To Gluten or not to Gluten

Changes to me are always a good thing. They bring new adventures that I can gain new experiences and allow me to grow as an athlete and a person.  This year, I've had some major changes in my life from my living arrangements (first from the gf living with me, phoenix, flagstaff, and soon Europe), to training partners to coaching, and now to my diet.  I've always been a healthy eater during my season.  Off season is all about  fat, grease, sugar and booze (and not in that order).  But during my track season it's all strict moderations of whole grains, vegetable, protein, and fruit to keep my body firing it's fastest. 

That is until a month ago when I switched to a gluten free and dairy free diet.  What foods am I really missing out on...THE BEST KIND!!  No pasta, no breads, no cereal, no milk, no chocolate milk, no yogurt, no cheese no ice cream, no etc.  It involves reading every label and looking for specific ingredients.  I know, the dreaded question, WHY?  The theory behind this that the body can have intolerances to dairy and gluten. These intolerances cause inflammation in the body. So if my body has just done a workout and my muscle fibers are ripped up, inflamed and need repair,  it'll be trying to repair too much at once.  Yes, it's just a theory and there are studies are both ends, but I figure why take the chance.  

I now spend an extra 45 minutes in a grocery store staring at the ingredients listing and an extra $20/visit to switch my diet from:

Milk to Almond milk

whole wheat bread to gluten free bread or corn tortillas

Rice

Whole wheat pasta to rice pasta

Any cereal to gluten free cereal (chex), granola, oatmeal (yuk)

It's not the same taste at all, but I do feel less bloated after meals, and have shredded body fat.  It can get upsetting eating a burger with two lettuce pieces instead of buns with no cheese and making sure they don't use bread crumbs in the patty;  But a 1 second PB in my race last week is making it all worth it.