We’ve arrived at the third page of “3’lü Eliminasyon ile Tazelenme” happy endings. Thank you so much to my participants for taking the time to write these and allowing me to share them with you. I’ll leave you with their stories.
N.G.
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’m 36 years old, and my bad cholesterol is above the normal limits — my first and primary goal was to get my cholesterol under control. I haven’t gone to the doctor yet; when I do, I’ll write to you if there’s a decrease. 🙂 Beyond this, I also had bloating and gas problems.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Bloating and gas ended completely.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
You said we shouldn’t weigh ourselves, but I couldn’t resist. 🙂 I lost 3.5 kg. I feel better psychologically too. I used to have sudden flare-ups of temper; after the program I can stay calmer.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I recommend it to everyone. Healthy living is something everyone needs.
Anything you’d like to add…
First of all, thank you for the knowledge you gave, your professionalism, and especially your approach.
I’ve been dieting since adolescence — I’ve lost weight before with a dietitian’s guidance too. But I’d grown tired of specialists who write “2 grissini for a snack” or constantly impose ideal body measurements, never approaching the process holistically in any way. Your emphasis on healthy living instead of dieting was very important to me. I also want to add that I found your approach regarding loving our bodies and treating ourselves with compassion very valuable.
I’d never done meditation before and had never even thought about mindfulness. After the program, I realized how much I needed this and understood how closely related it is to nutrition. For me, it became a wonderful journey where I started discovering my soul and body. Thank you for everything. I’m so glad you exist!
M.E.
What was your goal when starting this program?
My goal starting the program was to stop the sweet crises I couldn’t control lately, my increasing weight, and constantly thinking about food. I’m 35 years old, and there hasn’t been a single period when my skin was acne-free. I wanted to try eating dairy-free and gluten-free for 21 days and test whether it had any effect on my acne.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
My sugar balanced out without ever going hungry. My sweet crises and my constant state of eating and thinking about food were cut off like a knife. I learned to categorize foods, knowledge I’ll use for the rest of my life. I’m calmer about food. The program ended, but I’m still eating dairy-free and gluten-free.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
My hips slimmed 6 cm, my stomach bloating is gone. I’m not constantly hungry. My acne problem decreased significantly for the first time. I want to continue dairy-free and gluten-free eating a while longer to observe its effects on my skin. I’m trying to eat mindfully, savoring the taste of every bite. I don’t take offered things without thinking. When under stress, I try to come up with alternatives besides eating. I don’t try to finish everything on my plate — I’ve learned to stop when I’m full even if there’s a little food left on my plate, and save those extra bites for later.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I think everyone should join, whether they have complaints or not. Especially those who don’t know where to start with losing weight and changing their dependency on food should definitely join. Those with chronic conditions, skin problems, and those who want to eat healthily can join.
Anything you’d like to add…
Thank you so much for everything. I’ve followed you for years. It was destined that I’d join now — I’m so glad I did. You’ve made the process quite easy for us. Classic elimination always scared me off. I thought I’d need to psychologically prepare myself and could only start that way, and I never managed to start. This “3’lü Eliminasyon” was much lighter and easier for me. I could decide in one day, sign up, and comfortably start the next day. Bless your hands, your effort.
H.K.
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’d previously stopped consuming gluten and sugar intermittently and then started again. Each time I returned to gluten and especially sugar. Each time I switched back, I’d consume sweets and pastries as if I were eating them for the last time, eating more than I normally would. I joined this program to put an end to this situation — that is, to learn to eat mindfully.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
It was actually different from what I expected. I think I’d assumed it would follow a more classic method. Actually, even though I’d already been following you and reading your writing, I still hadn’t expected it to be like this. But in the end, thanks to this program, I gave a name to the void inside me that was actually pushing me toward these foods. Most importantly, I’m now more at peace with myself regarding food.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
I didn’t have much physical change. But the real change was psychological. First of all, I stopped weighing myself every day. I feel much better. While eating, I listen to myself — wondering how hungry I actually am. I know the physical change will come with time. I look at things more positively now.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I’d actually recommend it to everyone. Especially to all people who want to change their eating style and do so mindfully.
Anything you’d like to add…
Thank you so much for enabling me to act with more awareness regarding the form and content of my own eating behavior.
G.Ö.
