Going Back Gluten and Dairy Free

Why? Why am I charting my course to wellness? First I will start by saying what I am dealing with that is directly connected with my diet.

For the past year, I have added in dairy, gluten, sugar and many fatty foods in large doses. Before, I was thin and felt awesome. I had great energy to move around, slept like a little baby and looked gorgeous. A part of me became interested in maintaining my inner world while eating whatever whenever. This did not work. Well, it kept me alive. I could be a 2 year old and still survive, but I was miserable. I was not fully being responsible for my life. I paid bills late, my car was disgusting and I started to feel awful about myself.

So I ended up in this place of confusion and turmoil. In order to save my sanity, I had to allow myself to be there. I convinced myself I was ok even though I felt worse than ever inside.

I am tying these symptoms to my diet because my diet changed drastically to accomodate my feeling so bad about myself. The items I added in include: gluten, dairy and sugar. The attitude I added in is: unworthiness and chaos. The behavior is eating as much as I want anytime, which for the most part meant the middle of the night.

I progressively have felt worse every day in the past year and a couple months. I believe recovery is possible, so I would like to share with you what I know works.

My current symptoms:

BLOATED belly

Plantar warts on hands

gassy

diarrhea

mental fog

confusion

depression

cravings

I hear that these are awful, but sometimes I do not recall them when it comes time to eat. What is it going to take to get over this? A lot of self love.

So I am writing a book about my recovery and will share parts of it with you here...

Thanks for listening!

xox

Waller

Gluten Free, Please!!!

A couple of years ago I was going through a very intense health crisis. My weight had been well below normal for many years, I had no sign of a menstrual cycle in 6.5 years and I was about to go insane because I was so hungry all of the time and my body seemed to be eating itself. Not sure where the food was going!

I ran into an ex-boyfriend who, when we were together, we were digestively distressed. Not sure who was more so, but I was fully bulimic at the time, so much so that I did not notice his issues, and he did not see mine. Together, we were a perfect pair. He had moved around a bit like I, until he was in Washington becoming a politician, but his tummy would not have it. He tested positive for celiac, made the decision to give up gluten and BAM! Weight came on and wellness followed. He was my personal hero for committing to a healthy lifestyle. His reason was to never have to struggle as he did when he ate gluten, but I would say super courageous for being a macho man and sticking with a gluten free diet--which can be known as a hippy or health nut thing to do.

My symptoms looked a lot like his. I decided to follow him in the gluten free initiative and was amazed at how many of my symptoms cleared up. The most notable was my blood sugar balancing, weight stabilizing, period came back within a matter of months and anxiety decreased drastically. I never found out for sure if I was celiac, but the blood tests showed obvious signs of gluten intolerance (IgG panel very low). I gave up gluten and felt clear and not hungry all of the time. I promise my depression went from a 9.5 to a 2.

Recently, I moved in with roommates. They eat as normal as a 16 year old. There is plenty of bread and crackers and dumplings and casseroles around the house. There is also no excuse for me indulging in their food, but I have been. It has not been fun or pretty. My symptoms have come back, in a rare form this time.

*itching like I am constantly being attacked by fire ants (it's not fun!!!)
*blood sugar out of whack is causing my SEVERE anxiety
*fogginess, takes me 12 times the effort to do homework and pay bills

I am getting back on the gluten free wagon. I will write more about my "de-sludging" symptoms. Mostly, about how grateful I am for having recognized what I need. Commitment is a word that needs clear definition in my life. I can force myself to do something for a while, then give up only to realize I was trying and not committed. This is going to take a serious deep commitment, almost as if I am married to my gluten free lifestyle.

Some things that helped me in the past were to:
*Make delicious gluten free food
*Read, read, read other people's stories and successes of gluten free living
*Connect with other Gluten Free people
*Comment on Gluten Free blogsites
*Find Gluten free recipe sites

Questions/comments/issues about this post? Make a comment! I'd love to hear our experience of being on or off gluten, or if this brings up something you may recognize in your own life.

Take good care.

Warmly,
Waller

Gluten Free, Please!!!

A couple of years ago I was going through a very intense health crisis. My weight had been well below normal for many years, I had no sign of a menstrual cycle in 6.5 years and I was about to go insane because I was so hungry all of the time and my body seemed to be eating itself. Not sure where the food was going!

