What I Stopped Doing After Going Gluten-Free (And Why It Changed Everything)

When I first went gluten-free, I focused so much on what I needed to start doing — reading labels, avoiding cross-contact, learning new recipes. 

But honestly? The things I STOPPED doing made the biggest difference in how I felt and how confident I became. 

Today, I’m sharing the habits, mindsets, and patterns I stopped once I started living gluten-free — and why those changes completely transformed my healing. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Context
• 0:37 Mission And Show Introduction
• 1:15 Stop Risking It At Restaurants
• 2:07 Stop Apologizing And Start Advocating
• 3:00 Stop Assuming Food Is Safe
• 4:00 Hidden Risks In Packaged Foods
• 4:25 Bring Your Own Food Without Guilt
• 5:21 Listen To Body Signals
• 6:19 Don’t Buy Every GF Product
• 7:18 Progress Over Perfection
• 8:22 Newsletter Invite And Bonus Tip
• 8:41 Releasing Shame And Finding Peace
• 9:11 Closing And Resources

Transcript

Carrie Saunders: 0:00

Quick reminder before we get started on this episode. This podcast is based on my personal experiences and isn't medical advice. When I first went gluten-free, I focused so much on what I needed to start doing. Reading labels, avoiding cross contact, learning new recipes. But honestly, the things I stopped doing made the biggest difference on how I felt and how confident I became. Today I'm sharing the habits, mindsets, and patterns I stopped once I started living gluten-free and why those changes completely transformed my healing. And stick around to the end because I'll share the one thing I stopped doing that brought me the most peace. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Gluten Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, Carrie Saunders. In 2011, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, a moment that changed everything. But I was determined not to let it hold me back. With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer the gluten-free lifestyle, breaking down recipes, safety tips, travel hacks, and everything in between to rebuild a life I love. Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or simply choose to live gluten-free, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we simplify the gluten-free lifestyle, make it fun, and prove that you don't have to miss out on anything. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we're talking about the things that I stopped doing after going gluten-free and what really gave me peace and freedom. So one of the things I stopped doing is I stopped risking it at restaurants. This means no more, maybe it's fine, no more ordering things without asking questions. Because what I found was that one accidental exposure created days and days, sometimes weeks, of feeling awful. Stopping this can change your confidence and reduce anxiety dramatically because you're not worried about am I going to get sick? Am I going to get that migraine? Am I going to feel like my joints hurt so bad? Am I going to feel like I have the flu? Those are like some of the really major uh symptoms that I had whenever I would get accidental gluten exposure. And then I also stopped apologizing for my needs. No more. Sorry, can you check the ingredients? No more shrinking yourself to avoid being a burden. I started having a health as part of my advocacy. I started making sure I advocated for my own health. We need to realize that advocating is not rudeness, it's self-care. Any other type of illness or food allergy, we would not hesitate to advocate for. It shouldn't be any different for celiac and gluten intolerance. It's still something that affects our body and makes us feel terrible. So start getting that confidence so that you don't feel like you need to apologize for your food needs. And then I also stopped assuming something was safe because it looked safe. You know, fries cooked in a shared oil. We I always asked about that. Um, plain chicken seasoned with wheat coated containing spices. That's a little sneaky one there, right? We need to like be asking everything. Is there wheat in any of this? Usually when you're out at a restaurant, the gluten you're going to run into is wheat, sometimes barley and sometimes rye and like breads or maybe a soup or something, but usually that additive in things, the thickeners, usually wheat. So you can even say, I have a wheat allergy and a gluten allergy. You can use both of those words if you think that's going to convey your message better to the restaurant people. And then we also want to look at, you know, think pre-packaged things, especially chocolate. Like chocolate is one of my favorite things. And one thing I noticed early on in being gluten-free was that many times chocolate is processed on shared equipment with wheat. So we want to make sure even some of our favorite pre-packaged things that shouldn't have gluten in it, we need to be looking for that processed in a facility that also processes wheat. And if you're celiac, making sure it's certified safe. Or at least the uh company says it's definitely safe. And then another thing I stopped doing was I stopped feeling guilty about bringing my own food. Bringing