Part 2: Guess what? You have to WANT to go gluten free.
I know. It sounds so obvious, doesn’t it? I mean, of course you want to go gluten-free. You have celiac disease. You want to feel better. You want to stop taking 3 naps a day. You want to stop forgetting people’s names. You want to stop spending way too much quality time with your best friend John.
But when you start to go gluten-free, you realize that “damn…this is hard. Nobody told me it would be this tough to give up gluten. It will be so much easier if I sort of give up gluten.”
And that my friends is the beginning of the end for you. You will always cave to temptation. You will always be sick. And you’ll always receive the scorn of the Gluten Dude.
Going gluten free is all about embracing your new lifestyle.
You’ve been dealt a pretty shitty hand. Accept it. Embrace it. Take all the negative emotions associated with the many crappy things that come with celiac disease and turn them into positives.
I can’t have pasta? I want to try corn or rice pasta.
I can’t have bread? I want to avoid the empty calories it provides anyway.
I can’t drink beer? I want to start dabbling in red wine.
I can’t have pizza? I want to try to make my own healthier alternative. (I recommend Udi’s pizza crust loaded with veggies.)
I can’t have Chinese food? I want to start eating sushi.
I can’t believe Rebecca Black’s Friday video has gotten over 14 million views on You Tube. I want rip my eye balls out.
Your new life will be better.
Face it. You’ve most likely been living the same life, making the same decisions and eating the same foods for your entire life. If you think about it, it’s kinda boring. You’ve got an opportunity to completely change how you live. I think that’s pretty cool.
Want it. Accept it. Embrace it.
And pretty soon, you’ll love it.
Wish I had found your web page in 2009 when I was diagnosed. My first step at that time…after cutting out all gluten and becoming an avid label reader….was to see a dietician/nutritionist. ..after two visits &paying $100 in copays..gave up on that because I had MORE knowledge on this condition than they did. What I find with your posts is the way you deal with the emotional side…that was and still is the most difficult for me. I am so thankful that I found you on twitter. …thanks!!!
Thanks Cozziegirl. So glad I am able to reach out and touch somebody (figuratively speaking). And I too am confident that those with celiac are more knowledgeable than most “professionals” without celiac.
Mind if I use your comment as a testimonial on my site?
Happy holidays!!
Of course you can use my comments. What you are doing is awesome!!!!
Forgot to let you know that one of the professionals I went had Celiac disease herself….and her suggestion to me was to get used to eating lots of veggies because my diet was going to be so restricted…..
Some “professional”.
Thank u for taking time and effort to write. You are entertaining and inspiring. Newly diagnosed in May along with Crohn’s. Foodie with an Italian husband, it was a life changer. I am having some fun exploring new tastes and recipes. I am still morning foods I will never have again , like when I drove by our local apple orchard p, yesterday and realized I won’t be able to eat the apple cider donuts they make on site that are still warm with the sugar and grease shining up the bag. Sigh…. Anyway…
I know what you guys mean by knowing more than some health pros. Getting my infusion , yesterday, for Crohn’s and chatting with nurse. She said a friend with celiac was reintroducing gluten to her system because she thinks she has been desensitized. I suggested she didn’t have celiac and was maybe just sensitive…she insisted not the case. I said gluten still will mess u up, even if you don’t “feel” bad. She said they were in healthcare field and new what they were doing. Later she was telling me she was making g.f. Blueberry granola bars that were oats , etc… I said ” no” to oats and she thinks oats are fine. Yikes!
Another thing that gets me is restaurants touting g.f. Stuff that is in shared fryers. Even when I explain , ( nicely) that it isn’t g.f. anymore, they don’t believe me or give me a patronizing look and tell me ” yeah, ok ” or well it is probably OK for lifestyle choice folk or those that r just sensitive. Then I hold back a lot of not so nice comments and just ask how would a customer know that there “gluten free ” food is for those only that don’t need to be g.f.? . Blank stares in return…
Sorry for the babbling.,feels good to vent.
As a mother of a daughter with Celiac’s, I have to mention the wonderful help and compassion I have received from my daughter’s dietician. She is WONDERFUL. I also want to mention that we need to raise awareness on the lack of gluten free products in food pantries all over the United States. Being gluten free is very expensive! I know from first hand experience. I’m sure there are people out there suffering because of the lack of support. Maybe by mentioning this on your blog, that will raise awareness slightly.
Thank you
Thanks Mary. I indeed will. One of my upcoming blogs will tackle the expensive gluten free food issue.
ust found you a few weeks ago and doing some catch up reading.
Just when you think you’ve got this gluten free living down I learn something new here. Thanks for that!
My first year was trying. Yes, I admit that when I found out I was happy to know why I was so sick but cried to know I could no longer eat my families pasta. (yes italian american and it felt like my world got smaller when in fact it got bigger)
But I felt so good after that first year that I thought, Hell I can do this. And I have. I ate something while traveling recently that I assumed (eggs) was okay. Boy was I sick. Lesson learned.
It has made me a better cook. It has made my husband healthier because for the most part (beer and pizza excluded) he eats what I eat. That is helpful.
I do eat chinese but now I make it myself. My husband complained about no take out so often that I bought the damn take out containers and when he arrived home he thought I had gotten take out for him. Nope, just put my food in it’s place. Now he thinks our gluten free version is better.
Now Gluten Dude if you could just suggest a recipe for great bread that could make a sandwich, I’d be forever indebted to you!