Let me briefly mention my background first. I’m 32 years old. Born and raised in Hatay, you as an Antep native know well what eating means for me. 🙂 Cheese, yogurt, milk… At most I’ve given these up for a few months at a time in my life, then gone back to eating and drinking them by, so to speak, the kilo. Gluten? As if I were born into it… In short, 10 kilos suddenly gained 14 years ago, followed by my PCOS diagnosis, and 6 years ago reactive hypoglycemia and IBS were added on top. TSH, iron, vitamin D… none of my blood values were ever ideal for my age. My mother and grandmother also have hypothyroidism, and I’ve always been aware of this. So what did I do? A series of dietitians, endless various diets; but on top of that, “in for a penny, in for a pound”s… Then, following my IBS diagnosis 6 years ago, a very valuable nutrition specialist introduced me to intermittent fasting, and thank goodness she did. I’m grateful to her. Even though this let me keep myself, my blood sugar, and my weight within a certain range for all these years, I could never free myself from that endless appetite, from eagerly counting down to mealtime, from the occasional “binge eating” disaster that would make me consume thousands of calories at once. On top of that, in recent years, a constantly increasing bloating that never went away… I was actually most tired of this. I’ve followed you fondly and carefully for years. This year I said, let me set out on a journey with Sema Hanım in September, a month I love and that evokes fresh starts for me… I’m so glad I said that. So what happened in a short time:
Despite going through a very stressful process these past two weeks, I haven’t put a single bite of chips, traditional dessert, or börek in my mouth. The most important part is that I didn’t feel a craving for it inside.
Whenever I got hungry, that’s when I ate, and I got up from my meals feeling full. Plenty of vegetables, my homemade hummus that I make from time to time, the soda buckwheat bread whose practicality I’ve fallen in love with, the gluten-free, dairy-free banana bread I baked for variety… It was more than enough for me.
Believe it or not, after the “raisin” exercise we did together, I tasted, for the first time, the flavor of some vegetables I’d eaten for years. What a great blessing that was…
By the way, at 30, two-thirds of what I thought was my huge belly turns out to have been bloating! What a luxury it turns out to be to sit down and get up without stomach pain…
I who always used to eat in front of the TV am now trying to eat calmly, being aware that I’m eating, and I’m taking great pleasure in this.
As you also noted, this is a journey; but I truly feel very good. It’s as if this time I’ve flown and actually landed on a solid branch… Thank you so much for your guidance throughout the process, and for enabling me to take a truly good step for myself with your warm and inclusive attitude. I hope everyone like me who has fought with themselves and the two bites of food in front of them for so many years, never able to make peace, has their path cross with yours…
With love…
S.K.
Hello Sema Hanım, 🙂
Even though I couldn’t give feedback until now, I truly had a very productive 21 days. When I told people I was starting elimination beforehand, no one could quite understand what I was about to do, because honestly I’d never had any stomach, gut, or digestive issues before. Some people even thought I was doing it out of pampering myself. And you know, I actually believed this myself for a while — I told myself “yes, I have no issue, I eat everything in moderation (except yogurt 🙂), I have no indigestion, bloating, burning problems at all — maybe I shouldn’t even start.” I just had a bit of fatigue, some tiredness during the day, but I attributed that to work, home, and life being busy. HOW WRONG THESE THOUGHTS WERE!!! Sema Hanım, above all, thank you so much for the awareness you gave me. Concepts like awareness, slowing down, feeling the moment had been swirling in my mind for a while, but if you ask exactly when I started truly understanding, I’d definitely say the raisin exercise. I always wanted to slow down but could never figure out where to start. Everything is so fast that we get the feeling that if we don’t keep pace with that speed too, we’ll fall. Thanks to your program, I learned that we can actually overcome many illnesses, many problems, just by slowing down a bit and becoming aware of the moment, even feeling ourselves and the circumstances we’re in. I know some who read these lines still won’t be able to make sense of this — the state of awareness and the act of slowing down mentioned here won’t resonate with everyone — but I want everyone to give themselves this chance. Even if they can’t do the elimination, I believe just living with awareness alone will change so much in their lives. Now let’s get to the elimination; Sema Hanım, it turns out I really did have sensitivity to certain products without ever knowing it. 🙂 After 21 days of elimination, the place where my stomach and intestines are feels completely empty, I don’t know how to describe this feeling of lightness because it’s a feeling I’ve never experienced. 🙂 I wish this effort of yours could reach everyone, I wish every child, every individual could access healthy food and clean water as much as they want. I’ll always remain grateful to you for this awareness — I’m so glad our paths crossed, so glad you exist.. May the smile never fade from your bright eyes..
