ONE MONTH IN...

It has been one month since I have gotten really serious about this "Gluten Free" status I now share with enough people that the supermarket and restaurants are taking us seriously.

I have always have bloating, gas, stomache pains, constipation etc etc - all the things associated with gluten intolerance, that I just thought of as family traits.  Didn't really matter what I did, they stayed the same.  Until now.

For all those who are comparing notes, I would never have thought to check this out apart from the fact that I had depleted iron stores that would not recover.  The doctor wanted me to have colonoscopy and gastroscopy to check that "something sinister" was not happening.  The Big C! When I refused, I was called a "bully".  I tend to be a bit agressive;   I know what I want and what I will not put up with, but "bully"?   No, that's not me.   She just didn't like the "NO"!

As I was (hurridly) leaving the surgery, the doctor said (as an aside almost to herself) that ".....celiac disease could be a contributing factor".   That was the key.  Of course I heard the word, but didn't understand there was no half way...  it was all or nothing.  Took me a couple of month to truly knuckle under.  Now I do.  I do everything I can to make sure that not even a grain of gluten passes my lips.  I know now, that even a tiny grain of gluten can cause World War three on the inside.  To say it has made a difference would't go any way to saying how wonderful I feel to what I accepted as normal.  Even my backache has gone.

I have gone through my fridge and cupboards and given away all those lovely wheat laden things I had so cleverly bought and stored.  I have changed how I eat.  Now, I just don't get hungry probably because my body can now absorb the nutrients I am eating.  I do get thirsty for the first time in my life and I know the difference between hunger and thirst.  I  have consequently lost a little weight, although that wasn't what I was aiming for.  Any of this sound familiar.

My daily grazing has become three meals as follows...

Breakfast - A glass of water, Rice porridge, a cup of rice milk tea, and my daily supplements.
Lunch - a glass of water - three rice crackers with avocado/beetroot and mint dip, rice milk tea
Dinner - steamed vegetables, a protein (egg or meat or tofu), a GF dessert or slice of cake, rice milk tea.

Saturday mornings after yoga I used to have a Devonshire tea at Zarbys in Woodend.  The BEST scones, bar none.  Now I take in a couple of slices of my GF bread (home made), and they toast it for me and I have strawberry jam and cream.  Not exactly the same, but delicious all the same.  Staying happy and GF is all about making these decisions.

Sometimes you get tripped up.  The other evening I went out to tea.  Had sliced beef on a warm salad.  Asked for the dressing on the side.  All ok.  Ate the beef, contemplated the dressings and asked the waitress if it was GF.  She said yes, the aoli was GF, but the beef wasn't!  They had dredged it in flour before cooking.  I had a night of tossing and turning with the pains in my gut, but at least now I know the cause.

To discover if there is a likelihood that you may have gluten intolerance, go on a vegetable or fruit fast for a few days (no wheat, no gluten).  Then test yourself with a small piece of cake, a piece of toast or whatever, and see the reaction.  For me, it was almost immediate.

Now I have so much energy!  My students can see the difference too.  I am no longer looking at how I can cut down my teaching - but where I can do new classes!

I will get back on this blog, and let you know some great recipes and alternatives as they work for me.  Yes, the girl without a stove (me) is starting to cook again.