Welcome!

Hello there!  Welcome to my blog! :)

The purpose of this blog is to help those of us out there struggling with gluten intolerance with recipes, coupons, deals, and companionship!  I'll tell you a little more about myself and my decision to become a gluten-free vegetarian.  

First of all, let me say I hate labels, and that is why you will never hear me refer to myself as a vegetarian again.  For one thing, I eat fish.  And in general I find that when you put a label on something, everyone has to ask you about it.  I'll just say that I have many reasons for the way I choose to eat, mainly being health, but also elements of environmental sustainability and spirituality.  

Throughout my life I've gone through phases of eating meat and not.  Generally I would go about 6 months, and then break down with some bacon.  I've never really enjoyed meat, and I just came to the point where if I'd just as rather eat something else, then why eat something I don't like?  So that's really all there is to the meat-free thing. 

As a child, I would often get sick to my stomach at school and be sent home, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week.  I grew up in a non-traditional household with a schizophrenic mother, and generally the times I would get sick would be when she was doing her worst.  I always assumed it was some sort of psycho-somatic thing, where I just made myself sick so I could be home to take care of her.  

In college, I still had a lot of gastrointestinal distress.  I had my gall bladder removed, and in the end I think that just made things worse.  After college, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  Luckily it was in the very early stages, but I underwent surgery and radiation.  After the surgery, I was in the worst gastrointestinal pain yet.  I couldn't eat anything- I would try to eat, and it wouldn't stay down.  And then I'd be in the bathroom for the next two days.  And for some reason I kept gaining weight through all of it, which, let me tell you, was very frustrating!  A couple of years and many medications later, I went through a stressful situation with my job having to be separated from my husband in a state where I didn't know anyone.  Again, the acid reflux/GERD/IBS symptoms all came back, and I even ended up in the ER where I was diagnosed with "stress" and prescribed Xanax and Ambien. Sure, I guess if I could sleep I wouldn't be in pain!  But the second I woke up it was back to the bathroom.  

I had been to so many doctors and put on so many medications, I was beginning to feel that I really was crazy and bringing all of this on myself.  Then one day it hit me- this has been a pattern for my entire life, and major life stressors seemed to really upset my whole system.  I began to really think about what I was putting into my body.  I mean, my body should be able to heal itself, right?  There is no reason for a twenty-something girl to be on a ridiculous amount of medications.  I knew that I had to change something, because if not, I was going to continue to be miserable, age faster, and probably lower my life expectancy with risk of diabetes, heart disease, and just taking so many medications.  

I already didn't eat meat, so there was nothing new there.  At first I focused on increasing the amount of plants in my diet.  Not eating meat doesn't mean I was healthy- I had tons of processed foods in my diet- mac and cheese, frozen entrees, pizzas, etc.  When I began to eat more plants and less processed food I noticed a huge difference in how I felt.  Then came Thanksgiving day.  I was eating rolls, potato salad, tofurkey, green bean casserole, pumpkin roll, cake- you name it.  That day I was more sick that I had been in a long, long time.   I was up most of the night sick, and even felt awful for the next several days.  It was at this point that I began to make the connection that wheat could be the culprit.  

So I decided to take gluten out of my diet and see what happened.  And you know what happened?  I stopped getting sick all the time!  No more gastrointestinal distress, no more migraines, no more blotchy skin, and I actually felt good when I woke up in the morning (not the dragon that my husband used to call me!).  I even lost 10 pounds without trying.  That was enough to convince me that gluten was a thing of my past.  Since then, there have been a couple of times where I have accidentally ingested gluten, and it is no pretty picture.  So hence my decision to make this a lifestyle, not just some passing fad.  

So this is where I start my blog.  I'm not sure exactly what I want for this blog yet, but I intend to post recipes, coupons, free books, and that sort of thing.  Also I may delve into other areas of my life- living sustainably, gardening (with a brown thumb!), minimalism, making homemade cleaners and cosmetics.  Who knows, I'll post whatever whim happens to tickle my fancy.  Thank you so much for being here!  I'd love for you to comment or email me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!