With another summer sadly coming to an end, schools starting, maybe new jobs on the horizon, the season of awkward introductions begins again. It was always the worst thing to me, walking into that new classroom, new environment, with new faces and then told to introduce yourself (those horrid first day “games” to remember everyone’s name that ended up turning into first week games). Those introductions never work and I won’t remember your name, even when you tie it to a color, what you did this summer, or your favorite sport.
Besides the awkward introduction of, “Hello, my name is …”, there will also be the need to tell your new peers/coworkers that you have Celiac Disease or some other food allergy. You may not need to divulge this the first day, but when someone brings in cupcakes, or asks you to join them for a lunch break at Panera Bread, you may need to reveal this important bit of info.
I hold off on telling anyone I have Celiac Disease until I absolutely have to. For example, in one of my classes last semester, half-way through the course, my professor wanted each of us to take a cracker and do this mindfulness experiment while eating it. Well, I couldn’t take that gluten-filled cracker and mindfully eat it…or I would be sick. Thus, “Hello, I have Celiac Disease”, had to happen.
You may feel awkward when these situations arise, you may want to not even say it, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of and you need to stick up for you Celiac rights. The term “gluten-free” has such a terrible rep now since most people how eat “gluten-free” do so from choice and as a follower. But when you have Celiac, being gluten-free is not a choice but a medical necessity. Even though some people will never totally grasp the concept or understand, claiming, “One bite won’t hurt you!”, you can take some steps in introducing yourself as a Celiac a little easier for everyone.
1. Do NOT say simply that you are gluten-free. Say you have Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disease that requires you to have a strict diet, free from gluten.
2. If asked WHAT Celiac Disease is, tell them it is an autoimmune disease where when you ingest even the slightest crumb of the protein gluten, it will create severe damage in the body and make you severely ill. And an autoimmune disease means your body attacks itself and there is not cure but to be free from gluten for life. Yes, you face difficult situations and it can be hard at times, but your diet and lifestyle is essential for you health and you know how to properly navigate a gluten-filled world safely.
3. When asked what you CAN eat, tell them foods that are free from gluten and cross contamination. These include whole fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, eggs, fish, nuts, seeds, gluten-free whole grains, and processed foods manufactured to be gluten-free in a gluten-safe environment. Even though that are many things you can’t eat, the variety you can is astonishing.
4. If OFFERED a gluten-containing food or beverage, politely decline. A simple “No thank you”, usually works, but if someone is persistent, either change the conversation or accept the offering and then wait until you can give it to a friend or someone who can eat it. (You might also want to check out this post on food allergy and Celiac bullying).
5. Make sure you always have SAFE FOOD on hand in case you are asked to go out to lunch (or do a weird eating experiment) where you know there are no safe options. This way you don’t have to ditch possible friendships and being part of the community. Also keep a list in mind of safe places you can eat in case you’re asked to choose!
Here’s the last thing to keep in mind though. Just because you have Celiac Disease, it DOES NOT define who you are, what you can do, your potential or the opportunities and experiences you can take. Just like an medical illness or disease, it’s about what you make of it. You can have your disease act as a big red arrow and throw a self-pity-party when the topic arises, or you can embrace it, declare it, and move on. You have Celiac Disease, but you are also YOU! Celiac is only one tiny part of the amazing person you are! Introduce yourself HOW YOU want to be known!
So tell me:
+ If you have Celiac Disease, how do you introduce yourself when the need to reveal comes up?
+ I know I’m not alone in hating those “first-day-of-class” name games! Did you hate them as much as me?
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Create With Joy
Rebecca,
I always love what you share at Inspire Me Monday but this article really caught my eye – I know it will benefit SO many people!
Congrats – you are one of my Featured Guests at this week’s party!
I hope your year gets off to a fabulous start and I look forward to seeing what you share with us this week!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
O, thank you so much dear and thank you for always hosting such a wonderful link-up every single week! xoxo
Sherry
Your post reminds me of when my son was a small boy. He was born with spina bifida, and when he met someone new he always started by saying “hi, I have spina bifida. My name is James.” Don’t let celiac disease define you.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
No! Definitely not!
XOXO
Gaye @CalmHealthySexy
Hi Rebecca – I hope you’re doing well. My son starts classes at his college tomorrow, so I imagine that you have already started or will very soon.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Soon!
