Wonderfully varied feedback, each one different, lives changing toward health. I’ll leave you alone with my participants’ experiences.
Ç.S.
What was your goal when starting this program?
To regulate my gut flora, remove sugar and gluten from my life or at least limit gluten to once a month, break the lose-regain vicious cycle, change my eating style, be able to motivate myself again, and of course, lose weight.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
The program hit all my goals right on the mark. I learned such wonderful things and recipes about nutrition — I said, so glad. So glad I joined.
What is the biggest physical and behavioral change you notice in yourself as the program ends?
I lost 7 kilos. I didn’t have a sweet crisis during my PMS period. I learned to turn down offerings by saying I don’t eat refined sugar and gluten.
I recommend this program to those with the following kinds of issues.
I recommend this program to everyone of every age, but I especially recommend it to those with autoimmune conditions and those with gut/digestive issues.
Anything you’d like to add…
Centimeters slimmed off:
Dear Sema Hanım, I’m also sending you my body measurements in cm — I definitely want you to see them. Thank you so much for everything you taught — it was such a beneficial process that I still haven’t stepped out of it. By the way, I keep applying your recipes and congratulate myself for staying light. So glad I joined your program — it was my gift to myself for 2023, and I hope I can sustain it for a long time. Endless thanks for everything — your effort is huge, but the results are truly huge in people’s lives too.
Thanks to you, I don’t get hungry at all now, and this is an amazing thing. Staying present is hard, especially during this process, but I keep your words as a lesson learned by heart.
I’m so glad you exist! Thank you so much on my own behalf — so glad I did elimination with you. So glad, so glad, so glad! I love you so much…
B.Y.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I could say the knowledge you gave, your experiences, your sharing were very clear and flawless. Joining the meetings and talking one-on-one, and the flow of your information, were so, so beneficial. Sema Hanım, there’s no one left around me who doesn’t know you.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
Even though I didn’t do it to lose weight, I think I lost 6-7 kilos. I feel relieved, lightened, I sleep better quality, no gas, no pain, and these are very wonderful results.
Who would you recommend this program to?
Hahah, jumping in, so to speak, to everyone I come across.. I could say I tell everyone, whether they have a health problem or not. I insistently recommend they do this.
Anything you’d like to add…
I feel so lucky to have gotten to know you and worked with you. I’m so glad you exist. I’ll always be a devoted follower of yours. Maybe in other programs, or who knows, maybe one day we’ll meet somewhere and give each other a big hug. Always be. I love you.
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’m someone who, over my 35 years of life, has known eating as the thing I enjoy most in life — I love eating dinner, and I’m addicted to sugar, chips, and junk food. On top of that, I’m a computer engineer working at a desk all day at an American company. 🙂 During the pandemic period I noticed my back was hurting much more than before. It reached a state that would restrict my life and prevent me from exercising. My mother also suffers from back pain, so I thought it’s genetic, aging will be very hard for me, and fear settled inside me. I went to many doctors, but one told me I’d need to use medication for life. I started physical therapy, my pain decreased, but when inflammation increases or shifts to different areas, I get pain. Why does the body get inflamed? They said some constitutions can produce this. I joined thinking that nutrition might help both myself and my mother.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Everyone, including me, is shocked that I could stay sugar-free. Even my husband lost weight. I started getting to know myself. I realized I got headaches from going hungry too long. When I ate a chocolate claimed to be sugar-free, my whole body swelled up, I itched, and I got a migraine. I understood sugar doesn’t do me good. Aside from that, I never had a single migraine. I said goodbye to my pain this quickly during the program. Its disappearing all at once is a miracle.
I recommend this program to those with the following kinds of issues.
I recommend it to everyone who feels helpless because of the chronic pain they’re experiencing.
S.U.
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’ve had stomach pain for 13 years. I’ve had three endoscopies done, all clean. There’s no doctor I haven’t seen or old-wives’ remedy I haven’t tried. I’ve also suffered from constipation for at least 25 years. I suspected it was stress and/or food-related, but I didn’t know where to start. I tried elimination on my own but couldn’t manage it. I kept reading about healthy eating and following new developments, but since I was busy with my PhD thesis, I neglected my body and health a lot. Losing my father to stomach cancer was also a huge blow to me. I’d now turned 40, and I had to solve these complaints myself. After defending my thesis, I saw on Instagram that you were doing the elimination I’d wanted to do for a long time, one last time. I had to join no matter what. I had no intention of losing weight — in fact there’s no scale at home. But I noted my measurements with a tape measure and started the program with great motivation (but not trusting myself at all).
