Many of you have been following my journey to eat healthier in order to feel better. I’ve been battling digestive and health issues for a while and after some research and conversations with people who have already taken the plunge, I’ve decided to go gluten-free/paleo.
What is a gluten-free diet? It is a diet free of gluten, which is a protein mixture most often found in wheat and soy products. Many people who follow a gluten-free diet do so because of an allergy to products containing gluten (celiacs disease). I am not allergic to gluten, but I have been tracking my reactions to removing it from my diet and only a month in I’m noticing major differences for the better. I feel less bloated, less side pain, and my skin is clearing.
What is a paleo diet? The paleo diet gets its name from the paleolithic era of history. This is the period where cavemen walked the earth and without modern preservatives and food processing. They were confined to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and diet. The paleo diet mimics the diet of those early cavemen. The focus is to eat things that come naturally from the Earth such as meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. (It is important to note that eating gluten-free is also part of the paleo diet as grains and gluten didn’t enter the human diet until after the birth of agriculture, thousands of years after the paleolithic era.)
At first glance, it may seem like a highly restrictive diet, however, I have been successfully tracking what I eat and I’ve still been able to keep up a lifestyle where I go out to eat once a week or so with my family. I’ve also been cooking meals compliant with the diets that my four year old daughter is eating up as well. It’s not been impossible, the biggest difference is the aisles of the grocery store that I now avoid.
Being new to this process, I’ve been depending a lot on the wisdom and recipes of others. I’ve been gathering some of my go-to resources and I wanted to share those with you. Whether you are gluten-free, paleo, or just on the road to finding healthier recipes, I hope you will check out these resources!
1. Pinterest
Follow my new Pinterest board Gluten-free, Paleo, and Whole30. I’ve been pinning and trying recipes I’ve found on here like crazy. Most recently, I have made the Sausage Pizza Egg Muffins. They were absolutely delicious and my hubby and daughter have helped me eat them. I baked them on a Sunday and froze them for the week ahead. Each morning I grab one and reheat it for 1 minute. They are delicious!
2. Elana’s Pantry
Elana’s Pantry is a blog written by a woman who is using her diet to manage celiacs disease and MS. Elana shows how you can still enjoy confectionery delights with the use of products like almond flour despite a gluten-free diet. She is a New York Times bestseller with several published cookbooks as well.
3. Whole30
The Whole30 diet is a more extreme version of the paleo diet. The Whole30 is a program written by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig which is centered on the principles of cutting irritants out of your diet through a 30 day cleanse. During the 30 days you are to cut out things like dairy, fats, grains, and nuts. After the 30 days you reintroduce foods slowly and track your reaction. I read their book It All Starts with Food and now know that this diet is very scientific. I’m not sure that I will ever do an official Whole30 because it seems a bit extreme and hard to implement with a family, but I like the concept of the program, I learned a lot from their research, and I’ve used several recipes from their book.
4. Gluten Free Girl
The website, Gluten Free Girl, is written by Shauna James Ahern and her husband, Daniel. Shauna is a diagnosed celiacs sufferer and her husband is a chef. Over the years they have worked together to create recipes healthy for Shauna and others who experience the extreme allergy to gluten. I have loved their tips for those new to gluten-free. They also offer an extensive list of gluten-free recipes that range from entrees to baked desserts. You can even purchase their own brand of gluten-free all purpose flour.
5. Gluten Free Blogger
The Gluten Free Blogger is another go-to for me as the author, Sarah, is a British blogger from North Devon, UK. On her site she not only gives recipes (in UK measurements it’s important to note), but she also provides resources on places to eat out, product reviews from British supermarkets, and discusses her healthy appetite for exercise. Although I don’t live in England, I spend a considerable amount of time in England every year visiting my husband’s family and friends. This site not only helps me while in the US, but gives me hope that while I’m overseas I will still be able to eat according to my health plan.
If you have your own resources for maintaining a healthy diet plan I would love for you to share them. I’m a big blog reader and I appreciate cookbooks. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms I had prior to changing my diet I hope you will consider returning to the foods that are proven to curb those ailments. I’ve been enjoying this education process and the results of cutting gluten from my diet entirely. Please feel free to respond with questions or tips for a newbie to the world of gluten-free/paleo!
The Ameri Brit Mom
*all links on this page are non-affiliate and based only on my positive experiences with these resources.
The Ameri Brit Mom 