I am finally done with the 30 day gluten free challenge! Guess what? It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Being gluten free during the weekdays was a simple challenge, because I normally keep to the same meals. I make sure I get my eggs in the morning, and then a serving of rice in during the evening. My evening meals definitely kept me sane.
The hardest part of the challenge overall was the constant weekend outing temptations. From an italian birthday party, to a dog party, to an engagement party, and my own planned weekend getaway to Maine. Where as most of you know I cheated on my one Lobster roll meal. I can proudly say I completed with a 99% grade.
During this challenge, I was presented with many gluten free options. I tried, gluten free pizza, I made my own GF birthday cake, and even tried GF beer and pancakes. I realized it is relatively easy to do when there are an abundance of substitutions. Surprisingly, these substitutions are absolutely delicious and just as good as the real thing.
So, many people have been asking me how I felt physically and mentally while on 30 day gluten free challenge. My answer is, just about same without all the stomach issues. I wake early and my clients are scattered throughout the day while traveling to different locations. In addition to my work schedule, I get in 4 heavy lifting days in a week. This makes me generally tired. However, I’ve felt the best I’ve ever felt in the past 3 years. No bloating, no stomach cramps, night sweats, and other undesirables…This proves my gluten sensitivity. I also firmly do believe that most people have a sensitivity to gluten without even being aware of it.
What now? I choose to keep following a gluten free lifestyle with some leniency on the weekends. I’m also happy to know what I need to avoid in order to feel comfortable. I suggest everyone should try their own challenge to see how your body responds.
The next challenge/experiment I’ll taking on, will be John Kiefer’s Carb-back Loading. It guarantees higher levels of strength while reducing bodyfat, when training with heavy loads. Stay tuned for my new adventure!
Natalie Vera | Private Training - Now in Nutley, NJ 
I’m a little weary of the gluten-free craze; I feel like it’s yet another dieting approach that some people take to the extreme without doing so being necessary or the right means to the results they’re looking for. Going gluten-free is great if you demonstrate a sensitivity to it. If you don’t, don’t freak about foods containing gluten. If one is trying to eat for a leaner body composition, it’s likely one will stay away from high amounts of foods containing gluten anyway. I’m relatively unphased by the question of gluten because my diet is just not high in grain-based carbs, period. Additionally, it seems like many people think gluten-free diets are tickets to weight loss, and proceed to replace whatever gluten-heavy carbs they eliminate with…more carbs of various sorts.
Again, if someone’s digestive system really seems to not respond well to gluten, watching gluten intake is fantastic. But it’s yet one more dietary approach that becomes an obsession/preoccupation for many dieters to the point of excess, and I believe that such preoccupation doesn’t do anyone much good.
This is so very true. I honestly have to say it was surprising to see how many gluten free eating topics I saw on TV while I was doing this challenge. The one thing that stood out for me, was that they all mentioned celiac and how GF eating is great for weight loss. When weight loss was constantly mentioned as a benefit, all you can think is “oh no, another diet trend”.
Also, walking through stores and seeing Gluten Free stamped on products that are obviously gluten free is pretty ridiculous. I just hope people do it for the right reasons.
yes, exactly. Exactly. Stores have entire “gluten free” sections, etc. It’s just something that I think is a bit oversimplified and touted as a panacea for various nutritional problems. People who test such a diet and write about it knowledgeably, as you have done here, are helping to keep those unsure of how to navigate the world of nutrition world better informed. It was partially due to this experiment you’ve been running that I really tried to educate myself as to how gluten affects (or may not affect) the body.
The above aside, I have LOVED your picture posts of all the food. They’ve basically been my favorite posts in my wordpress feed. Thanks for them!
That’s so great! I’m really glad you enjoyed them. I’ll make sure to keep posting up those food pics. I trying to find some time to focus on making delicious recipes…we’ll see how that goes with my “great” cooking skills…haha
I’m a very ignorant cook myself; I have so little experience that even simple processes are probably new/challenging for me. My boyfriend and I are making onion rings as part of our last cheat meal pre meet-cut (well, I’m a good four pounds short of my weight class, so I will probably have one more cheat meal after tomorrow’s festivities), and it’s going to be amazing. I’m going to blog about it. I have never fried anything in my life and I’m so excited. Here’s to carb backloading.