Happy Monday! I am so excited to share sisters Brooke and Bri with you. I love following their blog, Gluten Free Anonymous. They have great recipes and ideas and they are so much fun!

I did a detox cleanse diet a few months ago just to be healthy and lose a little off my stomach (lost about 15 pounds!) and it included going gluten free. It felt so good. It is not that hard anymore with so many gluten free products out there now and lots of recipes available.  I am not gluten intolerant, but now I seek out gluten free foods. In fact, I asked Brooke about a gluten free pizza crust and the next day she blogged about it!

Thanks so much, Brooke and Bri, for sharing your Word for the Year……

Discover Gluten Free Tips

As a fairly new blogger and advocate of gluten free living (not completely by choice), I’ve decided the word of the year I will focus on is DISCOVER.

Discovery is a key component of understanding who we are and what makes us happy. Many a story has been written about self discovery. The word itself is often associated with Zen (which is Debbie’s word of the year by the way).

My biggest discovery was of a different nature, yet affected my ‘self’ very much. In 2011 I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. It was a rough time for me. I was forced to discover new things everyday. New foods, sicknesses, products, and feelings.

My sister Bri had it even more rough. She went 17 years as an undiagnosed Celiac. We finally discovered the source of all her years of sickness.

We have been discovering together ever since and expect to discover much more throughout the year.

I’d like to share a few of the discoveries we’ve made over the course of the last couple years.

How to determine if you are having issues with gluten.

First and foremost, follow the symptoms. This is probably the hardest part of determining if you have a problem. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness states that, “Accurately diagnosing celiac disease can be quite difficult largely because the symptoms often mimic those of other diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, intestinal infections, lactose intolerance and depression.”

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, we suggest you get tested. It may cost a little, but it’ll save you much more in the long run. Celiac disease/gluten intolerance is an epidemic. It saves to be sure. To learn more about testing options visit the NFCA website (Please note that you should be currently on a gluten including diet for more accurate results).

You don’t have to change yourself just because you can’t eat gluten.

For the newly diagnosed, it can be a major blow to who you think you are. I found myself constantly having to fight thoughts of negativity about my situation and future. What could I do? Where could I turn? I felt like I couldn’t EAT anything! It became a time of great introspection. I had to discover that I had the strength to pull through. I learned over time that I didn’t have to change who I was…just what I ate!

A forced, seemingly negative, change in your lifestyle can be surprisingly positive.

The effects of gluten on my system were bad. My hair started to thin out and I was constantly sick. Bri gained weight and had a hard time regulating it. When we were diagnosed we had to make changes that we didn’t want to make. We had to make a goal to not cheat and be religious about what we put into our systems. Debbie reminds us in her Healthy Weight Goals post that “we are the happiest when we feel and look our best.” She goes on to say, “I know when I am working out regularly and eating healthy foods I have more energy and feel so much better. When I am at my target weight I feel more confident too! Now, I am not saying you have to be skinny to be happy, just at a healthy weight that is just right for you.” Meeting our goals and getting our systems back on track righted many of the wrongs our bodies were facing.

What seemed the end of the world to us made us DISCOVER. Sometimes the tough changes we are required to make in life turn out to be for our good.

We discovered us again. This year you can too.

Bio

Brooke is living in Orem, UT. She’s married to the man of her dreams and has the cutest little 9 month old you ever did see! She loves being a stay at home mom, raising her son Kaden. She loves to read, sing and find new things gluten free related. She is gluten intolerant, meaning she has a sensitivity to gluten and cannot digest it. She has been gluten free for over 2 years.

Bri is a student, living in Provo, UT. She goes to Utah Valley University and currently is undecided on a major. She works at Happy Sumo, a Sushi joint. Bri has a love for horses. She loves escaping the daily grind for a full day of nature and horseback riding. She loves to sing and play guitar when she’s not being hunted down by boys! She went un-diagnosed for 17 years. By the time she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, she had developed many other allergies including soy, dairy, eggs, and casein.

They have a love of learning about their inability to eat gluten and a love for helping others through their own journey. They started their blog, Gluten Free Anonymous at the end of October 2013, to help spread the knowledge they have and to provide support to those going through this alone.