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Welcome to The Banana Diaries!
If this is your first time here, you’re starting in the right place. My name is Britt, and I am the food blogger behind the recipes and content on this food blog!
Now, you’re probably wondering…why the Banana Diaries?!
Well, Banana was my first word (true story), and it was my absolute favorite food to eat as a baby and kiddo. Andddd as I grew older, bananas were my favorite choice of fuel for long runs and before races while on the cross country team 🙂
Plus, I mean, banana bread. Let’s be real here.
Why I started the Banana Diaries:
Starting the Banana Diaries, I had a few motivations. To be honest, I wasn’t too comfortable sharing one of the biggest motivations as to why I started my blog, so I used one that’s more easily digestible to society (helping my loved ones with food intolerances and health issues get to enjoy their favorite foods! Still a good source of motivation IMO 🙂 ).
But, those days of fear are over. By sharing our stories, our struggles, and our triumphs, we empower others to do the same, ultimately creating a better world for the generations to come to live in.
My relationship with food and myself, quite frankly, hasn’t always been easy. I struggled with anorexia for nearly a decade of my life, coupled with OCD and clinical depression.
I graduated college, having barely recovered from my eating disorder, and still in the throes of depression. To keep a long story short, I felt defeated, lost, scared, and helpless. The grief of losing a friend to depression while in the middle of my own struggle plagued me, and I failed to comprehend why I was the way that I am, as well as why standard treatment and medical help left me feeling even more lost, scared, and afraid of my future rather than better.
While in my corporate job, I began fully immersing myself into studies and research of the mind, how it works, and why some individuals end up with an eating disorder, OCD, depression, ADHD, etc., and other individuals walk away seemingly fine. This path led me to the research of Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Kelly Brogan, Dr. Sue Morter, and more.
These tools showed me why I struggled while someone else might not, how tools, such as therapy, intensive treatment, and more, needed to be met more than halfway by my own effort to better myself, and how I could take my own power back and start living my life, free of these chains.
I began to do a deep dive into meditation, ultimately attending several of Dr Joe Dispenza’s workshops, and learning how my subconscious was running the show, not my mind and not my body. By rewiring these subconscious beliefs, I could be free of my fear of foods, ultimately finding joy and pleasure in eating with loved ones; I could be free of the scary thoughts that accompany suffering from depression, ultimately changing my outlook on life to be positive; and more importantly, I could be free to be Britt, no strings attached, not seeking the approval of others, and just living my life as my own unique person.
How does this relate to food?
Well, let me get to that!
I had always loved to cook and bake, it was something that brought me so much joy. I’ll never forget when I was 12 and made my dad a cake, watching him take his first bite and absolutely love it actually made me cry. It truly brings me the greatest joy.
But my eating disorder had robbed me of that sense of fulfillment.
You see, food was the easiest place for me to start changing my beliefs. I still had many fears surrounding food, including fear of macronutrients, food sources, and food types. Around this same time, my boyfriend was in the middle of his recovery from chronic Lyme disease, and my youngest cousin was diagnosed with Celiac’s disease. To say family outings and get togethers were difficult was an understatement!
So I began cooking strictly Paleo, then evolved to including just gluten-free, and then experimenting with vegan, dairy-free, and even some Keto recipes.
As I shifted my beliefs, I realized I, as Brittany, didn’t need to follow any label of diet, avoid certain foods, or eat something “healthy” because it’s “healthy.” While the ones I loved might have to due to certain health restrictions, I did not. I could eat gluten free and regular bread. I could eat a Paleo vegan cake and a regular vegan cake, and be just fine. In fact, my eating disorder was just a projection of control. And my depression was a projection of feeling incongruent to the person I’m truly meant to be: loving, kind-hearted, carefree, joyful, and liberated.
So I began to incorporate general healthy recipes, along with straight up comfort food recipes.
My recipes then became more about inclusivity rather than exclusivity. My eating disorder and depression had left me in an imprisonment of exclusion, rules, and boundaries, whereas my new recipes could be the exact opposite: inviting, welcoming, and unrestrictive.
So I continue to focus on making recipes with wholesome ingredients, as close to the earth as possible, but more so, with love. Because love is the purest ingredient of them all. And when you have love thrown into the mix, whether the recipe is “healthy” or not, labelled for a diet or not, you will truly feel good eating it.
Food then becomes a stepping stone and catalyst for more change. If we can start with changing our beliefs around food, what else can we change in order to take our power back?
What makes the Banana Diaries recipes different:
I truly want to make a recipe that everyone can feel safe and comfortable eating, while maintaining taste. Whether you follow a dietary label or not, you can find a recipe that you love from the Banana Diaries.
Anyone and everyone will enjoy these recipes.
And at the same time, I try to make most of my recipes customizable. For example, if you’re interested in making my gluten free pumpkin muffins, but want to make them regular, there’s an option for that.
While, yes, there are rules to baking and certain measurements to adhere to, I don’t want someone to think they can’t make this because of x, y, and z. My recipes aim to be easy, delicious, inclusive, and most importantly, made with love.
As cheesy as you might think it is, every recipe I make, every blog post I write, is set with the intention of love. I aim to have anyone that ever makes a recipe feel so much joy when they eat it. And that you forget your food fears, your worries from the day, your problems going on in life. You can just enjoy this one moment.
That right there is worth everything to me.
Let’s get started!
Now that you’ve got the DL on Banana, let’s get you hooked up with some of the best recipes! Of course, if these aren’t suiting your fancy, feel free to check out my recipe index for more of a selection 🙂
Here are some of my seasoned Banana readers’ top favorite recipes:
Chocolate Cream Pie (Tofu Free and Nut Free!)
Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to seeing you around on the blog, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram!
Always feel free to reach out to me 🙂 I love love love answering readers’ questions and comments, and of course, seeing photos of your beautiful bakes and meals! Can’t wait to get to know each other better!
Happy baking, cooking, and eating!
Lots of love and hugs,
Britt