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I’m someone who worries a lot, thinking about how things will end. While applying the program, since we didn’t fully know what would happen afterward or exactly when to give something up, I didn’t have my usual problem of worrying in advance. Getting an email every day was also very exciting — the first thing I did every morning was read them, and I started each day feeling motivated.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
I felt the changes from the very first week. I was someone who never had breakfast without cheese and eggs, and ate bread with every bite. I was surprised to see how much flavor I got from the first meals I ate without these. I discovered eating with mindful flavor-savoring, which you explained later on, already in the first week. It turns out I’d been blocking the taste of other foods with bread for years. Also, in the first few days, while thinking “I can never feel full with just salad, what will I eat?”, I noticed I felt quite full. Where I used to eat with just the tip of my fork before, never eating the broth of dishes, I was now spooning up the broth of juicy vegetable dishes! I didn’t really like poultry anyway, but I never got along with fruit either. I made peace with fruit again because I craved something sweet during elimination. Where I normally went to the bathroom for a bowel movement once a week, I started going every other day. I never had stomach pain or reflux. Before starting the reintroduction phase, I’d already made my decision — that from then on I could minimize bread and sugar, and consume dairy and eggs as little as possible too. Before the reintroduction week, I’d already slimmed one or two centimeters each from my waist, hips, belly (even three centimeters from my calf!). In the last week, people who saw me said my face color had brightened. I’m sure if I’d had a more active, walking-focused routine and drunk more water, I’d have gotten an even better result.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I recommend it to everyone who’s addicted to a food to the point of dependency and says “I can never give this up.” If I could go 5 weeks without bread, cheese, and eggs, anyone can.
Anything you’d like to add…
My understanding of eating and feeling full has changed forever. A person’s hardest battle is with their own ego. We met with friends on Mi’raj night, and while there were sweets, börek, and çiğ köfte in front of me — things I hadn’t eaten in days — I sat and ate my almonds. I told myself, this is the true ascension: not even tasting these wonderful things in front of me, being able to be patient while breathing in their smell! I gained that willpower thanks to you. I kept surprising myself throughout the program. If I could do this elimination, I feel like I can do other harder things in life too. Thank you so much, I’m so glad our paths crossed. Having started this beautiful path with the “Ne Olursan Ol, Gel” seminar, I’m continuing with you, God willing, to ensure its continuity.
E.D.
I’m so sad that the program has ended. Thanks to your program, my awareness increased — I can’t believe how much intense torture I was putting my body through. The information you gave is very convincing. If I, like everyone in my close circle who said “you’ll never manage it,” was able to achieve everything thanks to you, then anyone can achieve it. As long as prejudices can be broken. The path you’ve lit is both very tasty and satisfying. As long as there’s preparation beforehand. There’s not a single stone missing in the program.. Just as you’re about to ask something, you can find the answer by carefully reading the attached document. Everything is flawless, and when your sincerity and warmth are added on top, it becomes a wonderful experience. I loved you and your program. This is it! Thank you so much for everything, for your effort and patience. You opened a new window in my life. I threw off the dead skin over me… I’ve decided to start producing the natural soap, shampoo, shower gel, and many other products I learned to make in your trainings. I’m so glad you exist. May your health always be at its best.
D.K.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
The daily emails were very useful — I wish they’d continue occasionally. Reinforcing the information in the livestreams was very productive. Being able to listen again to what we’d read and ask questions were all supportive. It definitely didn’t make me feel alone — both seeing all the participants in the livestream and Sema Hanım’s delivery, as if she were holding our hand. I think the most important thing is that, despite the program’s strict rules, dear Sema Hanım makes them sustainable. And lastly, she pushed aside the thoughts in my mind like “how will I continue, should I eat the cake in the fridge, tomorrow the program ends, let me eat pasta with my family, oh well” and replaced them with answers about what and why we do things, what the logic of it is, and what it isn’t.
