How Do You Resist The Temptation?

[jamrock]

I am sitting at my desk looking at the nicest fruit cake I have seen all Christmas, and it is so difficult to resist. I am trying though, my boss just gave it to me he doesn't know thw extent of my allergies

How do you do it? Need encouragement !!!!!!

[CarlaB]

Think about how bad it will make you feel. I always figure there is nothing that is good enough to deal with 8 days of PAIN!!!

It helps if you're not starving, too. If you've let it go too long between meals, then it's hard to resist since you feel so bad from being hungry.

[LisaJ]

I think of the horrible diarrhea that would soon follow works every time - haha

[Guest cassidy]

It doesn't tempt me at all. I get so sick and I am so grateful for every day that I'm no longer sick that there is no way that any gluten filled stuff looks good. The only times it even bothers me is when I see my two favorite foods - Papa John's Pizza and yellow cake with chocolate frosting (which I know can be made gluten-free) but then I'm not tempted I'm just a bit sad.

Once you feel good for a while it probably won't bother you anymore.

[Ashley]

The horrible vomitting and burning in my throat takes care of my cravings. Maybe indulging a little bit in something you can eat will help?

-Ash

[tarnalberry]

Unlike the other responses, I don't have significant symptoms. They are such that I could ignore them if I really really wanted to. But I still don't cheat, because I know it will damage me. Would you purposefully take a cheese grater to your leg, even if it were numb? No. And for the same reason, you avoid gluten that will also cause damage to your intestines. It's harder to think about totally objectively, because we wrap up so many emotions in food.

[Jestgar]

I don't have significant symptoms. They are such that I could ignore them if I really really wanted to. But I still don't cheat, because I know it will damage me.

Wow! that's really impressive. I know several people with non-incapacitating symptoms and they cheat all the times.

[ArtGirl]

How do you do it? Need encouragement !!!!!!

Like the others, I now associate being sick with eating gluten, and even though I'd really like a gluten food, I definitely won't eat it on purpose. But that took several times of being sick for several days at a time to get to this point.

By the way, welcome to the board. Feel free to rant and rave about your limitations. This is the place to come and let it all out - and we all understand - oh boy, do we understand

[akceliac]

A friend of mine asked me how I could refrain from eating all that good food! I asked her when the last time it was that she craved a glass of gasoline with her dinner! I told her that the very reason she doesn

[lonewolf]

Hang in there - it does get easier. This was my 11th Christmas with food restrictions and it's absolutely no problem now. It was the first for my 15 yo daughter and 11 yo son though. I made so many gluten-free cookies, desserts, breads and everything that they didn't miss out on anything. I think that's one of the keys to not feeling deprived or tempted - having plenty of treats to keep you satisfied.

I do agree with the other posters - I consider gluten to be poison. All I have to do is think of the painful arthritis, kidney disease and other problems I've overcome and it's not even a temptation at all.

[Looking for answers]

I think about the long, happy life I will live without gluten, versus the sick one I would have continued living with gluten. If gluten can shorten my life or jeopardize my happiness for just a moment, I don't want it.

Treat yourself to something yummy that's gluten free . . . maybe you've been neglecting your sweet tooth. Have you tried the gluten-free cookie mix by Red Hill? Forget about it!!!

[Mountaineer Josh]

I know what you mean. I'm asymptomatic besides some occasional bloating so it's especially difficult for me not to cheat. Especially just to have an occasional beer............I guess I just try to remind myself that bad things could happen without me noticing it.........it's tough though. That's why I come to this site and whine

[Phyllis28]

Just the thought of how sick I will be is all the incentive I need to avoid gluten. Like other posters I consider it a poison to my system. I am grateful for everyday I am well.

[Viola 1]

Yes, I'm the same, my stomach ties in a knot just at the thought of cheating. Certainly not worth it. But I have a friend who is a surgical nurse and she has seen the damage done to a Celiac that cheats too often. Even if you don't have symptoms, the damage is being done.

The advice of bringing something that you enjoy that is gluten free is a good one!

