Latest / Unbalanced with Cerys Davage / 47. Q&A #2: Exercise, Gluten free diet and Diagnosis advice...

Transcript

47. Q&A #2: Exercise, Gluten free diet and Diagnosis advice... · Unbalanced with Cerys Davage

• 0:09
  Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of Unbalanced with Me.
• 0:14
  Kerry Savage, how are you all? How you doing?
• 0:17
  I feel like it's been a while since we've caught up properly
• 0:20
  and it's such a miserable day today, which means it's a
• 0:23
  perfect, perfect day to just sit down and have a chat on the pod.
• 0:27
  Yesterday was so nice. It was so nice and sunny and it
• 0:31
  was getting a bit warmer and I thought wow, spring is really on
• 0:33
  its way. But obviously I spoke too soon
• 0:36
  and it's still miserable. It's really rainy and bit windy
• 0:41
  and it's just not ideal, but it provides perfect lighting for
• 0:44
  today. So I positioned the chair so
• 0:48
  that I'm just right by the window and hopefully this
• 0:51
  lighting will stay this way all through this episode.
• 0:54
  It's been a while since I've done a little question and
• 0:57
  answer session and I've done a couple on my Instagram.
• 1:00
  I've answered some questions on my Instagram stories, but there
• 1:03
  have been a lot of frequently asked questions that I thought
• 1:06
  would be really good to answer on the podcast.
• 1:09
  A lot of very popular questions, a lot of questions that I think
• 1:13
  might help some of you guys, some that I thought would be to
• 1:16
  share on this podcast, some that a lot of people might be able to
• 1:19
  relate to or learn from. And also just to get to know me
• 1:23
  a bit more, if you care. Before I get into that, I kind
• 1:27
  of wanted to address a couple of things to do with the podcast, a
• 1:30
  couple of changes. So I've been very busy behind
• 1:33
  the scenes, recording with a lot of new guests, a lot of really
• 1:36
  exciting episodes that are coming up.
• 1:40
  And I just thought, why do I need to stick to this rule of
• 1:45
  every other episode, solo interview, solo interview, when
• 1:48
  I've got so many good interviews coming out?
• 1:50
  I don't want to postpone putting them out just so I can put out a
• 1:54
  solo episode, especially if I've maybe that week not really had
• 1:58
  an episode prepared. So I think I'm going to slightly
• 2:02
  ditch that rule and just put out an episode whenever I feel like
• 2:06
  it. I've also been very fortunate
• 2:08
  enough to hire an editor, Dylan, who has started to just take on
• 2:13
  just a couple of episodes and just to take the load off of me
• 2:17
  a little bit. And especially since editing
• 2:20
  takes up so much time and it's actually a big part of what I do
• 2:23
  in my job, I felt like it was taking up so much time that I
• 2:28
  wasn't giving myself enough time in my personal life to just
• 2:31
  chill out after a long day and things like that.
• 2:33
  So Dylan's been really good with just taking the load off of me a
• 2:37
  little bit and just helping me out with the podcast.
• 2:40
  And that's given me more time to interview people and investing
• 2:44
  more ideas into the podcast and just gives me more time to
• 2:48
  appreciate it more rather than feeling like it's going to
• 2:51
  consume my life. So because of that, and because
• 2:54
  I've been very busy recording and interviewing so many people,
• 2:58
  I might have some bonus episodes out.
• 3:01
  I might have episodes out more than just fortnightly.
• 3:04
  I might have some three weeks in a row, who knows.
• 3:08
  So I think I'm just going to slightly ditch that idea that I
• 3:12
  had and ditched the kind of tradition that I've been doing
• 3:16
  for the past over a year and a half now.
• 3:18
  And I just want to put out an episode, whatever I want to,
• 3:21
  whenever I feel like it. And it'll definitely be every
• 3:24
  other week with just some extra ones in the middle.
