Gluten-Free Update

Life with a puppy is a challenge.  Not having a baby or child, I can't compare but...I change newspapers when they get dirty - sometimes right after I've changed them...I make sure he eats on a schedule...I can't leave him for too long at a time.  It's a lot of fun too.  We play games together and we snuggle together.  He is very consuming right now.  That's my long way of saying that his attention is not giving me much time to blog.  All of my spare time is spent on client work and getting other things done around the house.

 Last week, I was in Chicago very briefly for a client meeting.  I stayed with Mark's sister and her family.  It was lucky because it was Halloween and I got to go along with the trick-or-treaters.  It was a blast.  However, it is hard to travel and eat gluten-free.  It's unfair to impose dietary restrictions on others and it is really hard to eat on the road without encountering gluten.

My two weeks of gluten-free were up last Monday, the day that I left for Chicago.  I tried my best to avoid it but it was inevitable and I'm 99% certain that I ate gluten in my first meal at the airport - a salad.  I picked off the bread crumbs but...then for dinner after trick-or-treating, we ordered in Chinese food and the chicken that I ate had breading on it :(

Now, my reaction was not one that I thought I would have but I'm fairly certain that I do have a gluten intolerance - maybe not though an allergy.  My stomach had some problems that I won't describe but the hives did not show up as I thought they would as that was the symptom that I was trying to eliminate and did successfully once going off gluten.

So, the result?!  I probably have an intolerance.  My plan is to continue to avoid gluten when possible but I won't get too upset if I eat anything with it by accident when out or on the road.  I do feel better when I avoid it and it can't hurt anything by avoiding it!

Eating gluten-free (for the most part) for a little more than three weeks has been a lot easier than I thought and I'm getting the hang of it!  I even bought a blender so I can start to make smoothies for breakfast and snacks.  I'll add kale for my greens :)

Have you been inspired to try a gluten-free diet?  Any good recipes to share?