Things I Stopped Doing After Going Gluten-Free

When most people think about going gluten-free, they focus on everything they have to give up—bread, pizza, convenience, and even favorite restaurants. 

But something unexpected happened after I went gluten-free: I actually started letting go of a lot of things that were making my life harder. 

I stopped doing things I thought I needed to do, things I felt obligated to do, and things that were creating stress, anxiety, and sometimes even making me sick. 

In this episode, I'm sharing the things I stopped doing after going gluten-free and why my life actually became easier because of it. You may discover that some of these are things you're still holding onto, too. 

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Transcript

Disclaimer And The Big Shift

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 most people think about going gluten-free, they think about all the things they have to give up. Bread, pizza, convenience, favorite restaurants. But something interesting happened after I went gluten-free. I actually started letting go of a lot of things that were making my life harder. Things I thought I needed to keep doing, things I felt obligated to do, things that were creating stress, anxiety, and sometimes making me sick. But in the end, I really didn't need them. So in this episode, I want to share the things I stopped doing after going gluten-free and why my life actually got easier because of it. Because some of these might be things you're still hanging on to. So let's dive in. Welcome to the Gluten Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, Kiri 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 show.

From Restriction To Simplifying

Carrie Saunders 1:26

Today we're talking about the things I stopped doing after going gluten-free in the hopes it might help you find some things you can let go of and have a much happier life being gluten-free. So in the early days, I feel like most of us will focus on what can't I have. But over time, what we want to focus on is what do I no longer need to keep doing and what can I actually have? The longer I've been gluten-free, the more I realize this journey is about simplifying, not restricting. And it's about having fun with what we have.

Stop Relying On Processed Substitutes

Carrie Saunders 1:59

So one of the things I stopped relying on after going gluten-free for a bit was I stopped trusting convenience foods. I stopped trusting gluten-free cookies, gluten-free snacks, processed substitutes. All of those at first were a wonderful bridge from being, you know, not knowing I had celiac to knowing I did and needed to be gluten-free. They were a good, I feel like psychological bridge to help you across that barrier so that you're not totally changing everything you eat. You're just switching it out for a gluten-free processed version of that food. It's not that they're all bad, but they can, you know, cause bloating. They could cause you to be sluggish, could cause you to be unsatisfied because that's what they are. So processed foods. They're not whole foods. So sometimes we don't feel great right after going gluten-free because we're still eating processed foods. But like I said, sometimes we need that mentally just to get us across that bridge. But then eventually, the more whole foods you eat and the whole foods that I ate, the better I felt. The easier food became. I started creating this rule in my brain that I would my goal would be to eat any things that were five ingredients or less, sometimes ten ingredients or less. I tried to minimize the amount of processed foods I ate. And then the processed foods I did eat, I tried to minimize how many ingredients were in them. There's a couple reasons for that. One, I just feel better when they are closer to their whole food form. And two, you have a lot less risk of some sneaky ingredient being in there that contains gluten, and you had no idea because it's named some weird scientific name instead. So it can just really help you feel better because you're eating closer to whole foods and because you don't have all these extra preservatives and extra ingredients and flavorings and all the things that the highly processed foods have. So we want to just remember that just because it's gluten-free doesn't automatically mean it's helping me feel my best. And that's where I started to realize some things along that line. So once I stopped relying on those highly processed foods, I felt so much more energy. My digestion was better, it was more stable, I had less bloating. I naturally moved towards simple proteins and vegetables. My husband's gonna laugh at that one. I don't eat very many vegetables. It is a work in progress. Um, fruit and just really simple ingredients. You know, simple, I would do eat potatoes. Those are starchy vegetables. So we'll call him out on that one. So I do love potatoes. So we would focus on, you know, more whole foods, and it just made us feel better. It kind of went back to the way my grandmother used to cook. She was actually, fun fact, born in 1912. She was older for a grandmother. My other grandmother was 16 years younger than her. And so I was eating more like she did back in the day. That's just what they learned. They weren't really high highly processed food eaters. So I went kind of back to my roots with her. And, you know, we were eating a protein, some vegetable, usually a starchy vegetable, and then maybe some fruit. So those simple ingredients can really make you feel satisfied and make you feel so much better.