What is the biggest physical and behavioral change you notice in yourself as the program ends?
My sinus drainage didn’t pass, my bloating went away, it seems, but I still get gas. I couldn’t quite figure it out. But both decreased, and I feel so light. When the scale showed 3 kilos less, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My stomach, hips etc. all slimmed 3-5 cm — it was already evident from my pants. And these results happened within 4 weeks (I’d weighed and taken measurements only a week after starting), plus the knowledge and motivation I gained on top.
I recommend this program to those with the following kinds of issues.
I recommend it to those who’ve dieted a lot but gotten no results, and on top of that go hungry, and to everyone with any chronic pain or condition.
E.U.
What was your goal when starting this program?
Since I’m someone constantly gaining and losing weight, unable to get out of the diet cycle, I wanted to make a long-lasting change in my eating style, thinking I’d stick with a diet aiming for healthy eating for however long it took.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
Before the program, I’d accepted my chronic gut condition, which had continued for 20 years, and thought living with this was my fate. By the end of 3 weeks, I understood this was actually an illness, and that people who eat healthily don’t live this way. I used to be someone who could only have a bowel movement 2-3 times a week but experienced stomach pain and gas cramps all day. Right now, I’m someone who goes to the bathroom almost twice a day, feels relieved coming out of the bathroom, and enjoys the day. I hadn’t experienced this feeling for 20 years — my pain had become my reality and a part of me. Right now I genuinely don’t even care how many kilos I weigh — I can now go to the bathroom every day. It’s not possible to describe the value of this in words; this is truly health and peace.
Who would you recommend this program to?
Anyone can do this program comfortably. I’ve even started feeding my 4-year-old children with a sugar-free, low-gluten diet full of fresh vegetables.
Anything you’d like to add…
This group went through a very hard time — our beautiful country lost thousands of people. Your livestreams gave me strength, energy, and morale. Your positivity and genuine sincerity beyond nutrition also made this program wonderful. Thank you so much.
G.A.
No amount of thanks would be enough. After years of trying various so-called “diet” styles and having truly given up at one point, I got involved in your program through a friend’s message.
As a sugar addict who used to say “I can live to the end of my life with just coffee, bread, and cheese, that’s enough for me,” I can’t remember how I decided to start the program or how I suddenly found the courage, but I’m aware I was able to continue thanks to your motivating attitude. I’m 42 years old, and a few months earlier Type II diabetes and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis had given all their signals, cholesterol problems had started — not to mention my very high weight and BMI. Now, writing to you, I remember: when starting the program, the thought “let me try this diet too, let me prove to myself that this won’t work either” had crossed my mind.
By the end of 4 weeks passed without a single slip-up, I actually realized that you taught me my body’s nature, that it’s more suited to eating this way, and that I feel better. My BMI dropped by 4 points, and I feel much better about myself. People around me say I looked much better even in just these 4 weeks. I didn’t expect this at all, but my skin’s appearance improved. I haven’t had tests done yet, so I can’t write about what kind of change occurred in lab results.
Thinking about the methods I’d previously tried for healthy eating, I understood this way why I couldn’t continue; it turns out the trick isn’t limiting the amount of unhealthy food but replacing it with healthy versions, feeling full with these, and always being prepared, planning. I recommend your program to those curious about what it’s like to feel full with healthy foods and vegetables, those who want to taste what they eat, and those who want to sweetly free themselves from unhealthy food addiction. I think if I could finish these 4 weeks, anyone can. Of course the program has ended, but I’m determined to continue this way because I feel much better than before.
You can share my message with just my initials — I hope someone reads it and finds the courage to change.
S.S
What was your goal when starting this program?
