Living with Celiac Disease: Does it get Easier? Ep. 165

Can living with celiac disease become second nature, just like learning to drive? Join me as I explore the early challenges and eventual ease that comes with mastering a gluten-free lifestyle. Through relatable analogies and personal experiences, I aim to provide you with the confidence and skills needed to make everyday activities—like ordering gluten-free meals or reading food labels—less daunting and more manageable.

Hear an inspiring review from a listener who found solace and positivity through our shared journey, reminding us all of the importance of community and support.

In the second half of the episode, I shift focus to proactive measures that can significantly enhance your well-being when living with celiac disease. I stress the importance of standing up for oneself and provide practical advice that can lead to substantial improvements.

I promise that by integrating these steps, the path to living with celiac disease can become not just manageable but also deeply rewarding. Tune in next week for even more insights and support as we continue this journey together.

For those looking for more in-depth resources, be sure to visit the links below.

Find out how Ultimate Celiac System can support your Celiac journey here
https://belindawhelantraining.com/ultimate-celiac-system

Wish you could get gluten free meals on the table fast that the whole family will love? Check out Meal Plans Made Easy
https://belindawhelantraining.com/gluten-free-meal-plans-made-easy

Check out my Daily Health Tracker here
HEALTH TRACKER | The Healthy Celiac (belindawhelan.com)

So happy to be featured in Feedspots Top 10 Celiac Disease Podcasts
https://blog.feedspot.com/celiac_disease_podcasts/

And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthyceliac

If you have a spare moment, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review. Thank you!



Music Credit bensound.com 

Chapters

• 0:00 Living With Celiac Disease Gets Easier
• 12:46 Navigating the Celiac Disease Journey

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Welcome back to this week's episode of the show. On today's episode, I am covering off something that's come up quite a bit recently in a few of the celiac and gluten-free Facebook groups that I'm in and I'm guilty of saying this all the time, and I wanted to clarify where this is coming from. Now, what I've been noticing is so many people in these groups asking if it gets easier living with celiac disease or if it gets easier eating gluten-free, and I have always said on my show that it gets easier. I truly believe it gets easier. So a lot of people responded to these comments and were saying it doesn't get easier and you know, you just get used to it and it's still hard and I've been living with celiac disease for however long, and it's still hard and I hate it, blah, blah, blah. So I wanted to share some insights on this topic with you today to help you see that it truly does get easier and how it can get easier for you. So if you're quite early on in your celiac journey, this will give you hope, but if you are years on in your journey and you still feel like it's hard, these steps might just help you as well.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Before we dive into today's episode. I just wanted to read a review that I received on the podcast. So massive shout out to Yoga with Chantel for sending through this podcast review. I absolutely love this podcast. I've binged listened to it when I found it and I've learned so so much. I'm so grateful to Belinda for sharing her time and knowledge to help other celiacs the perfect podcast for celiacs or those with non-celiac sensitivity. There is so much information and I love the holistic approach as well as learning about health and beneficial food for the body. Keep spreading the positivity, belinda. So thank you so much, chantel, for that beautiful review. I so appreciate it and that is exactly why I do what I do, because I just love being able to help more and more people. So if you haven't left a review yet and you'd like to, you will truly make my day. Words of Affirmation is one of my main love languages, so you are talking straight to my soul and my heart when you give me positive feedback. So all you have to do is go to Apple Podcast podcast, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the Healthy Celiac podcast and you can leave a review in there and I'll read it on a future episode. So thank you so much. All right, so let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 3:00

So, when you think about things that get easier, this is a really great way to think about it. So if you are a driver, if you drive a vehicle, you will remember when you first started driving. Okay, so my daughter is almost 17. So here in Australia we have what's called L plates and P plates. So she's currently on her L plates, which are learners, and she was able to get them at 16 and she's almost 17. And then she'll be able to be on her P's, which are probationary license. And when she first started, she basically had no idea what she was doing, and I was exactly the same all those years ago.

Speaker 1: 3:41

So what happens is you get into a car and you have to think about absolutely everything, don't you? You have to think about where your foot's going, where your hands are going. You've got to think about absolutely everything, don't you? You have to think about where your foot's going, where your hands are going, you've got to think about your mirrors. You've got to be looking in all directions. You are constantly thinking about every single thing.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So when you're in this state, you are unconsciously incompetent, which meant that you could get in that car, consciously incompetent, which meant that you could get in that car but you didn't know what you had to do. You were still learning all the levers and the brakes and the clutch If you were driving with a clutch, every single thing you didn't have an awareness of what you had to do yet. And then, as the time went on, you became consciously incompetent. So you knew that you weren't very good at driving and you knew that there were all these things that you had to be aware of. And then, as time goes on, you became consciously competent. So this may have taken you longer than some other people, but you would have been able to get into a car and drive it and you were quite good at driving and following the road rules and doing what you need to do to drive that vehicle safely. Now you may get into a car now and you might be driving along and you can get home and be like I don't even remember driving home. Did I go through a red light? Did I give way to that? Like, how did I even get home? Because you're so unconsciously competent that you haven't even thought about it. It's just become ingrained in you. You do it so easily and so well. You can change the radio station, you can be yelling at the kids in the backseat. You can do all of these things very easily because you've done it so many times, and this is exactly the same as living with celiac disease. I'm not even joking.