Love
F.F.
First of all, I’m grateful to you for helping me find my true self by creating awareness around my nutrition for the second time. I can’t say I’m very good at writing. That’s why I’m writing to you for the first time. Last year when I joined your Elimination Seminar, thanks to you I turned back from the brink of a huge emotional breakdown, because along with the self-dissatisfaction and unhappiness created by the weight I gained quickly after menopause but could never lose, being separated for a long time from my son and loved ones due to the pandemic (especially the sorrow of children) etc. had distanced me from being myself. For the first time in my life (I’m 54), I sought out a psychologist. I’m not proud of this, but I write it because it reflects the truth — I’m someone who doesn’t go to the doctor and doesn’t take medication unless it’s a very urgent situation. Right when I’d reached this point, I read your seminar announcement, and my niece and I decided to join together. In the first week of the seminar, I kept the psychologist’s phone number in my hand, but even in that first week, with the eating style you recommended, I started noticing big changes in myself. That weight on me started to decrease, I started feeling very energetic day by day eating less and tastily. And most importantly, hope was born that I could get out of the state I was in, both physically and emotionally, thanks to this. By the end of four weeks, thanks to you, I lost six kilos first, then eight kilos. I learned to calm myself with breathing technique. I realized that most of the negativity around me stemmed from my own worried and anxious perspective, from my self-dissatisfaction, and from my self-confidence that had taken heavy blows. As someone who’s always been strong, who knew how to overcome many of life’s difficulties, reaching this point wasn’t easy. In short, I learned the way and method of repairing myself (especially physically) thanks to you. This was last year’s story.
This year I joined your “3’lü Eliminasyon” seminar with the same motivation. 🙂 It went much easier for me compared to last year. But you still did me a lot of good. That sincere, warm demeanor of yours does me a lot of good. This time I lightened by three kilos, but for me this is more of a beginning. Unfortunately I got sick the last week, but I never disrupted my eating pattern — my activity was just zero.
No amount of thanks would be enough — thank you so, so much for everything.
With love.
A.B.
These 3 weeks did me so much good! You made me achieve in 3 weeks what I couldn’t do for 35 years. There was no diet program I hadn’t tried, no dietitian I hadn’t gone to (including acupuncture). I always lost weight and then gained back more, but no one explained to me what I learned in these 3 weeks. Maybe I’ll stumble on this too, but I know how to get back up. Most importantly, you taught me to love myself, my body. Physically I lost 4.600 kg and my waist slimmed 6 cm.
Behavioral change: I’ve become someone who looks at life energetically, happily, and more positively. You did me a lot of good with “İyiliği Doğuşu” [The Rise of Goodness], and this is still continuing. May no stone ever touch your foot. I wish you health, love, and peace..
F.F.
(duplicate entry, same content as above)
F.C.
I can’t describe how grateful I am to you. For a very long time I’d been thinking about how I could reform my eating pattern. There are so many studies, research, written and verbal sources, contradicting each other — believe me, I’d gotten tired of trying to follow and understand them. Then the universe brought you before me. You’d read all that information, digested it, and filtered it for us, and shared this valuable knowledge with us. I renewed myself, emotionally and physically, with your program. This program had such an effect on me that I learned to control myself and, consequently, not to abuse this valuable body given to me — my digestive system — with improper eating.
Thank you so, so much for your contribution to this awareness, this awakening in me. I believe I’ve put sustainable eating into practice thanks to you.
Hoping to come together again in your future programs.
With love,
Z.O.
What was your goal when starting this program?
My goal starting the program was to join the meditation bonus broadcast a lot and achieve a purification in my body by just staying away from sugar and packaged food. But the information was shared so beautifully that I said, “since I’ve already started, I have no reason not to give up gluten and dairy too.” =)
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
The compassionate sharing of information that plays a key role in becoming aware enabled me to be part of the process with high motivation and without any feeling of obligation. I was able to manage the 21-day sugar-free eating I’d tried many times before, this time definitely without struggle, thanks to this program. It also caused a desire to awaken in me to dive even deeper into meditation. 🙂
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
So much that I didn’t know where to start. 🙂 I’ve dieted so much, and started so many times only to end up in worse places than when I started… Motivated by the comments written here, I wanted to give myself a chance with this program too. So glad I did! This program gave me what no book I read, no dietitian I went to, could give — a lifelong guide… I learned that my mistakes are natural, that what matters is what to do in this situation, how I can protect myself from these mistakes, and if I can’t protect myself, how to continue from where I left off with all my compassion — what more could there be. 🙂 Physically, I feel as if my body has found its natural rhythm. My stomach and intestines have never been this peaceful in my whole life.
