What would you tell your child (or niece or nephew or friend’s child) if they asked you whether it was okay to cheat on a test at school? No! It’s wrong to cheat! The purpose of a test is to determine what you know, not what someone else knows. Cheating is not being truthful.
Cheating on a diet is different. It’s not a test of your knowledge, but it is a test of sorts. The bottom line is that if you need to be gluten-free 100% of the time, then it’s not okay to cheat. And for many people that is the case, but it certainly can be very hard to never cheat.
Reasons for being gluten free
First, I just want to be clear that the gluten-free diet is not a weight loss diet. It may help some people lose weight, but if you are substituting gluten-free breads and desserts for gluten-full versions, then you very likely will be consuming more calories and will not lose weight.
There are different reasons why people eat a gluten-free diet. For people like me who have celiac disease, a gluten-free diet is the only treatment. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which gluten triggers an autoimmune response causing the body to attack itself, specifically the lining of the small intestine. People with celiac disease must eat gluten-free 100% of the time. Regular cheating, even a small amount such as a communion wafer, can cause a serious amount of intestinal damage. For me and anyone with celiac disease, it is not okay to cheat.
Personally, I don’t want to cheat because the consequences are not worth it, but some people with celiac disease don’t have outward symptoms. For them, the temptation to cheat can be stronger. It’s important to know that even though you may not have diarrhea or feel really sick, cheating still results in intestinal damage, and there are likely other effects that might not be immediately obvious.
Gluten sensitivity or intolerance is another reason that people adopt the gluten-free diet. In this case, it is believed that reactions such as diarrhea, brain fog, and many more occur without having the intestinal damage caused by celiac disease. So, theoretically, a person with gluten sensitivity could eat as much gluten as their body seems able to tolerate. However, there are complications.
Many people go gluten free without being tested for celiac disease. Officially, they don’t have it, but they can’t be sure because once you are on a gluten-free diet, the tests for celiac will be negative. There are also people who have been tested for celiac and been told they don’t have it, but tests are not always done correctly or the wrong tests are done. It’s also possible that some people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity do have some intestinal damage. We just don’t know everything about it. Personally, I think that people with gluten intolerance should strive to be gluten free 100% of the time.
Why cheat?
So if you know that eating gluten harms your body, why cheat? I think it mostly comes down to a matter of feelings. Why does a kid cheat on a school test? Because he doesn’t want to feel embarrassed by and ashamed of his poor test results. He doesn’t want to face the disappointment and possibly anger of others when they see his poor test results. But he does want all the feelings that go along with doing well.
So when it comes to cheating on the gluten-free diet, the feelings revolve around things like being left out in social situations where you can’t eat the food that is served, feeling deprived, longing for foods that have memories associated with them, and not wanting to cause a scene. Instead you want the feelings that come with enjoying your favorite delicious foods. Eating them can bring comfort, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
How to resist cheating
Just like the tempted school kid, you have to be convinced that cheating is wrong. If you believe that you should be gluten-free 100% of the time, then you are not being truthful when you tell yourself that it’s okay “just this once.” And we all know that the more you cheat, the more likely you are to keep on cheating.
Your conviction that cheating is wrong has to be strong enough to overcome your feelings that are temping you to cheat. Try focusing your thoughts on your health, how much better your body feels, and the fact that your treatment is a diet change rather than drugs.
Enlist support from family and friends. It’s good for those who are close to you to understand the importance of your gluten-free diet, and when they do, they can help hold you accountable.
It also helps to provide yourself with some delicious gluten-free alternatives. I know that at first it’s a real challenge because gluten-free baked goods taste different, they’re expensive to buy, and they can be complicated to make. But give yourself time. There are plenty of great options available. You can still enjoy comfort food and treats.
How about you?
As an adult, you make your own choices about what to eat. You have to be the one to decide if it’s okay to cheat, and you have to be the one to stick to it if it’s not okay. If you are cheating on the gluten-free diet, I challenge you to consider why you are gluten free and if that cheating is really okay.
