People are Awesome...even if they're strangers

I received this awesome response today from a Gluten-Free live community I discovered last night.

Hey Sarah!

Welcome to the crazy club of "No thank you, I'll pass on all of the delicious home baked items you are serving at this party!"

Honestly, that's the hardest part. I feel bad for other people who get disappointed that I can't enjoy their goodies. :)

Of course, I'm over a year and a half into this and I don't know if I was singing the same song a couple of months ago.

Here's the good news:

• I have lost about 40 pounds just because I stopped eating gluten and dairy (which just automatically leads to less sugar in my world..)
• Everyone says I look awesome. That even my skin "looks radiant" (heard that one today).
• Halle Berry has always claimed that her beauty secret is having "diabetes" - I finally get that, and you will too.

How to do this:

• Non packaged food is usually quite safe. Vegetables and meats (I know you probably have to get away from fruits due to the sugar), but also, become friends with quinoa - I LOVE THE STUFF! It's a grain, it's a protein - I hardly ever make rice or potatoes anymore (good for your sugarlessness!) because of quinoa (this was yummy).
• Find YOUR new fun food. I have discovered that I love chips and salsa. Is it the healthiest thing in the world for me? No, of course not, but I can't have pizza anymore or any pastries, so I'm going salty!
• READ FOOD LABELS. This is a good habit to form anyway, but in the first couple months of this transition you will have to do it more than an ordinary person. It will help a lot and you will learn a lot.
• Find staple meals. Chances are, if you are like me, those staple meals you used to make when you were tired or just looking for something quick involve some ingredients that you can no longer have... try to find replacements. I ALWAYS used to make and freeze marinara sauce for pasta (I'm half Italian-American, after all), but then I couldn't have PASTA anymore!?! Solution: gluten-free pasta, and, eventually, even QUINOA PASTA (have I mentioned that I love quinoa?!)
• Find your community. Like this one and others online. I spent the whole first year obsessing so much about food, I blogged about it (Searching for Sustenance). I plan to head back to the blog, but I needed a reprieve after thinking about nothing but food 24 hours a day every single day of the week! I plan to head back this year, but in a lesser capacity. In the meantime, there may be some useful resources and other blogs to connect to through there. That was how I found my community and communicated with them.

Sarah, your health will pay you ten-fold for this. It can be expensive if you try to find replacement foods for everything, so first try to build meals from what nature provides us - meat, vegetables (fresh is best, and frozen is better than canned, but ANY vegetables is better than no vegetables!)  and grains (that are safe for you to eat). Then supplement those meals with packaged food.

I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to ask me any questions here, on my blog, via e-mail or whatever!

All the best,

Nicole :)

 Ask and you shall receive. :)