There is no doubt that stepping out of your comfort zone is difficult, especially when it comes to eating different foods than you usually do. If you’re anything like me, you tend to stick to routine foods that you eat every morning and afternoon with slim chances of you straying outside of that comfort level. However, recently I decided to go gluten-free to see if it would have any impact on the way I felt. The results of this were very beneficial for me in ways that I did not expect and gave me a better insight regarding what I need to be doing in order to maintain good health for myself. With that in mind, here are a few things that I noticed throughout the process and why I believe that everyone should try to alter their eating habits at least once in their lives.
When I first started, I realized that I underestimated just how difficult a process like this would be. I couldn’t eat pasta (one of my all-time favorite foods), nor my usual whole wheat bread. And to top it all off, my school wasn’t helping with some of the “gluten-free options” they were providing (I could not just live off of vegetables and salad). I had to be creative for a while and it was definitely a challenge. However, throughout my whole new found eating habits, I began to realize the food options that I was choosing before this were definitely not the best options despite my preference for eating healthy. I noticed I was choosing a lot of white flour options, fatty foods, and eating more sugar than I ever have just because I wanted that quick fix when I had enough of studying and realized I had not eaten in hours. I got smarter with my options as the days went by and it started to become easier for me to think of things to eat when the dining hall was forcing me to become creative with my meal choices. Day by day I also began feeling as though I had more energy, I was able to think a little bit more clearly, and I also wasn’t feeling as stuffy as I was before. Now, I’m not saying this was completely due to my lack of gluten in my diet, but I do know that making better food choices was impacting my health in a positive way. I still kept some of my constants, such as coffee (because some things in life are just way too great to give up) but opted for drinking it black rather than with milk. Slowly, I started to incorporate other healthy eating styles into my diet and kept eating gluten free to the best of my ability, but allowing myself to have cheat days.
Overall, I felt that this change was something that was very eye opening in the way it made me think about the foods that I was eating. Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to go gluten free, but I feel as though altering your typical eating habits to something more health conscious is always something that is worth a try. However, the most important point to remember through any change in eating style is to focus on creating healthy eating habits instead of making restrictions. Think about what works best for you in order to make the best change.
