New To It All

[KristyUK]

Hi there

I've been looking at this forum for the past day or so and it looks a great place to be. As my name suggests, I'm from the UK, but I don't think the general experiences differ...!

I don't have a celiac diagnosis, but I do have an intolerance to gluten and dairy. I doscovered this almost by accident - after a year of going to a gym and doing proper supervised workouts with a trainer, following a 'healthy eating' plan and even undertaking a 60 mile charity bike ride in the summer, my weight and well-being hadn't really improved - in fact I was feeling worse, if anything.

In the past 3 to 4 years, I have begun to suffer with IBS - my first attack had me doubled up on the floor and when it was over I full expected to find myself lying in a pool of blood, it was that bad. Of course, I was put on anti-spasmodics by the doctor, which work to an extent. But no cure. Eczema begun (which I had never, ever had before), swollen ankles, the typical diarrhea/constipation cycle, painful bloated stomach... looking back why did I think that this was normal?

Something kept on nagging at me that it was due to the wholewheat things I was eating, the 'good' cereal, the wholemeal bread, the cheese, the milk, but I didn't know what to do about it. Then, last week I met up with my trainer, who is also big on nutrition, and had a proper discussion about it. He brought some literature with him about anti-inflammatory foods which we discussed and then I went away and read - or should I say devoured! Less than 24 hours later I had decided to cut all gluten and dairy from my diet for the initial 2 weeks and concentrate on fruit, vegetables, meat, herbal teas and water.

Some people may think it is restrictive, but to be honest, it has opened up a whole new realtionship with food for me. I don't worry about portion control and I don't miss all of those foods which I couldn't do without before.

So, what has happened to me in the last 6 days? As of yesterday morning I have lost 10 pounds in weight (and I repeat, I am not starving myself, I am eating regularly and healthfully), I feel more energetic, my IBS issues have gone, I don't feel like I am suffering from the mood swings I had before.... I can't think of anything bad to write. It's quite stunning.

Maybe I was sliding into celiac - who knows? To be honest, I am not sure that it matters to me. I was lucky enough to find the right information at the right time in my life to give me the impetus to make the change. I truly believe that this is a change for life for me. With such positive results, why would I go back?

This forum looks like a great place. I'm staying around!

Best wishes to you all

K

[RiceGuy]

Welcome to the board!

So glad you've discovered the source of your health problems! It really is a wonderful change, isn't it?! And I totally agree that a gluten-free diet is not limiting. I like to say it is liberating, as I now am aware of, and enjoy, sooo many foods which I either ignored, or didn't even know existed before.

[ang1e0251]

What a healthy attitude! It's refreshing to read about someone who is grateful and positive about the healthy choices in their life!

[KristyUK]

What a healthy attitude! It's refreshing to read about someone who is grateful and positive about the healthy choices in their life!

Thank you so much for your lovely reply! TBH, I think I'm just grateful that I found the source of the problems! I've also noticed that I find bananas and salted peanuts difficult to deal with - so they'll be coming out of my eating regime for a while.

Yes, I am soo lucky to be in this situation and I really feel for people who are struggling.

Take care everyone.