Nikki Frank-Hamilton
I do not have celiac disease but due to an auto-immune disease I chose to go gluten free, I have not ingested gluten knowingly for 8 months. After cutting out gluten my bloat went away, I digested better, and I lost the ache in my joints as well as 20 pounds. So although I don’t have celiac I avoid gluten like the plague, people still try to get me to eat something with gluten in it…but my day to day energy and health levels are too important to give up for a cracker! LOL
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Health is most important!
Melissa
Some ice breakers are awkward but some also end up really meaningful! I don’t have celiacs, but I do have a few friends with it, thanks for giving me a glimpse of what they might go through.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I’d be glad to learn about these “meaningful” ones!
Melissa
Well at a recent one I was at, everyone had to take off a shoe and then take a shoe of someone else and then say three things about yourself to your shoe person. Everyone was talking so long, they had to call us back to attention 3 times before we actually brought our focus back.
Farrah
These are all really great tips, especially with the amount of people who identify themselves as “gluten-free” these days! Explaining to people that it’s an autoimmune disease is so important in getting them to understand why you “can’t just eat that cracker just this once!”
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Exactly why people need to stop saying they are just gluten-free because! It ruins it for we who MUST!
jane @ littlesugarsnaps
Hi Rebecca. Fortunately, I do not have Celiac Disease or any other limitations on my diet. However, I really appreciated this post as it’s made me more aware of the problems sufferers face, so thankyou. My best friend is a strict vegetarian and she gets the Spanish Inquisition from many new people she encounters, some actually verge on suggesting she has no right to be of her standing. I’m asthmatic and suffer severe breathing difficulties if I spend time in a house inhabited by furry pets – especially dogs. But some people have thought I’m just being difficult when I decline their invite time and again. I think they think that I’m making things up or think that asthma is just a little bit of a sneezing fit, when really that’s just the first signs that my body is reacting. It’s very easy to judge without knowing the facts, so I’m so pleased to have gained a little bit of insight into your world today.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yea exactly! With some people, we need to put our foot down and declare that our health is much more important. We just have to try our best to explain, but it can be difficult for some.
Jennifer Stewart
I am not Celiac, but I do eat mostly gluten free just because I have found that my body is happier without it. I cook for our church dinners every week and have 5 people with Celiac. I have spent a lot of time researching recipes and reading labels so that they can also enjoy the dinners at church and the fellowship that goes with it. I will share this post with them!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Great!
Jamie @ Medium Sized Family
My Mom and sister both have Celiac Disease, and I’m considering being tested for it (again). You are right, there is a lot of confusion out there with the gluten free crowd. My Mom many times won’t even use the term gluten free, but tries to explain the intolerance aspect. Even then, people think it’s fine to take the meat off a sandwich and give her that, or just remove the croutons from the salad they already dumped them on. It’s tough to make everyone around you understand!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It is, some people are just too set in their ways or too gullible to false media attention. That’s the sad reality for the growing “fake knowledge” of gluten-free. It lost the true meaning and importance that is must have for someone with Celiac.
Amanda
My niece was recently diagnosed with celiac’s disease… I never knew the extremes of it till lately. This was very educational and timely for me. Celiac Bullying ? I cannot believe such a thing exists.. Not surprised in this world today though. (( Hugs))
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Of course. All food allergies tend to come with bullying in some form.
Suzi T
My sister is coeliac and dining with her is a real pain. What’s more of a pain is seeing her so ill. Nobody should need to be uncomfortable about saying they are coeliac. It’s a serious illness.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It can be difficult, but yea, so much worse when we are sick!
Robin
Social situations can quickly turn embarrassing. I’m a bit of an introvert and I despise having attention turned towards me. At dinner parties, inevitably, that happens and I try to just brush over it as quickly as possible. This disease doesn’t define us for sure, but it is always in there demanding attention in our food-centric society…xo
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
We just have to learn to make the best of it and hold our heads high.
Sandy Sandmeyer
Thank you for educating us about the ins and outs of celiac disease.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Sure.
Janelle@The Peaceful Haven
Thanks for a great post…I have celiac disease and I agree with all you wrote! This will helpful for many people who are newly diagnosed!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks dear!