• 3:27
  Sometimes if I've got 1 ready and if I put out an interview 1
• 3:31
  instead of a solo one or a solo 1 instead of an interview one,
• 3:35
  that's fine too, you know. So that's something nice to look
• 3:37
  forward to. I've got some very exciting
• 3:39
  guests coming up, very exciting chats with different people,
• 3:43
  some of whom you may recognise, some of whom you will love
• 3:47
  getting to know. And I'm very excited for these
• 3:49
  upcoming episodes, so I hope you will be too.
• 3:52
  And to make sure that you don't miss out on any of these
• 3:54
  episodes, don't forget to press the little bell notification
• 3:58
  next to the follow button so that you're notified every time
• 4:01
  an episode comes out. That's very important.
• 4:04
  That's the only way I can keep track of my podcasts is to just
• 4:07
  press the bell notification. Because when a notification
• 4:10
  comes through, it reminds me, OK, there's a new episode out.
• 4:13
  I need to catch up on those, you know?
• 4:15
  Has anyone else's skin been really bad recently?
• 4:18
  I have never been more self-conscious about my skin.
• 4:21
  I mean, I know we all get breakouts, we all have, you
• 4:24
  know, rough periods of time where our skin just isn't great,
• 4:28
  especially with this weather. I think I'm mostly blaming this
• 4:31
  weather to be honest. But my skin has been quite bad
• 4:34
  recently and I haven't changed my skin routine.
• 4:37
  I haven't done anything different really, so I'm really
• 4:41
  not sure what it is. I think it's probably just that
• 4:44
  I'm not drinking enough water during the day, maybe too much
• 4:47
  coffee instead of water, I don't know.
• 4:49
  So I'm going to really try and get on my drinking as much water
• 4:53
  as I can grind. I've got a little bottle here
• 4:56
  out of sight ready to just sip on throughout this episode.
• 5:00
  Also I don't know if you realised in my last solo episode
• 5:02
  The Friendships 1, I had made an iced coffee and I put it on this
• 5:06
  little table here and I didn't touch it the entire episode.
• 5:10
  And that's made me realise I don't drink my coffee whilst I
• 5:14
  record my episode because I'm just talking the whole time.
• 5:16
  I never have a chance to stop and take a sip.
• 5:20
  So if you do watch that episode, if you look back you will notice
• 5:23
  that my drink hasn't gone down at all.
• 5:25
  It stays at the same level right from the beginning of the
• 5:28
  episode to the end. So stupid.
• 5:31
  That just shows how much of A yapper I am.
• 5:33
  Like, I just forget about everything else and I just focus
• 5:36
  on what I'm talking about. It's not just my skin that's
• 5:39
  been affected by this cold, this terrible weather over the
• 5:43
  winter. It has been quite an intense
• 5:45
  winter, I'd say. You know, we've had a lot of
• 5:48
  cold days, days where I can't even leave the house because
• 5:51
  it's just so cold. And I've noticed that it really
• 5:53
  affects the way that I walk. Like my hips are obviously weak
• 5:56
  anyway and my knees, I can really feel it.
• 5:59
  I can feel like my, the rest of my body is trying so hard to
• 6:02
  like, make up for it and like overcompensate for my weak hips
• 6:07
  and knees. So that's why I'm not really
• 6:09
  going out as much right now, especially for walks and things,
• 6:12
  just because if the weather's not good, I won't be good.
• 6:15
  You know what I mean? Just prioritising work and going
• 6:20
  to the gym as much as I can. I'm trying to do that a bit
• 6:23
  more, not as much as I'd like to at the moment, just because, you
• 6:27
  know, by the time you get home from work and you're really
• 6:29
  tired, like I don't really have that much energy.
• 6:32
  But swimming is also a really good thing to do and during this
• 6:35
  time of year because it's just so cold outside and it's so nice
• 6:38
  to just be nice and warm for a bit.
• 6:40
  And I'm very lucky that my place has a sauna.
