The Healthy Celiac Podcast

From Disappointment to Empowerment: Setting Yourself up for Success with Celiac Disease Ep. 176

• Belinda Whelan • Season 1 • Episode 176

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In today's episode I discuss how to handle the emotional challenges of missing out on social activities and favorite foods, and why educating friends and family is crucial for greater inclusion and understanding. Find out how a supportive environment can make adhering to a gluten-free lifestyle not just doable, but fulfilling.

Discover the physical and emotional impacts of consuming gluten for those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, and why a strict gluten-free diet is non-negotiable for long-term health. 

Through personal stories, learn about the importance of maintaining a positive outlook and how it can lead to better health and well-being. 

You'll hear practical advice on managing social situations, finding gluten-free alternatives, and shifting your mindset to view a celiac diagnosis as a gateway to a richer, healthier life. 

Tune in for an empowering discussion filled with insights and inspiration on living your best gluten-free life.

Previous Episodes mentioned:

Ep. 167 https://thehealthyceliacpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1720208/15377702-the-real-costs-of-gluten-free-food-aka-gluten-tax-an-interview-with-stacey-dadd-ep-167

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

Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here https://www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes

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

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 

Speaker 1:

Is living with celiac disease and facing a life of living with gluten-free, setting us up for disappointment. That's a question that I want to answer on today's episode. Now, the reason that I want to talk about this is because this week on Instagram, I shared a very short snippet of another video that I'd filmed, and in that video, I was talking about how we've set up our kitchen so that my son can access gluten-free food very easily. Everything is labeled in little bins and he can find what he needs very easily. And someone commented on that video and made it out like I was doing my son a disservice by doing this, because he should be able to read his own labels and he should be, you know, doing all these things for himself. That I need to set him up for a life of disappointment, and I just thought, wow, that's a really harsh and negative way of looking at it. And I guess the way I look at doing this for my son is so that he can have a safe place at home and he can feel that he isn't disappointed, he can feel that he's included, and that's what kind of spurred on this episode today. So I wanted to talk about some of the things that, yes, we possibly do face disappointment in life with living with celiac disease and having to eat gluten-free, but how we can lower that disappointment and how we can set ourselves up for success or our children up for success if they are having to live gluten-free.

Speaker 1:

Because I think in life, disappointment is part of life. It is part of living as a human being. We get disappointed constantly and, yes, there are times when I do feel disappointed. I feel a little bit envious when people in my family can eat things that I can't eat and it does feel disappointing. But then I kind of can switch from that very quickly because I realize the benefits of eating gluten-free and that far outweighs any jealousy or disappointment that I feel from not eating those foods that my family members may be eating at that point in time. So that leads me to the first one, and that's missing out. So, yes, we miss out on so many things. There's so many factors of living with celiac disease where we do miss out. We miss out on opportunities of maybe eating out with family and friends. We miss out on eating certain favorite foods that we maybe once really enjoyed and we no longer can, certain favorite foods that we maybe once really enjoyed and we no longer can. So it's about flicking that switch and thinking okay, yes, I am missing out on these opportunities, but what are some other food options that I could have in place of those things that I'm missing? Or how could I educate my friends and family so that they do include me and that I am being part of that social circle? And I'm not missing out? Because from my experience, from what I've seen in my social circle and the social circles of my students, is once you educate the people that are closest to you and you tell them what your needs are, you are going to be included. If they are your true friends, they will include you.

Speaker 1:

I never feel disappointment going to my friends' houses. We have one couple. I've talked about them on the show numerous times. I am not even joking you. I could rock up to their house late on a Saturday night and they would, at the drop of their hat, say, hey, do you guys want to stay for tea? And they would be able to make a gluten-free meal like that, no problems whatsoever. And it's because we've taught them what they need to do to keep us safe and what is included in a gluten-free diet. They totally understand ins and outs of it. They even understand the serving practices. They understand the preparation practices of making a gluten-free meal. You know there's certain people that I couldn't do that with. You know, if I'd made a new friend and they invited me for a meal that night, it probably wouldn't be that simple. But when you have those close people in your life that you can educate and you can teach them these steps, then you aren't missing out. You're not missing out on that socialness. So think about those people in your life that maybe you are feeling like you're missing out on these situations. Could you just take the time to educate them a little bit, whether that's sending them some information or sitting down and having a conversation with those friends or family members.