My lower belly, which I thought was genetic, actually wasn’t my fate. 🙂 I no longer eat without being hungry, on autopilot, without listening to my body, without questioning content and quantity. When I crave something, I don’t scold myself — I listen, try to understand, and try to do the right thing for both my body and soul. Especially from the second week of the program onward, I started having much more fit, energetic, and productive days. My concentration increased, my anxiety decreased (I want to note at this point that I have diagnoses of anxiety disorder and ADHD!). It’s not possible for me to describe how much these have raised my standard of living. What I felt throughout the whole program was that my whole being was wrapped and cocooned like a baby.
Lastly, since I know this is one of the most curious things before actually getting into it, I want to touch on this too: slimming down was never my priority, but I lost 3 kilos and 4 cm each from my waist and lower belly! I feel like I’m starting fresh at zero. 🙂
Who would you recommend this program to?
I strongly recommend it to those tired of dieting, who quit halfway every time they try, feel incompetent and helpless because they quit halfway, eat whatever they find for a while and then start again but quit again — victims of this vicious cycle. Even if you feel you have no motivation to start, please give yourself a chance — you won’t believe how well you can do it yourself!
Anything you’d like to add…
Words aren’t enough! 🙂
E.Y.
What was your goal when starting this program?
Lately, with the effect of the pandemic and working from home, there were negative effects both physically on my body and in my sense of well-being. I wanted to change my whole life, but do so with small steps, and first starting with nutrition. Without a specific appearance expectation, I only aimed to take back a bit of control and feel better about myself.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
First of all, I realized my habits and tendencies could actually transform — realizing this may have been my greatest source of motivation.
Maybe being born in this land, maybe growing up with certain cultural habits, maybe some tendencies brought by my genes, or maybe always choosing the easy and familiar to bear the weight of life’s intensity — all of this had put me into a cycle of more sugar, less vegetables, especially in my nutrition. Most important for me is realizing that with radical yet simple changes, I could bring my life to a better point than it was.
The most important things that helped me in this process: being able to create new and healthier versions of the tastes I’m familiar with, being able to make what seems hard actually easier through planning, my soul now wanting this as my body becomes healthier, and perhaps most importantly, being able to constantly remember that I’m doing something for myself while doing this.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
This is my 2nd time taking the elimination program. The first time, I’d grasped the logic quite seriously and experienced a tremendous bodily transformation. At the same time, feeling very good in my body also made me feel much better mentally and emotionally. Of course time and what life brings are quite variable. We too are similarly variable. Now, at this period of my life, while retaking the program, I was on the eve of my wedding and going through a period where I could get very scattered and was very stressed. It felt like many things were progressing beyond my control. I saw its biggest effect on my body too. I entered the second program getting motivated within a group and knowing the idea of progressing together would do me good.
To be honest, I couldn’t follow the program fully, but as I said, my intention was to feel much better than I was, both physically and mentally. At a point where I felt I’d lost control of my life, taking control of my nutrition first would make me feel safer within the flow.
So I’m happy with what I could do, I felt much better with what I could do, I had a healthier body with what I could do. In difficult, fast, and very dynamic periods, gains like paying a bit of attention, letting go a bit, holding on a bit, being able to go with the flow a bit, not experiencing regret, learning to make up for things — I’ve had these gains and I think they’ve been reinforced.
Who would you recommend this program to?
To everyone who feels regret over what they’ve done or couldn’t do.
Because drinking water, healthy sleep and nutrition — of course when they can be directly related to us — are still the most controllable things. Instead of getting fixated on doing these “right” and, as a result, getting upset or feeling regret when we think we’ve done something “wrong,” it does people good to enjoy better choices and their consequences, and when it doesn’t work out, be able to make up for it like an adult.
Anything you’d like to add…
I’m so glad you exist, thank you. 🙂
A.B.