Social Events Without Food Pressure

Carrie Saunders 5:13

One other thing I stopped doing is I stopped trying to make every social event work. Early on, I tried to eat safe everywhere, I tried to make every invitation work. I hope that there would be options, but now I sometimes will eat beforehand. If it just doesn't seem worth trying to figure out whether I can eat there, I will maybe bring my own food. I might skip the food part entirely. Not every event has to revolve around eating. It's something here in America we focus on a lot is food around an event. And I wanted to give you permission that it doesn't have to be that way. Every event does not have to involve around eating. We want to make sure you're safe, you're comfortable, and you have a good time. So if you're not going to have a good time because you're worrying about the food you're going to eat, eat beforehand or bring your own food and don't apologize. And it's just the way it is, and people will start getting used to it. I promise they really will. Another thing I did is I stopped eating food just to be polite. This one is huge. So in family gatherings or work events or church events or parties, you don't have to try food just to be polite. It won't hurt their feelings. You might think I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings, but it won't hurt their feelings. Your health matters. It's just like a little kid and you offer them a food and they'll say no, thank you, or no. You know, they might be like, no, I don't want that, right? You know, we don't want to be the uh the bratty version of the kid or the um, I don't know how else to say it, but you know, the oh my goodness, that is so offensive that you offered me that style of food type of kid, because I know I was one of those. We don't want to be that version of it. But you know, the polite no thank you is very simple and effective. And we are afraid sometimes to do that simple and effectiveness of no thanks. You don't have to say why, you don't have to say that you're worried that there might be gluten in it. Just no thanks. Maybe you don't want it, maybe you don't like whatever they're offering, maybe it's not doesn't have ingredients that are appealing to you. You can just be polite and say no thanks. So try not to overthink it. And it will just work.

Trust With Restaurants Must Be Earned

Carrie Saunders 7:26

So then another thing I stopped doing is I stopped trusting certain restaurants. This is not something where I want to bash any restaurant out there, but we do need to have the reality of what are those restaurants you've tried several times and they just never worked out. So it's okay that you have to drop a restaurant. Sometimes it's sad, you know, sometimes they're our favorite restaurant, but we also want to have a healthy life and we want to not feel terrible because we've eaten gluten, whether it's celiac or gluten intolerant, we just don't want to feel terrible when we've eaten gluten. And so we need to be diligent about those restaurants. We've had several that we'd have, you know, haven't eaten in, oh gosh, probably over 15 years, simply because they're a fast food restaurant, absolutely no guarantee on the training of the uh staff in there. And so we just don't do it. Um, you know, Chipotle is one uh restaurant that we do frequent here in our hometown, but in another city, we've gotten really sick at Chipotle because they weren't trained as well. That we know the staff here in our city are trained better on cross-contact. So sometimes the same restaurant in one place versus another also may not work out well for you. So I want you to find those places you trust and use those places to have wonderful meals with family or friends. We want to make sure that trust is earned, not assumed. You know, there's a local hot dog shop here in Athens, Ohio, where I live, uh Betty's. I want to give a shout out to them. They do a really good job of keeping my food safe. And there was one time, you know, their fryer only has French fries in it. They make their own homemade fries fresh from potatoes right there in the store. And there was one time that I was like kept getting sick. And so, as I do, I had started thinking about it, you know, why am I getting sick? I never got sick before on the french fries here. What's going on? And my brain remembered that they had a new special jalapeno poppers. So the next time I was in the store in the restaurant, I asked them, I said, you know, hey, are you frying those jalapeno poppers in the fryer with the fries? They're like, Yeah. And I was like, well, then I can't eat the fries. That's why I keep getting sick. And the light bulb moment went off on the staff. They're like, oh, wow. So they actually stopped offering jalapeno poppers so that me and my family could still safely eat there. And so, you know, after they cleaned the fryers out and the oils out enough, I was able to start eating their fries again. You know, I gave it, of course, you know, many weeks before I started eating trying the fries again, but they did that for a regular patron. I mean, we've been eating there probably for over 20 years now, I think, equationally. And they're just a great group of people who've been consistent staff members there. They know who we are. We walk in, they know what we need and we know what to order, and it's just a wonderful experience. So I want you to find those places that you can trust, and that there's that great communication in between, you know, the two of you so that we can keep you safe. It just provides a more wonderful dining experience.

