Two years of gluten free living

Holy! I cannot believe that I am already at two full years of gluten free living. Does this mean that it's my gluten-anniversary? Hmm we might need to find a better term to convey that one, it just doesn't have the catchy ring that dia-versary does (re: the anniversary of ones diabetes diagnosis). Either way, time has been really flying by.

I would like to thank everyone for all of their ongoing support and love. As you may recall, on September 6, 2011 Abisaac and I will be marking our two year wedding anniversary. To be honest, sometimes I wonder how he can put up with me. My silliness, my dietary needs, my ongoing frustration with said dieteary needs and everything else that goes on around us. I am a very very lucky woman to have someone so wonderful in my life who is strong enough to put up with all my nuttiness and still loves me no matter what comes our way.

I am also of course very thankful that I have been so well supported by family and friends throughout my learning process of living gluten free. It sure has been a process! From cooking new and different meals at dinner-time to hosting parties and gatherings of friends who are either gluten free or have other dietary restrictions, to failed attempts at baking followed by joyful masterpieces, just to list a few.  And of course, we have had our share of flops.

Here's my story of the most recent flop:

Abisaac and I were out recently and I chose to eat something that I knew was a higher risk for contamination. I knew there was a possibility of cross contamination and I still went forward and ate it anyways. I know it's a cop-out, but I am not even going to share wtih you all what this particular item of food was, partially because I am embarrassed and partially because I just don't want to (sorry everyone).

The point of the story is that I paid for this decision and my stomach was not at all happy with me and the stomach pains lasted long into the night and following morning. To add insult to injury, we then of course got stuck in heavy duty slow moving construction on the Whitemud in Edmonton. Let's just say that healthy feeling Amanda wouldn't have been nearly as frustrated and upset with the road construction as cross contaminated Amanda was.

While we were stuck in non-moving construction traffic I recall clearly telling Abisaac two very important things. Firstly, I said "next time I say let's have (that food) please please yell at me and say NO WAY!" Secondly, I said something about how I cannot believe that I used to experience that same type of pain and  stomach disruption each and every time I ate anything. Holy, I cannot believe I endured that kind of pain and stomach upset after eating virtually anything and I somehow just put up with it.

I would be willing to bet that there are many many others out there who have stories just like this one of poor choices leading to terrible painful outcomes. I know I won't! I have spoken with numerous people who are now Celiac and yet they put up with this kind of horrible and seemingly unmanagable stomach pain and upset after eating almost any food.

My question to you is, would you do it again? Do you do it again knowing that you'll pay for this choice in a very negative way?

Gluten Free Edmonton - A Celiac guide and resource for gluten free information in Edmonton, Alberta