My goal was to learn the details of healthy eating and experience my mind and body performance when I fill my body with real foods. I’m 34 years old, 1.68m tall, weigh 53 kg (lost 1 kilo during the elimination), and since dancing is part of my profession, being healthy isn’t already too hard a thing for me. But even though I’m very interested in conscious eating, it’s not something I’d received training in. Also, I’m getting married soon 🙂 and building my eating style accordingly, learning recipes and methods, is valuable for me. I’ve always followed holistic health approaches, but integrating all of them into my life at the same time hadn’t been possible. This must be the time. 🙂 Thanks for the valuable knowledge.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
The follow-up process, emails, recipes, and Zoom meetings were very useful and on point. All of them helped a lot. At first, I had to reread an email with its attachments a few times to internalize and adapt. Then it became easier to grasp things step by step. Making bread for the first time in my life was lovely. 🙂 Healthy eating is always somewhere I love, so I didn’t struggle much, but I also love eating junk food occasionally. Sometimes I went through very hard tests back to back, hahaha. I gave myself permission for tiny mischiefs with baklava, börek, cookies. But I stuck to the plan 99% of the time. I honor myself and my health for this, and I noticed that whatever’s sugary or dough-based, what we actually encounter when tasting it isn’t the same as its place in our minds. It’s a bit like a traumatic love affair. We’re drawn to it, but it’s not actually what makes us happy.
What is the biggest physical and behavioral change you notice in yourself as the program ends?
I transitioned into a state where I feel my mind clearer, lighter, and post-meal lethargy dropped to a minimum. My energy was in place most of the time. I performed on stage — I think it was the third day of elimination. I felt bursts of energy here and there. 🙂 And not being bloated all day is an amazing thing. I always used to notice the bloating in my stomach despite being at a normal weight, but this experience was very educational. I had occasional headaches throughout the elimination. I think it was something like sugar withdrawal.
I had occasional small mischiefs, of course. 🙂 One really bothered me (my mother’s apple cookies), and I tried to make myself throw up from the stomach burning. I couldn’t manage to. That period was hard. But I stayed largely faithful to the elimination, and as someone who genuinely loves healthy eating, it was wonderful to learn what and how much to eat without calorie counting. I’ve never had any weight-related issues in my life — I’ve always been in my ideal weight range — but eating is an important craft, and knowing its subtleties, accessing important knowledge to let our body and mind live with pleasure, was a beautiful experience for me.
What I eliminated wasn’t just foods. The products I use and the things I shop for changed. Of course there were things I was already aware of, but sometimes following the advice of someone who’s experienced it makes the process easier. Thanks for your recommendations 🙂
I recommend this program to those with the following kinds of issues.
Anyone with weight, bloating, or health problems can try it. But actually none of these are necessary. It’s a perfect path for everyone who wants to invest in themselves. I had no problems at all, but it was very educational. Everyone who wants to learn the subtleties of nutrition should definitely join. Whoever values their body, mind, life should come. 🙂
Anything you’d like to add…
“There’s no black-and-white, but there’s always a way back home.”
I really loved that sentence of yours. 🙂 You guided me in seeing the best ways to clean my house. May your house also be pure and clean.
With love …
M.T.
First of all, I’ve followed you on Instagram for a long time. You have a wonderful energy and heart. I’m also very excited that I’ll get the chance to meet you in person at the camp you’ll be running in April. Yayyy… Let’s get to the answers to your questions:
What was your goal when starting this program?
I’m someone with insulin resistance, fibromyalgia, and IBS. My primary goal was to find out what foods bloat my stomach like a drum, and to seek a solution for the nerve pain I’ve suffered from for 10 years.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I think joining the program is the biggest favor you can do for yourself. Whatever your goal — living healthily, losing weight, creating awareness, getting to know yourself and, most importantly, your body, being happy, being able to be organized — it gives you an amazing opportunity for it. You look at everything more holistically. You become aware of what you can achieve through nutrition.
What is the biggest physical and behavioral change you notice in yourself as the program ends?
There was an ad slogan that stuck in my mind: “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” A sentence that describes me exactly. When hungry, I’d become both an irritable person and literally clumsy, my hands and feet getting tangled up in each other.
The second biggest change: close to my period, my whole body would swell incredibly and my back would hurt a lot. Now I don’t even understand what pain or bloating is anymore. The 3rd and biggest change is the massage my cat Mila gives with her tiny pink paws. Every night she definitely massages me with her two paws. Since I always had gas in my stomach, it used to hurt quite a bit actually. Now this doesn’t happen anymore either.
I recommend this program to those with the following kinds of issues:
To everyone who wants to change something in their life but doesn’t know where to start…
G.A.
