First Steps to a Gluten-Free Life: Navigating Milestones
The first time you experience a significant activity or milestone event there’s bound to be an element of the unknown involved – after all, you don’t have past experience to inform your expectations. This can be exciting, but maybe a little nerve-wracking too. And if you’re new to living gluten-free, some of these “firsts” can be – or at least seem – even more nerve-wracking.
Let’s take a look at some of life’s “firsts”, along with tips for making your experiences both good and gluten-free.
First Day of School
You’re just figuring out how to feed your child (and/or your household) gluten-free at home, and now they’re about to go back to school. This means that you as a parent or guardian have less direct control over what is consumed. The main place where a child’s school day is affected by living gluten-free is at lunchtime. If your child was eating school provided lunches before needing a gluten-free diet, this routine will likely need to change, and you’ll want to start with sending a packed gluten-free lunch. Check out some great ideas and tips here. Some schools offer gluten-free lunch options, but you’ll need to check with the school administration and food service staff to learn about the specific situation at your child’s school. The administrative staff should be able to provide preliminary information and connect you with the food service director or dietitian, where you can then get details on their ability to serve gluten-free meals.
When packing gluten-free lunches to take to school, have your child help when possible. The more they are involved the more they will learn about eating gluten-free and making correct decisions about what foods are safe, and helps to give them independence, which will serve them well as they get older and choose foods on their own. Letting them help choose options also helps them feel invested and will make it more likely that they’ll enjoy their lunch! Enjoying for its own sake is a good thing but it is also important, so they do not feel deprived and are not potentially tempted by non-gluten-free fare.
If you have a younger child, it will be important to make sure they understand not to trade foods with their friends. A nice way for them to feel connected to others they are eating with is to send extras of your child’s favorite gluten-free treats – that way THEY can share and let others know how delicious gluten-free foods can be.
Communication with your child’s teacher and the school nurse is also important. Let the teacher know how important a gluten-free diet is to your child’s health and offer to provide a small stock of gluten-free snacks or special treats which the teacher can bring out as needed. It is also important that you speak with the school nurse so they know what sort of symptoms your child might have, and what to do if they accidentally eat gluten. Field trips that involve food require a few extra contacts too. We have made all these contacts easier for you by providing letters you can customize here.
Find more information on being gluten-free at school here.
First Job
A first job is a big step. And like most things in life, food will come into the picture at some point, whether it is in the office break room, at catered meetings, or at meals out with coworkers or clients. The question of how much (and when) to talk with your manager or other coworkers about your gluten-free needs is personal. If you feel comfortable, letting your manager know of your dietary needs can help, and come into play when they are planning any meetings or events that include food.
Your office breakroom will most likely be a space shared with gluten-eaters, so the primary concern is cross-contact. If you bring and keep your own gluten-free snacks in the fridge or cupboard, keep them well packaged, sealed, and labeled. Keep your items on the top shelf so that if gluten-containing bits or crumbs fall from non-gluten-free items they will not end up on your food or even on its packaging. Depending on how many people are sharing the food storage space and on your level of contact with them, you may want to go the extra step and put all your items in their own Tupperware type container labeled with your name and “gluten-free.” Most dishes and utensils will be fine when shared with gluten-eaters if they are cleaned in between uses. Beware of sharing anything that cannot be thoroughly cleaned, like a toaster. Sharing a microwave oven should be fine; just cover your items with a plate or paper towel in case any bits of gluten-containing food ended up spilling over during an earlier use, to prevent potentially coming into contact with your gluten-free fare. Remember to thoroughly wipe down surfaces that you’ll be eating or prepping on too. If your office lunchtime routine includes last-minute food prep, you may want to have your own designated flexible plastic cutting board.
