Month: April 2015

Let me start by saying I saved myself for New Orleans beignets. For two years my fear of migraines, heartburn and bloating have made it easy to not eat anything with gluten. I’ve been “gluten free” with cause since 2008, but would periodically (several times a year) ignore the need and indulge in real pizza crust or a doughnut or California Rolls. When my migraines began creeping back to a regular frequency (monthly) I decided it was time to get serious and cut out gluten permanently. I have a whole dairy story too, but let’s just say I can’t cheat with that either. For the most part I honestly never feel like I’m missing out when it comes to food, because I eat so well and I don’t have cravings. Okay, sometimes for wine and dark chocolate, but in reasonable amounts. Long story short, I’ve been planning a beignet binge for the better part of six months and thought I would share my results with you.

We were in NOLA for a wedding last weekend and I can report it ranks in at a solid second place after my son’s wedding as far as fun goes. It was on Saturday night, so I waited until Sunday for my Café du Monde excursion afraid I might end up with a migraine, gluten baby or horrible congestion. I indulged in three gloriously fresh fried, powder sugar encrusted dough bits and enjoyed them tremendously. Every greasy, sweet, chewy bite. And while I felt full, I was fine. I also had nachos and enchiladas that day. Quite frankly I was shocked that I felt normal. So now I can go out and binge all the time!!! Just kidding, I know better.

The moral of this binge on gluten from my perspective is this; if you want real healing to occur in your gut, you have to eat real food, have good sleep and stress relief hygiene, and move. Walk outdoors and lift heavy things and surround yourself with good people. You have to do this for a long time before you “cheat.” Maybe a year, maybe two, maybe three. I was forty when I found out I was gluten and dairy intolerant and had what I now know was the beginnings of autoimmune issues. Real food, real activity, real sleep is a lifestyle, not a diet. You are kidding yourself if you think one Whole 30 is going to fix you forever. It is a stepping stone to get you on track for having a better quality of life. You have damaged your gut over a lot of years and you need to honor yourself enough to give it time to heal. Use the wealth of free information on sites like www.Robbwolf.com , www.thepaleomom.com, www.marksdailyapple.com, www.everydaypaleo.com, and www.radicatamedicine.com to get started. Check out the books links in my resource section for help too. You don’t have to pay for meal plans or shopping lists, because people who live this way (like me) want to help you. Recruit family and friends to do it with you and have planning dates and batch cooking parties. It is work, but it is beyond worth it. If you put in the work, down the road you can have some of the celebratory treats on special occasions. If you still want them 😉