18 months

I must admit (and it's quite obvious) that I don't blog much about my gluten intolerance. It's been a long battle this last year and a half that I sort of put on the back burner. It's not that I don't follow a gluten free AND dairy free lifestyle, but it's not something I put much time into. I eat food I can eat, don't go out as easily as I used to, and go on with life.

Going gluten free has been a HUGE inconvenience. I am thankful, 18 months later, to not deal with many stomachaches any more, perhaps one every two weeks, and not nearly as painful as they used to be. Whatever stomach pains I have now I associate more so with stress, anxiety, and the IBS I will perhaps forever struggle with.

In the last 18 months I graduated from college, moved, got a new "real" job, and survived my first year out of school. It's been a hellish year, but I am on the back end of it now, I hope. All that being said, I didn't have much energy to put into being creative with my diet or experimenting with new recipes or ingredients.

I realized this was especially true when at a celebratory dinner the other night a friend/co-worker revealed to another co-worker, "she eats tuna sandwiches on rice cakes!" To which I cringed at the thought. I eat some weird things and sadly am ashamed of most of them! Sure, I have always had some odd eating habits (thanks mom), but it's only gotten worse since going gluten free.

So what do I miss about gluten?

I miss the ease of making a sandwich for lunch, eating at Subway, baking cookies that don't melt over the entire pan, holiday goodies, Saturday morning pancakes, Texas Sheet Cake, eating out without modifying the menu, pizza, burgers with buns, not drawing attention to myself for what I eat, not having to think about the food I am about to put in my mouth, and free food provided by special events. The list goes on, believe me.

But to be honest, it's not that bad anymore. I have found a variety of restaurants that cater to my food issues and most the people around me understand my issues and trust my judgement. 18 months later I am finally feeling mostly OK, and believe me, that is a HUGE relief! I don't feel perfect all the time, but who actually does these days? Over caffeination, extreme servings or fat, sugar, and sodium along with diet soda, eating while driving/running/standing, consuming portions too big for any human make it quite easy to suffer from occasional digestive discomfort.

All that rambling to say I have GOT to start making more of an effort with my diet. It's about time I remember to enjoy what I consume through that pie hole in my face.