a dish doesn't make you difficult, it actually may give the uh host relief so that they know that you're going to feel good and feel safe. It makes you also feel healthy and safe and included. And everyone usually loves the gluten-free dish anyway. You give permission to people to do this too. Now, if you're a celiac, obviously get your food out first so there's less risk of cross-contamination. And usually that's just a polite, you know, hey, let me get my food first so it's safe for me, and then let them share it. And then I have people who love all my gluten-free stuff and they come back for more. And the better you get it, you know, cooking gluten-free is, you know, some of it's really not that hard. The baking and bread part can be a bit harder, but people are going to love your food and they'll love, you know, exploring this with you and seeing what it's like. I also stopped ignoring my body signals. I paid attention to how I felt based upon what I ate. And then I did detective work to see, okay, did I eat anything that could have potentially been risky in the previous day or two? So make sure you start doing that. Pay attention to when you're extra tired, when you have brain fog, when you're irritable, if you have digestive systems, headache, um, skin issues start flaring up, joint pain might flare up. So don't ignore those signs or symptoms because that can help clue you into where you can maybe improve on your eating habits and how you're asking questions if you're eating out, or maybe the items that you've bought at the store to make sure they are safe for you. Listening to my body really sped up my healing, it really sped up my mental healing and just made me feel so much better. And then one of the things that's so easy to do when you are first gluten-free is buying everything, every gluten-free product, you know, that you see. So one of the things I stopped doing is buying every gluten-free product that I saw. And not everything labeled gluten-free is healthy for one. Um, and two, you know, we get this kind of compulsion compulsion sometimes to try all the things that are gluten-free, spread it out over time. You don't really need to do that, and not everything will agree with your body either when you even eat these gluten-free things. Some of them are very processed, so look for that. It's something I kind of stress on this podcast is the more closely we get to whole foods, the much better you're going to feel. And it's just a great compounding effect. Everything's going to heal faster. You're going to feel so much better. And you won't even know who you are in several years when you have started eating mostly whole foods and really focusing on that and having those process or treats every once in a while and not making them your staples. Also, with these gluten-free products, many of them contain gums, fillers, or lectins that can cause other types of reactions. So that's again why I encourage you to eat as many whole foods as you can because that will help you realize which of these processed gluten-free foods might not also go well in my body. And then lastly, I stopped expecting myself to get it perfect right away. Going gluten-free is a learning curve, especially if you're the first one in your family, which I was. And mistakes are very, very much normal. Give yourself grace, learn from it so that you minimize your risk of repeating that mistake again. You don't have to master everything in a one week or one month. You really have just got to make those next great baby steps to getting onto a healthier life and feeling so, so much better. If this episode resonated with you, I share more of my gluten-free encouragement, simple recipes, and helpful tips in our newsletter. Join me at theglutenfreeengineer.com and just click on that newsletter button to join and get support that you can trust in there. And then that bonus tip I handed to you in the beginning of this episode. The one thing that I stopped doing that brought me the most peace was feeling ashamed of my diagnosis. For years I treated gluten-free like something to hide or apologize for, um, especially before we figured out that our kids had it too. But the moment I stopped feeling ashamed, I started embracing it as part of my story. And everything shifted. My confidence grew, my stress levels fell, and healing got so much easier. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Gluten Free Engineer. If you found value in this story, please share it with someone who might need encouragement on their own gluten-free journey. For more tips, recipes, resources, and even links to my YouTube channel, head on over to theglutenfreengineer.com. It's your one-stop hub to make gluten-free living simple, fun, and full of flavor. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss out on an episode. And we will see you next week. The Gluten Free Engineer Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. I share my personal experiences and stories about living with celiac disease and navigating a gluten free lifestyle. This podcast does not provide medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for medical questions, concerns, or advice specific to your health.