Back in the 70’s/ early 80’s I started the self hate of my body, actually my stomach. I felt distorted and misshapen. My body was thin and sucked in around my waist and then ballooned 8 inches around my stomach. I had friends who all looked slim or slender from their waist to their hips with no bump in between. This started my eating disorders. I would starve myself throughout the week at work and school. On weekends It was harder to hide the eating disorder so I ate sometimes to excess. My diet mostly consisted of pasta, cereals, bread, and fried foods, all of which contained wheat. My hatred for my body grew and grew as the years passed.

As recent as three years ago I was down to a 22 inch waist and 32 inch stomach. I had migraines, fatigue, anemia, depression, brain fog, joint pain, and irritability. My life changed in many ways after Samantha linked our health problems first to gluten intolerance and later to Celiac Disease. As my diet changed to a wheat/barley/rye free diet, my body began to change drastically. My waist is thicker, my stomach thicker and my self image remarkably increased. I felt no remorse for the bags of clothing (now too small) that I donated to charity.

Something about seeing yourself through “healthy” eyes makes all the rest insignificant. I am days away from my 47th birthday and weeks away from my third anniversary of diagnosis. I may not have the body of a teenager, but I have a healthy, powerful, energetic, happy body and soul.

May you find the Healthy and Happy person living in you!

~Kate~

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