Consumed With Celiac

[GFreeMO]

I am becoming consumed with celiac disease. I need some tips to get it off my mind. It's all I think about. So much of life is revolved around food. I will try to watch TV and a food commercial will come on or actors in the show will be eating and boom, it's back on my mind. Reading is the same way, the characters will be having doughnuts or they will be in a restaurant. Going out and driving by all of the restaurants really just ticks me off. I will go to Target or somewhere and walk by the Starbucks in there and get mad, the bakery at the grocery store makes me mad and so on.....Friends have stopped calling b/c I can't go out to dinner because here where I live thats all that people do is go out to dinner with other couples or they will have dinner parties. I invite people over a lot and then it just makes me mad b/c we never get invited back b/c I cant eat there and I do all of the work.

The planning and CONSTANT cooking is seriously getting old. I want to swing by a restaurant and get take out like everyone else.

How do you get this off of your mind when it seems like every single thing revolves around food.

[lynnelise]

Do none of the restaurants have gluten free menus? I live in a rather small/rural area but we have a lot of chain restaurants. I usually do pretty well at Chili's, Logan's, or Outback. Plus Chick-fil-a has always been safe for me as a quick drive-thru option.

I know how you feel about TV. I was flipping channels and passed that movie It's Complicated and they were making croissants. Flour was everywhere. I felt like I was watching a horror movie! lol

[GFreeMO]

Do none of the restaurants have gluten free menus? I live in a rather small/rural area but we have a lot of chain restaurants. I usually do pretty well at Chili's, Logan's, or Outback. Plus Chick-fil-a has always been safe for me as a quick drive-thru option.

I know how you feel about TV. I was flipping channels and passed that movie It's Complicated and they were making croissants. Flour was everywhere. I felt like I was watching a horror movie! lol

I live in a rural area too. My closest grocery store is 25 min. away from my house. I can't really eat out b/c I can't have soy or lactose.

LOL, the Food Network is like a horror movie too. I will watch and all is ok and then they say ok, now add a cup of flour and i'm like noooooooooooooooooo lol

[YoloGx]

I think its normal to go through what I call an OCD stage when you finally figure out what you need to do to be well and fully realize the "normal" world out their ain't so friendly or even aware of your needs.

In time you will calm down more than likely. Think of it this way, while its damn inconvenient, its way better than getting cancer or diabetes etc. etc. etc. Meanwhile you need to let other people discover for themselves what they need rather than spout off about celiac all the time. I still have a hard time with that but am learning.

More positively, I try to focus on other things. Do you have a hobby you would like to pursue? Its a great way to socialize by the way. Even if no one likes to do what you do locally, you are bound to find enthusiasts you can share your passion with on the internet.

You can also ask your friends to do alternative things with you--like go out for a walk or hike, go swimming or skating, go to the theatre or movie, go to the zoo, attend a reading club etc. etc.

Yoga and/or meditation can also help you relax your mind.

And of course, you can always start a local gluten free club too... Even if you only get a couple of people, it should help.

[pain*in*my*gut]

The planning and CONSTANT cooking is seriously getting old. I want to swing by a restaurant and get take out like everyone else.

I really feel you on this one! I made a loaf of gluten-free bread on Sunday, and while it wasn't hard to do, it was still time consuming! It was soooooo good, but I have been trying hard not to eat it because it was so much work to make! Sandwiches are a huge luxury now, because I have to use up the bread that took me 3 hours to make. I'm not about to spend $6 for a half-sized gluten-free loaf of bread either. I just want to go to Subway!

I'm not a big cooking fan, either. I have learned a few new recipes, but I just don't have the skills or the energy yet to really get going. I was a freezer meal girl before Celiac. Not healthy stuff, either.

I really did LOL about the Food Channel comment! I used to LOVE Paula Dean, but I cringe when I watch her show now....

I haven't been out to eat in over a month, either. I know it takes time to find restaurants that are low risk for cc, but I'm just not ready to go there yet. It's depressing for sure.