• 6:44
  So I definitely like going to the gym just to make the most of
• 6:47
  that, you know? One good thing though, is that
• 6:50
  it's mini egg season. And as you can see here if
• 6:52
  you're watching, I've got a little jar of mini eggs that is
• 6:54
  just really keeping me going throughout this time of year.
• 6:57
  I'm obsessed with mini eggs. And they turn up just after
• 7:01
  Christmas because the shops just like start filling up with
• 7:05
  Easter stuff. Like immediately, as soon as
• 7:07
  Christmas is over, it's Easter time, you know, So these
• 7:10
  chocolates have been in the shops for a while, but as soon
• 7:13
  as Easter's over, they just disappear.
• 7:15
  And it's so hard to get hold of mini eggs.
• 7:17
  So I'm going to be wise and stock up this year.
• 7:20
  Like I'm going to buy some extra mini eggs.
• 7:22
  They get more and more expensive every year, which is such a
• 7:24
  shame. But it won't stop me from buying
• 7:26
  them because they are just gorgeous.
• 7:29
  It's so easy to just go through them really quickly.
• 7:32
  So I'm really trying to like portion them really carefully,
• 7:35
  but this jar here, right? It's not even half full.
• 7:38
  And this is 2 packs of mini eggs.
• 7:40
  There's not a lot in every pack. Like it's really not good.
• 7:44
  But nonetheless, I will keep buying them and I will keep
• 7:47
  eating them because they are just amazing.
• 7:49
  They're incredible, right? I don't think there's that much
• 7:51
  to update you guys on, to be honest.
• 7:53
  I know I didn't give an update as much last time, but I guess
• 7:56
  the main updates were the updates to this podcast.
• 7:58
  So I'm very excited to see what happens with that.
• 8:01
  And I guess let's just jump into this Q&A.
• 8:04
  So I put up AQ and a box on my Instagram.
• 8:07
  And the first question that I'm going to start with is what made
• 8:11
  you start a podcast? I've loved podcasts for a while,
• 8:16
  for a few years now. I started getting into them and
• 8:18
  COVID, I think. And I had previously had a lot
• 8:21
  of radio experiences, you know, presenting on the radio,
• 8:24
  presenting live, interviewing people, doing a bit of editing.
• 8:28
  So I had a kind of idea how I would do it.
• 8:31
  But yeah, I just love the idea of starting a podcast, but I
• 8:35
  just wasn't quite sure what the topic would be.
• 8:38
  Because unless you're a celebrity or someone quite well
• 8:42
  known that you want to get to know, no one cares about your
• 8:44
  life. You know, no one cares what
• 8:45
  other people are doing unless you're famous, which I'm
• 8:48
  obviously not. So I thought, I need a topic.
• 8:51
  I need a hook that will gain interest at this podcast.
• 8:54
  That's why I started thinking actually, you know, the podcast
• 8:58
  I listen to, none of them talk about disabilities.
• 9:01
  None of the podcasts I listen to, I can properly relate to on
• 9:04
  that level. You know, I can relate to a lot
• 9:06
  of things that, you know, young girls are going through and
• 9:09
  adulthood or whatever, but not in the same perspective that I
• 9:14
  have, you know, not in not through the same eyes.
• 9:17
  And so that's why I thought it would be really nice to just
• 9:21
  talk about things from a different perspective from
• 9:23
  someone who has a disability. So yeah, I guess that's where it
• 9:27
  started. And I kind of floated out the
• 9:30
  idea on my main social media, and the response was really
• 9:34
  nice. So I thought, you know what, I'm
• 9:35
  just going to go for it. And I'm so glad I did.
• 9:38
  So yeah, I guess I just saw a gap in the market for a
• 9:41
  disability podcast from someone my age.
• 9:44
  And I guess I just wanted to be that voice that I needed when I
• 9:49
  was younger and I didn't have growing up.
• 9:52
  So yeah, I'm so glad I started it.
• 9:56
  Someone said, what's one thing you wish everyone understood
• 9:59
  about living with a disability? That's such a good question.
• 10:02
  And I'm sure there's a lot of different things.
