[May is Celiac Awareness Month, and I’m giving away copies of my ecookbooklet: So What CAN You Eat? Gluten-free Paleo Vegan (mostly) Recipes for Health and Weight Loss, to all who join the mailing list. Visit the homepage here. 19 fast, easy recipes!]
I've been thinking about my high school math teacher a lot lately. I expect high school is difficult for everyone, or at least it feels that way. For me, my homelife challenges seemed enormous, my older brothers who had been my anchors were moving on and moving out, and I was feeling pretty alone. Because my school district was small, I had the fortune of having this gifted math teacher for 7th grade and then again for Algebra 1 (10th grade) Algebra 2 (11th grade) and some other higher math thing (Algebra 3/Trig?) for my senior year. Plus, when I dropped out of Chem 2 because of an unresolved conflict with another student, I signed up to be her teacher's aide for that open period. In addition to teaching me most of what I still know about math (I made a sine wave joke at a staff meeting at my Day Job yesterday and got good laughs from the other former math nerds in the room), I have no doubt that this wonderful woman, who took an interest in me and encouraged and supported me through some of my most difficult times, helped shape my future in astounding ways. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without her help back then. I saw her 10 years ago when I went home for my class reunion, but other than me sending her holiday cards intermittently, we haven't been in touch. She taught thousands of kids over the years and I know from my friends who were my classmates that she was very inflential in their lives also, so it's okay that we aren't penpals or anything. But when someone crosses my mind as much as she has been lately, I know I need to take some sort of action. This morning I dropped a postcard in the mail to thank her again. It made me feel good. You have probably heard that there is some science to confirm that the practice of gratitude can boost your mood. I've known it for awhile now, but I've gotten out of the practice of it. Today I stepped back in. I invite you to do the same. [May is Celiac Awareness Month, and I’m giving away copies of my ecookbooklet: So What CAN You Eat? Gluten-free Paleo Vegan (mostly) Recipes for Health and Weight Loss, to all who join the mailing list. Visit the homepage here.
19 fast, easy recipes!] 1) I'm cooking most of my own food, so I know what goes into it 2) I'm more likely to just get a salad (with dressing on the side) when I eat at a restaurant that doesn't have a gluten-free menu, helping me meet my weight management goals 3) I can't succumb to the temptation of workplace pizza or doughnuts when they appear 4) I'm more mindful of the nutritients and calories I'm putting into my body 5) I've gotten to experiment with new foods and have found some new things to add to my list of favorites, and they are healthy (Beets! Brussels sprouts!) 6) I've befriended nutritional yeast as a replacement for some of the B vitamins I lost with enriched carbs, and I LOVE it! 7) I've come up with new ways to prepare vegetables and make them satisfying as the MAIN dish 8) I've begun using condiments in interesting ways (yellow mustard on broccoli is delicious!) 9) Nuts and beans are great protein sources, AND they make good dips, spreads and hummuses (or is that hummi?) 10) (This should be number 1!) I generally feel so much better and have so much more energy! What gifts have you found from having to live gluten-free? "We teach best what we most need to learn." Richard Bach, Illusions. I guess that is the SHORT short version of why I'm doing this. I know it may puzzle people who know me that I am spending my free time on this gluten free thing. And before I got diagnosed with celiac, I would have thought so too. I remember a conversation with our pediatrician 9 years ago when talking with her about our older son's mild reflux issues. She mentioned celiac and I made a face and said something enlightened like, "Isn't that pretty weird and rare?" She said no, not that rare (she ignored the "weird" comment), but because we didn't have any other indications that he might have gluten issues, we didn't pursue testing. [My son, now 10, and I are not biologically related and he has no symptoms of celiac, FYI.] And is my way, once I got diagnosed, I began a steep learning curve on how to live gluten free and about the disease itself. What I found is that it's a way bigger deal than most people think it is, and it looks like it's only going to get bigger. (More about that in a minute if you want a deeper dive.) But what's the big deal anyway? So you have an upset stomach, so what? Well, for one, "upset stomach" doesn't begin to approach the severity and host of symptoms that some people experience. For two, untreated celiac can open the door to a whole host of conditions and illnesses, including cancer, which can make your life miserable and shorter. That's the big deal. If you have celiac, go gluten free, feel better, live longer. If you have any reason to suspect you might have celiac, talk to your doctor and ask to have the antibody tests for celiac that may indicate a need for further testing. Go here to see a symptoms checklist. Before I got the celiac diagnosis, I was interested in helping people adopt strategies that would increase their general level of happiness. Since diagnosis, I've met and interacted with lots of people with celiac in person and in the cyberworld who could really use some techniques to get happier. This is supported by research that indicates that people with celiac, especially women, are more likely to be depressed and anxious. So that's the point of my quest to help others be happy, healthy and gluten free. Keep reading if you want the numbers. The number of people needing to live gluten-free is exploding. 1 in 133 Americans are diagnosed with celiac, many more are gluten-intolerant, their caretakers add to the ranks of people who assist with their meals, and many more people will be diagnosed in the near future as information about celiac and gluten intolerance increases testing and diagnosis. In the United States, celiac disease is a genetic disease that affects at least 3 million people. That's 1 in 133 (for comparison, that's more than twice as many people as those who have Type I diabetes). But the number more than doubles if you have any symptoms (and there are LOTS of symptoms that you wouldn't necessarily connect to a GI issue), and the incidence of celiac is 6 times higher if you have a relative that has it. And what's more, researchers studying a population of both symptomatic and non-symptomatic people found that 60% of children and 41% of adults diagnosed during the study were asymptomatic, meaning that they would have had no physical reason to seek out testing. (Source: A multi-center study on the sero-prevalence of celiac disease in the United States among both at risk and not at risk groups. Fasano et. al., Archives of Internal Medicine. February 2003.) If you add in the number of people who are gluten intolerant (which means that they have symptoms but haven't tested positive for celiac) and the number goes up from there. What's more, the time it takes for a symptomatic person to be diagnosed with celiac disease in the US is four years, increasing that person's risk of developing other autoimmune disorders, neurological problems, osteoporosis and even cancer. (Source: Characteristics of adult celiac disease in the USA: results of a national survey. Green, P.H. et.al. