it's not me, it's you.

Please begin this post by playing the song below as you read.



so as you can tell from the deeply personal song above, this is a post about a breakup. not with a boyfriend (sorry mom) but with an arguably bigger love of my life: beer. and bread. and all things gluten.

hold on, i need to wipe the tears off  my keyboard before i continue.

so, you know how sometimes you really like someone and things seem to be going well, but you have a gut feeling that it won't work out long term? because you don't see eye to eye on really important things that will never change? so you decide it's for the best that you both go your separate ways? that's basically what's happening here.

earlier this year, i got a full physical to check out my health state, as a part of the #yearofbetsy plan for better health. when the results came back, it turns out that, as i had pondered for most of my adult life, i have an underactive thyroid, explaining some things that have been plaguing me for a while. after this diagnosis, i began treatment and went on my way.

however, i continued to deal with some...less than desirable health issues that i couldn't figure out the cause of.

#overshare

so i decided to see a GI to figure out if it was just my new medication reacting with my body or something else. i have health insurance so might as well use it. 

after a first consultation and a follow up endoscopy, i was given terrible - at least to me - news: i had celiac's disease. 

in case you don't want to click the link for a detailed medical overview, i'll break it down for you. my body can't process gluten correctly and it leads to the damage of my small intestine, leading to malnutrition and a host of other less than ideal side effects. i'll spare you the gory details. 

now i know that giving up gluten is a SUPER trendy thing to do right now, but i've never understood why anyone would willingly give up some of the most delicious foods and drinks in the world. it's still not something that i want to do. it's something i HAVE to do. i mean, would i want to give up all of this?

nyc staples. 

birthday cake is the best kind of cake.

#3 on the list of loves. 

drunk food: the essential 4th meal of the day

practically professional at taking photos

beer is my best friend sometimes, guy.

no, i'm not an alcoholic. i promise. 

as you can see, all things carbs have been a big part of my life. i mean, buzzfeed told me once that i was going to marry a pizza.

we could've been really happy together. 

since getting the diagnosis yesterday, i've had an amazing outpouring of support from friends in the know - including lists of the best gluten free beers around. and since it is becoming a real hot-button issue in the US  - close to 1 in 50 americans have celiac's - it's becoming a lot easier to find solutions that are clearly labeled and marked as GF (as the cool kids call it, i'm learning). add in the fact that nyc is always the first to adapt to lifestyle trends, i'm going to be okay.

i'm seeing a nutritionist who specializes in celiac's next week who is going to help shelter me through the transition, including making sure my beauty products, medications and more all are under the gluten-free umbrella. i'll obvi share my findings.

until then, i'm just channeling my inner cersei and everything's going to be alright.