I just received an email from a follower (don’t laugh…I have followers!) that reinforces why I started this blog. Here is part of what he said:

My wife is a celiac diagnosed about 2.5 months now. She really truly feels better reading your entries as she doesn’t feel alone and others are experiencing the same things she is. Anyway, I was wondering if in one of your posts you can address the things a spouse can do to help a celiac. I am trying to get all resources and knowledge possible. But I’m sure I’m missing something. Maybe a top 5 list of things a spouse can do to help out would be great. Like in the beginning what you really needed that your spouse couldn’t provide just due to not knowing or something.

Well, you asked for 5, but I’m feeling quite helpful today, so here are 7 ways to support somebody just diagnosed with celiac disease.

Dear last night’s waiter:

I’m gluten-free…but with all due respect, you’re an asshole. I understand you were busy last night. And i understand it was a Saturday night. And I understand that you want to turn as many tables as possible in the course of an evening (yes…I used to wait tables).

But what was my sin that caused you to cop such a major attitude?

Oh…that’s right. I made the grave mistake of telling you that I had celiac disease. And when you didn’t know what it was and I told you it was a severe gluten allergy, that was the beginning of the end. Note: I know celiac is not an allergy, but “severe allergy” is easier to understand than “an autoimmune disease where the villi get flattened due to the ingestion of wheat, barley and rye”, don’t you think?

So you had to make a few extra trips to the kitchen to talk to the chef. So you had to take my “special” order. What’s the big deal? Why the eye-rolls? Seriously, you were a total tool.

So just how sad is the above picture?

On the left is a “normal” dessert. A chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Healthy? On Planet Fat perhaps. But still, looks disgustingly amazing.

On the right is my gluten-free dessert. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I’m not complaining mind you. But let me ask you a question. If you did not have celiac disease, which dessert would you opt for?

And this, in essence, is the problem with gluten free food.

In most situations, gluten-free food pales in comparison to “normal” food (and it’s twice as expensive…a post for another day.) And even when it doesn’t pale in comparison, it is assumed by those without celiac disease that it does.

Just a quick and easy post today. We’re all busy prepping for the kickoff of the holiday season tomorrow. Just don’t get too caught up in the festivities, especially if you’ve got celiac disease. Dangers lurk everywhere.

1. Don’t overeat. I don’t care if you have celiac, allergies, diabetes, gout, crabs or amnesia. STOP eating before you get too full. Your entire being will thank you for it.

I’m a glass half-full kind of guy. While I may bitch and moan about celiac disease, there are many reasons to be thankful. As the holiday approaches, this is as good a time as any to mention them.

1. It is a treatable disease. No medications with a laundry list of side effects. No endless trips to the doctor. Just follow a strict diet. Easier said than done, but it beats the alternative.
2. You don’t have to share your Thanksgiving stuffing. So what if it’s because nobody else wants it. It’s all yours.
3. Nobody will drink your last Red Bridge. See number two.
   Read More…

Ever since I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I  have less patience with people who complain that a diet is just too hard to stick to. Or that just can’t seem to give up their favorite foods. Or their willpower just isn’t strong enough. They are unhappily overweight, but can’t make the necessary changes to better themselves.

If you want to lose weight, think like a celiac.

And I don’t mean you should go on a gluten-free diet. Going gluten free does not guarantee weight loss. But what you need to do is mentally submerse yourself in our lifestyle and you will lose weight.

See, when you have celiac disease, eating certain foods IS NO LONGER A CHOICE. If we continue to eat foods that are poison to our system, we can die. Plain and simple (and quite dramatic!)

You need to have that same mentality regarding foods that are unhealthy; foods that are causing you to gain weight. While the foods may not exactly be “poison” to your body, in essence, they are killing you.

Somebody posted this video on Twitter yesterday and I must have watched it 10 times already. It speaks volumes not only to the difficulty of having celiac disease, but to the stigmatism sometimes attached to it.

Here are some of the highlights:

First off, I love the instrumental “How to Save a Life” by the Fray as the background music. It just seems to…fit.

:09 – “I hate when people call me a picky eater.“

(I will never understand the cruelty and outright bitchiness of so many people in this world.)

:23 –  “Being a picky eater implies choice.“

:40 – “My only criteria my food must meet is that it not be poisonous.“

(We’re not asking for much.)

“I can’t have that??” has now been replaced in my vocabulary with “I don’t want that” and man does it feel good.

I heard these phrases written by one of my fellow tweeters (@Paleo_Nosh) and it really resonated with me. It is a complete eating mentality shift that has taken place that has brought so much peace (and health) to my life and if you can make the adjustment, it will to yours too.

When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, and for several years afterwards, my entire focus was always on what I couldn’t eat. I was in mourning for the loss of so many foods that I enjoyed.

“No beer?”

“No pasta?”

“Seriously, no beer??”

And, hey, it’s ok to mourn. For a bit. But after a certain point, it is completely self-defeating.