What was your goal when starting this program?
To learn proper eating, be able to stop eating once full, end my eating attacks, get rid of the post-meal bloating, gas, and fatigue I experienced, and lose weight.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
Honestly, I didn’t expect the program to be this effective and that I’d get results this quickly. I no longer eat sweets to the point of losing myself. In fact, I now satisfy my sweet cravings only through fruit. I eat mostly vegetables. I learned, thanks to you, how to establish balance on my plate. Just by eating healthily, and in a very short time, I’ve gotten rid of all the problems I was personally experiencing.
What is the biggest physical and behavioral change you notice in yourself as the program ends?
Sema Hanım, no amount of thanks would be enough. In just 4 weeks I lost only 6.5 kilos, but I’ve slimmed down as if I’d lost 10. Despite having a body type with wide hips, my hips, buttocks, and even legs melted away without any exercise at all. Post-meal gas, bloating, and fatigue problems ended. My period cramps ended. I feel more energetic and lively. I didn’t notice it myself, but my friends say my skin is glowing.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who want to eat healthily but don’t know where and how to start, to those who never feel full no matter how much they eat, and to those experiencing post-meal gas, bloating, and fatigue problems. It sounds hard to believe, but all of this is possible with healthy eating, and it’s not as hard as you’ve blown it up to be in your mind.
Anything you’d like to add:
I’m so glad I joined your program. I started applying the program the week you did the reintroduction. I always wanted to join but couldn’t take action because I didn’t know how. Since it was a topic I was unfamiliar with, I blew it up in my mind at the start. But you guided me so beautifully with the emails you sent every day and the livestreams that just a few days after starting the program, I started planning meals in my head. The reintroduction ended last week and right now, in week 6, I’m continuing sugar-free, gluten-free eating by adding eggs, coffee, goat cheese, and homemade yogurt. Especially this week, physical and emotional changes have started that are visible to the eye. My husband and friends say I’ve slimmed down a lot and my skin is glowing. I understood that when we get beautiful inside, it reflects outward too. All thanks to you, so glad you exist. Thank you so, so much.
Love.
M.G.E.
What was your goal when starting this program?
My primary goal was, of course, to lose weight and be able to return to my old confident self. Also, thinking that my never-ending back pain, eczema and itching problems, and constantly being bloated stemmed from my faulty eating, learning healthy eating in all its detail also convinced me toward this eating style.
How did the program help you achieve your goals?
I could say I reached all the goals I mentioned above. In 5 weeks I had a loss of 4.15 kg and toned up visibly, and being reunited with clothes I couldn’t fit into for a long time is very joyful. My husband and I completed the program together without any slip-ups at all. Both of our eczema problems ended completely. Our skin looks healthier.
I don’t feel bloated to the point of bursting anymore. I stop eating the moment I feel full. I saw that this alternative eating style isn’t actually as hard as I’d blown it up in my mind, that it’s quite a sustainable way of eating.
What physical and behavioral changes do you notice in yourself as the program ends?
The elimination has ended, but we’re going to continue eating this way, what we’ve learned. Especially gluten turned out to be the thing that harms me most. I understood very well during this process what kind of effects it created in my body. Besides my body slimming quite comfortably, I now feel much lighter, happier, and more energetic.
Who would you recommend this program to?
I recommend it to everyone like me who constantly loses weight and then quickly regains it, who can’t sustain healthy eating because they don’t fully understand it, who has edema problems, whose hands and feet are constantly swollen (so much so that sometimes they can’t even put on their wedding ring!), and who has blown up healthy eating in their mind.
Anything you’d like to add…
Thank you so much for everything, Sema Hanım. I thank you on behalf of both myself and my husband. The recipes you sent were very useful for me. Now I do sprouting at home every day, my meals are very balanced, and I genuinely feel happy. Especially, I didn’t know well what gluten was and its effects at the beginning of the program. My awareness increased incredibly and I understood that gluten is what actually harms me. I also had a genuine awakening regarding dairy products thanks to you. My perspective changed entirely. Besides this, your smile in the livestreams, your energy, and the motivation you gave were also very, very valuable. I don’t think I could have completed this program with anyone else. So glad you exist. I wish everything goes your way.
