One of "those" people...

Sorry, it starts with an ad, and you need to be over 18 to view 'cause of the F-bomb, but look:

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, Mr. Mackey is the gluten free zealot, and Mr. Garrison is the "oh-shut-up-already" guy.

I used to be more like Mr. Garrison, not falling for fad diets or believing in easy fixes.  Now, I fear I sound like Mr. Mackey, and don't you just want to smack that guy?

As I've said, I had a few issues, mainly the joint pain, and had given up on finding a solution.

A friend told me that her joint pain was terrible before going GF.  Doctor visits saw no results.  Her story sounded so much like mine that I thought it was worth a try, at least.  No painful injections or expensive medications, just avoiding gluten.  How hard could it be?

Of course, I didn't start out with, "I'm gluten free and I feel fantastic."  I started with, "I'm gluten free and I'm STARVING!!"

It's a bigger change than I would've thought, cutting those delicious wheat carbs from my diet.

This isn't the kind of diet that you can cheat.  You can't be casually gluten-free and expect things to change.  I understood that.  I've given up a lot of foods I love, just to be rid of this agony.  I've been extremely careful, or at least tried to be.

There have been times, however, that I have not thought, "Oh, that may have gluten," because it was just something I never considered...like a flavored coffee.  The results of "getting glutened" that time were so miserable that I thought my appendix had ruptured.  I'll spare you the gory details.

I started the GF adventure in August.

The first thing I noticed, other than being constantly hungry, was that, three days into the diet, I got into the shower, glanced down, and realized there were bones in my feet.  I hadn't seen said bones for quite some time, thanks to the unexplained swelling that had given me feet Miss Piggy would be proud of.   Suddenly, it was gone.  Poof.  I had never once suspected gluten was the culprit in the swelling.  Now, I know when I've accidentally consumed gluten, because the swelling will come back for a few hours, sometimes longer depending on the amount.

Slowly, some of the joint pain vanished.  My shoulder stopped aching, but had been replaced by such a bad pain in my hip that I really didn't notice the shoulder was better.  I think part of the hip pain was caused by a pinched nerve in my back, but I don't know for sure.

Then, I realized just the other day that my hip had stopped hurting.  Just when I wondered if I would ever be pain-free again, if I was doomed to be in agony at a fairly young age.  I had found myself envious of anyone that could move around freely.

And now, five months into the diet, I feel almost myself again.  I can move!! I can bend!!!  I can climb stairs, and better yet, I can descend stairs without agony.  Those of you with hip or knee pain know what I'm talking about.

So, I hope you will all forgive me, now that I have become one of those people, talking about how great this diet is.  If it bothers you...well...it's probably the gluten, m'kay?