A healthy lifestyle journey requires consistency, discipline, and patience. As someone with an auto-immune disease knows, having a healthy lifestyle is necessary if you want to feel good daily. Starting with diet, then exercise, and other healthy habits such as meditation, taking time for yourself to relax, and going on vacation, you can find your own personal health lifestyle groove. 

If you don't have an auto-immune disease, you can start at any of these places. However, many people want to start with dieting or exercise when starting a healthy lifestyle journey. Others may want to start drinking more water. Whatever your starting point is, you need to make sure that you approach your lifestyle modification with the right mindset!

While you may have a big goal of weight loss, having more daily energy, or being more flexible, you'll want to take your big goal and break it down by setting small goals. Next, take these small goals and create manageable first steps that you can achieve every day. By taking small steps to achieve your overall health goals, you can accomplish a holistically healthy lifestyle and reap the benefits of your new habits!

Gluten Free Food Near Me

Since the dawn of gluten-free and the recognition of Celiac disease post-WWII, gluten-free food has improved quality and taste! (Mostly) gone are the days of eating gluten-free crackers, bread, and gluten-free, primarily rice-based and tasteless snacks. The gluten-free diet has morphed into using an entire range of foods that utilize many different types of gluten-free flours such as amaranth, quinoa flour, almond flour, teff flour, buckwheat, and my favorite, cassava flour.

There are so many gluten-free foods that you can eat on a gluten-free diet. However, they aren't all accessible to everyone at their local health food store. Sometimes, there are no gluten-free food options at a store when I'm traveling - not even gluten-free bread! One time I was at a major supermarket chain in Atlanta, and they only had two types of gluten-free bread. One of the brands was moldy because it was past its expiration date!

What's the solution? Suppose you're on a gluten-free diet because of medical reasons. In that case, the easiest way to access gluten-free foods if you don't have easy access to them where you live is by buying your gluten-free flour, gluten-free bread, and gluten-free pasta online.

With so many different online recipes to choose from, how do you know which sites have good gluten-free recipes? Here are a few easy, last minute recipes you can create in a flash during the remainder of the holiday season. You may also want to keep these recipes on hand for a quick dinner when you are busy with kids and their school, and work. I have not tested all of these recipes, however; I use these online sources quite frequently with good results!

In this blog post are links to some great end-of-the-year deals on gluten-free food you can purchase online! Find out where you can get the best deals on delicious gluten-free items. Stock up now and have your gluten-free ready-to-go for the New Year!

Appetizers

• Bacon wrapped pineapple bites
• Cheezy Spinach Balls
• Spicy Deviled Eggs
• White Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms
• Bacon, Brie and Cranberry Holiday Melts
• Vine Baked Feta
• Bacon Wrapped Potatoes
• Pomegranate and Cranberry Bruschetta
• Cheese Fondue

Breads

• Buttermilk cheddar onion biscuits
• Cranberry Bread
• Brazilian Cheese Buns
• Easy Pumpkin Bread
• Vegan Biscuits
• Paleo Sweet Potato Pumpkin Spice Bread

Side dishes

• Cranberry Glazed Meatballs
• Simple Stuffing and Gravy
• Baked Tomato Cups
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Holiday Dressing
• Paleo Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Kale
• Wild Mushroom Stuffing
  
  

Desserts

• Chocolate Mint Chex Mix
• Carmel Brittle

Gluten-Free Philadelphia with Michael from Gluten-Free Philly
I'm excited to feature Michael Savett, from Gluten Free Philly, for this episode of Travel Gluten Free! I've been hearing about Gluten Free Philly any time I mention I'm traveling to Philadelphia to another friend or acquaintance who is gluten-free.

My guest in Episode #65 is the father of an 18-year-old son with Celiac Disease who was diagnosed at age 3. He is an attorney practicing law in New Jersey and a member of the Business Advisory Council of Beyond Celiac.

He began publishing Gluten Free Philly in March 2009, with the mission of creating and maintaining a comprehensive reference for gluten-free-friendly restaurants, bakeries, stores, and events in the Delaware Valley. In addition to his blog, he also shares weekly features on items of interest to local and national readers.

Given the reader's interest in finding safe gluten-free options in the Philadelphia area, he decided to develop a mobile app, Gluten-Free Philly, which has more than 1,700 business listings throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and all of Delaware. This is the best resource

#2 Find a Gluten-Free Restaurant

Finding a GF restaurant may not sound hard, until you try to look for one, especially in a rural area. Cities have more food choices, and you can easily find a gluten-free option in a town, but what about less populated areas?

One of my favorite tools to find gf restaurants is Find Me Gluten Free App. Jason Elmore, creator of this app, is celiac. He decided to make the app after being frustrated about the difficulty of finding food that is safe to eat when you are eating out.

To find out more about Jason and how he created the Find Me Gluten Free App,

I really enjoy a great road trip. This means an extended weekend or a planned multi-day trip which involves stopping and eating at places I've never heard of. That can be as easy as brushing a furry knot out of my long-haired cat when I'm not sure what's available in the next town, especially when I'm in the middle of nowhere. I've found a few ways to lessen the hardship of gluten-free on the road.

#1 Carry food with you at all times. Yes, and bring a superhero along with you as well (is Captain America available?). This can be easy if you find out what you like and keep it on hand. My suggestion: gluten-free protein bars and cookies. I really like protein drinks (single-serve powder is most accessible, although it can be costly). I take the protein from my bulk container and double bag the protein. This keeps costs down but gives me a few meals to hold me over until I find a safe restaurant to eat at.

Always bring yummy snack foods with you for the ride. Gas Stations do not have many gluten-free offerings, except for Oregon and California. These are the only two states which I have found more than 2 or 3 safe snacks to eat.

My favorite gluten-free snacks are KaPop Snacks, Deliciousness Foods, and Jai Mix. I've interviewed each of these owners on my podcast, and I would feel safe eating these snacks, even on vacation! They are reliable and do not use any gluten in their products or their process.

Remember to not carry chocolate with you on your road trip, chocolate melts, and makes a mess. Be cautious of coconut oil, as this will quickly melt in your car!

Check back for your next gluten-free on the road trip next blog!​

​For great advice on how to travel gluten-free, grab my Guide to Traveling Gluten-Free on Amazon today!