Sponsored Post: This post was created as part of the #LivingNowFoods 30 Day Gluten Free Challenge in which I am a financially compensated blogger ambassador for Living NOW Foods. The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.
Living A Gluten Free Life
If you have been following my blog for some time, you might have noticed that I pretty much follow a gluten free life. Notice how I said “pretty much”…well that is about to change.
I believe that all things in balance. What do I mean by that? Well…today it seems like so many “diets” restrict so much!
I try to live life to the fullest, and sometimes that means going out to get a deep dish pizza with my girls, or having a stadium dog when at the Brewers game.
We live the 80/20 Rule. Eat right 80% of the time so that you can splurge a bit the other 20% of the time.
When The 80/20 Rule Doesn’t Work
Sometimes the 80/20 Rule doesn’t work! What do I mean by this? Well if you have an allergy or are intolerant to a food, then the 80/20 rule may not be a good idea.
I recently went on a mini family vacation. Usually, when traveling it can be quite difficult to eat healthily or to eat a specialty diet such as gluten free.
On this mini vacation, I had foods that I typically don’t have…like biscuits and gravy, lasagna, dinner rolls and beer. When I typically “splurge (20% rule)…it is usually just a little here or there…never in large quantities and I seem to do just fine.
My Bodies Language – NO GLUTEN!
But not on this trip…oh, how terrible I felt and If I ever wondered if I was gluten intolerant, I wonder no more!
Not only did I have extreme digestive issues, but I also got a migraine….the worst migraine that I have gotten in over a years time!
My eczema flared up almost immediately and I noticed a rash quickly appear on the back of my arms. My knees started to hurt within hours of consuming the gluten.
This was my bodies language…it was speaking to me, and I was listening. I need to stay away from gluten!! Here are some other signs that you may be gluten intolerant.
Signs of Gluten Intolerance
Do you think you might have a gluten intolerance? Here are some signs you might be gluten intolerant (source):
- Gastrointestinal effects – For me when I keep gluten out of my diet, I have no issues with using the bathroom. Well on this trip, for the first time in years, I became so bloated…I couldn’t even put on my wedding rings. I was so constipated and so uncomfortable and my stomach talked to me all day and night! Then in a blink of an eye, I was running to the bathroom with diarrhea. These are sure signs that you might be gluten intolerant.
- Malabsorption of vitamins – If you are intolerant to gluten, your stomach lining has a hard time absorbing key nutrients of the food. If you have low iron, this is another sign that you might be gluten intolerant.
- Skin Rashes or Eczema – I have struggled with eczema for most of my adult life. When I allow too much gluten into my diet, my eczema will flare up. You may also experience Keratosis pilaris and dermatitis herpetiformis which are very itchy skin rashes.
- Migraines – If you experience a migraine or a really bad headache 1-2 hours after eating gluten, this is a strong indication that you may be intolerant to gluten.
- Joint pain – When I eat gluten, my knees start to hurt. Gluten causes an inflammatory response to the body, making you ache.
- Lactose Intolerant – many people who are lactose intolerant also are intolerant to gluten. The stomach lining has been damaged most likely and this makes it challenging to consume lactose and gluten.
- Chronic Fatigue – If you find yourself always tired, this is another strong indicator to avoid gluten. If you are not absorbing the nutrients from the food you are ingesting, you will have a hard time getting the proper energy from the food.
- Fibromyalgia – One of the strongest symptoms of having an allergy to gluten is inflammation of the connective tissue. If you have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, consider giving up gluten and see if your symptoms improve.
- Weight gain – I have personally noticed weight gain when I add gluten back in my diet. Weight gain is a common sign that you might be intolerant to gluten. When I completely eliminate gluten from my diet, I often naturally return to my bodies normal weight.
Take a look at these symptoms. Do you have any? Consider giving up gluten for 30 days with me. See how you feel after living a gluten free life for 30 days!
30 Day Gluten Free Challenge!
So after my week of horrible symptoms after consuming gluten over my mini-vacation, I have decided to join forces with one of my partners: Living Now, and accepted a challenge to live 100% gluten free for 30 full days.
Here is how this challenge will work:
- I will live 100% gluten free for a full 30 days!
- I will document 3 of my gluten free dishes in a blog post once a week throughout this 30 day challenge!
- I will share my daily experiences and pictures with you during this challenge on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you aren’t following me on one of these platforms, I encourage you to. I will be sharing different things on each platform.
- My partners over at Living Now have graciously sent me a box of food that is 100% gluten free, organic and GMO-free! I will be sharing some pretty awesome recipes that are 100% gluten free throughout this challenge!!
- After the 30 days, I will recap my experience and re-evaluate my symptoms and see how I feel, and share my thoughts with you all.
- Want to join me? I’d love to have you jump in on this 30 day challenge with me. Why not try this? I am starting today, Monday May 26, but you are free to start whenever you’d like.
Feel free to share your thoughts and challenges right along with me in the comment section below each post.
Find out once and for all if you are gluten intolerant. Take this 30 Day Gluten Free Challenge with me!
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Sponsored Post: This post was created as part of the #LivingNowFoods 30 Day Gluten Free Challenge in which I am a financially compensated blogger ambassador for Living NOW Foods. The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.
Thank you for sharing this challenge! My husband and I are starting a 30 day gluten free trial on 6/1. I look forward to seeing your updates and gluten free recipes 🙂
Awesome! I will be posting a lot of GF recipes in the month of June!
This post has lots of great information, especially some of the reasons you might need to go gluten free. However speaking from personal experience NO ONE should do a gluten free challenge until they get tested for Celiacs Disease. I foolishly didn’t get tested first. Went gluten free and within one week felt so much better than I had my whole life. My mistake was that in order to get tested for celiacs I would need to start eating gluten again. Which would be damaging to my digestive and overall health. Plus there is no way I will ever knowingly eat gluten again, twice I got “glutened” and very very ill for over a week-it is absolutely not worth it. It is very important to know if you have celiacs disease as then other family members need to be tested for their health. Also doctors, family, friends, your insurance company, etc tend to think you are just not eating gluten as a fad diet. Believe me I miss eating gluten so much, there is no way I would do it just as a fad.
I really applaud you for the excellent info you shared in this post and the idea of doing the challenge might help many, many people who either have celiacs or are gluten intolerant. But please encourage them to get tested first, don’t make the mistake I did. Thank you for the wonderful post and I love your site.
Thank you so much for your feedback Kat! Glad to hear you are doing better now that you are off of gluten!