Meet Terrie Kleinberger
Author of Breaking Bread
While growing up, my Mother was what I would call the “Original Granola Bar.” She believed that the food we consumed was our medicine. When I was in 3rd grade, we moved to a new home where we lived on a farm where we could grow our own organic garden, raise our own meat, make our own bread, and can our own vegetables. As I grew up, I wandered away from that eating lifestyle and the farm, but I still maintained a very healthy lifestyle. I was a competitive athlete, ate healthy, made my meals from fresh ingredients and I even made my own beauty products. I worked in the fitness industry for 22 years and then made a career change to the dental industry, where I worked for 22 years and still work in several different capacities.
When I was 51 years old, I had a hysterectomy and unfortunately during surgery, my colon was perforated. My doctors did not realize this happened until 2½ days later. Emergency surgery was performed, and I was placed in a medically induced coma. When I was brought out of the coma, I came to the frightening realization that my doctors performed a temporary ileostomy, which is a surgically created opening in the abdomen in which a piece of the ileum (lowest part of the small intestine) is brought outside the abdominal wall to create a stoma through which digested food passes into an external pouching system (yes, a bag outside my body!). Then, I proceeded to have reversal surgery, but then needed a third debridement surgery due to an infection!
After healing from all of these surgeries, I was still having several issues. I was suffering from occasional low-grade fevers and chills, abdominal pain, fatigue, bloating and gas. I was placed on low doses of antibiotics for over a year and a half with no end in sight. I had been to several medical practitioners ranging from primary care physicians, Gastroenterologists and surgeons. I had all kinds of tests done and nothing seemed to be going anywhere for me. It was scary and frustrating.
My sister, Bobbie, who had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease seven years earlier, who had been on all kinds of medications and through a terrible ordeal herself suggested I read a book by Elaine Gottschall called Breaking The Vicious Cycle, which details the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) – the diet that has changed my life for the better in so many ways. Within 3 months, I was significantly improved and off all antibiotics. My energy levels and mental clarity were through the roof! I was making a quick transition on a culinary level to the SCD Diet. I was learning all sorts of new recipes and learning how to mix different ingredients together in combinations. My kitchen became my science lab!
However, I now had a new problem. On a social level, I hit the wall! Being on a restricted diet creates havoc with your ability to enjoy eating in a social gathering. Something as simple as a business lunch became problematic for me. My husband stopped taking me to dinner, which in the past had been a source of entertainment for us. The girls at the office stopped inviting me to go out for happy hour or lunch, and I felt uncomfortable accepting invitations to friends and families’ homes for dinner. I decided then and there that life was not going to be like this for me or anyone else who has found themselves placed on a restricted diet!
I have worked tirelessly for years developing recipes that taste as delicious as they look! – recipes that anyone would be proud to take to a special function or serve on their own table. I have developed strategies to help transition on a social level after being placed on a restricted diet – all without the discomfort and isolation!
I am here to help you and share all the knowledge I have gained to make your transition easy and effortless. My book, Breaking Bread with Terrie, will help you discover how fabulous and exciting life can be without grains, starches or sugar! Let’s do this together!