[dragonmom]

I get really cranky if I don't have a plan , I like to have something I can enjoy while others enjoy their treats. I'm getting better at making almost everything gluten-free.

[GlutenWrangler]

Considering the hell that I've been through from celiac disease, I never get tempted.

[sparkles]

Just had to add that after being gluten-free since May of 2002, I ate Prime Rib on Christmas Day that I knew had gluten in it. I won't go into the reasons behind this stupid decision.... other than I was feeling sorry for myself for not being able to indulge in all that wonderful looking gluten filled food. Of course, I got sick.... When I got up the next morning to go to work, I was still sick.... I had forgotten how really ROTTEN I had felt for about 20 years. I am still feeling the effects of the Prime Rib. I know that I will be tempted again but next time, maybe I will be better able to really remember how sick I was for so many years. In a lot of ways, it is a blessing to have symptoms. I didn't cheat for 4 years. I admire those of you who are asymptomatic. It must be really hard not to cheat. My husband and I were talking today about how different my life might had been had I been diagnosed sooner. I can't go back. I can only learn from my experiences. I guess that in reality, the sickness that follows being glutened will keep me for a while at least, clear of any intentional glutening. Good luck... I hope that you are able to keep from eating gluten AND if you aren't don't beat yourself up over your bad decision. My dad always told me that obstacles were usually opportunities to help you grow. I know that it is a trite saying but sometimes it is what keeps me looking for that rainbow in the cloudy sky.

[burdee]

Like others who posted here, I react painfully (gas, bloating, cramps and constipation) to gluten for 10-14 days. After one gluten exposure, everytime food passes over the damaged part of my intestine I reexperience pain in that area for about 2 weeks or so. I have no problem resisting gluten, because I remember the pain I experienced both before diagnosis and after every accidental contamination. However I also have 4 other diagnosed allergies (dairy, soy, egg and cane sugar). Those were not diagnosed all at once, so I could observe reactions to each (except egg which I suspect is mostly constipation and gas). I've calculated the reaction time and post contamination recovery period for each of my allergies and gluten. So I'm looking at a painful MINIMUM 10 days with gluten, 7 days with dairy, 5 days with soy, 3 days with sugar and maybe 7 days of irregularity and gas with eggs.

When I see gluten or my other allergy source foods that look appealing, I just think of the gluten/allergy free substitute which I can enjoy without painful reactions. There are sooooo many safe foods which I can eat even with celiac disease and 4 other food allergies. There are also many other pleasures in life BESIDES food and eating, even during the holidays.

BURDEE

[shayesmom]

Like a few others, I am fairly asymptomatic....I'll feel tired, bloated and may get either D or constipation. I am guaranteed to be in a horrible mood for at least 3-7 hours.... I grew up in a house where my mother was always screaming (still is although better since being gluten-lite). I don't want to be that mother to my child. I've also lost all the extra weight I've been carrying around for nearly a decade due to the diet. If I stray, the bloating pushes me up 5 pounds overnight. I don't consider that normal or even remotely pleasant....no matter what the temptation. I know that I can find a gluten-free/df/sf alternative when I go home. Why bother triggering the symptoms? Plus, life is hectic enough that I can't afford to have 3-7 hours of feeling crappy. It's like opting to get the flu. No thanks. lol!

What stops me from eating gluten? A strange combination of factors in the past and present which all lead back to gluten intolerance. Having seen my father with MANY symptoms of celiac disease in life, never being diagnosed and being with him as he died of complications of chemotherapy. For several months before he had been put on a gluten-free diet and had kept saying how he hadn't felt so well in years. Seeing my dd improve dramatically on a gluten-free diet after testing negative for celiac disease via bloodwork. Being witness to a friend's recovery from debilitating psoriatic arthritis and knowing that in 4 days on diet, she was almost completely pain-free. In 4 weeks, she was off of 10 meds and continues to improve dramatically...stumping all of her traditional doctors. Seeing another friend hospitalized due to high blood pressure and possible stroke. He had a cholesterol level of 371. Went on the diet (and a baby dose of Lipitor) for 6 weeks and his cholesterol dropped to 205. Went off diet for 6 weeks (but stayed on the same dose of Lipitor) and cholesterol went up to 271. The more that I see, the more that I think gluten is poison to everyone....as is dairy and soy.

