For me, gluten-free is the way to be

Corny title, I know, but it got your attention.  So, now that I have your attention, I'll tell you about how I arrived at this place of being gluten-free and how it has been so far.

As you may have read in my first blog, "My fertility journey became a journey into the green revolution" I had been gluten-free while trying to conceive my first child, April, seven years ago.   After I became pregnant, someone asked me if I would stay gluten-free, and I said no.  It was too hard to find a variety of good gluten-free products.  Plus, I'm Italian and we love our pasta.  Well, fast forward seven years and gluten-free  food products are not hard to find.

In the last year or so, I have been trying to find ways to calm down.  I'm raising two young children who are six and three years old.  Clearly, they can be trying at times but, for the most part, they are great kids.  However, there had been times when I became upset with them over the "little things."  When I would think about how I reacted later, I would become upset with myself that I had been so harsh. Once I became gluten-free, the answer to calming down became clear.

Becoming gluten-free happened by accident.  Almost two months ago, I made my very first smoothie for breakfast.  Since I had a pineapple in the house, I decided to try a pineapple-carrot smoothie recipe that I had pinned (Pinterest is great! My Fertile Lifestyle has some boards which include this recipe as well.  Check out the boards.)  It was fabulous and so easy.  I wondered why I hadn't thought about having a smoothie for breakfast sooner.  Mornings were so chaotic, trying to get two children off to school at different times.   Who had time for breakfast?  I realized that smoothies were a healthy breakfast that I could take with me, i.e., from room to room, in the car, etc. They were better than the piece of toast I forced myself to eat, just to avoid low blood sugars from not eating since the night before.

Several days later I thought to myself, "wait a minute, when was the last time you had a piece of bread or some pasta, or any other food with gluten in it?"  I realized that I had been relatively calm with my kids for several days.  My blood sugars seemed to be more level, rather than dropping so low that I became MEAN, MONSTER MOMMY!  Don't get me wrong, there have been times since I have become gluten-free that Mean, Monster Mommy has surfaced.  The difference now is that I am yelling less.

I have been gluten-free for about almost two months now.  I don't think it is as hard as people think it is. With all the gluten-free products on the market, there is more choice. It means eating more organic fruits, vegetables and meats. For pasta, I use a corn pasta from Trader Joe's.  Since I have been drinking smoothies in the morning, I don't eat breads.  And don't forget the 80/20 rule which says that if you are in a place that doesn't serve gluten-free, eat as best as you can.  Gluten-free living should not stress you out.

I recently learned that not all gluten-free foods are the same.  Check the package and if it doesn't list a whole grain, such as brown rice flour, as the first ingredient, move on to the next package.  For more info, go to this link, that I also posted on My Fertile Lifestyle's Facebook page:  Seven Foods You Think Are Healthy But Aren't.

This is not something I am recommending for everyone.  It is certainly something that you have to think about and decide for yourself.  It could be that you start it, drop it and then come back to it later, as I did. It's your journey in life.  I'm letting you know what is working for me and my fertile lifestyle.

If you have any questions, feel free to go to My Fertile Lifestyle's Facebook page and post them there. I'd love to hear from you if you have decided to try a gluten-free lifestyle.  I will also be pinning some gluten-free recipes onto My Fertile Lifestyle's Pinterest boards.

Here is a related article about cross-reacting which is when the body reacts to a food that it thinks is gluten but is actually not:

1. Are You Not Healing Because Your Body Thinks Coffee, Chocolate & Cheese Are Gluten?

Coconut oil is my new best friend

Recently I discovered the wonders of coconut oil. Have you heard about it?  It’s my new go-to product in my fertile lifestyle.    

One day I had mentioned to a friend that I was going to start using coconut oil for cooking.  She said that she was also using it as a moisturizer.  So I took a look at what the Internet had to say about that.  I found there were so many uses for it.  I started using it as a foot cream, twice a day, in the morning after my shower and at night, before bed.  I would put socks on over my feet and wake up with oh, so soft feet.  And it was during the summer when you want your feet to look their best because you are wearing all of those cute sandals and flip flops.  My feet have never looked so good in the summer.  It was like having a great pedicure every day! 

Next I decided to try coconut oil on my face since I am now in my mid-40s.  I was starting to see those wonderful (said sarcastically) lines around my mouth and eyes.  Again, you want to use it twice a day.  Most days I use it alone but on the days that you are going to use it under your make-up, I suggest waiting an hour for it to soak into your skin.  I won’t lie.  It is a little greasy.  But if you let it soak into the skin, the foundation goes on smoothly.  And another tip for you is that if you are in your 40s, throw out the powder that goes over the foundation.  It gets caught in the lines and shows them even more.  Who needs that?  Between the coconut oil and the two bottles of lemon water that I drink a day, my lines have faded, even the ones on my forehead, if ever so slightly but I'll take it.    

Recently, I started using coconut oil as a styling product in my hair.  Since I have very curly hair, I have to use something so that it doesn’t look frizzy.  Not only does my hair not look frizzy, it is so soft to touch.  If you must know, I keep a jar of coconut oil in my bathroom with a spoon.  I scoop a little out for my feet, my face and now my hair.  What a versatile product coconut oil is.  Who knew? 

The best part of using coconut oil is that a 16 oz. jar from Trader Joe’s is $5.99.  Oh, and did I mention it is organic?  Where are you going to find a 16 oz. organic moisturizer for $6?  It makes me happy to put something on my skin that is not full of chemicals that I can’t pronounce.  Do you know how many ingredients are in an organic jar of coconut oil?  One: coconut!   Happy shopping!