Freedom Is Not Free

Ha ha, gotcha, this is SO NOT a long diatribe about war. Ew.

I want to talk about how I am FREE now...gluten-free, that is. And how that comes with a price. A mean, nasty, high price. It has cost me my irreverent attachment to food. No more sitting and eating half an entire package of Oreos at night. No more popping in for a quick snack at the bread store. No more eating multiple plates of pasta. Stinking wheat! Grrr.

No more amber waves of grain for this chick.

I've been gluten-free for two weeks now. I had read that it should take at least three to six weeks to notice a difference, but I felt a thousand percent better by the second DAY. The one time I accidentally slipped up (because Hoisin sauce has wheat flour? Who knew?), there was a gosh darn lot of pain. And that's all you need to know about that; the details of this malady are not details which should be shared in polite company, which is what I consider my blog readers!

Of course, it has led to a lot of soul-searching on my part. I have had to give up my unrealistic feelings toward food, but I have had to find out why I had them in the first place. Avoidance of life issues possibly? Self medication, anyone? Boredom? Or just plain addiction to carbohydrates? D, all of the above?

So I have had to refocus my attention. It's not like I had all my attention focused on food, but I think I used the food to put off what I should have had my focus on. I need to put time with my family and time with my God absolutely first. And I need to make time for myself, but time which does not always include pampering with food (because there's very little I like that is gluten-free anyway, thank goodness). This is not even the reason I needed to change my eating habits, of course; it's an after effect. I wonder if other undiagnosed celiacs have these same "issues". I have been in a fog, and now I see that there are other things to get excited about instead of "treats". Who knew?

In the end, I guess it's a price which I am willing to pay.