Speaker 1: 5:41

My journey has been going on now for 15 years. In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to confidently order meals out. I had no idea how to read labels. I was very aware that I read labels. I was very aware that I was struggling. I was very aware that I didn't know what I was doing, whereas now I do things and I don't even think about it. It is second nature to me, and I've only got to this place because I have made sure that I've learned every single thing that I needed to learn to be able to be thriving with celiac disease and to make it easier on myself. Now there are certain aspects of living with celiac disease that certainly make it a lot easier.

Speaker 1: 6:30

One of those things is that knowledge. Absolutely Having that knowledge, knowing what you're doing, is key. It is absolutely key. Another factor is your village, the people around you, whether they're people that you live with your support system, whether that's your friends, your family or whether it's your village online. Surround your people that support you. Surround yourself with those people, because so many people are putting up with unacceptable behavior, and that is what it is. I am a big believer in you. Teach people how to treat you. What you put up with is what is going to happen for you. So if you allow people to disrespect you, you need to speak up for yourself. That's as simple as it is, and I know that sounds hard. That can be really terrifying for some people, but sometimes it just has to be done.

Speaker 1: 7:35

If you have people in your life that disrespect you, that don't respect your boundaries, then you can't just sit back and expect things to change. You need to voice these concerns. Some people need to go to counselling. Some people need extra support. Some people will need to take their partner along to their appointment so that they understand just how serious living with celiac disease is and the fact that you cannot have one crumb in your body. You cannot allow any amount of gluten in your life.

Speaker 1: 8:11

So if that's you and you don't have a supportive partner, I urge you to get support with that and help them come along with you on the journey, because life is too short to allow that person in your life to disrespect you. That person is meant to love you and support you and be there with you through thick and thin and this is definitely the thick of it. And when you have that person to support you, then that is just a game changer, and I honestly believe that some people's true colors really do come out when they are faced with adversity. And if your partner is not supporting you, then you have some choices to make and some decisions to make around what you will allow and what you will tolerate and put up with, because, like I say, life is very short, but when you have that person to support you, life can be completely different and truly, truly wonderful. So definitely something to think about there. Please reach out to me if I'm hitting any like nerves on that one and you need some guidance on that. I'm more than happy to have a chat with you over on Instagram. You can just send me a DM over at the Healthy Celiac and we can have a chat and I can give you some resources and help you with that further.

Speaker 1: 9:30

So, having said all of that, the more we do things. So the more that we say go and eat out, the more that we go shopping and read labels, the more that we talk to other people about what's going on in our lives, the easier it gets. I see people that put up with mismanagement at their workplace. So people you know they go to a job and they're upset that they get excluded when there's events and you know HR doesn't organize gluten-free food for them. There are ways around that. You know you are covered by disability acts, depending on which country you are in. Most countries have got a disability act in place and, yes, you are covered with celiac disease to ensure that you are not mistreated in your workplace and excluded. So if that's something that you would like more information on, I can point you in the right direction of how to get guidance on that as well. But you are protected and it's about learning how to stand up for yourself and having that confidence and having those boundaries in place, because I am not even joking with you it does get easier when these things happen.

Speaker 1: 10:46

If you are timid and you don't like you know facing people and you don't like sticking up for yourself, then that's a different kettle of fish, that's. You know that's a little bit harder to move forward if you're not willing to make that change, because you need to be willing to stand up for yourself and put those steps into place so that you are safe, that you are loved, that you are nurtured and you are kept safe and healthy, because, at the end of the day, your health is the most important thing. Your health is not just what's going on in your gut and all of the things that happen from having gluten. It's also your mindset. Your mindset is very, very important and the more positive you can be, the better the outlook on how you live your life, the better you will feel. And it has this beautiful flow on effect for everything that you do that if you can be more positive and feel better about everything, you will have such a different spring in your step. When you go to eat out, when you go and visit friends, when you catch up with people, when you have, you know your family members or your roommates in your house, you will teach them what to do. You will teach them how to treat you and how to respect you. It is a game changer. Let me tell you Now all of this is what is a big focus in my program, ultimate Celiac System.

Speaker 1: 12:17

I teach this in depth and how to get people to treat you. So if you want to look into that, please make sure you have a look at Ultimate Celiac System and see if that might be an option for you and help you get the guidance and the support that you need. There's currently an amazing promo where you get Voxer access with me, which is eight weeks of messaging access. So it's like having me in your back promo where you get Voxer access with me, which is eight weeks of messaging access. So it's like having me in your back pocket where you can send me a message and I'll respond to you personally. So if that's something that interests you, please check it out.

Speaker 1: 12:47

Ultimate Celiac System You'll find all the details over on my website, belindawilliamcom, and I'll pop a link to that in the show notes as well, but otherwise, I hope this helps. You see that living with celiac disease definitely gets easier. It is a journey. Yes, like many things, it is a journey, but it does get easier, and I promise you that when you put these steps into place and you stand up for yourself, it will get easier and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel so much better on the other side. So, and feel so much better on the other side. So thank you so much for listening and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Take care, bye.