• 10:05
  But I guess one thing would be that having a disability or a
• 10:10
  chronic illness is always on my mind, is always on that person's
• 10:14
  mind. Whatever social situation you're
• 10:16
  in, whatever you're doing, it's going to be there.
• 10:19
  You know, it plays a part in every single thing that you do
• 10:23
  and it can be really difficult, like just the mundane daily
• 10:26
  things that we do can be really painful.
• 10:29
  It can be such a big task and I think that kind of goes over a
• 10:33
  lot of people's heads. I don't think many people
• 10:36
  realise that little tasks are such a huge achievement for us.
• 10:40
  And I think because we don't talk about it all the time,
• 10:42
  because we're not constantly saying, oh, I did this and it
• 10:45
  was so difficult and or I had so much pain, but I did it anyway.
• 10:49
  You know, it can be painful for days to have a disability or a
• 10:52
  chronic illness, but we just don't mention it all the time.
• 10:56
  So I think just because we stopped talking about it doesn't
• 10:59
  mean that it stops becoming a big deal or painful or just a
• 11:05
  prominent thing in our lives. It always will be so to always
• 11:09
  check up on that friend. I mean I know this is turning
• 11:11
  more into advice now, but I think someone else asked the
• 11:14
  question what should people know about how to support someone
• 11:18
  with LGMD? But I'm just going to say this
• 11:20
  for disabilities as well. Obviously I'm just speaking from
• 11:23
  my own experiences, but this kind of ties in.
• 11:27
  I urge people, if you do know someone with LGMD or with a
• 11:32
  disability in general, to just always make it known that you're
• 11:36
  there for them and help them celebrate the little things.
• 11:41
  Because if you expect too much of someone, it can be really,
• 11:45
  really difficult for them to live up to those expectations.
• 11:48
  Like, I don't know if, if someone expected me to do things
• 11:53
  that's really easy for them. The effort that I put into that
• 11:58
  thing kind of goes unnoticed. So I just want people to know
• 12:04
  that, you know, things that you might find really easy is really
• 12:07
  difficult for someone with a disability.
• 12:09
  So to just have a little bit of grace, show a little bit of
• 12:12
  compassion and just always be there for them.
• 12:14
  Like make it known to them that you are there for them and that
• 12:18
  you really acknowledge and appreciate how much effort
• 12:22
  they're putting into just go doing the the daily things and
• 12:26
  that you know that you're always there for them.
• 12:28
  I guess I don't know if that made much sense, but I think
• 12:31
  that's what I would say. Like it's really important to
• 12:33
  have friends in your life and just people in your life that
• 12:38
  understand you and want to support you.
• 12:40
  And I'd say if you want to know more about this, to listen to my
• 12:44
  episode on how to be a good disabled ally, because I go a
• 12:47
  lot more in depth about that. But yeah, that's just kind of
• 12:50
  the outline, I'd say. Someone said, how has your
• 12:53
  relationship with exercise changed over the years?
• 12:57
  And I remember in my first Q&A episode, I did answer a question
• 13:01
  about my gym routine. And obviously my routine will
• 13:05
  change all the time as I get older.
• 13:07
  It's changed a lot from when I was in high school.
• 13:09
  You know, I used to go on runs. I used to go on runs on the
• 13:12
  treadmill, now I can't. And so I struggled a lot with my
• 13:19
  relationship to exercise. I hated it just because I knew
• 13:24
  that I couldn't keep up with it. But then I realised that you can
• 13:27
  tailor exercise to you. Rather than trying to keep up
• 13:30
  with the routine you've always had.
• 13:32
  You should tailor the routine to you.
• 13:35
  And as much as I miss doing a lot of things that I used to be
• 13:38
  able to do, it's really important to not push yourself
• 13:41
  to keep trying to do that because you're not going to get
• 13:43
  anywhere and you're just going to make yourself upset.
