When I tell people that I can't eat gluten I often get two responses. The first being: "What do you eat?" The second one is: "I could never do that." I never thought I could live on this eating style either, but here I am.
Three years ago I never even heard of Celiac Disease. I had may be heard a blip on the news about people who can't eat wheat, but I didn't know much about it or even how to say the same of the disease. Before going gluten free my favorite foods were carbs. I love pasta, pizza, and breads. If we went out to eat I would get pasta with lots of cheese, and I would ask for extra bread sticks. I also worked in two sandwich shops during high school and college days. So when I started figuring out that my body just can't handle wheat anymore I was very unhappy, read more about that here. I wasn't sure how I could do it and be happy again. With my sister and a cousin both going gluten free about the same time I knew my chances of needing to go gluten free were high too. With the support of my sister, parents, reading The G-Free Diet, and the strength from Jesus I was able to able to survive the first 6 months (the hardest part). Once I got those first 6 months under my belt I knew I could do this. I was learning so many things about food, my body, my health and that going gluten free isn't a diet, but a way of living.
Once I got my head around that concept the rest was easy. It is society that we fight and our selves when going gluten free. The world tells us that you must eat whole wheat or not having bread stuffing at Thanksgiving isn't American. When you are told that you can't eat gluten anymore, you have no choice but to live without it. For awhile I tried to limit my diet of gluten, thought that I could get away with flour tortillas or the occasional cracker at a party, but I was wrong. Once I learned what I was doing to my body I stopped. To learn that I was slowly killing myself and destroying my health all because I liked the taste of a fluffy pizza crust or a sandwich on whole wheat bread was just down right crazy. What was more important, my taste buds or my over all health? Health won, big time.
Learning how gluten affect my health is the biggest factor for why I keep going this way. Then learning how it affected my child was another reason to stick with this eating style. I may not always feel the affects of gluten on my body, but to see what it was doing to my daughter cemented my reasons to stay gluten free. To see her little body, well... stay little and not grow and gain weight and to see her struggle with diarrhea for months on end was enough to make me realize (before my own test) that this was more then just an intolerance issue for myself, but a bigger health issue over all for all of us. Once I got her cleaned up and the kitchen ratio of gluten free foods went from 30% to 99% it not only became easier for me, but the whole family was finally doing much better. We were all feeling better and looking better. My daughter is still catching up growth wise, but she is getting close. For once in her little life she is wearing the size of clothing that also bares her current age. To give you an idea of what I mean, she gained 1 pound in a 6 month period, and wore a 9 month size dress on her 1st birthday that was before going gluten free.
If you have been told to go gluten free either for your own health or that of a loved one, remember that you can do it. I had to lean on God and my family to get me through, but I wouldn't dare go back now that I know that it will do to me and my family. If your health is important to you and the quality of life matters, then learning to live without that bread stuffing on Thanksgiving is something you will just have to embrace or make a gluten free version and shock the family with just how good it can taste. If you think you just can't do it, understand that every Celiac has looked at their pantry and thought "how do I do this?" We've all been there and tried that recipe, but we are all hear alive and well and we wouldn't look back except to remember just how far we've come.
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