Learning that I had Celiac’s Disease a few years back, I thought it was a death sentence.  Are you kidding? No bread, pasta or donuts.  I may have overreacted but I thought my life was over.  Not seriously but come on, no more chocolate chip cookies, french toast or sandwiches.  This must be a joke.  

I started this so called Gluten Free Diet not knowing anything really about Celiac’s or what eating my favorite foods could do to me.  At this time, there wasn’t very many choices on the market in terms of eating gluten free.  Tapioca Bread, rice crackers......everything was spongy and tasted like dog food.  Yes, I may have tried a milk bone as a kid but I can only image what real dog food tastes like and I was comparing Gluten Free foods to it.  

I definitely rebelled when it came to eating these “GF” foods.  I thought the odd mini donut or crusty Italian bun wasn’t going to hurt me but boy was I wrong.  I unfortunately would learn quite quickly that my body made me pay.  Stomach distention, bloating, constipation......days I would look 6 months pregnant.  I was seriously considering buying maternity pants at one time so I didn’t have to unbutton my pants at work.  I turned my bowel irregularities into a comedy sketch in my day to day life, people thought it was funny but really I was in a lot of pain.  

It took falling off the wagon a few times to realize that following a GF diet not only keeps my symptoms at bay, it helped rebuild my immune system and in the long run has made me feel so much better.  I have been living GF for quite a few years now and with the growth of the food industry, more research and cool new GF foods on the market, it means living GF isn’t so bad after all.  It takes a little extra prep and some begging to the corporate companies to make GF alternatives but us “Glutards” as a waiter at a fancy restaurant once called me.  It is getting easier to live Gluten Free.

So this is my little introduction to Gluten Free Living.....I want to be able to share with the bodyPROUD community this lifestyle.  As it seems more and more people are turning Gluten Free there are still a lot of people out there that don’t really understand what it really means.  

In future blogs I will discuss what the difference between Celiac’s Disease and many other gluten related problems such as gluten intolerance and gluten allergies really entail.  I want to be able to share the information I have gathered over the last several years and make it a lot easier to not only understand what this lifestyle is about but how you can live gluten free.  

Sometimes it is a choice and other times it is a necessity.  I am going to break down the foods you need to avoid, the foods you should eat, where you can buy these products as well as which restaurants make it easy to live GF.  I will talk about new products on the market, new guidelines, cookbooks and nutritional supplements.  I’ll share recipes that I have tried or fiddled with in the kitchen that seem to have the non-GF foodies raving.  

If you have anything to share regarding Gluten Free Living, I would love to hear from you.  You can email me directly through the bodyPROUD community or visit my other website www.shannonisbodyproud.com to learn more information on how you can create free exercise and meal plans.

Until next time........

Shannon Lucier
bodyProud Ambassador
Truestar Representative