To Gluten Free or Not to Gluten Free...That is the Current Bane of My Existance

I am frustrated. Why? Because I just went through my cabinet and discovered everything in it contains gluten. Why do I care? Well...after suffering off and on from stomach issues, listening to one of my besties talk about how much better she feels after going gluten free, and then spending a few days in Minnesota with someone who said the same—I decided I would try it for one month and see if I noticed a difference. 

It's day three, and I've already messed up once by eating an ice cream cone. But, it was after a 4-mile obstacle race that was advertised as a 3-mile race, and made me pretty much hate life for 52 minutes, so I wasn't in my right "does anything I'm eating right now have gluten in it" frame of mind. Between smelling soft pretzels at the biergarten last night, and being tortured by the sweet smell of bread at Fuddruckers today, and not being able to eat it either one of them, it seems like all I can think about is eating everything that I can't. Human nature right? Always wanting what you can't have. Well, I want gluten—delicious, not verboten, gluten. Don't even get me started on how I had to give away my step-mother's mouth-watering homemade coffee cakes after lunch. Please tell me this mental anguish is worth it!

But, anyways, back to my cabinet. My favorite chicken marinades contain gluten, the pasta obviously does, my knock-off Capt 'n Crunch cereal is still debatable at this point (Can I eat oat flour?), Rice-A-Roni, yep that has gluten, that and enough sodium to kill a horse, and that pretty much sums up my cabinet. Pathetic, I know, but, I guess that's also part of this process—to make me eat better. To get rid of the late-night Oreo snacking (Dear Oreo, please make a gluten free version for me, thanks.), to cut out the water-retaining carbs, to help my belly out, and maybe to finally lose those last five stress pounds I gained last winter. 

After realizing I had nothing to eat except plain chicken, I went to the overpriced health food store up the street. After spending $40 on next to nothing, I am frustrated, as I mentioned. I mean, it was painful for me to cut soda out of my daily routine, so this next month is going to be very hard, and evidently very expensive, but hopefully worth it in the end. I have friends who are on the Paleo Diet and have encouraged me to do so, but even thinking about that at this point makes me feel like I am drowning. Plus, life without ice cream is not a life worth living. Period. So, I will try my best to stick to this gluten-free diet, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it! Granted, a better attitude probably wouldn't hurt. I feel like a five-year-old stamping her feet crying, "BUT I WANT A COOKIE!"