I think that in order to maintain this diet, we all need to find some basic "truths" in our life that will help us during times of temptation. It's normal to be tempted by food....especially when we're hungry. So keep a good stash of snacks in your office, car, etc. and it will help stave off hunger as well as temptation. Every poor decision that I've made (as far as trying to eat gluten-free outside of the home and ending up being glutened) has been because I failed to provide myself with a safety net of snacks. When I bring safe food along....there is no temptation. Perhaps that is just how I cope....but if you play to your own strengths and shore up your defenses to override your weaknesses....I'm sure that you'll make it through these moments quite well. You just have to know and respect yourself and learn to let go of the emotional ties to those foods. Once you let go....it becomes so much easier.

[Rusla]

The pain, nausea, sweating and DH are more than enoug to discourage me.

[gabby]

Hi,

Resisting gluten-laden foods is no different than resisting anything else (like cigarettes, etc). I use the old 'out of sight, out of mind' technique. Get the fruitcake out of sight, immediately. Either wrap it in a paper bag and put in a drawer, or immediately give it to someone or even throw it in the garbage and mush it up so you can't be tempted to fish it out later. Do this with ALL gluten-containing foods and over time, you'll get into the habit of just saying no.

hope this helps!

[sunshinen]

I'll spare you my symptoms and get down to strategy.

I was in the exact same situation. I picked up the cake and walked it across the hall to someone who is more familiar with my illness. He wasn't in his office at the time, but when he came back and saw it sitting on his desk he burst out laughing and said thanks. Worked out better for both of us.

If something is tempting me (or my brain wants to play the denial game), I do something that would make it really awkward or embarassing for me to have any (like give it away). If that's not possible, I get it out of sight if I can. I recognize that I'm a creature of habit (I will sometimes grab and eat whatever is in front of me without thinking about it), so if I can't put it out of sight, I move it (or have it moved) out of my arm's reach. If I'm out to lunch and the bread or cookies are sitting right in front of me, I pass it to someone and just say, "Sorry, it's too tempting in front of me," or lean over to someone and ask them to pass them away, that way I don't run the risk of contaminating my hands.

Oops, had been interrupted while writing and just saw Gabby's new post. So I second all that!

[key]

LIke other's have said, it isn't hard to resist when you get nausea, cramping reflux and feel like vomiting. No thankyou. IN fact I am terrified of ever having gluten again, after my experience last week from being gluttened at Chipotle's. I wanted to go to the ER and wished I could die. Finally I am feeling better again today.

A few painful miserable experiences and you will soon learn why you aren't tempted, but I would try and keep a different treat around at all times for when you may be unable to resist. Always have chocolate, cheese, etc. Whatever to make you full. It will get alot easier.

Monica

[StrongerToday]

When I look at the cookies, cakes or whatever my mind practically sees a picture that shows the cookie = SICK SICK SICK. I don't have time to be sick, esp. for just a few seconds of that taste on my tongue. It's just not worth it!

If I'm at work and someone brings me something, I bring it over to friends who know my situation and say "here, have one for me"... then I enjoy the fact that they're happy, my tummy is happy and I've avoided more calories too!

[jkmunchkin]

Mentally I just really don't allow myself to be tempted. It was like the second I was diagnosed my brain shut off all cravings for things I can no longer have. I really can't even explain it. It's like this sick will power thing.

If the thought even so much as crosses my mind, not in a craving way, but if I'm in a room with a bunch of gluten stuff and I think to myself "sucks I can't have that" - but I don't actually want it, I won't let myself want it; I just remember how sick I was, and how intense the pain is the few times I've actually been glutened. Then I think about my healing intestine.

It's just not worth it to me. Like I said, I don't even want it anymore. It's like my brain just said... Poof, you no longer crave Dunkin Donuts!