So what about you? Why are you gluten free? Do you stick to it 100% of the time? Is it hard? Do you cheat? Why do you cheat? What’s the hardest part for you?
Why am I gluten free?
I have Lyme’s disease. I found out about it 6 days before my birthday, last year. The nurse that called and told me, said that there are a number of things I should no longer eat, the one that impacted me most was gluten.
You see, I am a vegetarian. I was raised washing the starch out of flour to get the gluten concentrated, seasoning it and using it as a meat substitute. Then, as I got older, I purchased ready-made high gluten containing foods as well as making my own whole wheat breads, cookies, muffins, pizza crusts…well you get the idea.
As we had nothing gluten free at that time, had just purchased 50 lbs of whole wheat flour, I denied the request to go gluten free for just over a month. Then, February 9, 2015 I decided to attempt it. It was not easy to find recipes that I, a vegan could eat, I mean ‘bread-wise’. I started searching the Internet, got cook books (thanks Amazon!) and began to experiment.
I now have a bread recipe that I love the taste and texture of. It’s hearty and mainly oatmeal, buckwheat and flax. I’ve tweaked it until I am able to make flavors like ‘cinnamon raisin’ or ‘cranberry orange’ and they not only taste good, they slice well and you’d never know they were gluten free or vegan.
Oh, and a ‘side effect’ to going gluten-free is that I have much less pain from the Fibromyalgia I’ve had close to 30 years now. (and no, they are not one in the same, Fibromyalgia and Lyme’s at least for me)
That’s my story…I’m very grateful. Blessings to you all in your GF journey.
I have enough difficulty when I accidentally ingest gluten, so not tempted to cheat. I haven eaten out at a restaurant once/year the last few years, and ate out Sunday – Thai food – supposedly gluten-free as the owner of the place knows me (and many customers who have been there before), but I still am having symptoms! I think I am going to have to NEVER eat out, and mostly eat chicken, fish and vegetables at home so I do not get contaminated packaged food. Very frustrating when restaurants do not understand cross-contamination! There is too much gluten in most restaurants for me!
I have Celiac’s. It cause bowel issues , my thyroid to almost stop, and diabetes. I really enjoy my thyroid and pancreas so I do as much as I can to avoid anything that may contain gluten. Do I cheat? I would lie if I said I didn’t but my cheating goes with ignorance. ( this way of eating has a lot of sneaking words I have yet to memorize them all) I for 99% of the time eat gf, the other 1% I’m probably cheating but not on purpose. I try to stick to the when in doubt don’t method, that’s REALLY hard. So I joined a bunch of groups on Facebook and look up ingredients if I have a question. I don’t eat processed foods, frozen meals even gf. I eat fresh foods the only thing that comes in a bag is my rice and quiona and my gf flours. I’ve lost some weight but my thyroid is functioning normally now and I am no longer diabetic, my bowels like me! So I’m happy! I do want to know one thing…. How does a meal being gf taste like crap? I’ve tried the frozen meals- yuck, the worst was the chicken noodle soup in a can. How come the bread is so dense? What makes light airy bread?
I was diagnosed with allergies to gluten and cows dairy almost 20 years ago. At first, I was in denial. I would stay off of them for almost a week and start to feel better. Then I would forget how bad I felt when I ate those things and rationalize that it wasn’t those things that made me sick – and eat something that contained either or both. It took me awhile to realize that not only did I have physical symptoms because of consuming those things – it also cost me $$$ to go to my chiropractor to get reset so the symptoms would stop. I finally relented, when it started hitting me hard in the pocket book. I have now been without gluten or cows dairy for about 18 or 19 years and am doing very well. The hardest thing for me to control, is to eat outside my home – at friends or family’s houses or in a restaurant – without accidentally getting “poisoned”. When I do, I just get back on the horse and do what I know. I have found healthy alternatives for me to eat, am constantly trying new recipes, and no longer crave the bad things.
I’ would love a country fried cube steak !!!
With gravy!