Do I claim to be a gluten-free expert? No. However, in the 3 weeks that I have been GF I no longer feel overwhelmed. Believe me, I was about ready to throw in the towel in the beginning. I’m here to stress not to give up! It is totally doable. Even when you’re going it on your own.
Go cold turkey.
Once you make the decision, stop eating gluten. Just stop. If, like me, you have a pantry full of gluten-filled items, get them out of your house. I filled up a few shopping bags and brought them to work. People were more than happy to take the food off my hands.
Alter your current favorites to be gluten-free.
One of my favorites? Mac and cheese. Turns out rice noodles are pretty darn delicious. Don’t give up on your favorite recipes just because the original ingredients contain gluten. Will they taste different? Probably. But you’ll get used to it and you may even like the new version better. Although, I have yet to find a gluten-free bread that tastes as good as a non gluten-free version. If you have one please share! update 11/14: Udi’s has been my tried and true gluten-free bread product company by far!
Look up Paleo and gluten-free recipes.
Start bookmarking recipes that sound good. Paleo recipes are also dairy and soy-free. If you aren’t allergic it isn’t totally necessary, but it opens up another category of opportunities. After you select a few that sound good, make them! We’ve found a bunch of new family favorites in the last few weeks just by trying them out. One of my most successful recipes was the
corn bread jalapeño muffins I made. Even my non-GF family loved them!
Find the best local grocery store to fit your needs.
Through trial and error I have learned what local grocery store is most accommodating for my gluten-free needs. Sure, pretty much every grocery store has SOME gluten-free items. But I have found that my local Coborn’s has the best selection. If you live close enough to do your weekly shopping at Trader Joe’s, I envy you.
If you know you’re going to be eating out, do your research.
Some servers have absolutely no idea how to deal with food allergies. Come prepared by looking up the allergy information on the restaurant’s website. At first it can be very overwhelming. Over time you’ll learn which restaurants are the best for eating GF. My favorite:
Buffalo Wild Wings. Also,
this site has been very helpful.
Remind yourself why you’re doing this.
I won’t lie, it’s tough. Especially during that first restaurant outing when people are passing gluten-filled appetizers all around you (thank you, family). It’s just not worth it. I can’t speak for people who are actually allergic to gluten, but I can speak from the intolerant and hypothyroid position. Your stomach pains after eating are not worth it. Your digestive issues are not worth it. Your mind fog that you didn’t realize was hanging over your head is not worth it. The trouble you have with losing weight is not worth it. The potential of losing your thyroid is NOT WORTH IT. No cheat days.
Before you know it, you won’t even remember what it was like eating regular pasta. I’m already starting to forget and I’m a teeny, tiny baby compared to most gluten-free people. I’m here to tell you, you can do it! Sure, it’s a little overwhelming in the beginning. The positive side of it is: with the amount of gluten-intolerant and gluten-allergic people out there, there is quite a gluten-free selection available. These are the tips I (unconsciously) followed and I’m now 3 weeks gluten-free, and I haven’t lost my mind or had the urge to quit.
This is so great! I've been gluten free for about 10 months and I so wish I had this list when I first started. I had chronic migraines that went away overnight and I've never looked back. Also, a HUGE help with mac and cheese is to buy your favorite brand of gluten-filled mac and cheese and just sub in the noodles…that was such an awesome discovery for me to still get the same flavor I loved but just sub in my favorite GF pasta (I love corn better than rice so that's what I do).
Love this post!
Good luck with your new gluten-free adventure! I've been gluten free for about a decade now, and I 100% agree with you that cheating and eating gluten is absolutely not worth it. xoxo
I have hypothyroidism, too. I didn't know that gluten would affect that. It seems I have some research to do.
Thanks for the post, it might just be the jumping off point for my own GF adventure.
Congratulations and thanks so much for the tips!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
I am not GF, but my boyfriend is so I get to tell the difference between the GF stuff and the real stuff. I cannot recommend Udi's bread enough. I'm not a fan of their buns though so I'd just stick to the bread if you want a hamburger. We just tried another bread last week (it was on sale) and it was alright, but nothing to write home about. Udi's also has great frozen pizza and fairly good blueberry muffins.
Good luck. I recently cut out dairy because of health problems and I've had such a hard time with it. I've been known to cheat and then instantly regret it. It's hard, but my boyfriend assures me that these kinds of diet changes do get easier. And you're so lucky because gluten-free has become a fad and the products are consistently getting better and more widely available.
I was working on being gluten free for the past few years but I always cheated. I cheated A LOT over Christmas and noticed my asthma flared up really bad so I began to do some research about a link between gluten and asthma. On January 1st I quit gluten and dairy and a month later my asthma has pretty much disappeared. No more cheating for me, breathing is better. LoL
Great tip! Luckily (either because it's so delicious or my taste buds have adjusted) I love Annie's gluten free mac n cheese. Haven't tried corn pasta, eager to now!
10 years, that's quite the accomplishment 🙂
I had no idea either until a friend of mine who is Hypo told me about it. There are a bunch of awesome hypothyroidism groups on Facebook that have helped me a TON.
Just had my first piece of Udi's today and OH MY GOSH it is good. I'll have to try the pizza. You're so right, I feel so lucky that gluten free has made it's way into the mainstream food market. Good luck with the dairy thing!
It's crazy to me how giving up a category of food could heal so many health problems. Makes me wonder why we eat it in the first place.
I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and ended up eating gluten-free most of my pregnancy. It was tough, but totally doable! And I found so many great recipes to try, that we still eat now. The hardest thing was going out to eat – like you said, the servers aren't always the most knowledgable about what is in things. Because I needed to eat things that had low carb totals, I learned to ask for the nutritional menus which helped with a lot of my choices!
That sounds like a great goal to me! Better to start off with something you know you can tackle than to go too big and get discouraged. I'm going to email you about co-hosting, so be on the lookout for that 🙂
Thanks for the info. I've been trying to be gluten free since October. I did a cleanse for 10 days, but didn't feel all that much better. I have a gluten intolerance. I've found gluten-free things that I like, but some things I'm having trouble finding for recipes that I've found on Pinterest. I also don't know what to do for dinner most of the time. My hubby doesn't like the gluten-free pasta. I feel like I end up making 3 different meals every night. So I'm working on things. I do want to get all the gluten stuff out of the house.
I've been gluten free since June 2012. I am gluten intolerant and am lucky that the iffy foods like oatmeal don't bother me. At first the hardest part was knowing that almost all the snacks in my house I couldn't eat. Now my biggest frustration is having to actually make my meals, instead of grabbing a frozen meal or eating a sandwich. Bread is too expensive for me to always have on hand, pasta also are so pricey I generally don't eat either of those options! Eating out has been fairly easy for me, but that's not to say I don't accidentally get glutened every now and then!
have you tried canyon bakehouse bread i like it better than udis
I have not yet, thanks for the recommendation!
I love the canyon bake house gluten free bread. It tastes much better than most other choices out there. I actually made some stuffing with it too and French toast with it is yummy. It’s the only way to eat a sandwich.
Oooo, french toast with it sounds AMAZING!