If you know that catered meetings are coming up, see if you can contact the source in advance about getting a gluten-free option, and make sure your meal is packaged separately and labeled so it is still gluten-free by the time it gets to you. If a catered meeting includes a spread of sandwich makings, you can often turn it into a nice salad spread for yourself – lettuce, tomatoes, and onion making the base, and sandwich fillings like deli turkey and/or cheese slices topping it off. Make sure to be the first in line to serve, so you have access to these items before others may inadvertently transfer crumbs from their gluten-containing bread onto the platters of the gluten-free items. Add some gluten-free crackers that you keep at your desk or in the break room, and you’ve got your meal.
Going out to eat with coworkers can be a little tricky, especially at first when you are just getting to know people. When you can, scope out restaurants that you know have safe gluten-free options and suggest these locations. Or if you know that the group tends to go out near your office, scope out those places in advance and talk to them (during off-peak hours) about their ability to offer safe gluten-free food. Meetings with clients may be a little easier as they are likely to be planned a little more in advance, giving you time to talk to locations about their ability to safely serve gluten-free customers. See tips for dining out here.
First (Serious) Relationship
You’re just learning about the gluten-free diet yourself. Enter another person (who eats gluten) and things get a little more complicated. You have most likely already addressed your need to be gluten-free during the time spent getting to know this significant other. When you’re spending more and more time together, potentially traveling or even living together, there are additional aspects to your staying safely gluten-free. Be clear on communicating that even tiny amounts of gluten can affect your health. A supportive partner who knows about gluten-free living, and respects your needs is important.
If joint traveling is in your future, plan together and consider your gluten-free needs from the start, scoping out restaurants and other places that will be safe for you and enjoyable for you both. Make sure your partner knows that you may need to keep a small stock of gluten-free snacks, and that this may require extra shopping stops. If staying in a hotel, get a room with a microwave and fridge so you can store and prep some gluten-free items if need be. One fun aspect of traveling is exploring new foods – if you like to share tastes with your traveling partner, choose spots with plenty of gluten-free options so you can go gluten-free all around.
If you’re moving in together and your partner is going to continue to have gluten-containing foods, it’s time for a frank conversation and planning. You can absolutely have a safe, shared (gluten-free and gluten-containing) kitchen and household, but it does require extra care. It can be hard for some gluten-eaters to understand that even tiny amounts of gluten can cause problems. They may not think – or realize – that crumbs of gluten-containing bread on the counter could end up in your food and make you sick. So, be clear when discussing your needs. (Here is a good description for them of just how small a safe amount of gluten is.)
If possible, you’ll want to set up separate spaces for gluten-free vs. gluten-containing foods: in the fridge, in the pantry, and on countertops. For condiments you will both be using, like mayonnaise, mustard, or ketchup, squeeze bottles are the safest option, to avoid even the possibility of “double dipping” a spreading knife that’s touched gluten-containing bread. If you both are regular eaters of peanut butter or jam (for example) you may want to have two jars, with one (very clearly!) labeled “gluten-free” for your use only.
The bottom line is that good communication and willingness to be supportive are key: things that are important to any relationship, regardless of gluten-free status.
First Apartment
(shared with a gluten-eater)
Say you’re moving into your first apartment and are sharing with an acquaintance who you are not all that close to. This can work well for sharing a space, but usually means that a little more effort will be involved on your part to keep yourself safely gluten-free. The same rules – and some of the same situations – come into play as above (see “first relationship” section). The difference is that in this case you may be starting from ground zero on talking about your need to eat gluten-free. Be up front about this need but keep things as simple as possible. Start with the basics since many people may have never had a need to learn about gluten-free needs before. Let your apartment-mate know that you’ll be labeling and storing your foods separately to keep them away from possible gluten-crumbs. Depending on what kind of cooking you’ll be doing, talk about keeping certain items separate (and labeled) for gluten-free use only, like colanders and flour sifters. Pick up a basic toaster just for gluten-free use, and label it clearly. When it comes to condiments: will you be sharing, or will you each have your own? If the former, choose squeeze bottles (see above).
With good communication that’s backed up by facts about living gluten-free, your gluten-free milestone experiences can be good ones. Stay informed by regularly checking the gluten.org website for new articles and information, and consider connecting with others who are gluten-free to share stories, tips, and support through GIG’s network of support groups.