The Gluten-Free Dom

I’ve struggled with food a long time. I’ve gone through periods of eating hardly anything to eating like food might go extinct in the next 24 hours. I feel like that’s an unfortunate part of growing up in today’s society. However, I can honestly say I have (actively) laid that part of my life to rest. I love food and when I eat clean, I feel that it gives back to me in a sort of mutual “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” kinda way.

Now, bring up food amongst a group of people and the conversation can go either of two ways. The first is the food-centric retelling of great meals, fantastic restaurants or memorable moments that just so happened to occur with a knife and fork in hand. The other way can get pretty volatile. Someone mentions they don’t eat meat, another person at the table disagrees with this lifestyle, feeling attacked for the personal choices they have made about what they choose to consume. Everyone thinks they are right, everyone thinks the world should adhere to their way of thinking and let’s face it, everyone not involved in the conversation is rolling their eyes so far back they look like the have been possessed.

I’m not declaring any way of eating to be superior. Not gluten-free, nor paleo, nor low carb, vegan or pescatarian; I have learnt my lesson about stating one to be better than the other. There are a few universal facts about nutrition that I believe anyone with an inkling of health awareness can agree upon. As Tarzan might word it, junk food bad, whole foods good. We got that part. Try not to subsist on overly processed crap. Check. The rest is where we meet a stalemate. So, in an effort to calm the stormy waters, I say, screw it all. What works for you? If you feel spry, full of life and can boast a clean bill of health, I think you must be doing something right. If a super low-carb diet keeps your engines running from dawn ‘til dusk then you’ve found your strong suit. But if you low-carb it and you wake up feeling like you have been trampled by a heard of pissed off elephants every morning than I hate to break it to you, that is not a lifestyle choice that will be sustainable- it might get easier, but I can bet you’d feel a helleva lot better with a little rice in your life.

I have played with this trial and error and have finally found what works best for me. I have energy, I don’t crave junk and if I do, I can eat a piece of cake, enjoy it and move on with my frickin’ life. I hope anyone who has ever had issues with food knows that things can get better, and when they do, they will feel like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders that no amount of dieting could ever achieve.