Friday, 27 June 2008

I can BREATHE!

I've dabbled in going gluten-free for quite some time. I know I needed to get serious about it - gluten has obviously slowed me down for years. Nothing major though, otherwise I would have done this properly a long time ago!

It's been obvious to me for a while now that eating foods that contain gluten leaves me with stuffed up sinuses. However, I knew I could get away with a little bit, so my diet was adjusted slightly - limited gluten. Just one piece of bread a day, and maybe some baking or whatever if I felt like it. I also didn't care about the little things - like malt added to stuff, or anything that had wheat as an afterthought.

4 days now I've gone without any obvious gluten at all. NO bread, no baking, nothing that contains anything other than a trace of the stuff. I've even bought a gluten-free bread to have with my new gluten-free marmite and baked a great (if I do say so myself) GF chocolate cake (my own recipe, and I'm very proud *puffs out chest*) and finally found GF cereal that I can crunch up for making my chocolate afghan biscuits. *drool*I so should have done this a long time ago! I can breathe! My sinuses are so clear it's fantastic. And I feel more awake, which is a real surprise seeing as I've had hardly any sleep all week (and urr, it's 3:29am, guess I'm not getting much sleep tonight either). I'm full of energy, I can think better, I just feel... light. Light and free.

Who'd have thunk it?

Well, me, actually, coz I've known I've needed this for years. Funny how we come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid things ("I can start this properly next week", "Gluten doesn't *really* effect me, it's all in my head", "I'm ok so long as I limit it", "this gluten-free thing is just a silly fad", etc)

Sure it's a bummer being gluten intolerant - but as usual, that's nothing compared to going on for years never knowing what the problem is.

And all this in only 4 gluten-free days. Fan-bloomin-tastic :)

3 comments:

k2 said...

You are quite the inspiration!
I dabble with gluten free foods, pie crusts, lara bars, and Ezikiel bread, but still have not quit given it up cold turkey!

Thanks for letting us know all about it!
k2

Minnesota Nice said...

M - were you ever officially diagnosed with celiac disease?
You know, I remember you saying that you had a problem retaining fluid - I bet you anything the diet will help you get rid of it. Let us know.

..M.. said...

MN - No, haven't even mentioned it to the doctor. Like most things lol... I don't go to the doctor unless it's something I can't fix up myself. Don't need it official.

Anyhoo, I think I'm gluten intolerant not actually celiac - Reckon I'd be in a lot more of a mess by now if it was really celiac.

I soooo hope you're right about the fluid! I'm all excited now at the prospect of being un-puffed!