30 Days of A Gluten Free Diet

I was diagnosed with a thyroid auto immune disease called Hashimoto's in August of 2017. My blood levels showed that I was on the cusp of the disease, so I haven't had the need to start taking any thyroid medication yet; but it still means that my levels are significantly off. After being diagnosed, I started reading a little bit more about it and asked my Doctor a lot of questions. I've been told by multiple people that I should try going onto a gluten free diet to see how it makes me feel. At first that sounded like something I would never want to do in a million years do, but clearly it has taken me awhile to get accustomed to the idea of giving it a try. February was my month for taking a break from gluten for a full 30 days and the results were a little surprising...

For the first 2 weeks I felt very bloated with mad cravings for bread and pasta. I was irritable, hungry and a little salty towards... everyone. I'd easily crown myself with the honor of "Negative Nancy" for those first couple weeks because I felt like I wasn't indulging in what I normally eat. It took a lot for me to just decide to commit and just do it and remember that it only had to follow these guidelines for 1 month. As the finish line came further into view, I pushed myself to keep going.

Towards the end of the month, I felt like I started feeling a lot better and cravings started to subside. I really had to train my brain to tell myself "I don't need that cookie, I don't need that donut, pick something else" because my favorite kind of sweets are baked goodies. Thanks goodness I made the discovery that Reese's peanut butter cups were gluten free, so not all hope was lost for me. Bodily functions were starting to work properly again and I could feel an increased spark in energy.

Eating out was the hardest part about the 30 days. I had to do research to find restaurants that had gluten free options. Even if restaurants just had dinner plates that were naturally gluten free with sides like quinoa, rice or potatoes. I forced myself to pick a salad every once in a while, but as I started doing that more I began to have a new wave of energy after dinner whereas I usually feel slow, sluggish and tired after most meals.

After the challenge was over, I really had to think about whether or not I wanted to continue on with this diet, because in all honesty I did end up seeing results that everyone told me I would get, I just didn't want to believe them. I experimented and bought myself a sweet treat one day at work and not even 5 minutes after eating, I had some of the worst stomach pain I've had in a long time.

So! That settles it! The damn "gluten free fad diet conspiracy" actually has some truth and logic behind it. I can't deny my own experiences over the past few weeks! That was also kind of another underlying reason why it was hard for me to want to do the diet, because the idea of going gluten free turned into a fad and then turned into an easy way for people to make fun of others. So, being over a week or so into March the answer is yes, I am still free of gluten!


Have you considered going gluten free?
Thanks for Reading!
Love, Nick