5 Day Gluten / Grain Free Challenge

Wondering How To Go Gluten Free? Let Me Teach You How! 

This past winter I decided it was going to be a good move to go gluten free. I had several conversations with my doctor and she agreed it was absolutely worth giving it a shot. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disorder which means that my immune system is attacking my thyroid. Thus putting lots of stress on my endocrine system. I take medication to help control this and while it has helped and my levels are considered optimal now, I was still feeling the effects of the disease. I had been doing my homework and had read over and over again that those with the disease were having lots of success by removing gluten from their everyday lives. While it does not make the disease go away, it sure does to help make you feel better.

Before making the decision to go gluten free, I decided I would pay close attention to my body after I consumed gluten. After lots of documenting and paying attention, I learned that I felt much worse each time I consumed it. The worst part - ANYTIME I had ANY gluten my belly would bloat out and make me look like I was expecting. The reaction would happened within minutes of eating. I decided this experiment was worth a try. I began in February it noticed a difference within weeks. I felt SO much better. Lots more energy, no crashing after I ate, no bloating. Lots of other great side effects. I also decided to see what happened after I ate it a few weeks into giving it up. Totally made me sick. It kind of helped confirm it was a good move for more. While I do not have celiacs disease, I do seem to have a gluten intolerance.

I also had been struggling with infertility for the last three years and some of the research out there states that there can be links between gluten and infertility. I decided I had nothing to lose. Sure enough a month after going gluten free, I was able to get pregnant. It could have been a coincidence or it could be that going gluten free reduced the inflammation enough in my body to create a more positive environment for pregnancy. Granted I did miscarry just recently but it's the furthest we have gotten with getting pregnant in years. I am taking that as a positive step in the right direction.

My plans are to continue with this new lifestyle. It hasn't just been a change for me but also for my family. Everyone seems to be getting along just fine with the changes. It was actually much easier than I ever could have anticipated.

I want to pay it forward and teach others what I have learned along the way. On May 9th I will be offering a free 5 day gluten/ grain free challenge for my social media followers. The event will be online and each day I will be sharing with you tips I have learned, meal plans, recipes, books that I have found helpful and many many other tips and tricks for going gluten free.

If you would like to join us, please fill out the application below and I will send you a link to join the group. It is going to be very informational and also very fun! Let me show you that going gluten free isn't as scary as it might seem.

Click here to join the group! 

Fill out my online form.

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Going Gluten Free? WHY?

My Quest To Be Gluten Free 

The messages have been flowing in this week to my inbox asking me about why I am going gluten free, how it is going and how I am feeling since I started. I figured since I put everything else out there, I might as well give an update and do some explaining! Lets start at the beginning. 

Last fall I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I spent the year on levothyroxine and things were regulating with my thyroid, but I still was feeling EXHUSTED, lethargic, moody and often times anxiety ridden for no reason. We still were experiencing infertility issues too.  I started to question what else was going on. I decided it was time to see an endocrinologist rather than just my PCP. It was then that we started to get to the bottom of why I was feeling so awful even though my labs said I was fine. 

The thing was, I wasn't fine. We first switched my medicine to synthroid and that helped a TON. The anxiety and exhaustion started to get a lot better, but I still didn't feel GREAT like I wanted to. This past January, I was gearing up for our first round of IUI. I had a doctor appointment at the fertility clinic in the morning and an appointment with the endo in the afternoon. We were all set to go ahead but my endo put the brakes on it because my labs were showing that something else was still not right. She was worried that the treatment would be a waste of time because my body didn't quite seem to be up for the challenge. It also was then that we discovered that my hypothyroidism was also Hashimotos disease, which is an autoimmune disorder. The ultrasound of my thyroid also showed that I had nodules that we would now need to watch. 

Getting ready for the insulin resistance test. So glad to have my hubby by my side. 