Speaker 1:

Now, another thing that certainly does cause disappointment living with celiac disease and having to eat gluten-free are limited options. I'm not going to lie. There are limited options when it comes to eating are limited options when it comes to eating. But having said that, there are so many gluten-free options available to us and when I talk about gluten-free options, as a certified holistic health coach, I am very, very passionate about healthy food. It's like the be-all and end-all for me. I still eat treats. I still eat processed foods every now and again. When we look at real foods, there are endless opportunities for different meals and recipes and different ways of cooking and enjoying food. So we can think that maybe we are limited in our options. But then we can also look at the positive and go, wow, there are actually so many options available to us as well.

Speaker 1:

Now, cost can be a factor that disappoints a lot of people. My mom and I were at the shops today. She wanted to buy some crackers and here in Australia we have a brand called Arnott's which make crackers and biscuits and one of the biggest companies in Australia that produces these types of products, and they make a product called Shapes and they're basically a little flavoured cracker and they've been around ever since I was a child and they were on special. So she grabbed a box for my stepdad, for her husband, and they were $2. And then the gluten-free packet was $5.50. So she grabbed one of those for herself and the normal one, and the price difference can be very disappointing and it can be very frustrating. But we need to look at it in another way and I have talked about this on an episode where I did an interview with an amazing lady from WA who has a business, and she talks about the high cost of the ingredients of gluten-free. So I will pop a link to that episode if you'd like to go. Check that one out as well, because it does explain why we do pay more for our gluten-free food and it does really help you shift your thought process from feeling disappointed and feeling like you're maybe being ripped off to kind of getting it and feeling that, yes, it makes sense why we do pay more. It's okay to feel annoyed, it's okay to feel disappointed, but it's good to have an understanding of why we actually do pay more for gluten-free foods.

Speaker 1:

Now, another disappointment could be the health problems that you face from gluten. There are risks of consuming gluten, so it's important to cut out a hundred percent gluten like from your diet. You do not want to be consuming any gluten. So you do have those health implications if you do consume gluten and that can be very disappointing. That can be very disheartening to think. You know, I can't eat this way anymore, I can't have these foods, and I feel annoyed because if I do, I'm going to feel this way. I'm going to have, you know, a sore tummy, I'm going to have brain fog, I'm going to have sore joints, I'm going to get skin conditions. There is a big disappointment in that, but then the flip side of that is the positive of how good you can feel without gluten. The flip side of that is the positive of how good you can feel without gluten. And when we look at some studies that have looked at people with celiac disease and one in five people with celiac disease are eating so much gluten over the threshold of what's safe are these people doing it on purpose or are they doing it because they're uneducated and they don't understand the ramifications of eating gluten on you know when you should be eating a gluten-free diet with celiac disease.

Speaker 1:

So you know, think about the the positive side of eating gluten-free and how much better that makes you feel and the long-term investment in your health. Because that's the way I look at it, I would never, ever have a cheap day. I would never succumb to a chocolate donut, which is the thing that I miss the most, which is just insane, like it's. You know, it's just a chocolate donut, but that is the one thing that I truly miss, because I haven't been able to find a decent gluten-free version of my favorite childhood treat, a decent gluten-free version of my favorite childhood treat. So it wouldn't be worth it for me to indulge in something like that, because the side effects would be astronomical and the further implications down the track if I continue to do that would not be worth it for my health. So how can we avoid disappointment in our lives? How can we set ourselves up for success, for a positive future, for a positive life right now and a very healthy future?

Speaker 1:

It's about having options. It's about making sure that when you do want to have something that you're missing out on, have an alternative version of it, have something that fills that void, if that is what is going to make you feel better. Because if you have a child, for example, and they go trick-or-treating in October and they come home with all this candy, all these lollies and they can't consume any of it, that is going to be disappointing, that is going to be very hard on that child. Whereas if you have some options where you can swap out those treats for your child and give them gluten-free versions in exchange for what they may have been handed out, that's going to ease so much of that burden so that child shouldn't have to feel like they're missing out. It shouldn't be a flat no, you can't eat that. No, that one's. No, that one's not gluten-free. It can be a simple hey, here we go, we've got some gluten-free options, let's go through your bag of goodies and see what we can swap out. Maybe your siblings can have these other things that you got and it's not such an awful experience for that child living with celiac disease or having to eat gluten-free.