Thanks for all your work here on this site.
Canyon Bakehouse so far has been my best for a sandwich. I made Rubens with their rye. Hubby loved them and he does not have celiac. They 7 grain is my favorite.
Canyon Bakehouse is the only bread and type of bagels my 6 year old with CD will eat. He also loves Against the Grain frozen pizza.
how to cure celiac disease,what to do?ty.
I realized something was wrong at age 83 ,male, that overnight I had this rash like 2000 mossie bites all over my arms, and the itch was unbearable !
I tried everything to end the itch, firstly to the chemists, who sold me Sorbolene, and ,2 tubes of “Stop the itch” tubes cream ,worth lots of money, and they had lots of air bubbles in the tube, and those 2 tubes cost $40.00 and were gone in 3 days, and were a complete rip off, just useless !
Then after nearly scratching my skin off my arms, I went to the Dr. who told me to throw out all the soap, and use the plastic bottle with the press down knob of soapless gel, 4 bottles, one for each tap.
I have tried all the homemade stuff, people have given me, and all the help from the Google readers. but now after nine months of scratching, showering in luke warm water, not being able to sleep ,etc,etc, my condition has worsened, as the rash has moved to my shoulders and my back.
After being told I wasn’t allergic to wheat, I went and bought a pizza, and boy oh boy, did that cost me, awake all night with a reaction, showering, patting dry, saying prayers for help !.
It is now 3.00 P.M. the following day and still itchy and dying to scratch, so tired,of trying to master this gluten caused curse, I don’t know what to do next !
I rang the Dr. and he said I need to see a Dermatologist , will write a letter for me, to pick up, and go see the Specialist at $275.00 a visit,
I am so pleased to read your letters, as I will now be a gluten free crank, because the Specialist can’t cure me !!!
I
How ya doing since you saw the $275.00 dermatologist? Are you now completely GLUTEN FREE?
Thanks for the blog, Gluten Dude. I have accepted this disease as a challenge…also to re-invent food to heal me instead of harm me. One thing i noticed as a stumbling block is people still try to eat like they used to before the disease. Get your head in this game- re-invent your favorites….
Like pasta- start spiralizing zucchini or squash- you won’t know the diff & you get all veggies.
Trader Joe’s just put out a GF pizza crust- they are yummy and 2 in a pack for under $4
-Christina
Diagnosed with celiac 6 months ago. I was really good about eating GF , did most of my own cooking to make sure used all GF ingredients. Also was anemic and diagnosed with osteoporosis. Just had 6 month blood work checked and iron levels now good with the help from supplements but celiac numbers still way too high at 100!! I was expecting a big drop from all of my careful eating, could it be from eating the GF multigrain cheerios??
Linda-sorry your #’s are still so high. You are picking up gluten somewhere probably because it’s hidden everywhere. I don’t trust the Cheerios enough to eat them so, I can’t comment. Check your body lotions, shampoo’s, exposure around animal food & -‘all the hidden ingredients. It may be something as simple as a condiment like soy sauce or a processed meat…Etc….It takes a long time not to poison yourself. Don’t give up! It will get easier!
Thanks for the encouragement, I’m researching everything again to try and figure out what I’m missing. It’s hard to figure out since I don’t get an immediate reaction, for the past 6 months I thought I was doing great until I got blood work results, very frustrating
Linda- You are right it is so frustrating. But, stick with it; you will find out what’s getting you. I found that my reactions before I really got my body cleaned up took longer. Now, I know within the hour. It may be something so obscure…like your make-up, hairspray, licking envelopes. I found with this disease you can’t be careful enough. I threw out all my pots, pans, baking sheets, plastic spatulas anything that could hold gluten. All lotions, shampoo’s without ingredient lists etc… It’s like one big Easter Egg hunt for the glutenizer. Also, because it is an auto-immune disease many of us have other issues as well. So, we often find that it’s time to get rid of lactose or whatever else.
It didn’t occur to me to replace my cookware since my son and I are both GF now, I thought the dishwasher would take care if the gluten from previous use. I see now that my wood cutting board & plastic containers should go. Our difficulty is that we are both pretty much have no symptoms and can function pretty ok ( or we don’t realize how much better we could feel) so until routine blood work is done we don’t know if we’ve been getting gluten or not! Some other autoimmune issues have gotten better with the change in diet though, so I’m happy about that. I’m not sure if maybe should eliminate oats all together also and get new kitchen cookware and utensils so when I’m cooking I’m not sabotaging my GF ingredients, just wish there was a way to tell when we are ingesting gluten unknowingly so I could correct it since no outward physical reaction, want to prevent further damage to bones , liver etc. Thanks for support & info
Hi Linda- Great work on looking around. Def wood & plastics can harbor everything. The oats, unless certified gluten free, may contain wheat, barley, rye. They are naturally GF but they are harvested on the same equipment, trucks, mills, machines, equipment etc…So, when they are done with the wheat crop they start pulling in the oat crop. Complete contamination. I have purchased GF oats at Trader Joe’s but- they still bother me a bit so I really don’t eat them much. There was a GF lady in my Village who sources her oats from Canada. She said there was one supplier who is a dedicated GF operation.
You are lucky that you don’t feel the effects of being glutened. On the other end- It does make it hard to figure when and where you are picking up the gluten. Keep searching for your answers. You are doing great!