Why A Gluten-Free Home Helps

Carrie Saunders 10:37

So, one thing I also stopped doing, and some people might think this is a little crazy, but I stopped keeping gluten in our house. I mean, for us, it's not nearly as crazy because four of the five of us have a celiac, and my husband actually has a gene for it, so he may have it as well. And he actually is a lot more sensitive to gluten now than what he used to be, but we stopped keeping gluten in our house. This makes your life so much simpler. I know sometimes this isn't possible, but I want to encourage you to consider it and to talk to the rest of your family members about it. This makes things so much simpler because then you don't need a separate butter dish. You don't need separate jelly jars, peanut butter jars, you don't need separate counters or cutting boards, you don't need to worry about the wooden items in your kitchen and whether somebody's accidentally used a wooden cutting board for gluten and then it, but it was a gluten-free one. You don't have to worry about your pots and pans as much, especially ones that might have cracks and crevices like nonstick or cast iron. It just can really simplify and de stress those in the family who don't can't eat gluten, who are celiac or gluten intolerant. It just makes the contamination risk minimal to completely gone once all the gluten's gone out of the house. Easier food prep, easier cooking. Everybody can eat the same meal. If you go back to the roots and go to a protein, a vegetable, maybe add a starchy vegetable too, and some fruit, that's all gluten-free. And that's all something other people will eat too. It's not like we're forcing gluten-free bread or gluten-free pasta on a non-gluten-free person, although I will say that the brands are so much better anymore, and it's really hard to tell the difference. But, you know, if we go back to those roots of whole foods, then it's really easy for everybody to be gluten-free. It just makes everybody eating the same thing saves you a lot of time and money and

Stop Apologizing And Advocate Confidently

Carrie Saunders 12:36

stress. Now, one thing I stopped doing too is I stopped assuming everybody would understand my situation. I expected that people would like listen, understand, ask questions, and many people don't. And it's not because they're bad people, they just simply don't know. They simply don't know what they don't know too. So they don't know what questions to ask, and they can get very confused that this is very new to them to knowing somebody who needs to be gluten-free. They can have all the good intentions, but you know, gluten safety, they just don't understand. They don't understand how easy it's cross-contaminated, they don't understand how it's so easy to have it hidden in ingredients like in soy sauce or in many marinades. It's just something if you're not used to that, you wouldn't know. And then one thing that will really help you if when you stop doing it is I stopped apologizing for advocating for myself. Sometimes the emotional part about going gluten-free, especially when you're new, can really take a toll of yourselves. So I no longer apologize for having to eat gluten-free. I no longer apologize for bringing my own food, for saying no thanks to something, for asking questions about the food I'm, you know, potentially about to eat, deciding whether I feel like I can eat or not. I stopped treating my health needs like an inconvenience. They were just part of who I am, and I had to accept that. And so the sooner you accept that, the more you accept that, much better you will feel mentally and emotionally here. So then what did I start doing instead? Let's talk about the positives here because it isn't all about loss, it's about gain. I started trusting my body. I started eating more whole foods, I started planning ahead. I started enjoying social events without food pressure. That's really key. That can take so much off of our plate if we take away that food pressure. I started feeling better. Oh my goodness, so much better. Like I can't even describe how much better I feel now that I've, you know, know that I have celiac and don't eat gluten. And I started advocating for myself confidently. It takes practice, but if you're not there yet, you will get there. At the end of the day, going gluten-free wasn't just about changing what I ate. It was about changing what I was willing to tolerate. And surprisingly, letting go of these things didn't make life harder. It made life simpler, it made me healthier, and honestly, it gave me more freedom than I expected. Sometimes healing isn't about adding more rules, it's about removing the things that were never serving you in the first place.

Takeaways And How To Connect

Carrie Saunders 15:13

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.