Speaker 1:

I've spoken about my son on a previous episode when he went trick-or-treating and he very cutely said to all of these people no, I can't eat that, is that gluten-free? No, I can't have that. And it was just so sweet and it was such a learning curve for me because it was the first time he'd been trick-or-treating since he got diagnosed with non-celiac gluten sensitivity and we didn't even really kind of prepare for it. It was just like we'll just deal with it when it come. When it came, and you know he was fine about it. But as the years have gone on I have been much more switched on to his level of disappointment and feeling a bit left out. So I have had options there for him to swap out and when he's been with his sisters trick or treating. They're really great because they swap with him what they've got and they do little trades and work out what's safe for him that he can have from their piles and things like that. So we can have options for our kiddos.

Speaker 1:

And this plays out in the classroom as well. In my youngest daughter's and my son's school, it's a big thing to hand out treats when it's a kid's birthday. So they've just recently stopped this because of all the numerous allergies and intolerances and things like that. In the school it's no longer allowed. But a few months ago it was still allowed and what would happen was, you know, a kid would go to school and it was their birthday and they would hand out, say, a cupcake to everyone in their class and of course my son would be like, can't eat that, sorry, thanks, but you know, and he'd feel sad, or you know, he would meet me at his sister's classroom and she would have been given a treat that she can consume, because she's lucky and can eat anything these days, and he would feel, you know, left out.

Speaker 1:

So there's another level of disappointment. It's just part of life. We. We miss out on so many things. She's the same. She doesn't have celiac disease, she doesn't have to miss out on gluten, but she still feels jealous when he might get given a treat from someone in his class that he can consume. So there's that level of disappointment. No matter what. You know, we we do go through life where we feel this disappointment and we miss out on things. So it's just, it's just part of it.

Speaker 1:

But when it comes to our kids and it comes to not feeling disappointed all the time and every single day, it's acknowledging your needs, it's making sure that you have a safe space at home where you can completely let your hair down. I would hate for my son to feel like every time he comes home he has to be like freaked out, that he's going to get sick from gluten or that there's not safe options for him. I would never have thought all the treats or all the snacks in the cupboard for the girls and nothing for him. I'm very aware that I need to have options for my very hungry child, who eats all the time, and it's just a way of making sure that when he is home he can get his safe options and he can feel included as part of our family, and food plays such a huge role in the way we feel within our lives. When we have food, we feel safe, don't we? It's one of our top human needs. We need food to survive, and when we have safe options available to us that our family provides, then we feel safe.

Speaker 1:

So have a look at what's going on in your life where you do feel disappointed. Are there people within your family unit or within your home environment that are disappointing you on a daily basis? It is no way to live. It is not normal to feel scared in your own home. It's not normal to feel worried that people in your workplace are not keeping you safe. There are so many ways to keep yourself safe living with celiac disease and having to eat gluten-free. So look at the things that are happening for you in your life. Look at some alternatives and some strategies, some ways that you can make sure that you are kept safe in those environments. You may feel a disappointment within yourself.

Speaker 1:

I also shared recently an amazing little snack bag that I was sent from Simi the Celiac and it's so cute. It's a little zip bag, it's almost like a pencil case and it's got emergency snacks on the front with a gluten-free symbol. And one way I keep myself safe is. I keep some snacks in there available. I grab it when I'm leaving the house if I know I'm going out for longer than an hour, and so many people shared that that is such a great idea.

Speaker 1:

I always go out and I'm hungry because I can't get food. You are disappointing yourself if you're not setting yourself up for success. So make sure that you've got strategies in place so that you don't go hungry or that you're missing out on food. You know there are so many ways around this and there are so many ways to live our lives to its fullest and I absolutely love, love, love helping people with this.

Speaker 1:

So thank you so much for listening to today's episode. I hope some of this has resonated with you and can give you some strategies to move forward and deal with living with celiac disease in a bit of an easier light, because at the end of the day, I look at this as a positive. I know so many other people do. You may still be feeling pretty crappy or pretty negative towards living with celiac disease, but the quicker you can get to that point of feeling positive around it and feeling grateful that you've got a diagnosis and you do have answers for moving forward, the quicker you will feel better and enjoy your life. So thank you so much for listening, thanks for tuning in again to this episode and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Have a great week. I'll talk to you then, take care, bye.

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Belinda Whelan

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