My Journey to Be G-Free.

 The Beginning

So, if you know me well you have probably heard me talking this crazy talk lately, the talk of going Gluten free. G-Free as Elizabeth Hasselbeck refers to it. I am not crazy, well maybe sometimes, but really I am not. I am just sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Those of you that are my close friends know my relationship with the doctor’s office and blood work recently. Over the past year I have been in to see the doctor more than usual to give blood and try to find an answer to some common problems that many people face. I NEVER GET AN ANSWER. “You are as healthy as can be.” And “Your blood work looks great, see you next year.” And my favorite “Just relax, you are stressing too much, you are in perfect health.” Yes, I know I am a stress ball. BUT some things you just want answers too.

 About 6^th months ago I was about to get an answer. An answer I refused to accept.  It is hard to believe that 6 months ago I was living a completely different life. I was still a school teacher but just about all the other logistics were different. I was living in Dallas with my best friend April Holly. She was tackling her last semester of Chiropractic school (GO APRIL!) while I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off teaching two different TAKS tested subjects, coaching volleyball and track, and trying to survive my first year as a BIG GIRL. (Definition of BIG GIRL: adj-name given to one who is jumping into the real world, being cut off financially from her father and has to figure this whole money situation out.  REFER to SCARED.) I did have a lot going on and was not eating the most nutritious foods, but had never had any problems in the past. I started to notice some strange things going on, so I just went to check, to put myself at peace. WRONG! After a nice talk with my doctor who I love so much she decided to run some blood work. Not an unusual thing I know.

The phone call a couple days later was however was very unusual. She succeeded in scaring me to death. She told me that I needed to see an endocrinologist as soon as possible. I remember the phone call like it was yesterday. I replayed what she said in my head time after time thinking, she must have mixed up my blood work with someone else’s. She told me that I had the highest blood sugar level she has ever seen in someone my age. She told me that the chances of Diabetes was very high and that I should get immediate assistance, and to have a nice night. Have a nice night? Um, your life is about to change, but have a good night! Although I do like her a lot, at that moment in time I wanted to strangle her. I immediately called my mom who immediately put me at ease reminding me that we have no family history of diabetes and that something must have triggered that sugar spike.  I thought about my diet lately and had a BIG ah ha moment. I was currently on a 21 day detox (one of my many random diets). On the way to the doctors office I had stopped at Subway. (I wanted to cheat real badly and had decided Subway was meeting cheating and staying on track in the middle.) I also got a cookie, opps.J So, thirty minutes before the blood work I ate a big sugar cookie, therefore making my sugar level sky rocket since sugar had not been taken into my body for about 12 days.

 I did make the appointment to see the endocrinologist to make sure; after all I am not a doctor even though I like to think I am. She did a lot of questioning and paper work and then finally blood work. A waited a few days and they called me back with my results. I guess I would make a pretty good doctor because I was exactly right; the cookie spiked my blood sugar level. Who would have thunk it. Dr. Randi Salley world renowned doctor.

 So that answer to the random concerns that I have about my body that I wanted so badly in the beginning… I thank god I didn’t get one, at least not that one. I know a lot of people live completely normal lives with diabetes, and I look up to those who do. I am just thankful that I do not have to deal with that issue.

So, when I went to the doctor again over Christmas break I was told the going Gluten Free might be a great natural answer to fix my feeling sick to my stomach and tired issues. So that is how I stumbled onto this phenomenon. I raced out to Barnes and Nobles and decided to research the idea and was soon addicted to it. I read Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s “The G-Free Diet” and loved it. Her life changed and she speaks about how wonderful, energetic and joyful she feels daily.  This is my goal. I will stop the yo-yo diets and fads and make a life style change for the better. I know it will not be an easy change but it will be a worthy change. I am not going to totally cut Gluten out of my life all together, I am going to start replacing it little by little until I get that energetic, joyful and blissful feeling daily that Elizabeth speaks of. I am on my 5th day of my jouney to be G-FREE.