Cristina @ I Say Nomato
THANK YOU. This hit the nail on the head, especially the part about your food allergy only being a small part of who you are. Sure, we’re a nightshade free house, and I might run a nightshade free blog, but we also love and do so many other things.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Exactly!!!! You’re restriction should only matter as much as your favorite color does 😉
Dani @ Dani California Cooks
Hi Rebecca! I’m so glad I stumbled upon your blog this morning! This post resonated with me – I maintain a gluten free diet for other reasons than celiac, but sometimes I just get tired of explaining it and giving everyone background. I look forward to the meals where I can just “fit in” and no questions asked!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you!
It can be difficult because so many people just won’t allow themselves to understand the medical need or just never grasp how serious it is!
Alison [Life of Scoop]
Thanks for this! Isn’t is so true? People think not being able to eat gluten is a choice. I often say, “I’m actually allergic to it. I have celiac disease.” And THEN they get it! The fad GF eaters make life a little more confusing, but I enjoyed reading your tips. I, too, also always keep something GF in my purse just in case. 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It’s funny though, because it seems like the people who give a Celiac the hardest time are the ones who would or even do follow the fad!
Karissa @ OCD Kitchen
Great article! While I’m not celiac I was recently diagnosed with leaky gut. I’ve been on an elimination diet for the past three months and I agree with a lot of your suggestions for how to approach the conversation about what I eat with others.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Best of luck!
Heather@hungryforbalance
I am socially awkward in the best of situations, so of course those introduction games were pretty much my worst nightmare.
I cannot imagine how difficult it is to tell people that you gave celiac’s disease, knowing that many of them will not understand. I think these are great tips and could be useful if introducing a friend or family member who suffers from celiac’s.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
They should try to make you feel comfortable on the first day! No worse! Haha! Those “games” should be banned 😛
Thank you Heather!
Michele
Such a great supportive post for everyone with celiac or an allergy. I was never a fan of the name games, in fact I’m getting a little twitchy thinking back to them 😉
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I don’t think those games are ever going stop any time soon for me either..ugh!
Kristy as Giftie Etcetera
I don’t have celiac disease, but I am sort of stunned that adults think they can tell other adults what to eat! I would never care one bit if a friend have to avoid gluten, except to try and accommodate them if I could! Hugs to everyone suffering with this.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I’m surprised your surprised!
Casey @ Casey the College Celiac
This post was totally on point, Rebecca! It’s always awkward, but usually I am pretty open with the whole celiac shebang and just say, “Yeah, that cake looks delicious but I have celiac disease so I can’t eat it. Props on the baking though!” and move on with my life. Definitely more complicated when it comes to dating or the workplace, but one (gluten free) step at a time!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, you are so right! And I know I’m not missing out on things though, because I can make a gluten-free version AND make it 10x better 😉 Haha!
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit
Oh my goodness those “ice breaker” games were the worst!!!!! This introvert sucks at that kinda stuff! This is such a great topic, and a challenge at any age for anyone. Do you think this will work when I have to introduce myself as a carb-addict? 😉 haha
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I know! I’m like…sorry…I don’t remember 20 peoples name and the random word they picked to go along with it.
Hahahahaha, you may find some easy friends with that one though 😉
Evolve with Mary
Great Post Rebecca, I am a strict Pescetarain and I try not to make a fuss about it. It’s amazing how people are so intrigued and annoyed when someone has a food restriction. To this day my Mother still asks me what I’m going to eat when we go to restaurants, in her mind if it’s not meat it’s not food. I usually don’t mention it but my boyfriend has no problem telling everyone. He told all of his friends, his co-workers and his family so I never have to explain anything. He tells everyone I’m a cool Pescetarian, the kind that is happy to go to a steak house and eat sides, and he’s right. I really don’t care what I’m eating, I get my food fix at home, when I’m out and about it’s usually about enjoying everyone else.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Sometimes family members are the worst with it…probably because they’ve known you TOO long.
Yea! We know how to eat right when we know what we are doing for our health or logical rational diet choices, haha! (Not fad-ers)
T Austin
Having safe food on hand is a great idea! It must be uncomfortable at times. Sounds like you handle it like a rock star!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thanks dear!
Melissa @ vegan does it
I take the same approach with being vegan simply because so many people, at least where I live, have a negative view of what it means. My daughter was even bullied for being vegan in kindergarten, believe it or not. Not that we are ashamed or anything, we made this choice after all, but it gives people a chance to see who we are and not some label. And the whole “it’s just one bite” thing, just no…people should stop!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
People need to stop judging food choices, diets, and necessary medial diets like Celiac! We shouldn’t have to be nervous about sharing our stories and saying we have this allergy or we decided to go vegan.