I ran into an ex-boyfriend who, when we were together, we were digestively distressed. Not sure who was more so, but I was fully bulimic at the time, so much so that I did not notice his issues, and he did not see mine. Together, we were a perfect pair. He had moved around a bit like I, until he was in Washington becoming a politician, but his tummy would not have it. He tested positive for celiac, made the decision to give up gluten and BAM! Weight came on and wellness followed. He was my personal hero for committing to a healthy lifestyle. His reason was to never have to struggle as he did when he ate gluten, but I would say super courageous for being a macho man and sticking with a gluten free diet--which can be known as a hippy or health nut thing to do.

My symptoms looked a lot like his. I decided to follow him in the gluten free initiative and was amazed at how many of my symptoms cleared up. The most notable was my blood sugar balancing, weight stabilizing, period came back within a matter of months and anxiety decreased drastically. I never found out for sure if I was celiac, but the blood tests showed obvious signs of gluten intolerance (IgG panel very low). I gave up gluten and felt clear and not hungry all of the time. I promise my depression went from a 9.5 to a 2.

Recently, I moved in with roommates. They eat as normal as a 16 year old. There is plenty of bread and crackers and dumplings and casseroles around the house. There is also no excuse for me indulging in their food, but I have been. It has not been fun or pretty. My symptoms have come back, in a rare form this time.

*itching like I am constantly being attacked by fire ants (it's not fun!!!)
*sleeping with food--eating @ night when i cannot sleep
*blood sugar out of whack is causing my SEVERE anxiety
*fogginess, takes me 12 times the effort to do homework and pay bills

I am getting back on the gluten free wagon. I will write more about my "de-sludging" symptoms. Mostly, about how grateful I am for having recognized what I need. Commitment is a word that needs clear definition in my life. I can force myself to do something for a while, then give up only to realize I was trying and not committed. This is going to take a serious deep commitment, almost as if I am married to my gluten free lifestyle.

Some things that helped me in the past were to:
*Make delicious gluten free food
*Read, read, read other people's stories and successes of gluten free living
*Connect with other Gluten Free people
*Comment on Gluten Free blogsites
*Find Gluten free recipe sites

Questions/comments/issues about this post? Make a comment! I'd love to hear our experience of being on or off gluten, or if this brings up something you may recognize in your own life.

Take good care.

Warmly,
Waller

Eat More Grains

My favorite grain is brown rice, but I find I can eat it for days before I realize that variety is the spice of life. Brown rice is balanced, but other grains offer a nutritional punch not unlike brown rice's balancing tone, yet with a wider array of content.

Take teff for example. You may have had teff and not known it if you have eaten Ethiopian food, where the bread, injera, is made out of teff flour (though not gluten free, in most restaurants). Teff is gluten free. Teff is also good for the heart, since it is red-toned (specifically chocolate-colored) a species of lovegrass from Ethiopia believed to have originated between 4000 BC and 1000 BC. The tiny seedy grain has an attractive nutrition profile, being high in dietary fiber and iron and providing protein and 17 times more calcium than whole wheat or barley.

And for those with celiac, there is good news! Thanks to a test developed by the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) it has shown that Teff is completely gluten-free, meaning it can probably be accommodated in the diet of patients suffering from celiac disease. Teff is a healthy wheat alternative, and there are ways to make it delicious. Featerued above is basic teff, flourished with avocado slices and cilantro, with a side of boiled collard greens and adzuki-squash soup. The entire meal has: 420 calories, 16 grams protein, 10 grams fat

Basic Teff:
1/2 cup teff
2 cups water
pinch sea salt

Bring water to a boil, add teff and sea salt. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
*this can also be made into a porridge for breakfast, add some molasses and slivered almonds.
Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving
Calories: 103
Fat: 1 g
Fiber: 2 g
Carbohydrate: 20 g

Radiant Health

Another day to feel healthy, happy and free. I lived for so long with anxiety and severe inner turmoil that I marvel at the experience of life these days. It's amazing that here doesn't seem to be a monster inside of me trying to digest what is wrong and the sensation of never feeling quite right. As soon as I went gluten free, this negative energy shifted in me and my body relaxed. Food finally agrees with me and I am so grateful to be able to be free around food which translates to greater freedom in life! If only I had recognized this when I was 15, it would have saved me 12 years of struggling with anorexia and bulimia.