• 13:46
  So my relationship with exercise is a lot better now, now that I
• 13:50
  know that I don't need to do the same kind of exercise that
• 13:54
  everyone else is doing. And you know, exercise looks
• 13:58
  different to everyone. So as long as you find exercise
• 14:02
  that's really healthy for you, then that's fine.
• 14:06
  That's all you need. And I know what good exercise is
• 14:09
  for me now and what, you know, what makes me feel good, what
• 14:14
  kind of workout makes me feel. Yeah.
• 14:16
  Like, I've done a really good work out here.
• 14:18
  And it might not be much to other people, but for me it
• 14:22
  really has like healed my relationship in a way with
• 14:26
  exercise. Just because otherwise I would
• 14:28
  just get upset that, you know, I can't do anything.
• 14:32
  But actually I can. I can do a lot of things just in
• 14:35
  a different way. Someone said, what does your
• 14:37
  diet look like? And we're going into celiac
• 14:41
  territory here where there's a lot of gluten free related
• 14:43
  questions. So my diet is obviously
• 14:48
  different every day. I'll walk you through what I
• 14:52
  tend to eat on a daily basis if you care.
• 14:55
  Just for some inspo maybe. I'm really trying to stay as
• 14:58
  healthy as I can. Obviously it's really important
• 15:01
  to nourish your body, especially if you're suffering with a
• 15:05
  chronic illness or if you have a disability.
• 15:08
  It's really important to keep your body as nourished as
• 15:11
  possible. Obviously there's always room
• 15:14
  for improvement and you know, it looks different to everyone, but
• 15:18
  on a daily basis, I'd say that I start my day by having overnight
• 15:23
  oats and the ingredients I use for that.
• 15:26
  I use gluten free porridge oats. I do a teaspoon of chia seeds.
• 15:32
  I put a little bit of this powder called D ribose.
• 15:36
  And D ribose is, I think it's meant to be some kind of protein
• 15:40
  powder for bodybuilders to like help strengthen their muscles as
• 15:43
  they work out. But it's been recommended for
• 15:46
  people with my type of LGMD because it's supposed to just
• 15:50
  give your muscles a slight boost.
• 15:52
  I mean, obviously not heal them in any way, but just a way to
• 15:56
  kind of keep them going a little bit more and just give you a
• 15:59
  little bit more energy. And I did trial out D ribose a
• 16:03
  while ago, like a year or two ago, and it just gave me a
• 16:06
  really bad stomach, so I stopped.
• 16:08
  But I've tried again and I'm making sure that I'm consuming
• 16:11
  it with a lot of food and a lot of drink and it seems to be
• 16:14
  working so far. I found that I've got a lot more
• 16:17
  energy, especially in this winter, like when you don't have
• 16:20
  much energy to begin with. I do feel like D ribose just
• 16:23
  gives me that extra little kick, but I didn't want to talk about
• 16:26
  it initially when I first started getting back into it
• 16:29
  just in case I wasn't seeing any results.
• 16:31
  But I do think that it does help, you know, it just gives me
• 16:34
  a bit of a boost. I don't take it every day.
• 16:37
  And if I'm not having overnight oats and I'm making a coffee at
• 16:40
  home and I'm having like breakfast, you know, a weekend
• 16:44
  breakfast, I would maybe put a bit of derivos in my coffee
• 16:47
  because it is supposed to be, you know, consumed with a drink.
• 16:51
  But I find that it's, it's very disguisable in the overnight
• 16:55
  oats. So I put a bit of that in and a
• 16:59
  bit of soy milk and a bit of honey and I mix it all up and I
• 17:02
  put it in the fridge overnight. So that's the next morning when
• 17:06
  I'm ready for work, I can just take it out the fridge.
• 17:08
  You can heat it up. I used to, but now I just eat it
• 17:12
  straight out the jar and it's fine.
• 17:14
  And so I have that sometimes with some blueberries because
• 17:17
  they're a really nice combo together.