This process was, like it was for all of us, a very different and very illuminating process for me too. The week the program started, I had an important audit at work, and that very week my son started full-time at daycare. You know how sometimes painful things always pile up together — the program really seemed to come at exactly the right time. In my mind, the phrase “well, the information is coming, I’ll start in order later” kept circling, and I was attempting to sabotage myself thinking “am I also going to think about meal prep on top of this stress?” My mind was like this until the first livestream. Then I said, “this won’t work. We’re starting, and we’ll see what happens to us,” and I started without being too prepared.
As I said, I’d read your books, tried the raisin exercise myself too. But an experience during the livestream added so much for me. Then meditation the same way. In short, during this 3.5-week process there was nothing that didn’t happen to me stress-wise, but I didn’t break the elimination either. Gluten really is something that bloats me — after the elimination program ended (I only ate goat cheese twice, at intervals, to test it), I once made pizza for my son, ate such a tiny bit of it because I craved it, and suffered its bloating for 2 days. Now I’ve given it up again. While eating, I pause occasionally and really check if I’m full, and if I am, I stop. I used to eat during my lunch break while looking at my phone or working. I’ve given this up. Focusing on eating and stopping once full, that kind of thing.
I didn’t weigh myself right before the program. I’d weighed myself before that and decided to join this elimination. Now I weighed myself — I’ve lost 4 kg. (I’m not someone who loses weight easily) but there’s an incredible relief in my body. It’s as if I’ve lost tens of kilos, there’s relief in my belly area. Actually I was going to measure with a tape measure, but I couldn’t find the opportunity for that either due to the busyness of the weeks. 🙂 Not too important, it’s already evident from clothes.
You helped me a lot in finding this new path during this period, even through the screen. Believe me, I still look every morning thinking “ah, I wish an email would come.” 🙂 For example, an email came yesterday, and I opened and read it with the same excitement. 🙂
I also want to mention this: my mother is a diabetic on insulin, my aunt was on medication but then got it under control through diet. I know I have that potential too, and since I’ve never wanted to go down those paths, I kept circling in a constant cycle. But now I’ve found my way.
The road isn’t straight, but it has curves. I’ll have slip-ups, but I know how to pull myself together. In other words, in for a penny doesn’t mean in for a pound. 🙂 Thanks to you, the fish has now learned to get back on track.
You’ve given me so much both in terms of life and professionally (I’m a Food Engineer, food is also my job 🙂 maybe a bit ironic :)). Thank you so much, truly.
S.T.
What was your goal when starting this program?
Since I was experiencing some autoimmune issues (fibromyalgia and skin discoloration), on my internal medicine doctor’s recommendation, I started following you on Instagram. My doctor had recommended I avoid dairy products, gluten, and sugar for a while. Even though I got used to doing this through my own efforts, I couldn’t manage it with my usual eating habits. I got your books and started making recipes from there, but I could never fully eliminate dairy, sugar, and gluten from my life. My reason for starting “3’lü Eliminasyon” was to force myself, even if by necessity, to prevent these from entering my body for a while, and to learn healthy eating.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Sema Hanım was so present throughout the process — with her daily emails she delivered every piece of information we needed at exactly the right time. With her wonderful recipes, she made us focus not on what we couldn’t eat, but on what we could. Through mindful eating, she helped me understand what my body was telling me. Her approaching the body as a whole, not just our nutrition, throughout the process helped me reach my goals. The program added very enjoyable and healthy eating habits to my life. I’ve gained healthy-living knowledge I’ll use for the rest of my life. Thank you so much.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
Cooking has always felt very hard for me. I don’t like spending much time in the kitchen. Thanks to Sema Hanım, I learned to spend enjoyable time in the kitchen, achieving amazing flavors in a short time with practical recipes. Making a meal plan doesn’t feel hard anymore. This was a very important behavioral change for me.
There were physical changes too. My fibromyalgia pain went away, my discoloration started shrinking, my energy came back. Having been paying attention to my health for 3-4 months had already started my healing process — thanks to “3’lü Eliminasyon,” getting results sped up.
It’s been one and a half weeks since the “3’lü Eliminasyon” program ended, and I’m still continuing the elimination.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I recommend it to everyone.
Thank you again so, so much for everything.
Love :))
B.Ö.
What was your goal when starting this program?
When I accepted that I had an emotional eating disorder, I started searching for how I could fix this. I was already following you on Instagram, and since your approach was so sincere and your recipes were delicious, I thought I should join this program. In short, I joined your program to be able to overcome my emotional eating disorder, and even my carbohydrate and sugar “ADDICTION.”
