As I’ve mentioned in a few posts now, at the beginning of July I decided to try giving up gluten. I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease, which lead me to reading and researching different ways to feel better and deal with this particular form of hypothyroidism.

One of the things that I saw mentioned over and over again, especially for people with autoimmune diseases and disorders, was that giving up gluten really helps. And I’ve heard this from a few health care practitioners. But, your girl here really loves herself some pasta. And bread. But mostly pasta. So the thought of giving up gluten was scary. I heard tons of stuff about how gross gluten-free alternatives are and how difficult it is to find products that are gluten-free and that it’s super expensive. So it’s understandable that one would be a little hesitant to try it out.

But after trying unsuccessfully to lose weight, getting my blood work done and seeing that my numbers haven’t really changed, and feeling like I was dragging ass constantly, I finally decided that I needed to make a big change. And going off gluten was the change I decided to make.

So, after July fourth, I officially went off. I googled damn near everything I put in my mouth and was pleasantly surprised at how many things are actually gluten-free. For instance, a lot of people assume that if something contains oats, it can’t be gluten-free, but that’s actually not accurate. So some granolas and my favorite caramel apple pie oat milk ice cream are still good to go!

For the entire month of July and most of August, I was really strict with my no consuming of the gluten thing. But then, I ate a little. And then I ate a lot, so I’ve definitely back-slid some, as far as gluten goes, but I’m working on getting back to my gluten-free status.

I didn’t notice too much change at first, and I felt really frustrated by it. But then I noticed that my face and the skin on my upper arms were starting to look quite a bit clearer (and since I’ve been eating gluten more regularly, they’ve started breaking out again). And I lost about 12 pounds, which I will chalk up to the gluten-free diet because I wasn’t really working out either!

Things are finally starting to get back to normal around work and I’ll soon be back to being in charge of just my lunches and snacks, which will make staying gluten-free a lot easier. The town I work in is pretty small, and there are virtually no restaurants here that offer gluten-free options, so packing it in each day is the healthiest, easiest option.

I’ve also been pleased with the variety that I’ve been able to find, whether it be through online shopping (via Thrive Market) or heading out to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or just really paying attention to what I’m getting at the local grocery store. I’ve found a few brands of noodles that don’t get mushy when you reheat them, and for the most part, everything I’ve tried has been pretty delicious.  There have been a few misses and some things do cost a little bit more (I’m looking at you gluten-free pizzas!) but I really haven’t had too much trouble adjusting.

That’s not to say there haven’t been trying times, lol! My husband really wanted Potbelly’s the other day, which is a sandwich shop. And they don’t have ANY gluten-free bread options. So while he enjoyed a toasty sandwich, I ate a decent salad. And that was a place that I loved to get the Mediterranean flatbread wrap thing they have. But I pushed through and ate my salad. I have discovered that Matt is a bit of a Chipotle addict! Chipotle is the place to go that will have excellent gluten-free options without feeling like you’re being left out or restricted.  But I have eaten many a bun-less burger these past few months! Another thing that I’ve noticed is GF bread spoils quite a bit quicker than regular breads if they aren’t frozen, so I’ve been eating 1) less bread and 2) frozen breads. Schar has been the brand that has the softest breads outside of Udi’s frozen white sandwich bread, so that’s a take away for you. Jovial Pasta is also a really good gluten-free brand. Another quick tip-make sure you rinse your noodles really well to after boiling to prevent that mushy, tacky goop that can cling onto GF noodles.

So, that’s my little update on my gluten-free adventures and why I chose to go GF. One of my favorite websites to find new recipes on (besides Pinterest) is Lexi’s Clean Kitchen! She has tons of gluten-free, keto-friendly, and Whole30/paleo friend recipes to try.