[mushroom]

I really did LOL about the Food Channel comment! I used to LOVE Paula Dean, but I cringe when I watch her show now....

:lol:

Oh no, you DEFINITELY cannot watch Paula Dean!!!

But I watch all the other cooking shows and figure out how to make them from my restricted cupboard. One of our home cook shows was won by a gluten free baker competing against the glutens She baked strictly gluten free.

[Marilyn R]

:lol:

Oh no, you DEFINITELY cannot watch Paula Dean!!!

But I watch all the other cooking shows and figure out how to make them from my restricted cupboard. One of our home cook shows was won by a gluten free baker competing against the glutens She baked strictly gluten free.

That is part of the fun bit... frustrating at first but then having to use your brains to figure out what you can and cannot eat and making the most of it. It is taxing, no dount.

[Roda]

We all go through our own way of dealing with this disease. I was angry in the beginning. I'm not angry now, but do get annoyed since I seem to be getting more sensitive. I don't get many invites anywhere either, but this isn't much different than before. I just don't have many "couple" friends that we do anything with. As for the people we do socialize with, celiac hasn't stopped me from going to cookouts etc. We just pack our own cooler and toddle off and don't make a big deal of it. I think it takes time to develop the right frame of mind. It will come eventually.

[T.H.]

How do you get this off of your mind when it seems like every single thing revolves around food.

Some of the things I do to take my mind off of this are:

learning a new language - check out a free site, like livemocha.com. Even has people to interact with, tons of different languages, and at least you can avoid the food for a while. And hey, in the back of your mind, you can remember that if you learn this language, you can go to the country where they speak it and be much safer with your food, yeah? ;-)

hiking - I go away from picnic areas and to places that don't have that.

art museums or science museums

start up a new hobby, like crocheting, writing, ice sculpture, photography, hula dancing. Something silly and crazy, or something you always wanted to do, or just something that occupies the mind and has nothing to do with food.

That's pretty much what works for me, at this point. :-)

[Strawberry-Jam]

I totally get you about the reading about food in books thing, seeing it eaten in films and whatnot. I'm used to passing restaurants and cafes etc because I do it every day but then I will read a book with a food passage in it and be hit with celiac again.

Which is why in my books and short stories that I write, the food is all subtly gluten-free. I don't call attention to it or anything: I just substitute rice for bread, puddings for pastries, and so forth. It gives me small satisfaction. Someday I will be published and you can read my stuff to your heart's content

[Takala]

I'm eating my treat that I made myself NOW so I don't feel "deprived" later when we go somewhere.

I'd rather be healthier and busier than sick.

We were in the store recently and I wanted a new open top kitchen canister to put frequently used kitchen utensils into, like spatulas and knives. I saw a pretty ceramic one and picked it up, and darned if it didn't have that "Paula Dean" logo on the side. I immediately thought "disgusting pork and wheat flour breaded item fried in soy Crisco" and put it back on the shelf with a grimace that my spouse caught me making.... he asked "what is wrong with that one" and I'm like "BUT IT'S PAULA DEEN LOGO ON IT, AND THAT IS NOT GOING IN MY KITCHEN."

Good G*d, there was an entire collection of the ****.

I opted for the natural bamboo.

[YoloGx]

Some of the things I do to take my mind off of this are:

learning a new language - check out a free site, like livemocha.com. Even has people to interact with, tons of different languages, and at least you can avoid the food for a while. And hey, in the back of your mind, you can remember that if you learn this language, you can go to the country where they speak it and be much safer with your food, yeah? ;-)

hiking - I go away from picnic areas and to places that don't have that.

art museums or science museums

start up a new hobby, like crocheting, writing, ice sculpture, photography, hula dancing. Something silly and crazy, or something you always wanted to do, or just something that occupies the mind and has nothing to do with food.

That's pretty much what works for me, at this point. :-)

You are so right on Shauna!!