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I’d forgotten the feeling of fullness. Despite reading and researching a lot about nutrition, it’s as if I was enlightened by what you explained in the program. Right now I’m aware of when I’m full, and when I’m hungry. So I can now recognize when emotional eating comes on. I tell myself, “I want to eat right now because I’m upset, or because I’m sad.” In fact, yesterday, due to a distress I was experiencing (a health issue in my family), even though I wasn’t hungry again, my hand went toward nuts. Then I told myself, “Stop!” “What are you feeling right now? Sadness, helplessness. What do you need to do? Eat? No. Cry? Yes.” And I put down the food in my hand.
On top of this, your supporting us with sweet/salty/cracker recipes made the program’s progression so much easier — you saved us from the “what will I eat now” worry of normal diets. As a family who loves chips and crackers a lot, thanks to your chips/crackers I was able to keep the kids away from store-bought chips too.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
First I want to write my physical changes, because for a long time I’d diet and then attack food (I’d eat as if binging), always breaking it. Of course afterward, this process would start over with compounding weight gain.
You’d said to be careful after signing up for your program, until the program starts. During that time I tried to eat more carefully and lost 2kg with an eating pattern with few slip-ups. By the end of the 3-week Elimination Program, I’d lost 4 kg. So 6kg has already come off since I decided to work with you. 🙂 I’ll keep going too. Just to give an idea to newcomers, I can’t help but mention that I slimmed 4cm from my belly area and 3cm from my hips. 🙂
Behaviorally too, it turns out I could feel full with so little food, and there was no need at all to eat just because it’s written on diet lists. By the way, during elimination I had to eat pizza once out of necessity (I was visiting someone, it was a very busy time for me, and I was very hungry with no energy to make anything else). I used to be someone who could eat 4-5 slices (or even more) of pizza normally. I only took 1 slice of pizza and told myself, “ugh, this has no taste, what is this,” and literally forced myself to eat it. 🙂
Another day I was facing an open buffet, and I thought “ugh, the salad section is legendary” and just had salad, olive oil, and meat, and felt full. I looked and looked at the dessert section, thought “how fake these look,” and of course didn’t eat them because I didn’t want to. As someone addicted to sweets and carbs, I caaaan’t believe this state of mine. 🙂
Who would you recommend this program to?
Everyone. Especially carb addicts who’ve lost the feeling of fullness.
Anything you’d like to add…
Thank you so much for your energy and sincerity. I love you and your recipes so much. Hoping to see you at your in-person programs someday. 🙂
E.B.
Dear Sema Hanım,
First of all, what kind of journey have you been on that you’re not just distributing healing, awareness, and knowledge to people, but spreading joy.
I’d already been following you for a long time, and I’d been aiming to change my eating style for a very long time too. Above all, I’m so glad I got to know you, and you became part of my current change and transformation. What you offer people, I think, isn’t just nutritional awareness. Whatever you’re looking for is inside the program, of course, for whoever notices and can take it..
Let’s get to where I’ve arrived as a result of the elimination: I’ll keep going until my symptoms are gone. Since I’ve also learned to enjoy every bite I eat, savoring it, I don’t really think about easily falling back into that gluten and sugar swamp either. So many livestreams, so many documents, so many questions answered with such patience… I couldn’t have set out on such a journey with anyone else. I hope to meet you again in your other programs, your camps… I won’t be letting go of you now…
May the joy, peace, and health of the life you live continue to grow, and may you touch many more people..
I’m so glad you exist.. Thank you so much for everything..
With a slimmer body, a satisfied soul… With love, stay well…
D.K.
What was your goal when starting this program?
My priority starting the program was to get my eating pattern, which I’d disrupted over the past 2 months, back on track. I wanted my body, tired from a constant weight-gain-loss routine, to renew itself. Also, I thought the 3-4 kilos I’d gained would go away too.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Getting an email every day is incredibly motivating. I could say I never struggled at all. The recipes supported me a lot — I never went hungry, ate delicious and healthy things. The livestreams were very informative — delivering things clearly, without beating around the bush, with examples from daily life, made the process much easier.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
First of all I lost about 3 kilos. Constipation is a thing of the past. But most important for me was that my itching stopped. In fact, seeing my itching get triggered again now, during the promotion phase, from the cheese I ate, and going through 2 days of headache, surprised me a lot. I now have a strong candidate I can consider as the cause of my itching and headaches.
