Are You Deprived?

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Stop living as if you are deprived. No really. Stop it right now.

I’ve noticed that many of us have the attitude that life has been holding-back, depriving us of good things. (You know the yo-yo diet kind of living that happens trying to lose weight, so you cut out anything with flavor from your cupboards and live on a stiff regimen of of things that taste like cardboard.Then that logic follows suite into other aspects of your life and relationships that the best quality is too hard to come by, too expensive, you would have to work too hard etc. so you settle for the superficial version with no depth because it’s easier? Yeah, been there.)

When I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) a few years ago and trying desperately to avoid all gluten, dairy and sugar to improve the symptoms, instead of feeling better I suddenly felt even more deprived. It wasn’t that my body actually was deprived, I just got stuck in the logic that anything healthy, gluten-free, raw etc. that would benefit my body would be flavorless and insignificant. I felt like PCOS had handed me a life-sentence of a depleted, passionless life.

That’s when it hit me…the loaded question…if food was now flavorless, what other parts of my life had become flavorless because I thought sacrificing pleasure meant I was creating health?

The only thing the loss of pleasure did for me was to create a rather empty shell of the vibrant woman I once was. That kick in the pants was the reminder I needed to get off my flavor-less pity party (you know, the one that said all “yummy things” were filled with gluten and my PCOS was a curse…). Actually quite the opposite is true. When we create a life of pleasure, joy and hope through positive relationships, good whole foods and self-care, health happens. Those things flavor our daily existence and color our world into a zesty, creative, joyful place to be!

Life was never meant to be flavorless, void of pleasure and substance…but sometimes, it just takes hitting a low point to realize that finding treasure means you have to do some seeking (hence the phrase “treasure hunt”); treasure usually won’t just fall into your lap.

I began researching gluten-free, raw living again with hope that if I was willing to realize food is meant not only to nourish the body but also provide wonderful flavor, then I could stop with the deprivation game that plain raw carrots, and lettuce leaves were the only thing I could eat.

Seriously, deprivation is an attitude. When we allow our mind to get stuck in the place of I can’t have this, it’s so unfair, blah blah blah…our perspective is totally a sad choice. Because the other side of the fence is that I can choose to put some extra effort into finding products, recipes and community that share my need and redeveloping passion for gluten-free, natural living that not only make me feel better and helps my PCOS, but also are filled with abundant flavor and are a pleasure to eat.

In finding that tribe of others on the same mission, our place of deprivation and aloneness suddenly takes shape into something new, abundant and fresh. Our lives become filled with hope, passion, pleasure and possibilities because we have people to share and learn with.

So, what possibilities has living gluten-free opened up in your life? (See that little bit of reframing? I didn’t ask you what you lost being gluten-free, but rather, what you have/are gaining. Holy possibilities. I think we’re onto something…). Here’s to health, flavor, pleasure and a community that is here to share the journey!!