going gluten free forever

Last month I celebrated one year of eating completely gluten free and totally transforming my eating habits which has completely changed my life! Since my mid twenties, I've battled all kinds of mystery symptoms that often appeared to be related to food- crashing after I eat, heart palpitations, tons of inflammation, joint pain, frequent headaches, stomach issues, hair loss, exhaustion, mysterious rashes & the list goes on. I never thought these issues were anything more than normal ups and downs of just being me! But over the last couple of years, I had three miscarriages in a row, my body was rocked, exhausted from all the hormones, stress, grief and all of my "mystery symptoms" were even worse.

I started my journey with a Naturopathic doc and began getting my hormones and my body back on track. A big part of this was looking at my diet, I started tracking everything I was putting into my body and while we were eating healthy, what I noticed was that I felt 100% amazing when I removed gluten from my diet and then I would add it back in and have a terrible reaction- the only way I can explain the feeling is like having the flu-achy body, stomach issues, brain fog, dizzy, heart palpitations, rash and I would end up in bed for days. Up until this point, I am embarrassed to say that I thought gluten intolerance and celiac disease was not a real thing...BOY WAS I WRONG! When I removed the gluten, I would feel like a new person! Typically when it comes to Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance, a biopsy can give some more definitive answers but for me I didn't need any more answers, the writing was on the wall- me and gluten, we don't get along! 

So after a few months of back and forth removing and introducing gluten, in October of last year, I made the decision to go completely gluten free.  And let me tell you it was one of the hardest things I've done! I had no idea how much I loved foods with gluten and I had no idea how it would change everything! I also had no idea how much I love crappy food! But over time, I pushed through the cravings and kept eating a gluten free diet and slowly my body started feeling very different!

My cycle changed, my skin changed, my hair stopped falling out, my extreme back pain nearly disappeared, my brain fog was gone, my bouts of hitting a wall were gone. Now I am one year into this journey and I eat a primary paleo diet and I feel so very good- I've lost 10 pounds over the the year (which was not desired or in the plan) but my body is now free of bloating and inflammation. I honestly feel like something miraculous has happened and I can't believe how long it took me to listen to my body and make these big changes. I wanted to share a little bit about my journey just in case someone out there is experiencing mystery symptoms or feeling a little whisper about their health or diet. While it is never easy to change habits or diet and removing gluten is not the answer for everyone, I can say without a doubt it has changed my life!