Behaviorally, I noticed I ate a lot without thinking. Eating unconsciously, just for the sake of having eaten, sometimes eating as if stuffing myself… Now I’m eating more consciously, savoring it, feeling full. 🙂
Who would you recommend this program to?
To everyone who wants to make peace with their eating.
F.B.
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’ve had Hashimoto’s since 2014. Recently I was also diagnosed with possible psoriasis on my scalp. I’m generally someone who eats healthily, but as I also learned from your program, we harm our bodies in many ways without realizing it. My goal was to sincerely help with these conditions, even if they don’t fully go away.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I can’t say I fully reached my goal, but I discovered I might be allergic to dairy products.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
Even though my aim wasn’t losing weight, I got rid of 2.5 kilos. I feel much more energetic, healthy, and positive.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I think everyone should try this program! I think it’s a very important program for understanding what the things we eat can do to our bodies, for developing awareness. It’s definitely changed my eating/lifestyle going forward a lot.
Anything you’d like to add…
Sema Hanım, first of all thank you for using your extensive expertise to help people. You’ve changed my perspective on food and living. Despite always having been someone with awareness of healthy eating, you made me realize I had incomplete knowledge on many topics. It wouldn’t be wrong to say you’ve touched my life going forward. Thank you for everything!
Ö.Ç.
What was your goal when starting this program?
Honestly, despite having followed you for years, I didn’t know what, when, or how much to eat, and even though I thought I was eating healthily, I wasn’t fully sure of this. Also, I was aware of my dependency on dairy products and sugar. During my cancer period, the first thing my doctor told me was to cut out dairy products and sugar, but I could never fully remove them from my life. I joined thinking it might help somehow.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Thanks to you, I understood how wrongly I was acting especially regarding sugar. There wasn’t a problem with things like cake since I already used your recipes for those, but for coffee and tea I was using coconut sugar and apple concentrate. I learned how wrong I was acting. Honestly, I’m still fighting this battle. I couldn’t cut it completely, but I follow the 3-servings-of-fruit rule. What’s an amazing development for me, thanks to you, is that I don’t seek sweetness in herbal teas and the coffee I drink during the day anymore. I only feel a slight need for sweetness in the hot drinks I have at night.
Gluten never felt hard for me at all during the program. You give such wonderful recipes anyway that a person never misses it at all.
And ….. the most interesting and awareness-creating part of the program for me was dairy products. While I’d say I can’t live without cheese and had the potential to consume a whole large block of white cheese by myself in a week; while also consuming at least half a liter of milk daily and a pan of yogurt in a week; by following your recommendations, I got through the 4-week period very comfortably. I never, ever craved it. Only at the very end did I think “yay, tomorrow I’ll eat cheese; yay, I’ll be able to eat Sema’s cauliflower dumplings with yogurt.” And I’m sure now I’ll never consume dairy products like I used to again.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
First, awareness. Eating while chewing, or if it’s liquid, holding it in my mouth and feeling the taste. (What I enjoy most is salad. There’s so much in it. “While chewing, I close my eyes and ask, ‘what is this right now, what am I chewing, how does it feel?'”) This was something I’d never even thought of doing before.
Second, I don’t know if my stomach shrank or if it’s because I eat mindfully, but most of the time meals feel too much. Most of the time a few forkfuls remain on my plate, and I don’t even prepare an overly generous plate. And before, I had no routine at all — I wouldn’t eat for hours, and then attack especially carbs with trembling hands. Now, I don’t even get hungry by my mealtime anymore, but I eat so as not to disrupt my routine. 🙂
Third, I always used to have an afternoon siesta before, but now I don’t. On the contrary, I’m so energetic during the day that I’ve even started exercising. My sleep hours have now turned into exercise hours.
And lastly, I didn’t have losing weight as a goal when joining the program, but I still checked my weight anyway and it was 65.6kg. Now I’m 63.3kg. My belly circumference went from 95cm to 90cm. Hips from 97cm to 93cm.
Who would you recommend this program to?
First of all, I recommend it to everyone who says “I already eat healthy” (they might be so wrong about so many things). I recommend it to everyone who says “I want to eat healthy.” I recommend it to everyone who says “I love dairy products and sugar so much but want to remove them from my life, how can I remove them?” Or to everyone who says “I love eating crispy white bread dipped generously, and I know white bread isn’t healthy, but how can I remove it from my life?”