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2001, 2006.) And what about the Happy part of my equation? There are numerous studies that indicate that people, especially women, with celiac are more likely to be depressed and anxious than the general population even after they have gone gluten free. (Source: Future issue of Journal of Chronic Illness. Josh Smyth.; World J Gastroenterol. 2010 Jun 14;16(22):2780-7. Häuser W,; Janke KH,; Klump B,; Gregor M,; Hinz A.) Here's to your good health and happiness! This is my mom and dad and my grandparents in 1959. Since celiac is genetic, at least one person in this picture also carried the gene and may have suffered with a whole host of related symptoms for years. Fortunately awareness is on the rise, testing is getting better, and I'm confident that diagnosis and the time it takes to get a diagnosis will improve drastically in the years to come. I have to confess I have yet to visit a gluten-free bakery that I didn't like. I have a huge sweet tooth and in many ways the celiac diagnosis is a huge aide in my being able to maintain a healthy weight. I am strict with the gf diet, so I never go near the office doughnut temptations and the random bowls of loose candy. When I find myself in the presence of sweets I CAN eat, I do not
show much restraint. I told you all about Toté and the warm raisin challah. So good! And surely I have waxed poetic about Sweet Freedom in Philadelphia, which is not only gluten free but other-allergen-free. I LOVE their doughnuts and the tomato pie is a real treat! And the cookies -- I have been known to stash a bag of their oatmeal raisin cookies in the freezer at work so that I too can have a yummy treat for those office celebrations. Yesterday the Gluten Free in Delaware County Meet Up group visited Sweet Christine's Bakery in Kennett Square, and I sampled the flax raisin muffin and the sugar cinnamon doughnut and bought a pizza to bring home and bake up for dinner. It was all delicious! Clearly I'm a sucker for gf baked goods! Of the three though, Sweet Christine's is probably the one I'd want to go hang out in. It's right on the main drag in Kennett Square's cute little downtown area, and I can easily imagine taking myself for a nice Saturday morning drive, getting a little something sweet (and actually having to choose among many options), sipping some excellent coffee, and feeling just like everyone else who gets to visit bakeries and eat whatever they want in cute little downtown areas. That's not to say that the others aren't great. Sweet Freedom gets the award for the "Escape from the office for a treat" award. I could go there and hang out, but the walk from my office to 1500 block of South Street takes a little while, and ambiance of their location doesn't compare to downtown Kennett Square. And Toté gets the award for best loaves of gf bread, which the other two don't seem to be into. That warm loaf of challah after my oscopies will be one of my treasured memories that I pull out when I need a boost. You know, in those guided meditations when you are supposed to picture a place of serenity and beauty? Mine will feature warm Tote raisin challah. The drawback of Tote is also part of the attraction. It's in the heart of the Italian Market, which is cool, but crowded and impossible to park near, so there is no "Let's just drop in and get a loaf" when you are out and about in your car. It's easy with public transportation though, and I might give myself the challenge of seeing if I can make it there and back to work in under an hour with the help of my transpass. I can't help but think how fortunate I am to live in a place where I have THREE gf bakeries to visit, compare, and talk about. And I'm also fortunate that they are not right across the street frrom my house or I'd have a hard time with that whole weight management thing. Scott, Sara and me in the midst of a terrific day. It's back-to-work Monday after a beautiful, fun, family-filled holiday. By the end of yesterday evening, my friend (and third cousin once removed!) Sara and I were commiserating about our lack of enthusiasm for the coming work week. Later in the evening, My younger son Scott was also feeling sad and though the boys have one extra day off before school starts, there was a general feeling of let down and blah about the place.
Scott tends to have fears about things, so while we were on our evening walk with the dog in our sedate and picturesque suburban neighborhood, I gave him some of my sage advice, taken from a Xena episode (and those people borrowed heavily from MANY sources): We eventually become what we pretend to be. It's also the inscription on the plaque from my martial arts instructors and pals when I got my black belt in Tae Kwon Do in 1997. I suggested to Scott that when he feels frightened that he pretend he's really the bravest boy around and that he can handle anything. By the end of the walk we both had conquered the fear of barking dogs and on-coming vehicles and hastily-approaching pedestrians and were laughing and comparing our superhero costumes, blatantly disregarding Edna Mode's "No Capes" advice. Even Bugsy the schnauzer had one. It helped and we were both feeling a little better. This morning while out on my run I remembered that the 27th anniversary of my coming out of the closet is this week. I can so vividly remember how scared and freaked out I was. I didn't have a picture in my head of what a happy gay person looked like, so in the vaccuum of it, I conjured all kinds of unpleasant outcomes for myself. If I had known then that my life now would be as healthy and happy as it is and that I would have a wonderful spouse and kids, I wouldn't have been worried at all. Finally, I reminded myself of all of the gifts in my life: An Abundance of Love, Family, Health, Purpose. What's to feel blue about? I'm putting all these things into my strategy for finding the joy in this Monday: 1) Come from a place of gratitude and accept the contribution and learning from my current situation 2) Remember where I want to be and imagine how it will feel when I make it my reality 3) Act as if I've already reached it and enjoy the experience I hope you had a great weekend too, and that your week ahead is bright. |
Archives
January 2024
|