This morning was spent practicing a sequence from Donna Eden's Energy Medicine for Women
Her sequences have changed my life and transformed my body almost as much as going gluten free has. I struggled to find balance in my life for many years, and when I started incorporating Donna Eden's Feel-Good Energy routine into my morning practice, my weight normalized, hormones balanced, and my energy has been much more sustainable and positive.
If you are struggling with depression, moodiness, anxiety, any form of eating disorders, menopausal or PMS symptoms or other issues of hormonal imbalance, or just feeling like you are not inhabiting your body fully, Donna Eden's Energy Medicine is a powerful method of self-healing.

Wherever you are in your life or recovery or relationship to your body, giving up gluten can help to feel better overall and create radiant health. I was not officially diagnosed celiac, however diagnosed with diabetes, epilepsy and peripheral neuropathy, and besides that, basically so stressed out that my nervous system was in a state of panic and overwhelm for many years. It took me years to discover the gluten connection. I ran into an old friend, who had recently been diagnosed celiac, and his description of his recovery sounded like something I could use. So, I gave up gluten, and experienced health, clarity, focus, sustainable energy and a relaxed digestive system for the first time ever.

I experimented going back on gluten for a brief period and many symptoms came back. Starting specifically with compulsive overeating. It seems as if the gluten took away my body's ability to register food in the system, as well as balanced blood sugar. When I gave up gluten, I felt stronger inside and out. ADD symptoms went away, digestive system started functioning and I joined what felt like the real world. Rather than walking around feeling like my stomach was inside out and upside down, and my mind distressed most of the time, I felt, aaaah, that sense of ease and flow, grace and groundedness that I now recognize as radiant health.

Today, I am grateful to be in my body, and feel safe and secure around the food I eat. What a miracle to sit down to eat and not react, but enjoy the food and especially the feeling afterwards--that of vitality and radiant health. I even eat chocolate for breakfast, and a bit for lunch today! That is in a homemade "Chi-re-al" breakfast mix that I created yesterday, and a bit of a gluten free, casein free raw chocolate bar that I keep around for days like this. What a day to create radiant health, to enjoy that happy feeling within and to keep looking forward to many more to come!

Gluten Free and Happy to Be

Have you seen Peter Tremayne's new book, ‘The Essential Gluten Free Guide?' I've read the whole thing and there's some great information in there about how to live an enjoyable life without gluten or wheat. I highly recommend it - it's very honest and straightforward and contains some really interesting ideas I’ve not come across before. Here’s the website where you can get more information and download the book

Here is a post from my other blog, which I am officially moving over to this site.

You may be reading this because you have gone gluten free due to a health condition, or a current trend in dietary theory led you to discovering the impact that going gluten free can have on your life. Any information you are reading here comes from personal experience, along with research I have done on gluten free living. I suffered with ill health for many years, and was in a healing crisis when I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. Besides that, I could not hold on to weight, my blood sugar was all over the place, I had severe anxiety followed by depression and finally had a series of seizures. All of this and I still did not get it, neither did doctors. I was told “anorexic”, after having no problem consuming as much food as possible. I spent an exorbitant amount of time and energy on trying to find foods that agreed with me, and I settled on soy and a grain based diet, only to discover I was allergic to soy, and many of the foods I was eating. No wonder for the strange health conditions which seemed to be popping up all over the place!

Then I ran into an ex-boyfriend, who, when we were together, liked his beer and hangovers, while I was a bulimic in action. Together, we suffered silently separately, but came together and thrived on the possibility of not having to be alone and miserable. He had been diagnosed celiac, and told me about his recovery process. At the time, I was severely underweight, and still trying to figure out the food. And then…I cut out gluten. My symptoms went away, my weight normalized, and I found a way of eating that worked for me.

Here is how I went gluten free.

1. I cut out gluten.
2. I felt better.
3. I felt much better.
4. I learned to cook without gluten.
5. I felt free around food, less moody and compulsive, grounded with a flow in my spine.
6. I continue to feel better following a gluten free lifestyle, which does not include restricting the delicious options available.

The rest is history. Every day, I create, convert and customize recipes that fit in with the gluten free living. Some work, some need work, but there is always room for more gluten free options in the world. I am currently offering a Chi Bar–a gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free energy bar that is spreading like wildfire. If you want to learn more, or order one or a dozen, email me @ waller@createradiance.com

Stay tuned for my new website, coming out in the next week, which will offer gluten free guides, guidance, recipes, relaxation techniques–a sort of healing reservoir for recovering your health from an addiction, stress condition, or life in general.

With love,
Waller

Follow me on Twitter!