The Journey to Competing 2018

Its been since 2011 when I last was up on stage competing in bodybuilding.  Since then I have tried to compete two other times, but I failed each time to make it back on that competition stage.  It all started in April 2013 when my body started to change. As I was dieting for the competition, instead of getting leaner and tighter I was actually getting smoother and fatter. No matter how little I ate or no matter how strict i was, I just kept getting fatter and fatter. I gained 15 lbs in three days even though I was just eating chicken and rice. It got so bad I started to get sick and fatigue. I couldn't even get up out of my bed. My body was so tired and ill I could no longer hold anything down that I ate. This eventually sent me to the emergency where I was told I needed to eat more veggies and drink more water. This was a total joke to me. I was eating so good and so clean that I felt that something else was wrong. I was given some antibiotics and that's when things started to change. My waist size decreased, I lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks, my body started looking like I was weeks out from a competition. I stopped eating carbs for months cause if I tried to eat carbs the same thing started to happen, so I decided in order to feel better I needed to eat just protein. Well that lasted  about 8 months and then it happened again. I ate some almonds and my body wasn't the same after that. I tried to diet again for a show in 2014 even eliminating carbs, but again around 6 weeks out I continued to get fatter even though i was eating 1000 calories a day and doing 1 hour of cardio a day. I just kept gaining weight.  I eventually took more antibiotics and miraculously I started losing the weight again.  The Doctors felt like I had SIBO. They told me to eat certain foods and to keep taking antibiotics to help with the SIBO, but eventually the antibiotics stopped working too. I had given up everything for years. No sweets, no coffee, no caffeine, no bread,,i was on a diet of just zucchini and beef, but eventually I couldn't even eat beef, turkey or chicken. I had developed a food intolerance to everything. I felt like I wanted to just die.  How can one just go on living without being able to eat cause everytime I ate something I would get super bloated, gain a lot of weight and feel horrible?  It caused me to go into depression,  I felt like giving up, but I didn't. I continued to train hard no matter what even on the days i hadn't eaten any food.   I was doing a lot of research trying to find a solution when i was referred to a naturalist. She set me up on a program which had me take 400 billion probiotics a day. I was skeptical at first cause I know my body seems to get bloated on probiotics, but I went and followed her suggestions.  After 7 days taking probiotics my body started to gain weight again. I got bloated and my waist continued to get bigger. It was a nightmare. I stopped the probiotics, I tried to go back to turkey again, but I still had a food intolerance to it.  I eventually had to seek other means of protein. I decided I had no choice but to eat what I never thought I would eat,,,fish. I tried Tilapia at first but even as hungry as i was,, I could not stomach it. I then turned to Tuna specifically Tongol Tuna.  I just ate it out of the can at first and for a 3 weeks it was working, but just like everything else,,it too stopped working for me.  It was devastating. I was back to where i was originally. I had gained 15 lbs back and was not getting any better. I continued researching for some miracle that could help me out. I would research everyday all day looking for something or anything that would resolve this issue. I finally came up with something. It was simple, didn't cost much at all, just time. It was bone broth. Pure simple bone broth which was recommended for my leaky gut issues. I started making that and in a matter of a few days, I was able to eat the tuna fish again. I started to lose my waist size and began getting my energy back.  It was so exiting to see my body change and get tighter. I felt normal again. I have spent over $20,000 on my health trying to get back to Normal. I have sacrificed so much in my life to try to just keep living. Thats what dieting became to me,,it wasn't to get lean or ripped,it was to live.  I've been dieting for over 2 years and during that time I have gone from eating zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce to eating just meats and even to the point I'd go days with no food only water.  My biggest goal is to compete again. It is my passion. It always made me happy to get my body into the best shape of my life and to get on stage so I can show what I have accomplished. This time it will mean so much more cause of what i have gone thru.  I have been thru so much misery. I still have issues, but for now I have a diet that I feel will be my solution to getting better and competing.  I have started this fund for help in my journey to compete. I have so many medical bills that its going to be difficult to pay for my contest. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help with just a few bucks towards my competition. It would mean so much to me and in return I want to get up on that stage for you and show you that I am still here and I will not let this prevent me from my goals. I want to win and I know I will as long as I keep positive. Thank you.:)