What concerned the endo the most was my cortisol levels in my labs. She wanted to do further testing before we went anywhere with the fertility treatments. An insulin resistance and adrenal test was scheduled for mid February. Man what a day that was. Talk about an exhausting process. The goal is to test your blood sugar several times over a period of time. They give you a large dose of insulin. What is supposed to happen is they drop your blood sugar levels basically in half (Mine started out at 86 and they got it down to 42 within 15 minutes of the test beginning) then your body reacts and fights it off. The thing is nobody showed up to the game for me. My blood sugar levels never really moved over the course of the six hours I was there. 

The test confirmed that many of my side effects I was having: night sweats, feeling like I was going to crash soon after eating anything, not being able to go very long without foods... the list goes on... were all pointing to the blood sugar issue. 

She recommended that I begin using metformin to regulate my blood sugar. She has was leaning towards me trying to go gluten free. With many of her Hashimotos patients she has encouraged them to go GF and they often began to feel much better. While it does not help EVERYONE, it has helped enough patients that she suggests I give it a try. She wants me to do a strict 3 month trail of gluten free. It was something that I had been reading about in many of my Hashimoto's books that I have been studying. I was considering the switch even before she made the suggestion. I began it this past week and am keeping a food journal to document what I am eating and how certain foods are making me feel. I really want to hold off on the metformin and give this a try before I move forward with any medicine. I go back to see her in May and am hoping I don't need the medicine. I did make a deal with her that I would reach out and ask for the medicine if I don't feel any better in the coming weeks/ months before I see her. I am hoping to get things regulated and am sticking to low carb/ high protein. I am eating six small meals each day. I also now have to use a gluclometer and track my sugar levels daily. I was not surprised with the diagnosis - I have a strong family history of both thyroid issues and also diabetes but I didn't expect it so early in life. 

The day after all of the tests, I needed to just stay home and take a day to myself to process everything. I truly believe it is okay to not be okay. We are human. Life is hard some days. Acknowledging that is necessary to move forward. 

I can't change the cards that I was dealt but I can change the way I decide to play the hand. I had my few days of having a pity party. I was sad, I was mad, I was bummed and quite honestly I was overwhelmed. Trying to deal with so much at once almost felt like too much all at once but I reminded myself that god only gives you which he thinks you can handle, so he must think I am a pretty strong women because I sure have been thrown a lot of curve balls lately. 

A few of my new gluten free foods I picked up at Trader Joes. They were AWESOME there. So helpful and made me feel less bummed about my new situation. 

I am treating it as a learning opportunity like I do everything else. Stay tuned for lots of gluten free recipes, reviews and updates as I journey thru this! I would love any tips or brand suggestions you might have! 

Taking on the new challenge - meal planning, reading GF books and beginning to use my food journal 

Thai Peanut Pasta

Rice Noodles For The Win... This Dinner Is Awesome!

We have been on a quest to change things up in our dinners since I began my journey with going gluten free. We have a meal plan chalked full with new recipes this week. This one was too great not to share. I loved how sweet it was. My husband was not a huge fan but it was a hit with my little one. He was surprised that pasta could taste like peanut butter ;) This one is very filling. You could include chicken with it but I left it out this time. 

Here is what you will need:

Ingredients

• 1 package of rice noodles
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion, or regular onion
• 1 tablespoon of organic butter
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 2 tablespoons of organic chicken broth (or water), plus additional 1-2 tablespoons if needed (if the sauce is too thick).
• 3 tablespoons of crunchy organic peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon liquid aminos 
• 1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar (BRAGGS is a great brand) 
• 2 teaspoons organic pure maple syrup
• 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha if you would like it to have a spicy flavor. I left it out for mine. 
• Use peanuts on top for a garnish 

Directions 
******Cook rice noodles according to package while working on sauce**********

1. In a saucepan over medium-high heat sauté the onions in the butter until soft.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients- water, peanut butter,liquid aminos, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and Sriracha.
   
2. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil, then add your noodles and stir to coat, top peanuts.
   
3. Enjoy!