I promise this isn’t going to turn into a blog where all I talk about is going gluten-free and celiac. This blog will always be about staying healthy when you have a busy life—but for me, that will probably mean staying away from gluten.

Last night, I laid in bed and thought about the foods I wanted to eat before I gave up gluten for good. Chicken nuggets from McDonald’s (yup.), some more pasta, mozzarella sticks (can’t have anything breaded), and a bagel all topped my list.

This morning, I woke up, got on the bike and realized that I’ve been not feeling well for a while. I can change how I feel just by changing how I eat. It’s not worth it to me to feel awful again to be able to enjoy some foods for a few minutes. So today, I truly start my gluten-free journey—which will include some bumps in the road as I find out what makes me feel good and what doesn’t.

Last night, still tired from my procedure, I ordered sushi:

Technically, the tempura on the sweet potato roll and the crunchy spicy salmon roll are off-limits. (As is traditional soy sauce, apparently—I need to use tamari instead.) But I’m learning.

This morning, running late, I decided to get an omelette, since I can’t zip into Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts any more for a quick breakfast.

I’m trying to remember that I will feel better soon, and that it’s worth it, and there are plenty of tasty foods out there without gluten—many of which I haven’t tried yet! My new favorite food could be out there!

Also, a gluten-free/low-gluten lifestyle is how I started this journey. And my stomach issues totally went away then. It’s when I reached my goal weight and started trying to reintroduce bread/grains/gluten in moderation that I started feeling crappy again.