A few weeks ago, I sat down in my dorm room with a friend who decided to pursue a gluten-free diet beginning this year. She asked if she could have something to eat, and I said, “Of course!” So, we dug around my GIANT food stash on the shelf below my bed.
What I found kind of shocked me. Out of the seven or so boxes of snacks, the only food I had that was gluten-free was an apple and a small package of almonds! This was the first time I recognized how much gluten I was consuming.
The second time was when I was eating dinner with some friends in Phelps dining hall and I looked down at my plate. My dinner consisted of a sandwich, pasta salad, tortilla chips, and a small spinach salad! Without even thinking, I was eating far more gluten than I should have been.
After these two situations, I began a self-motivated adventure to try to cut down on the amount of gluten I was consuming – and by saying that, I mean that if it was clearly stated “Gluten-Free” on the menu, I would order it – and looking back now, I see that my diet had little change because I wasn’t being creative or fully motivated in my meal strategies.
Over Winter Break, I went home and met with a doctor for some headaches I have been dealing with over the past month. Without me even mentioning my attempts at being gluten-free, he suggested I cut gluten out of my diet completely to try to decrease the amount of inflammation in my body, hopefully to cut out my headaches! It was reassuring to have someone else tell me that it is good for me– it definitely motivated me a lot more than before.
I’m beginning today, and I’m really, really excited. In order to ensure I’m still consuming the calories I need, I have a guide for each meal: protein + vegetable + fruit.
To try to be imaginative and create new ideas, I’ve started a Pinterest board to help out! Check it out here. (I’m just starting out, so I apologize in advance for my lack of pins.) If you’re on Pinterest and have any great (and preferably kind of easy) gluten-free recipes, please send them to me!
Want to know what else is great? Hope offers a counselor who will help develop meal plans and ideas that specifically fit any of your diet needs! See their website here. Later today I’m planning on making a call to try to set up a time to meet – because I’m certainly no expert at being gluten-free!
I can’t wait to see what these changes produce, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated as time passes and I find creative food choices!
Are you gluten-free too? If you are, I would love to hear from you to have some tips! Tweet at me @hopesophie17 or email me at sophie.guetzko@hope.edu.
Have a great week!