So much for avoiding inflammatory foods. By the end of the day of 'pain', I decided that whilst I'm having a flare up, I may as well indulge....I never said my resolve was endless! Ed has a garage full of good wine and, well sometimes it's hard to say no to a 90 euro bottle of wine! We are celebrating and not just my 8 weeks of strict eating. We have made an offer on a piece of land and it has been accepted! Woohooo!

Whilst off the wagon, I have had a couple of days of indulgence. Another rump steak on the BBQ - lush! And also, Ed managed to get free tickets to a wine exhibition (think free wine tasting on a grand scale) at the Parc des Expositions at Bordeaux Lac. We picked up our free glass at the entrance and voila! The selection was enormous, so we narrowed it down by trying the organic wines first. We stuck to Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne. Then as we went along we narrowed it down by the look of the vendors! We bought six bottles and headed off. It was a great experience and a really good way to find lots of lovely new wines to fill up our wine fridge. Next year, hopefully we will be following suit with the French and bringing a trolly to fill up the car with a few boxes, not just a few bottles!

In the evening we cooked up a rump steak on the BBQ that had been marinating all day in olive oil, salt and pepper. We had it with a mushroom mix of oyster, paris and closed cup mushrooms, sautéed in coconut oil with onion and garlic - lush!

By the evening, the pain had stepped up a notch, as it always does after I've been walking around a lot. I was struggling to sit down and when I went to bed, sleep evaded me. I resorted to taking an ibuprofen - something I have avoided since trying to heal my gut. The relief was amazing and at about 2.30, I finally drifted off to sleep. 

Today, the pain continues and the inflammation around my spots is back. I am sitting down like an old woman and I know I will have to apply all my dressings properly if I want any kind of comfort today.
I am day 2 back into my diet and despite the pain, I feel good.

Far from being a hideous experience, I can say (in hindsight!) that this has been educational and motivating. At least I know for sure that my diet does have an effect on HS and the past two months have not been a waste of time. Nothing like a good flare up to remind us how lucky we are when are days are pain free.