Pavlov's Celiac ?

[2boysmama]

I'm always one to come up with odd questions.

So....we've been gluten-free for a few months now, and ALL of us are loving it. DH and I are losing weight, Ryan (DS #1) is feeling a ton better - and we don't intend to ever go back to our former ways of eating. The thing is, every now and then I'll see something I used to indulge in - say a cake or pizza. Logically I know how awful I felt when I ate those things and really don't feel tempted (not for long, anyway). But a lot of times my automatic physical response is DROOLING ! Does that ever go away ? I find it so odd that I would still literally drool over the very foods that used to make me so sick. I feel kinda betrayed by my body when I still have that reaction !

[Jestgar]

That's pretty funny.

I realized that when I see something yummy it doesn't really register as "food". It's about the same reaction I get when I see a picture of something yummy in a magazine. It's like a 3-D representation of what I could make.

[Mango04]

That's pretty funny.

I realized that when I see something yummy it doesn't really register as "food". It's about the same reaction I get when I see a picture of something yummy in a magazine. It's like a 3-D representation of what I could make.

Yeah me too. I think of that stuff as something that looks and smells great, but isn't edible. Like candles or something...

[TestyTommy]

I had a similar response. When I first went gluten-free, seeing or thinking about gluten-y foods made me incredibly hungry. It went away after a few months. Now, I'm not tempted at all.

[NicoleAJ]

You all have such restraint. I've been gluten free for two and a half years, and when I've eaten something before being exposed to the sights or smells of gluten, I'm totally fine and don't crave something I know I can't have--I look on it with disgust as the poison it is to my body. However, when I'm hungry, I salivate and wish I could eat that fettucine alfredo or tiramisu. It's not that I would ever cheat, but I think "Oh, if only my diagnosis was a bad nightmare that I could wake up from rather than a reality I must live with daily, then this would probably be the first thing I'd eat."

[SchnauzerMom]

I have had that problem too. When I'm tempted I just concentrate on how bad I'll feel if I given in and that usually takes care of the problem.

[kbabe1968]

Boy. It's hard, I'm right there with ya. It's only been 18 days for me and the thoughts f never having some of my favorite foods again is daunting. Sad, really. Never again will my lips pass over a piece of Mack N Manco's pizza from the OC boardwalk. Never will I have funnel cake from a street vender again. A hot dog on a soft, squishy white bun.

BUT....as long as I'm careful, I will no longer have razor blades running thru my intestinal tract forcing me to find a bathroom so fast or I'll soil myself either.

No longer will I awake each morning feeling like I never slept.

No longer will it take me 20 minutes to get out of bed because joints and muscles won't move.

I think if you continually think of how sick it made you, you're body will no longer drool. And as you start to find new, wonderful favorite foods, those will amke you drool!!!

Keep fighting the good fight!

[2boysmama]

That's pretty funny.

I realized that when I see something yummy it doesn't really register as "food". It's about the same reaction I get when I see a picture of something yummy in a magazine. It's like a 3-D representation of what I could make.

I was pretty amused by it for a while too. Now my amusement has morphed into minor annoyance.

Hopefully as I keep reminding myself of how awful I felt when I ate those foods, it'll go away. Funny how the body sometimes takes longer to catch up to the brain.

[sewfunky]

I haven't been gluten-free that long, but I've had a similar expereince as a vegetarian. I've been a veggie for 11 years and even today I meat can smell delicious, but the thought of ingesting it is disgusting. Going gluten-free does make me crave pizza or sub sandwiches, but the thought of my stomach turning for hours after I eat it is not appetizing. I'm under the mindset that my vegetarianism was a diet and is now a lifestyle and that one day being gluten-free will become a lifestyle that I don't even have to think about anymore because it will come so natural. Those are my thoughts.

[Sophiekins]

I indulge my gluteny-food cravings in the only safe way a celiac can. . .tv. Before my diagnosis, I never watched cooking shows, ever. Now, I watch them whenever I can manage to wangle an hour in front of a tv. . .the fact that I can't make (or never will get around to making) 99% of the foods shown on tv is irrelevant. . .it is the safest place for me to explore my inner gastronome.

(I also get friends and family to let me smell their food in restaurants. . .a VERY good friend of mine will even describe the taste, bite by bite. . .for those of you who think this is weird, it's one way for me to experience foods I'll never get to try. . .dim sum. . .neapolitan pizza. . .and it does help with the food cravings). If all else fails and I find myself about to give in to that tempting whatever, I take a physical step back, close my eyes, and run mentally through my 10 most horrible places I ever threw up. Usually by the time I get to number four (airplane bathroom), the temptation is long gone. Gross, but it works. (Seven years and I've never deliberately cheated. . .)

[L.A.]

I have become an expert at making gluten-free pizza and cakes all due to my cravings.

[Generic]

I don't even like walking in the bakery section at the grocery store. The smell is gross to me, it used to make me feel like I would puke. I have since gotten pass that sensation but it still smells gross. I guess I just associate it with poison, it's not even tempting not even in my dreams. LOL I Can't even enjoy it in my sleep.

-Laurie

[Yenni]

Ooh, I do that too! Pizza commercials make me crazy, and I didn't even like Pizza that much. Cheese does that to me too. Really bad.