Q of the Week : Any dietary restrictions in your family?

Image courtesy of clevercupcakes via Flickr.I’ve been on a wheat-free/mostly Gluten-free diet for about a month now, along with my older son.  I started it because I’ve suspected he was intolerant for awhile now, thanks to itchiness and irritability issues, and I had an idea that my body wasn’t that fond of processing it either.  Also, it’s much easier to get him to cut out some of his favorite foods when I’m doing it with him!  I could see a big change in how I felt within two weeks, but it’s hard to get much quantifiable information out of him on how he feels. 

This past weekend, I completely spaced out and had a very delicious chocolate oreo on Friday, and a beer on Saturday that was definitely wheat-based.  Between how I felt Saturday night, and also during my run on Sunday, there’s no doubt in my mind that I should Not be eating wheat.   I’ll spare you the gory details :).  I’m not sure yet about gluten, but will figure that out soon enough. I think Douglas is in the same boat, but haven’t deliberately given him any wheat yet to make sure.

It’s daunting to say the least.  I’ve been cooking GF for a month, and slowly figuring out how to substitute, but it’s hard.  We just have to get used to giving up certain things, and finding enjoyable replacements (not to mention affordable ones!)  It’s hard to have half the family avoiding certain things, but keeping things in the house for the other two that we can’t have.  In some cases I’m can’t avoid the temptation yet, so it just doesn’t get in the grocery cart in the first place … don’t get me started on how I crave light and crispy crackers!

Do you have any restrictions that you have to deal with, and how far do you go to make it easy on the restricted ones?  Douglas isn’t aware of what all has wheat in it, and he’s not committed enough to the idea to try very hard either.  Until I’m sure one way or the other, I have to keep an eagle eye on his food, and remind anyone else who’s likely to feed him (his dad, playdates, etc.) to please read labels and ask questions!

So what’s your story with allergies and diets and restrictions?  I’d love to hear how it works for your family!