Friday, March 20, 2015

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted. I am so shocked I haven't been fired, that my pay check is still coming in - oh, yea! Like being tennis team Captain - no matter how much you screw it up - the paycheck remains the same! I love it anyway and do both just for the love of it/the amazing Captain's Gift you get at the end of the season...Except for the fact that LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE ARE MAKING A FREAKING BOAT LOAD OF MONEY BLOGGING! I'm good...   When I first started doing this - yes, I thought I was on top of this wave and would be on Oprah any day. Then I realized that several others had also been doing this for YEARS!! That Julie chick that loved Julia - was NOT THE FIRST PERSON LIKE ME TO BLOG AND GET FAMOUS. I had no idea you could actually get paid. I was just hoping for some free stuff every oncenever happened in a while. Money??? For blogging? REALLY? Except for my two dedicated followers - YOU know who you are, I probably would have had the sense to stop a long time ago.  One is now a famous blogger that made it to the freakin Meridith Viera Show! I've never been more proud of one of my own children. Not only have they never been to Meridith's they don't really even bother to read Mom's blog. Of course I'm kidding! I am SO PROUD EVERY DAY of my children. Baby Girl pretended to read back when I was actually posting. Boy child not so much. Maybe he hated his nickname? But, Fan #1?? She pumped me up! I'd run into her around town(at a store) and she'd actually be buying stuff I'd shared on the blog! While she never asked for an autograph - it kinda felt like one. Then she moved to Boston and is now famous and rocking her Christmas Scapes on National TV. Miss you!!

My other fan/Partner in Beauty Crime is to blame for this post. We are beauty junkies that like a shopping spree that includes a free goodie bag at Neimans. Don't ask, we won't tell our husbands or you how much - just remember what Dolly said, " It takes a lot of money to look this cheap"...except we don't look cheap. And as WE ALL know there isn't anything cheap at Neimans. Anyhoo - She gets all the credit for me posting tonight.

About the time I stopped blogging I was going through shock that I was getting older, my kids were too and things were changing. Fast. Lots of things and most of it was good, some was bitter sweet and some days it felt like I was on a roller coaster. As a kid I loved roller coasters - the faster the better! My first one was the Dahlonega at Six Flags Over Georgia. Long time ago. Sweet memories - from going there with my many cousins to going with my children. But, in real life when things are moving fast and out of control it's sometimes thrilling and sometimes just scary.

And that is what it feels like some days as I/we are getting older. I honestly do better when I don't think too much. Stop laughing - I know there's "nothing in my noggin"! Family joke. Sweet friend of Griffin's back in Georgia told us that one day and we are still laughing and saying it! Scary how things become true.

About a year ago I also felt like something wasn't right any more with my health - I'm not dying - I just knew things weren't just changing due to age, things weren't right. And things needed to change. When your weight is the same but you can't fit into your clothes at the end of the day because you look like your twins are overdue, something is wrong. A trip to my gyno confirmed it wasn't ovarian or uterine cancer and she recommended I see a gastro doctor.  I'd been ignoring a strong suggestion from Cooper Clinic doctors since I was 45 to have a colonoscopy due to stomach issues. Finally, at 53 and pregnant with imaginary daily overdue twins I decided it might be time to schedule it. When my Fancy Friend beat me to our long dreaded Colonoscopy I knew it was time for me to Woman Up and go. No pun intended - hardest part is that you go. And go ALOT. Like all freakin night! So you can starve the entire next day too while you wait for your appointment. Good news is, once you actually finish saying goodbye to everything you've digested in the last year, and you get called back to the "room", they give you the most amazing drugs ever! Seriously, never ever understood drug addicts. But, it was amazing. Just saying.

