Gluten Free Living-

Being Gluten Free isn’t my first choice of lifestyle if I’m being honest. I’m a carbaholic/sugar addict and that’s putting in gently. I love all things Italian, (good bread, great pasta, decedent pastries, gelato, etc etc etc) I should really be living in Italy if I want to live my best life but that’s not really realistic. A girl can dream. In the meantime, I have been Gluten Free since 2009 with a 5 year break in between from 2013-2018. It all started with a conversation at work a day after I was released from the hostpital from yet again another MIGRAINE. 

I am a longtime migraine sufferer, like my mama. They started about the time I matured into a young woman, if you know what I mean.  Progressively through the years they got worse, lasted longer, and were more easily triggered. I was at a point of desperation when the conversation at work happened. My co-worker, also a migraine sufferer, had recently been diagnosed Celiac. She noticed that since going gluten free her migraines had basically ceased. Of course my desperate ears perked up and in that very moment I had cut gluten from my life. I quit cold turkey. I went home and threw out every single item that had wheat, malt, and/or barely, I became a label reading freak when shopping and eating out. And you know what, I went an entire month without having a migraine, whereas before I was getting one about every 8-9 days, each one lasting 2-3 days each. 

For some unknown reason, eliminating gluten from my diet “cured” my migraines for the most part. I finally had relief from this at debilitating condition. After our first son was born, I noticed I had stopped really paying much attention to what I was eating basically because I was focused more on baby and nursing and I noticed that in order to build up my supply I needed to eat more so I just ate whatever I could get my hands on and quickly. I think I started with a non GF oatmeal because it was quick and calories dense and good for boosting milk supply. It didn’t seem to cause any migraines so I kept eating it and eventually stopped worrying about eating GF all together. Then our next son was born, 3 years later, and I started noticing a few more headaches here and there, I noticed my cycle didn’t come back as early as it did with baby #1, I started noticing the weight not coming off like it did the first time. I attributed this all to age and the miracle of having multiple children. When little man turned one, I realized something had to give. I was struggling with adult acne for the first time in my life, extreme bloat, a really negative “victim” mentality mindset, major hair loss, horrible stomach aches and more and more headaches, basically I was a hot mess. I wanted to get back  into health and fitness, so I started really dissecting my diet. I wanted to focus on gut health since a lot of my symtpoms could easily be attributed to poor gut health and of course the first step to proper gut health is elimination of certain ingredients. Gluten free again. Side note: I’m also a cheese addict (I dont like milk so Ive always been an almond and cocounut drinker) but with both babies they were allergic to lactose so I had to eliminate dairy while nursing them thus as soon as I was done nursing dairy came back into my diet and I was not about to let it go again, so balance. I cut gluten again, but still enjoy some cheese and yogurt and voila, all my other nasty symptoms are going away. 

All that to say, I am gluten free living because it keeps my migraines away, my bloat down, my mood stable, my skin is being treated by a dermatoglist but being GF is deffinitly speeding up my recovery, and my waistline is benefiting too. 

It’s not a lifestyle I recommend to everyone to “cure” anything, but I do reccomend it for all the other health benefits. And its the first thing I reccomend if I meet another migraine sufferer. Everyone I know that has gone gluten free has noticed a change in mood, skin, and their waistline as long as they maintaine a healthy balance when eating the processed GF items, just because they are GF does not mean they are a healthier option.  

Also, it’s not as hard as it sounds, from the mouth of a carb/sugar/cheese addict. There are so many restaurants that cater to this lifestyle along with basically a massive selection of GF products as nearly every grocery store now a day, even Wal-Mart and Costco! So if you are experiencing any unexplained symptoms, and definitely if you suffer from migraines I highly reccomend it. 

*Please speak to your doctor before making any changes to your diet/lifestyle. I am not a doctor, dietician, or nutritionist. Nor is this a sponsored post in anyway.