Confessions of a Chocoholic

“She loves food.”

That’s probably the first thing anyone who knows me well would say if you asked them about me.

Then they’d probably tack on “Especially dessert.” Maybe even go on to say “Particularly warm chocolate cake. And brownies.” Just call me a chocoholic.

All of which are completely true. I’ve always loved dessert. For as long as I can remember. It’s kind of stupid how much I love dessert actually. But I do. Love it. Make that LURRRVE it. I’ve never been able to say no dessert. Ever. And just carbs in general. Bread, pastries, cereal, pasta. It all tastes sooo yummy in the tummy. (Yep, I went there.)

But now? Now, everything is about to change.

I’ve also always had a sensitive stomach. I’ve had to strategically plan meals and workouts times, and if I didn’t stick to that schedule, my stomach would hurt. If I waited too long to eat, my stomach would hurt. If I didn’t eat quick enough, though, my stomach would hurt, too. And if I didn’t eat enough or if I ate too much, my stomach would hurt. It was a delicate balance. But I had it figured out pretty well… Until this summer. While training for the marathon, it started to get bad. Awful, in fact. I would stick to a schedule, and my stomach would still hurt. I would get done with a run and keel over in pain. Even if it was a day off from running, my stomach would randomly start to hurt. It got the point where it was hurting almost constantly. I finally went to the doctor.

Turns out I have a gluten intolerance. It’s not full blown celiac disease, for which I am very grateful. But it’s enough of an intolerance that it began to affect my daily life. So I am making a change.

I am going gluten free.

Part of me is excited, and part of me is depressed. The depressed part is foolish, I know. Believe me, I know it is. But saying goodbye to all the food I love is not going to be easy for me. To breads, to pastas, to chocolate cakes. I think one of the hardest things for me, though, will be giving up Frosted Mini Wheats. That was my go-to breakfast. My second love. I had them almost every morning…

But I’m more excited than anything. I’m excited not to hurt anymore. Not to wake up wondering if it’s going to be bad day or an ok day. Now I will be able to have great days again. And that is worth every chocolate cake in the world.

This is some gluten free pumpkin bread I made last night. I’d be lying if I told you it tasted as good as my mom’s pumpkin bread. But hey, it’s a start : )

 If any of you are gluten free and have some good dessert recipes to curb the crave, or just good recipes in general, feel free to share. I’d be much obliged : )