Shann Eva
You are definitely not alone in hating those introduction games. Yuck. My really good friend has Celiac Disease, so this is really helpful. I want to be supportive and help her as much as I can. Thank you for all the tips.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Those games should be banned 😛
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
I went to a gathering for artists and creatives the other night, and luckily I had dinner before I went because it was KFC and lots of meaty dishes! Everyone kept asking me to take a drumstick and I politely declined, before eventually revealing I was a vegetarian. And then, of course, the “I could never be vegetarian” and “how do you get your protein” comments started. Like you, I wait until it’s really necessary to bring up the fact that I don’t eat meat plus I have a lactose sensitivity. I’ve gotten some weird and sometimes mean responses but usually there are lovely people who understand!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I feel you dear! When I tell people I’m Celiac, I also end up telling them about my soy allergy and the fact that I don’t do eggs, dairy, or meat (other than chicken and fish). So then it’s gets weird and I don’t know if they take me seriously 😛
Dietitian Jess
I think this post really speaks to any one with serious food allergies or intolerances… my godson has severe allergies and people just dont understand that some peanut butter is honestly a matter of life or death. I know as he gets older he will have to talk about his allergies more and more- right now he is known as the kid that’s the reason why they cant have cupcakes at preschool 🙁 So unfair.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It is unfair. Food allergies and autoimmune disease is no one’s fault. I wish there was an easier way to stay safe, always, but learning how to present information about it to someone new only makes us more confident ourselves, over time :/
Morganne @ NutButterRunner
This is one of the best posts I have read about celiac disease! I definitely wait to say that I have celiac, and usually it only comes up when I am offered something. But it is one of the biggest struggles when someone says “one bite won’t hurt” or “just eat the top part that doesn’t have the crust”. It’s such a small part of who I really am, but plays such a big role in the daily routine! Thanks for sharing, Rebecca 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right!? Like on a day-to-day basis, I really don’t even think about the fact that I have Celiac and eat gluten-free. It’s just second nature now, but then when those few times a year come about where I have to explain my illness that I’ve been living with for 7 years, it is still always awkward :/
Sarah | Well and Full
I really appreciate this post a lot, Rebecca. I don’t have Celiac Disease, but as a vegan I often feel really uncomfortable telling people about my diet. Some people can get really mean about it… A few times when I’ve told certain people (read: men) that I’m vegan, they will make really rude comments or ask demeaning questions. I’ve even had a few people (again, men) making mooing and oinking noises and then talk about how delicious those animals are. It’s absolutely awful. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you… being vegan is a choice, but having Celiac Disease is not. So I really appreciate you writing this post and explaining how you deal with the questions 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Some people will understand, some people never will. But if someone’s diet, especially if it is for medical reasons, is that big of a deal, than hopefully that new person won’t need to get to know you further and you can meet the RIGHT new people 😛
Sheryl
Great way to explain it. The awkwardness can be reduced and even removed when you handle it as you suggest. 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
As long as you know your disease and you know you are NOT you disease, you will be good!
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday
I’m kind of the same way with telling people I have severe chronic pain. I try to avoid explaining unless it’s really necessary, because people alter the way they treat you when they find out you have a slight difference from them. It’s overcome-able but still kind of a pain. And yes, icebreakers/name-games are the worst. I thought maybe they’d go away by college, but nope. They’re still around. 😛
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Yea. It really isn’t essential in the beginning most of the time, but when it is health related, the will be a time when it is necessary to finally tell people.
Omg…they got WORSE in college, hahaha!
Emily @ My Healthyish Life
I have the same approach when it comes to “introducing” celiac to others. I don’t bring it up unless it’s necessary and even then I don’t make myself the center of attention (or I try not to).
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right! It’s such a small thing to me now, that it shouldn’t be a big thing to anyone else either!
Susie @ SuzLyfe
I say that Crohn’s is in the fine print of my life. I never lead with it, but I will gladly talk about it if I need to. I don’t want to be pitied or labeled–that isn’t what I’m about, and I don’t want people to think tat it is ok to treat me differently. I can take care of myself, but thank you for the concern!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
YES!!!! That’s exactly right! We can take care of our own needs and health and do not need them to be the qualities that define who we actually are.