Why I am Gluten-Free.

It came to my attention recently that I have never fully shared my story and my journey here on Tasty Yummies about why I eat gluten-free. I also have never shared some of the “before” photos of me prior to fully changing my diet 3 years ago when I adopted a lifestyle of clean-eating and a diet free of processed-foods and other junk. As much as I enjoy seeing the visual changes from other peoples’ journeys , I have put off sharing my own, for fear of embarrassment and I guess, shame. I have lost the weight, I am healthier than ever, but there is something about seeing photos of myself from before, that is still somewhat painful. I wasn’t obese, many people would hardly call me fat. However, I felt terrible and I was crazy unhappy both in how I felt and how I looked. It is still hard for me to look back at myself at that time. I guess I have needed a few years to pass, just so I could deal with it all and be OK enough with my journey to share it; weight-loss photos and all.

(The purpose of this post is NOT to say that I lost weight by going gluten-free! On the contrary, that was hardly the case and initially I was at my heaviest when I went gluten-free. PLEASE read the entire post!!)

IMG_2741At my heaviest – in 2009. I had already been gluten-free for over 4 years at this point, but I just still wasn’t taking care of myself.

Why I am Gluten-Free.This photo, from my surprise 30th birthday party, was what changed it all for me. I saw this photo and I couldn’t believe that was me. I wanted a change.
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