It is OKAY to get UPSET!

The best Mantra for me to get through rough times with my diet is: "IT IS OKAY TO GET UPSET"

There were many times in the beginning, and still to this day after it has almost been a year, when I feel like no one cares. Sometimes I felt like everyone around me blamed me for making their lives harder because they had to cook differently, or someone was coming to their party who couldn't eat what they planned. I felt like a big inconvenience. It hurts. Know that, accept that it is okay to be hurt by this.

At times I felt overwhelmed by everything, all of the label reading, double checking. Take one change at a time. I am living proof that this feeling goes away with time. I don't feel as overwhelmed anymore. When I do feel overwhelmed, I remember that it is okay to feel overwhelmed, I take a deep breath, and I say this is normal, what can I do to ease the overwhelmed feeling?

The hardest part for me was accepting that most people don't understand what I was going through. Most people have never gone through something like this. They assume you're making a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal. Or it feels like they think you want extra attention for it. For me, it was the opposite, at times where I got extra attention I just wanted it to go away. I got to the point of not wanting to eat at all if it meant extra attention and special treatment. You can't convince people to think or act another way. You can show them articles, send them websites, books and they may still reject it all.

IT IS OKAY TO GET UPSET

Having Celiac was emotionally painful for me in the beginning, but physically I felt better. Growing up I ate wheat products, I was used to those, old comfort foods had to leave my life in a time of stress and need for them, and I could no longer eat it. I would get mad and angry because I didn't choose to become a "picky" eater, I hated that people looked at me that way. When people forget I can't eat things, and they ask or assume that I can I get upset, someone wouldn't forget if I had a medical problem that was on the outside of my body.

Other than accepting that it is okay to get upset, I decided to stop being cheerful about things. Having to explain about my allergies over and over and over got annoying, instead of having a happy attitude about it, which became exhausting, I stopped caring about being happy about it, and just said it like it is.

Be prepared to get embarassed, feel angry, get bored, and depressed throughout your experience with Celiac. The more you face these emotions and accept them, the easier time you will have working through them.