Commitment and Support

I've been overwhelmed at the number of friends that have stepped forward with personal experience, friend suggestions, and resources like websites, stores, support groups, etc. I'm in information overload (but in a very good way - every question I have, I have someone or someplace to turn to get answers). After some discussions with other celiac friends, I've decided to go ahead and commit to the diet now. It may be months before I get an appointment with a GI specialist and then I can resume the glutenous diet if they feel it's necessary for the testing. Apparently, my levels are high enough that they may take awhile to come down.

Today I cleaned out my pantry. Most of what I purged did not surprise me but I was pretty shocked at a couple items....like the spice blend I used for tacos. Pretty much anything pre-mixed like spice blends or gravy mixes is o.u.t. I guess it's time to start using the real things (spices, I mean) instead of relying on mixes. I was happy about several things I found to be gluten free...like sour cream and onion potato chips and my favorite spaghetti sauce.

Here is what I purged sent home to my parents. If you read the previous post, you will see that I've already started replenishing my pantry. I was very blessed to have a good friend come over today and bring me some gluten-free items that she loves. She has been living this life for quite awhile and knows the ins and outs of it. She helped me with a basket of items I was unsure about as well as confirming the gluten-free properties of a couple things that I love. She gave me a crash course on which noodles hold together best and gave me "hints" on finding stuff cheaper (like buying rice noodles in the Asian section rather than in the gluten free section). It's nice to have a resource close at hand!

Preparing for the diet is going to be the most time-consuming. It's not going to be so easy to just grab and go like I usually do before work. I'm going to have to plan it out more thoughfully. I already have my breakfasts lined up this week....hard-boiled eggs, sausage (double-checked the fillers!), and fruit. I also baked up a batch of cinnamon/sugar pecans to be able to snack on throughout the day. Lunch will be leftovers from my dinner the night before (tonight's was steak and mushrooms sauted in olive oil with a sprinkle of garlic salt). I'm drinking iced tea no;, still getting my caffeine fix but skipping the gluten! Now, just need to figure out dinner tomorrow night....thinking tilapia.

Seriously, though, how can you get discouraged when you have this to eat for breakfast?