My journey began when I was in university struggling with the worst stomach aches, constant abdominal discomfort and terrible adult-onset acne. I would go to the doctors and they suggested that I take prescribed medications to make the pain subside. I did this for a little while, but I was never good at taking medications so I decided to discontinue them and try to just avoid foods that made me feel sick. This left me eliminating so many foods, feeling very restricted and in the end, did more harm for my physical and mental wellbeing than good. 

My grandmother had stomach issues in her later years and was seeing a gastroenterologist at the time, so my mother suggested I consult with him about my issues.  A biopsy concluded that I had celiac disease and was just told to avoid gluten and continue on with my life. Looking back I could not believe I was not given more support in going gluten free. I had no idea that so many foods contain gluten, and going gluten free was much more than avoiding breads and pasta.  I find one of the biggest misconceptions about going gluten-free is that everyone assumes you cannot eat carbs ( aka breads and pastas) which is far from the truth as we know carbs are in many foods, even vegetables! Gluten-free diet is much more than staying away from “carbs”. Infact, after my diagnosis I just replaced all the comfort foods and snacks I could no longer eat with “gluten free” versions from the store. I ended up gaining 15 lbs because of all the excess food I was eating in order to live as normal of a life as I could without feeling left out or deprived of the foods I loved. My symptoms got even worse, Not to mention the grocery bills became outrageous!