My Not So Gluten Free Weekend

I started to do some research last week about how long a person should do an elimination diet before you notice a change.  Everything I have read said that six weeks should be more than enough time to see a change if you are going to.  Today would have been six weeks gluten free.

I have been asked by a number of people over the last six weeks if I have noticed a change in how I feel.  Each time I thought about it, and tried my best to find something that was different, I couldn't.  I felt pretty much exactly the same.  My energy levels were the same, my digestion felt about the same, my thyroid didn't seem to be making leaps and bounds in the right direction (though I did get a call after my last blood work a couple of weeks ago that my levels are back in the normal range, so I am to keep on the same dose of medication and do blood work again in a month).  I really think that has more to do with the medication than the diet. 

In my research I also found that once you have cut something out of your diet for a period of time, that you can 'test the waters' so to speak by eating some of the product and see how your body reacts to it.  I decided to test this out this weekend, mainly because we were invited to the Samurai for supper for a friend's birthday on Saturday.  I figured at a place like that where they are bound to use soy sauce and other gluten filled sauces to cook everyone's food on the same grill, right in front of you, that there was bound to be gluten at least in the form of cross contamination.  I decided to take my chances.  I made that decision on Friday, and Friday afternoon, one of my clients just happened to bring me a decadent cupcake from Crave in Saskatoon.  I figured since I would be testing things out on Saturday at the Samurai that I might as well eat the delicious looking cupcake that my client so kindly brought me for dessert on Friday evening.

I ate the cupcake and felt rather nauseated afterward.  However, I chalked that up to the ridiculous quantity of icing on top of the cupcake.  I ended up feeling kind of crampy and uncomfortable during the night but again kind of chalked that up to the richness of the cupcake.  After that passed I felt fine all day.  We had an AMAZING supper at the Samurai and again, I felt just fine.  I felt great on Sunday, so after church we decided to BBQ our last package of premade hamburger patties that we made in the spring (with soda crackers in them) and I had it on a wheat bun.  I still feel fine.  So I think after six weeks of gluten free eating, I am going to go back to eating gluten.  I just don't think that my body is benefiting from the gluten free lifestyle.  I am sure that it wouldn't hurt me, but it is definitely inconvenient.

As for the whole thyroid/autoimmune disease/etc.  I don't know.  I have another appointment with my thyroid doctor next week, so maybe I will ask her what she knows about gluten free diets in regards to autoimmune diseases.  I do not count this as a failure, I just wanted to give it an honest try, and I feel like I did.

A mental shift

I have now been eating gluten free for a week.  I can't say that I have noticed much of a difference overall and I don't feel too deprived just yet.  I was thinking about this change in eating, or 'diet' (though I hate that word).  I am doing my best to treat this gluten free trial as an allergy.  I doubt that people with severe allergies, that either get very sick or have an anaphylactic reaction when they eat a certain item, would miss having that in their diet.  I don't think they think about 'cheating' on their 'diet' because they miss having that item that makes them sick.  I suppose that most allergies present themselves early in life, so it is something you grow up with.

Anyway, I started thinking about eating gluten free.  My in laws were up visiting this weekend and my mother-in-law brought some cookies along.  When they left, I told them that they should maybe leave some for Jay and then take the rest home.  My father-in-law commented about that I might be tempted to eat them.  It just got me thinking about how, yes, I do enjoy peanut butter cookies, however, when you have a gluten allergy (which I am not sure I do, but I am trying to treat my diet as though I do), I am not sure that you are tempted to eat regular cookies or bread because you will just end up sick.  It's not like a 'cheat meal' when you are trying to lose weight.  I am not criticizing my father-in-law for the comment, it just got me thinking.  I don't know how many times Jason and I have looked at friends who have terrible allergies to nuts, soy, shellfish, eggs, etc and commented about how glad we are that we do not have to worry about what we eat.  I really don't know if this will make a difference in my life, but I am going to give it my best shot, and if it helps, great, if not, I guess I will go back to my old ways. 

Gluten Free

I am going to start my gluten free diet on Monday.  I am a little nervous.  It doesn't feel so bad right now, but when I get a craving for something big and bread-like, I guess we will see how I manage.  I have always had a terrible time with will power when it comes to food, but I think there comes a time when you need to decide what is important. 

My plan at this point is to give this a try for a few months and then reevaluate how I am feeling.  I am sure in that time I will go for some blood work to keep an eye on my thyroid hormone levels.  I will talk with my doctor about this lifestyle change next time I see her, but since I still plan to keep taking my medication I don't see any reason to talk to a doctor before I start this diet.

I think that my biggest anxieties lay with not really being able to eat out.  Or being very selective about what I can eat when we do eat out.  We enjoy eating out.  I know that in the scheme of things, this is a pretty small thing to be worried about, but it's up there.  I also worry about traveling.  If this is something that works for me, this will be a forever thing, and I do expect that we will go on holidays at some point.  I guess in time I will become familiar with what I can and can't eat, or what I should avoid if I am uncertain about it.  I will also need to learn to plan ahead.  If I am eating away from home, I may need to bring some food along.

I have been reading a lot of websites, and searching specific foods and ingredients, and honestly, there are a lot of things that don't have gluten in them.  I just have to be careful of anything that is processed/prepackaged/etc.  Some things that I thought for sure would be off limits are okay.  The more I read about this, the more manageable it seems.  However, this is coming before I have officially started.  This is coming from someone who has never been on a restrictive diet before.  Well, I suppose I did go dairy free for a time in the past, but it wasn't hard to do when each time I ate dairy I ended up with diarrhea.  I don't know if gluten is what is making my immune system attack my thyroid, but I feel like it is a small price to pay if it will help me feel well again.

I am really thankful for my supportive hubby during this time.  I know that he was initially apprehensive about this change.  I am sure he still is somewhat.  But he did tell me today that he is excited for a new challenge.  He is not going to eat gluten free, but he will support me.  We have even talked of starting a gluten free food blog.  We had toyed with a food blog for a while, but now figured that a gluten free food blog might be a bit more a niche (though I know there are lots of them, just not as many as there are regular food blogs).