75 Reasons to Love (??) Celiac Disease

You better believe I put the question marks after the word “love” in my post title. Do I love my disease? Heck no. I pretty much detest it. It’s a constant unwanted companion in my life.

That being said, it’s time to shed some positive light on our disease. Without further ado, here are 75 reasons to love (there’s that word again!!) celiac disease. Oh…and many, many thanks to the celiac community for their input. Many of the reasons below came from my fellow celiacs. (What…you thought I could come up with 75 on my own???)

1. I got my life back now that I no longer feel like crap all the time.
2. I don’t have to go out for lunch with clients I don’t like anymore!
3. It’s a disease treatable by food. No reliance on the pharmaceutical industry.
4. It’s made me much more aware of what I put into my body (and what I don’t!)
5. I found out who my true friends are (those who believe & respect my needs), as well as those who just think I’m full of crap.
6. I GOT MY LIFE BACK!!!
7. The great community of people like yourself, Jules Shepard, Jennifer Esposito etc. who are in the trenches and doing so much to educate us.
8. Celiac has made me much more aware that people are struggling with things that I may never know about or understand.
9. I am finally healthy enough to exercise.
10. Learning that there is more to life than food.
11. I have learned to LISTEN to my body.
12. I now have the ability (forced education though it was) to successfully cook more than a baked potato.
13. I promote my boyfriend’s dental health since he has to brush his teeth before kissing me.
14. I love knowing what caused me so much anguish throughout my childhood and young adulthood.
15. If you are what you eat, I’m difficult, I’m complicated and I’m really, really expensive! But so much better!
16. Now that I know what foods make me sick, I feel free to be more adventurous and try new things that I know are gluten free.
17. I love that I’m not sick every day.
18. BACON!!!
19. Being a survivor of Celiac disease, rather than a victim of it, translates into other areas of my life.
20. My cooking repertoire has increased exponentially!
21. I don’t have to eat the endless office treats and don’t get guilted into eating them.
22. I always have the perfect excuse to refuse all those horrible foods that everyone makes for pot lucks.
23. I get to have so many people ogle over the fact that I have such great “self-control”.
24. Celiac disease makes you a great judge of character. You want to rant about my “fad diet” choices while I watch you eat bread? Something tells me we won’t be the best of friends.
25. You alone control what you eat, what you eliminate, how much you learn and how pro-active you become.
26. Vodka…gluten-free. Tequila…gluten-free. Gin…well, you get the point.
27. Simply three numbers, 129. That’s how much I weighed in yesterday at the Dr’s office. This time last year I was 98lbs.
28. I really thought it was cancer…all my horrible symptoms. Turns out it’s the food I’m eating. Yay!!!! It’s celiac disease!
29. We have Gluten Dude! (I had to throw this one in the article.)
30. I have a valid excuse for not eating my mother in law’s horrible cooking.
31. Nothing beats the relief of actually knowing that there was truly something going on with my body.
32. It means saying goodbye to 35 years of migraines.
33. You think outside the BOX….which means, you do not eat from a BOX….real food.
34. After three miscarriages, I was diagnosed with cd and we now have a beautiful 2 year old daughter.
35. Celiac has forced me into to becoming a dynamite home chef!
36. I can still have chocolate and wine.
37. Two words: ICE CREAM.
38. There are millions of people who feel tired, depressed, and exhausted and yet they do not know why. We know.
39. Having a better education on how food really affects my body.
40. Celiac disease took my mom’s life. Getting a diagnosis saved mine.
41. Celiac disease introduces you to a new community of friends.
42. It puts you in a position to be able to help and encourage others to get tested.
43. The relief of having a diagnosis and not being told it is all from stress.
44. If it weren’t for celiac disease I’d still be eating garbage under the illusion that it doesn’t affect my body.
45. Celiac disease weeds out the idiots in your life.
46. It has taught me and now my daughters, to roll with the punches, get up, dust yourself off and get creative.
47. Without gluten, there aren’t horrifying mood swings and depression that makes you feel like you are going to crawl in to the earth and become part of the mud.
48. Not having to politely take one of the sketchy looking cookies your coworkers bring in.
49. Our celiac children will learn to put a positive spin on all situations rather than be taught to complain and be negative.
50. It’s no longer “I shouldn’t”. It’s now “I can’t”.
51. It empowers me to raise my voice and speak out for myself.
52. Cooking at home also leads to sitting down around a table and eating together as a family.
53. Knowing “it’s not in my head!!”
54. It forces me to read labels even more closely.
55. Eating right has given me the energy to enjoy an active life!
56. My organism only accepts good food, organic, grass feed, fresh ingredients…Is this really a disease or a blessing?
57. Sushi. Sushi. Sushi. You just need to know what to order.
58. I have met people and visited places that I would never have seen otherwise!
59. It helps me understand people with other health challenges better and have more patience and empathy.
60. I actually enjoy eating now because it doesn’t hurt like hell anymore.
61. It took the “option” of self-control off the table.
62. There are FINALLY some great gluten-free beers on the market. Cheers to that!
63. Hello, celiac and gluten free diet. Goodbye, asthma and freak show skin problems.
64. I fell in love with food – real, whole, living food – after going gluten free and would not trade it for the world.
65. It made me much more aware of sneaky ingredients in food–not just gluten containing ones.
66. I can avoid foods that I don’t like that are pushed on me. Damn…those [insert food you hate here] are breaded!? Bummer
67. Walking by the bakery section of a grocery store and having absolutely no desire for anything there.
68. After lots of trial and error and epic failures in the kitchen, when you finally produce a delicious baked good, it feels like you’ve conquered the world!
69. When you go to a social gathering, you don’t have to try Aunt Sally’s newest lime Jell-O, pretzel, celery combo….with Cool Whip.
70. I now have a legit reason not to attend outings/get togethers with people I didn’t like in the first place.
71. It can be an incredible screening tool for relationships.
72. It teaches patience since the healing process is slow and requires commitment.
73. I now have no problem telling people NO and fully advocating for myself which has spread to many aspects of my life.
74. It proved that I’m not a hypochondriac.
75. It beats dying!

So there you have it folks. Yeah…celiac disease can suck at times. No…of course most of us don’t “love” it. But don’t let it drag you down. Embrace it, accept it and go on living your life.

And on those days you are struggling, just remember…WE CAN HAVE STILL SUSHI AND TEQUILA!