I was a lucky one. I'm the Poster Child for GO GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY NOW! My doc removed  - his words, "One of the largest pre cancerous polyps ever" and all was good. He also recommended I get tested for Celiac.  I'd been eating Gluten free for a few months at the suggestion of my favorite health food store friends at Mike's Health Collection in McKinney. They recommended that I stop eating just bread for two days and then if I noticed a change to read Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis. Within just 24 hours, my life changed. By day two,  I knew I'd said goodbye to sourdough, pretzels, cake, cookies, etc. When I realizied it also meant beer - well, it wasn't pretty. But I did it. Needless to say I was thrilled to discover that there are many gluten free options of all of my favorite vices out there. It's been a roller coaster. My genetic blood test - because I was gluten free at time of testing and you really should be still eating gluten for testing purposes - so test before you stop eating gluten. NOTHING would make me eat it again and go through what happens now when I accidentally do. So he recommended the genetic test. It was negative for Celiac but positive for Gluten insensitive. So I won't die from eating gluten but I'll suffer all the Celiac symptoms of doing so. And because I didn't have the gene my children should be okay too. Celiac is a very serious gluten intolerance and it can actually lead to gut cancer and is potentially deadly. I just feel like crap for days and then get better.

Flash forward to this post and what inspired me to share - in this case, maybe not the good stuff but the important stuff if you are feeling like your body is not working right. Being gluten free is not a diet choice. It is a life choice. Just because I don't have Celiac and won't die from gluten, for a few days after eating it now I feel like I'm dying.  And the symptoms vary and there is no guarantee which ones are going to hit me. So just cheating for a favorite food or beer on purpose is very scary. What is worth it and how long will I feel bad. Trust me when I accidentally eat gluten now it is brutal and that is how you know you are gluten sensitive without the fancy blood test. Just stop for about two weeks and read up on all the ways gluten is in your food. You'll be shocked. It's in more things than you can imagine. And some people are more sensitive than others and it is a learning curve. Thank God for so many blogs out there sharing the info we all need to eat gluten safe.

So why eat gluten free? Why give up the ease of any restaurant, any meal, any IPA - anytime? Because I feel so much better - the list is longer than this blog post. Notice I said feel better. Not gonna lie, I meant it when I said this is not a diet choice. I've gained weight. Too much and I'm working on that now. When you obsess over everything you eat or drink - even coffee- I found I was eating more because it was all consuming worrying over what I ate, and if I got hungry and ate something just because I loved it but couldn't have it.....Boring. And we all know boredom leads to eating. Enough.

My Partner in Beauty Crime - knows gluten free is hard but worth it to me and she told me to make sure I got the March issue of D Magazine - otherwise known as The Dallas Bible for all things fun and amazing in Dallas. She was SO excited for me cause it had all these local restaurants that were very Gluten Friendly - lingo for go if you are Gluten free, they get it and make amazing food for you!! The mag was so good she even told me to buy my own cause she was keeping hers! Love that - you know I was driving around in one of our many ice/snow storms looking for it. Got it and THAT is why I hope you are still reading.

Not only are the restaurant choices exciting for all of us eating gluten free, but Nancy Nichols, an icon in the food critic world and for the last 18 years, the Food Critic at D Magazine, wrote her last column as Food Critic  - My Job Nearly Killed Me.  Trust me, just read it. As an amateur blogger, I obviously can't do it justice. I beg you to read her article. If you have ever wondered why someone would "choose" to be gluten free. Read this. She didn't choose or like some think, want to lose weight by being gluten free. She wanted to live. She wanted to feel better. Even when she knew it would cost her, her job. True to most, a Dream Job. Getting paid to eat fancy every night ....better than my blogging gig pays. I am so glad I found my mag, I can't wait to try all the fancy gluten friendly restaurants,  but most of all I am so very thankful that someone like Nancy shared her roller coaster ride and made a lot of us eating gluten free feel better about our ride. Nancy, you are my Gluten Free Goddess!!



1 comment:

  1. Welcome Back!!!!! Great post. I am still using Stilletto mascara thanks to you. Is your next post on beauty stuff. I'm putting you back on my blog roll. My friend had the same experience and went gluten free and now she's never felt better. Keep writing!! You are the best!!!

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