So here I am, 12 weeks GF. Every day I have to actually think about how I will eat, meaning plan meals. I can’t just grab a HotPocket and a yogurt and run out the door. I have to plan my lunches so I have a decent GF lunch. And in the scheme of things, this doubles the stress of getting ready for work on days when I have no leftovers from the night before to take for lunch. So…I am forced to plan or accept whatever I might find at the lunchroom where ever I am that day. And elementary schools are not known for their healthful and GF fare!

Worse yet, the faculty rooms are often a place of temptation. Big plastic jars of pretzels, tins of chocolate chip cookies, donut boxes crammed full of sweet sticky wheaty donuts. Oh MY! Lunches and celebrations abound in the workplace. Some days I have to just turn around and leave as I can’t stay in the same room with the smell of those yummies. It is okay sometimes but other moments I can’t be in that space with those things I used to eat but no longer can. I take a GF muffin or breakfast cookie to school every day so I have a safe snack choice.

Volunteering can be a really positive thing in one’s life. I volunteer at my local library- this time every week is very enjoyable. But even there the specter of temptation rears its ugly head! During the 20^th Birthday Celebration there are goodies to enjoy. Not for me! I urge others to eat them. Get them gone so I won’t keep staring at their tastiness….

Church gatherings are full of wheaty treats. I have been to events where a long, long table of baked goods beckoned to me. Not one thing I could consume. I am resolved that I must bake GF goodies for such events if I want a treat. So that will be my solution: more baking but GF from now on. Frankly GF cookies are so good no one will even know they are GF!

Visiting friends is another source of temptation. Of course, their countertops are the location of boxes of crackers, cookies and other wheat filled treats that are off limits for me. I think I will need to bring a GF treat in my purse so I can eat that when the lure of the treats causes a dangerous crack in my resolve….

There is a family wedding this weekend that I am looking forward to and I got in touch with the bride to find out what I could eat at her reception. Most of the meal looks safe for me. I will cross my fingers that the food is not contaminated by any wheat flour. But, no wedding cupcakes for me! I am bringing a GF vanilla cupcate of my own to celebrate this special day for Lisa and Mike.

I am planning a trip to visit friends and family up in New England. We normally eat some meals out and have a big family dinner party. This year it is a bit different in that the planning must include discussions on what I can eat and where I can eat it. A favorite restaurant we used to go to does not have a GF menu so it was passed by in our planning. I will be making some bread to take up with me and I plan to bring a baggie of GF baked snacks so I have something safe to gobble up when hunger strikes at 3 am!

Don’t get me wrong, traveling GF is not scary or impossible but it does seem that planning will help me avoid bad situations like that 3 am brownie craving and nothing I can eat in the house. Plus I am hoping my sisters do not leave wheaty treats about to tempt me but never fear: I will be ready with my bag of GF treats to satisfy any hunger pangs and late night cravings. Planning is everything when you are GF….

Now, I am going to eat a totally yummy GF vanilla cupcake, frankly even better than my cupcakes used to be. And so much safer for my tummy!

Originally published May 17, 2013.  Update coming this weekend!!