually kind of went, I had plantar fasciitis. And my feet went haywire before I started having the GI symptoms. And the best they can figure is that the inflammation in my body kind of went to that weak point in my feet. And that has also slowly and surely gotten better with the dietary changes. So that, to me, is huge.

Jenny A.

“I look back now and go, ‘Oh my God, I’m so glad that I did this.’”

I’d done Atkins once before, and best I ever felt in my life. So I knew that there was something to no grains and sugar, but I didn’t think it was that drastic.

I bought Breaking the Vicious Cycle a year or two ago. And in reading through it, I felt like I was in biology class. It was complex. It just seemed very complicated. And then when I found you guys’ site on Facebook and I downloaded that Quick Start Guide, it was so easy. And you broke it down, “This is what you need to go out and buy, then here’s what you need to go and do.” And that really was what it took. Because it just seemed too complicated from Breaking the Vicious Cycle itself.

I’ve been on prednisone now for about five or six weeks, and I started tapering. So theoretically I should start feeling pretty crummy because that’s just the way prednisone works for me in the last five years. I was in the bathroom easily anywhere from eight times a day and up. I may not necessarily have diarrhea all the time, but it’s urgent. There’s no five minute warning. There’s no two minute warning. And this summer I had absolutely no life because I couldn’t go anywhere. And then they put me on the prednisone and I felt marginally better. Maybe I was going five or six times a day. And then as soon as I started the diet I noticed a difference within two days just with the urgency. Within a week or so I was down to maybe going three or four times a day. And within two weeks, it was once a day. I’ve never, ever been a once a day person, ever. And there’s zero urgency. There was zero diarrhea. I felt like a normal person.

The book was so easy to follow. Here’s your shopping list. Here’s what you need in your house, and here’s what you’re going to do. And while that’s happening, you do this. It was a couple hours of prep, but so worth it. Because once you had everything lined up that you needed, and cooked, and ready to go, then the next day it was basically wake up and away you go. There’s no trying to figure it out or whatever, because you’d already figured it out for us.

It works. And there’s no other way around it. It’s neat to see, though, that you have to tweak it to what works for you. Carrots have always been a challenge for me, but cooking them for six hours works. So you just have to find what works for you. There are some tweaking. It’s not going to be a hands-down miracle for everybody, you do have to tweak it a bit. But it’s just so easy to follow. And so worth it, to get a little bit of life back.

I would challenge people to try it. You can’t knock it until you try it. And I did for a long time, and it’s two years I wish I could have had back, and been feeling better. But, I mean, live and learn. Everybody’s got to do things on their own time. So I think people need to try it. I was at the point where I was ready to have them just take everything out this summer. I was so fed up with feeling so lousy. And I look back now and go, “Oh my God, I’m so glad that I did this.”

Jen S.

But Here’s the Ugly Truth About Reversing Digestive Disease

The thing is: when we’re sick, a lot of us don’t want to hear that in order to get better, we have to have “IT.”

Because I’ll say what many of us never want to admit…

I’ll keep it 100% real with you.

I’ll share the ugly truth I learned about myself…

The truth that took years and years of personal growth to discover…

And believe me, this is extremely hard for me to talk about right now. The only reason I can even bring myself to share it with you is because things are different now.

But here is my ugly truth:

I liked being sick…

(*GASP*… “How could you say that Jordan??? No one would ever want something like that!!”)

It’s true. It’s the ugly truth about me. I liked being sick.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like having diarrhea 15X a day. I didn’t like not being able to get out of bed some days.

It’s not that…

But back when I was sick, I got a little thrill, a secret, deep-seated thrill from all the attention I got from my family for having a ‘disease.’

I enjoyed the love and attention I got from my Fraternity Brothers when I made ‘the announcement.’

I liked being a victim of this disease… that this disease happened TO me.

I know, it’s pretty messed up…

All the attention I got from friends and co-workers… it felt good for a while… the caring looks on their faces. It felt good to be cared about. I played it up for all it was worth.

It felt good to have someone take care of me…

To have someone care about me…

See, this is ugly stuff. This is the ugly stuff I’m realizing about myself now that I never, ever wanted to admit to another living soul.

The attention didn’t last very long. Deep down, everyone could begin to see through the ugly truth inside me.

Eventually, they saw deep down into the part of me that was choosing to be sick.

Much of their genuine caring turned into angst or resentment over time. It turned into a look of, “Oh, here we go again.”

It turned into being alone. 

But I did have a different choice to make.

Once I faced my ugly truth, I could make a different choice. That’s when I finally found out what “IT” was.

Because Facing My UGLY TRUTH Is What Finally Gave Me “IT”

We all have a different choice to make.

Once I faced my ugly truth I made the choice to start the SCD Diet. I took control of my health. Instead of choosing to be sick, I chose health. At that point, I wanted it bad enough. I had “IT.”

It’s the same choice Viv, Jenny, and Jen made when they chose something different.

It’s a choice that sheds the ugly truth and allows you to want health more than anything else…

To happily choose to eat nourishing anti-inflammatory food…

To get plenty of sleep…

To move your body every day…

To BE healthy.

It’s about wanting it bad enough you’re willing to dig deep and acknowledge the ugly truth inside you and choose something different.

I did it.

And That’s What Ultimately Allowed Me to Reverse My Digestive Disease

Look, this is about way more than saying no to that pizza or going to bed when you just want to watch that movie.

This is about you choosing to become who you really are – choosing to acknowledge the ugly truth.

This is about wanting it bad enough… about having “IT”.

Are you ready to choose health?

Do you have “IT”?

If you’re ready… when you’re ready… we’re here.

And our book can help you choose something different

–> Choose health (if you want it bad enough)

And when your testimonial is ready, our team here at SCD lifestyle is waiting to talk to you 🙂

I’m so grateful to be a part of your journey to health.

– Jordan