• 17:20
  So I eat that first thing in the morning and then weekends I
• 17:25
  don't tend to have overnight oats because usually by the
• 17:27
  weekend I'm a bit sick of them. So I would have a gluten free
• 17:31
  pan of chocolate in the air fryer, Elite Combination 160°
• 17:37
  for 8 minutes in the air fryer and the make is Shah CHAR and
• 17:42
  that's a gluten free make. They're amazing.
• 17:45
  They're the only gluten free make that I know in supermarkets
• 17:49
  around here that do gluten free pan of chocolate.
• 17:51
  So I highly recommend. And so I have them on a weekend
• 17:56
  with some fruit like some blueberries usually as well.
• 17:59
  Blueberries are just elite, you know, with anything.
• 18:01
  They just go with anything. I would also have some fruit at
• 18:05
  some point in the morning or maybe with my lunch.
• 18:08
  So I'd have blueberries, grapes, melons sometimes as well.
• 18:12
  Although I find that because I'm the only one that eats melon,
• 18:15
  like buying a whole melon for myself is a lot sometimes.
• 18:19
  Yeah. Just some other fruits, I guess.
• 18:22
  What would I have for lunch? Some gluten free sandwiches,
• 18:25
  ham, cheese and lettuce as my go to.
• 18:27
  Some crisps maybe. I tried to switch up my weekday
• 18:31
  work lunch boxes so that they're not always sandwiches.
• 18:35
  And sometimes I do a tuna pasta salad.
• 18:38
  Sometimes I do a chicken Caesar salad.
• 18:40
  So good with the breaded chicken from Marks and Spencer's.
• 18:44
  So so good. Sometimes I'd have smoked salmon
• 18:47
  and avocado sandwiches or toast if I'm home.
• 18:52
  If I'm home as well I'd add a little egg to that.
• 18:55
  You know? Have a little smoked salmon and
• 18:56
  egg toast situation. Love.
• 18:58
  Absolutely obsessed. It's probably my favourite meal
• 19:01
  out there. And if you care, I have posted
• 19:04
  some of my favourite meals on my Instagram recently in a little
• 19:08
  photo dump, so check them out if you want some inspo for dinner.
• 19:12
  I have to say Tristan, my boyfriend, is very, very good at
• 19:15
  cooking and he is much better than I am.
• 19:18
  He tends to do most of the cooking in the evenings and
• 19:22
  there's a lot of different meals that we go through, but most of
• 19:25
  them are naturally gluten free, which makes life easier for both
• 19:28
  of us so that we're not constantly worried about cross
• 19:31
  contamination or, you know, mixing up the wrong pasta or
• 19:35
  whatever. Like trust them, doesn't mind
• 19:37
  gluten free pasta. We eat gluten free pasta
• 19:39
  together, gluten free garlic bread if we have that.
• 19:42
  But then if we have something like fajitas, we would just sort
• 19:45
  our own wraps for that. You know, he'd have his gluten
• 19:47
  wraps and I'd have my gluten free wraps.
• 19:50
  And so we make it work. But most of our meals are
• 19:53
  naturally gluten free anyway, like a Sunday roast or a cottage
• 19:57
  pie or a salmon and rice stir fry bowl.
• 20:01
  There are so many things that we have that are just naturally
• 20:03
  gluten free and with lots of nutrients in them, you know,
• 20:06
  lots of veg, lots of meat or fish.
• 20:10
  Yeah, I think that's more or less it.
• 20:12
  And then obviously coffee throughout the day, not too much
• 20:16
  maybe. Like I think my Max is 2 cups of
• 20:18
  coffee a day so that I'm not going absolutely crazy.
• 20:22
  And then I always have to have something sweet at the end of my
• 20:25
  meal in the evening, like mini eggs or just a little chocolate
• 20:31
  or some ice cream sometimes if I'm feeling crazy.
• 20:34
  But yeah, that's pretty much my diet.
• 20:36
  If you want any other recommendations for like
• 20:39
  specific meals or anything gluten free, especially if
• 20:42
  you've just started out your gluten free journey, please let
• 20:45
  me know. I have so many recommendations.