---Bea

[Kelby]

I agree with the comments about dealing with it in your own way, but I also agree with the comments that suggest getting out and trying new things.

In my own experiences, I have found that the only thing I obsess over is googling whether certain foods are gluten free or not. I guess I find it interesting seeing what I can and cant eat even if I am not interested in eating it at that exact moment. Kind of weird, I know.

I am sure you already got the point, but the best thing here that you can take from this is that you are not alone, and I think that is the beauty of this forum.

Good luck!!

[dilettantesteph]

I actually really enjoyed "Master Chef" this summer. They do a lot of scratch cooking, which is what I need to do as a super sensitive. We got some good pointers from them. Like sear the meat in the fry pan before cooking it in the oven. Yum. I just ignore any flour stuff. There really wasn't that much.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I think it's pretty normal to be obsessed in the beginning. You've made a huge lifestyle change. And it's not like you can just "forget" you have celiac. You need to eat everyday and you need to plan your food out if you ar eout of th ehouse a lot or traveling. Eventually it might be that you just don't "worry" about it so much and get into a grove of what is normal to eat for you within the context of a gluten-free lifestyle. It's funny everyone is mentioning cooking shows. I love to watch them and think about how I would make something gluten-free-SF-DF. I only really cringe when they use a lot of cheese (cause that's hard for me to replicate even with fake cheese products, which I really don't like anyway). Other things I just replace in my mind--if they are using flour I tell myself it's gluten-free flour (pretty much anything fried can be made just as good with gluten-free flour). If they are using milk it becomes coconut or almond milk for me. If they are using pork I just say, oh that would be just as good with beef or chicken. You get the idea. Sometimes in church my pastor will use a baked good item as an example of temptation--like chocolate cake--and I have to stiffle laughter because regular chocolate cake doesn't tempt me one bit--it's poison in my mind! But if I switch it out for the KA flourless chocolate cake, well yeah that sounds pretty yummy. I've always been obessed with food though so I guess that never changed once I went gluten-free, I just got more creative in figuring out how to make thigns work. So long as your obsession with celiac is not preventing you from living life (like keeping you locked inside your home afraid to go out or afraid to eat anything or somehting) it is a healthy one anmd I think it's a pretty normal transition to make.

PS: I understand the being upset about always having to cook too. When I'm sick I can't have one of my friends just bring my some chicken soup. They used to offer to and now they don't offer anythign becaus ethey don't know how to reach out without offering food. It can be really disheartenign and isolatign sometimes. But you just have to keep calling your friends if you want to be invited places. Good friends will figur eout that you just need to bring you own food some places and will keep inviting you. If the invites have stopped it's time to invite them to your place againa nd while they are there talk about thing your would like to do that DONT revolve around food--like going to the art museum or the orchestra or whatever you are into. Plan an outing with your friends that doesn't require you eating out (or where you can take your own food) so they can see you are still the same person, just with some food restrictions.

[BeFree]

It's hardest when I go to the grocery store, and walk by aisles on aisles on aisles of stuff I can't eat, to get to the tiny little shelf of gluten-free items. I feel a bit like I'm suddenly in a foreign land and I don't match everyone else any more.

[mushroom]

I try to look at it the other way round (Pollyanna warning here!), that that's just a whole bunch of junk that I don't have to look at any more, and I think how much time I have saved myself and how much simpler my life is. I don't even have to look at the corn chips, the potato chips, the salsas and the marinara sauces

[BeFree]

I think that I think about food the same amount as I did before...just thinking about a different KIND of food. (Cuz I love food! )

[BeFree]

"I try to look at it the other way round (Pollyanna warning here!), that that's just a whole bunch of junk that I don't have to look at any more, and I think how much time I have saved myself and how much simpler my life is"

You're right...I used to crave fast food all the time. Every time I drove past a Taco Bell or a KFC I was so tempted. Now fast food places aren't even on my radar anymore, the choices are much simpler.