Diet Changes

I have been struggling lately with the gluten free diet. For the past 2 years I have tried to be good but I never felt better. Last fall, I forked out the $400 to get lab work done at an independent lab. They confirmed that I did have a gluten intolerance so I strived to be better. I blamed my lack of conviction. I would occassionally make a mistake or fall off the gf wagon and have a little bread or pizza. It's a really hard choice to be gluten free. I now have medical insurance and saw a doctor last night for the first time in a long time. I brought him my lab results and my concerns. Going over my symptoms and my history, it looks as if gluten is not my problem. He couldn't say for certain that I did not have a gluten intolerance but he did say that I should have seen dramatic results within 2-4 weeks of being gluten free. We talked about what my health was like before the fire that send our life spinning out of control. I felt fairly good. I ate a whole grain diet. I was regular. I had energy to exercise. I had a few symptoms of unhealthiness but most of the time I felt pretty good. After we lost our house to the fire several things happened. We moved away from our country home. I started working more regularly since I had more opportunity in the large town we moved to (or small city - I never know what constitutes city vs town). But most importantly we had lost our home - it was a really stressful time. I would say it was honestly the worst year of my life. I felt awful so the idea of a diet that would make me feel better was really appealing. It's been just over 2 years since the fire and suddenly I find myself thinking I should feel better by now. The last year was a little rough but I tried hard to take care of myself. I found that I gained 20 pounds over this last year and yet if I was really gluten intolerant I should have been losing weight on the diet. I developed GI problems that I hadn't had before. I started wondering why things were not coming together. Well now I know. I plan on keeping this blog and sharing recipes. The focus will only move away from gluten free but still work on finding ways to make good food not cost a lot of money. I am glad I can add more grains into my diet and get our health back on track.