My Health Journey, Why I can’t Eat Gluten and What Helped My Health Do A Complete Flip

If you follow me on my Instagram, you most likely know that I am highly sensitive to Gluten. But I haven’t explained to much why or what caused me to see it. Because it’s a pretty prominent part of my food lifestyle I thought I would share a bit about my health and how it got me to where I am today in my eating and physi health.

So fora little background, my mom when she was 40 was diagnosed with “Hashimotos”. It is an autoimmune disease, and I’ll link an article here that explains what it is. My mother was able to find a course of treatment and now lives a lifestyle of it in remission, with a few permanent changes to diet. Because of this life event, the rest of my family often ate how she did and it changed a lot or our diets. She no longer ate gluten, among many other things. As a kid for the most part I was healthy. We didn’t eat very unhealthy, we all exercised, and we knew the importance of taking care of our bodies. But as I grew into high school and college-age that’s when I would define the turning point of deciding myself that I needed to do this for my own sake.

This is kind of where I define my point of poor health.

When I was around 16 I remember getting strep bad. After that I remember I got sick every month it seemed. I had painful swollen lymph nodes in my neck constantly, I was so tired all the time and just wanted to sleep. I had gotten into some bad eating habits (too many carbs, sugar). My immune system was drained, and I was only a teenager!

One day I remember going to the Dr. and getting bloodwork, which was part of just trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was in tears, frustrated, and at this point thought their was something seriously wrong with me. I recall on the ride home my mom suggesting that I really reconsider what I was eating, and start there. Sure I’d seen how it had helped her but I had been in denial that it would really help me and truth be told who wants to give up food they love? But I was miserable. And the last thing I wanted, was to suffer from an autoimmune disease too!

So, I finally gave in and decided to really try. I started THAT same week and cut out gluten, dairy, took probiotics, supplements, exercised, drank more water, ate less sugar and carbs, took ACV, and really tried to have a positive outlook on these actions helping. Well, I did this for a few months, and just within those saw a HUGE change. It was unbelievable. I had so much more energy. I wasn’t getting sick. My inflammation went down. Just changing my lifestyle to eating healthier with exercise changed a lot. 

Fast forward to now.

I’m 21, married with a child, and I’m not as strict as I used to be, but I am still so glad I made those simple changes. I have been gluten free for over 4-½ years now, and after my immune system really recovered some of the things I had taken out, my body was okay with again. However, after I cut out gluten and accidentally have gotten it in something, I get so sick and have an internal reaction to it. So that’s why I have cut out Gluten completely.

I would definitely say that towards the end of high school I felt my best, but after baby 1 I’m working at it to get back to a healthier routine. I’m getting back into exercising more regular, I consistently drink water and take vitamins and supplements/probiotics. I don’t eat as strict as I was, and I know theirs definitely room for improvement there.

But because of this experience I know now what my body reacts to and what it needs to flourish. There’s days I eat too much ice cream or just junk in general, and I feel it. But my overall health since being a teen has changed drastically, and I’m so glad for not only modern day internal medicine knowledge, but for my mom especially and the backbone she was to helping me to live a healthier lifestyle. 

If you’re feeling physical drained and mentally fogged I encourage you to figure out why. Our bodies weren’t designed to be this way. There’s so many places to start. Here’s a more detailed list of what I did that combined, tremendously helped me. I’d love to hear about your health journey!

What Helped Me!

• Up my water intake 
• Took a tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar with water everyday
• Exercise consistently at least 15 mins a day for 4- 5 days a week 
• Eat my veggies and fruits 
• Consume less sugar 
• Eat less fast food and fried foods, and high carbs 
• Portion Control
• Reach for the fruit and alternative natural sugars when wanting a sweet 
• Have treats but use them as something you get to look forward too, not constantly indulging.

xoxo, Shantel