While I have a great time living gluten-free and interacting with this community, not all days are good and I definitely experience struggles, especially while living on the road. Our new feature, Gluten-Free Weekly Wins & Losses is an opportunity to share the more raw, less curated side of gluten-free living.
I share unedited photos of things that went well, things that went poorly, and what I learned along the way. It’s also a great journal exercise for you to try at home -- over time you may notice some patterns you want to change (like pushing off the grocery store like we did here) and ways to improve your gluten-free life.
Please let me know if you enjoy the feature! I know I would have appreciated the authentic viewpoint of living gluten-free when I was healing, and I welcome a new way to connect with you!
This Week’s Gluten Free Wins:
1. Trying new Gluten-Free snacks from Whole Foods and finding old favorites
Five months ago I left my home in Seattle for a year of travel. Much of this was on a bicycle, some of it was jet-setting, and now I’m trying Vanlife. Since my partner and I love the outdoors and visiting National Parks, we don’t often come across stores with specialty gluten-free foods.
Related: Long Term Travel with Celiac: how the gluten free diet influenced plans
We spent this past week outside of Santa Cruz, CA and enjoyed a variety of delicious gluten-free snacks from the local Whole Foods. Here are two of our favorites:
Siete Grain Free Tortilla Chips w/ Salsa
Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter on a rice cake
2. Meal prepping in the van for the first time
Since moving back into the van (after a month in the shop for repairs), we’ve been trying to adopt a routine with more time to cook wholesome gluten-free meals. This week marks the first time we batch cooked and we’re eating well as a result!
Truthfully, I’m not a fan of meal prep, but this system produced 7 Savory Italian Wraps (still not sure what to call them, but they are delicious) in 45 minutes. Needless to say, we ate well for the next two days as a result!
The filling recipe is not on the blog yet, but here’s the recipe for the Tapioca Crepes we made.
3. Reconnecting with my favorite stress-relieving tool -- Audible
Sometimes I forget that Celiac Disease is a chronic illness… at least until I hit some serious stress. Stress can cause autoimmune diseases to flare and I also tend to eat more packaged foods to save time.
Let me fill you in without going into the details too much -- our NEW to us camper van broke down and needed a new engine 20 days after we purchased it and 20 minutes after we were rear-ended. Lemon Laws protect new car buyers from major repairs needed in the first month and technically the seller could be liable, except the accident just prior complicated the whole matter. The current update is that insurance may not cover any damages because there is some uncertainty as to whether or not they are accident related. It’s a mess and takes a ton of time to sort -- hence the stress.
Having someone read your favorite book to you while you lie in bed with your eyes closed is as good as it gets for me when it comes to stress relief! And living with a chronic illness makes stress management especially important because it can trigger symptoms.
Audible is a tool that completely changed my life in many ways, and I'll share more about it another time. But for now, I’m re-listening to The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, and I highly recommend this book if you enjoy travel and thought-provoking adventure.
Try Audible for yourself -- Click the link below to get a free 30-day trial with 2 free audiobooks:
Audible Free Trial: 30 days + 2 FREE audiobooks
Gluten Free Losses
1. Eating too many processed foods.
Prior to the meal prep and a few healthy food runs, I was eating too many snack foods and processed gluten-free products. I normally make most of my food from scratch but I can get carried away when I find old favorites or am feeling overwhelmed.
The result: itchy skin, headaches, bloating, and fatigue mainly.
2. Trying to avoid a grocery run and making the grossest thing I’ve ever cooked.
With adjusting to new routines and getting back into blogging after a short hiatus, I tried to pull together some things in the van that should never have been pulled together.
Lentils, miso, dehydrated soup veggies, & carrots. EW.
I can't believe I'm sharing this photo with you!
3. Not managing my stress earlier, before I started noticing gut symptoms and headaches.
For me, doing a little self-care or stress relieving activities every day is what keeps me going strong! This week I managed to convince myself it could wait a few days because I wanted to prioritize some other activities.
It took a good couple of hours of listening to Audible Audiobooks to regain my cool and get focused again.
Tell me: what were your Gluten-Free Wins and Losses this week & do you like our new feature?
Hungry for more?
Check these out--
Thanks for stopping by!
❤︎ Jamie
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Katerina
I love this new feature, Jamie! And I love finding more about you - I am glad you shared the photo of "the grossest thing you've ever cooked" as you so fondly called it. I think these experiences teach us something and make us strive to do better next time, which is not a bad thing. Your trip sounds amazing!
Celiac Sojourness
Thank you Katerina! I am so glad you liked it, and that I didn't scare you off with my bowl of weirdness (lol!). I absolutely agree that these experiences are excellent learning opportunities 🙂