And so it begins....

What did you do when you found out you couldn't eat Gluten anymore??? Me....

I decided to give it a proper goodbye and eat something I knew I will miss

What better way than enjoying some Cinnamon Rolls!

Back Up:

       

                 How did I get here? Well truthfully, probably not like most Gluten intolerant people, but over the past year and a half I have been losing my motivation at an increasingly disappointing rate. I kept chalking it up to a combo of burnout from Ironman training, getting older and well for the most part beating myself up because I thought I was losing my once inner drive that has kept me moving.

                 Because of my allergy to Mango, my doctor did some food allergy testing 2yrs ago, at which point we discovered I was allergic to wheat. My response to her at that time: But I don't feel bad when I eat it, her response to me "you would feel better" these exact 2 sentences went back and forth a couple of times and I left the office not thinking much about changing my eating habits. Mistake #1

                 Fast forward 2yrs sitting back in her office and she asks "what dietary changes have you made" me "I have given up eating fruits and veggies" or so it had really seemed. I was in for just a physical but we talked about my energy level being down and she brought up the wheat factor again and said that she was going to run a Comprehensive Celiac test just to rule it out.

                 Late Friday evening I get a call from my Doctor's office, alarming - a little, and I was told that my Vitamin D was extremely low and that I was to immediately start taking 4000-6000 I.U.s daily and go back in 12wks to retest. Luckily my friend Patty is a doctor and she helped me feel better about the research I was finding on Google (sometimes Google can be a bad thing I think). Regardless, I started taking it immediately and was really confused b/c I have extremely high bone density, and for those that know me, all I really consume is milk and water and heck I live in Colorado, where there is rarely a lack of sunshine...

                 Which brings me to yesterday October 17, 2011, the doctor office called to tell me that I tested positive for the Celiac gene (there was some more technical terms used, but I can't remember) and was told to immediately come off all Gluten and go back in to their office in 8 weeks. I was walking down Pearl Street, it was still early so not a lot of activity on the Mall and I just teared up. (side note: at least this better explains the low Vitamind D, Celiac reduces the bodies ability to absorb Vitamin D)

                  Not sure why that reaction, but I think it partly has to do with the fact that I now have a "restriction" and again if you know me, you know that I don't do well when I am pinned down. Not the best trait but it is a part of who I am. I also frequently turn to food for comfort. I am admittedly a comfort food eater. So I talked to a couple of friends, reached out to a couple more who I know live a Gluten Free life and then began the research and the actions to make this change. Emptied my cupboards of almost everything and hit the grocery store for some basics to start with. So now my cupboard looks like this:

My ideal goal though is to do this without relying on all of the processed Gluten Free items that are out there, so I have enlisted a couple of friends whom I trust deeply to help with that process. But let's face it, for now, I'm still a comfort food eater, that will take some time to work on so I wanted to be equipped for those days that I know are going to creep up on me while I give up something that has been a huge staple of my diet for many many years! Prices of breads etc. are much higher than regular breat, but yesterday I found out that you can get a tax deduction for living Gluten Free and to top it off I got coupons that are worth their weight in gold:



October 18, 2011 - DAY ONE!!



After a great workout at the gym this morning I came home and cooked up my first Gluten Free meal to start the journey. Nothing at all magical, and probably not very interesting to anyone but I wanted to document it for my own sanity and also use this as a way to keep honest to myself in this journey and learn meals that start me off right or need some tweaking along the way.



 Using the smaller plates is key for me :-)

Last but not least, since I never really do anything 1/2 the way, I have joined Team Gluten Free thru http://www.celiac.org/ and once I get my packet from them, I will start an effort to fundraise as I begin training for my 1/2 Ironman in June. Although my symptoms aren't nearly as severe as others who have to live their lives Gluten Free I want to make sure that I help those who are severely impacted in the best way I know how, GIVING BACK!

I don't expect anyone to really read this, but thank you if you do, and if you have any tips along the way, I am all ears!! I know I keep saying this won't be fun, but I can't wait for the first morning I wake up and feel like myself again!!! Until then... here we go...