Avoiding Gluten Without Becoming a Hermit

bringing a lunchbox of your own food and researching what restaurants in your area have a dedicated allergen part of their kitchen where they'll prepare GF meals if they have them- otherwise restaurants that say they have GF menus but not a dedicated space are way more likely to give you cross contamination. Idk where you're at, but in AK and red robin's has a gluten free menu & allergen kitchen! you can also do activities that don't always involve food, like seeing a movie, going to the mall, a park, etc.

One of things that’s helped me the most is an app I have called Find Me Gluten Free and it will show you restaurants with gluten free options closest to your current location or you can look up a location which is great for vacation planning. It’s really helpful for on the spot meals with people because then I can pull up options for everyone to decide between instead of feeling like I’m always suggesting the same place over and over again

It’s easy once you get used to it. I’ve had celiac for 3-4 years now and I was diagnosed in the middle of high school. It was extremely hard because people wanted to go out all the time. (Obviously now because of the pandemic, you should not be eating out, especially if you have an auto immune disorder) but it’s not your fault that you can’t eat gluten. If people won’t accommodate to you, sympathies with you, understand how hard it is for you, they aren’t your friends. Friends and family would always try to find something you can eat and include you the best they can. And if they won’t, it’s not on you. You may miss events and it will definitely be hard. But clear boundaries and empathy from those around you are what help the most.

If allowed, I’ll bring my own food. I know that is not always possible. If you know where you will be going you can look up what food they have and even call to see what they could do to accommodate a gf diet.

My close friends know to substitute GF ingredients. At work, there is a group of us that are GF and exchange goodies and recipes.