• 20:48
  And I think I have a question actually someone asked me.
• 20:52
  What are your some of your faves when it comes to gluten free
• 20:54
  snacks? And one thing I did forget to
• 20:57
  mention in my little eating routine is track bars.
• 21:02
  TREK track bars. They are little flapjack bars.
• 21:07
  You can have them in lots of different flavours.
• 21:09
  I like the cocoa one and they are vegan and gluten free.
• 21:14
  They're really nice snacks. Like if I'm bored of having
• 21:18
  overnight oats every morning I would have a truck bar, or if I
• 21:22
  need a little pick me up in the afternoon and I'm getting a bit
• 21:25
  peckish and it's not quite time for dinner I'd have a track bar.
• 21:28
  They meant to be like protein bars I guess.
• 21:31
  They're probably not the healthiest thing, but they're
• 21:33
  definitely healthier than a lot of other snacks you can have, so
• 21:37
  I really recommend track bars. What are some other gluten free
• 21:39
  snacks? Honestly the entire Marks and
• 21:41
  Spencer's free from Isle like the millionaire shortbreads are
• 21:45
  really nice. The blueberry muffins are so
• 21:48
  good. What else?
• 21:50
  Oh, the chocolate chip cookies, they're really nice.
• 21:53
  And the chocolate chip cookies from Tesco Finest as well, they
• 21:56
  are amazing. Yeah, there's some of my
• 21:59
  recommendations. I do have another gluten free
• 22:03
  related question. How do I handle everyday life,
• 22:06
  especially socialising and working and being celiac with
• 22:10
  everyday life? I don't mind it too much.
• 22:13
  Like it's like the celiac isn't really something I think about a
• 22:16
  lot just because I'm more focused on the LGMD and the
• 22:20
  gluten free side of it is something I consult myself.
• 22:23
  You know, I take my own food to work with me.
• 22:26
  If I do go to a restaurant with someone, we just look up the
• 22:29
  menu beforehand to check that, you know, the place is gluten
• 22:32
  free. Most places are these days,
• 22:34
  which is great. But if not, you know, we'll just
• 22:37
  find somewhere else and it's usually not a big deal.
• 22:39
  It's the same kind of thing as trying to find somewhere that's
• 22:42
  accessible, except I need to find somewhere accessible and
• 22:45
  gluten free. So double whammy, gonna love it.
• 22:48
  But yeah, I think the worst part is when someone offers me
• 22:52
  something like if they bought snacks for the entire office or
• 22:56
  if they want to like, surprise me with some food and I can't
• 22:58
  have it. Like, it's, it's, I feel so bad.
• 23:01
  I'm like, I'm so sorry. I'm gluten free.
• 23:02
  Like I can't. But you know, at least it gives
• 23:05
  them the chance to like, pass it on to someone else.
• 23:08
  But yeah, I'm finding life pretty OK being a celiac these
• 23:11
  days and there's a lot more options than what they used to
• 23:15
  be. To be honest, most people in my
• 23:17
  life know that I'm celiac by now, so they know to not offer
• 23:20
  me gluten things. Or actually literally on Friday
• 23:24
  my colleague went to Cardiff Market and bought everyone Welsh
• 23:27
  cakes. But she knows I can't have so
• 23:29
  she went to this gluten free store in Cardiff Market.
• 23:32
  No glue. If you haven't been, check it
• 23:34
  out. And she bought me some cookies,
• 23:36
  some gluten free cookies and they were absolutely amazing.
• 23:39
  So that honestly made my week, you know, stuff like that.
• 23:42
  They're just small things, but they really mean a lot and they
• 23:44
  it goes a long way, you know, like it really does get
• 23:47
  appreciated. And especially as someone who is
• 23:50
  very used to being left out of things because I'm a celiac and
• 23:55
  a lot of people don't, you know, have never cooked or baked
• 23:58
  gluten free before. So they would never try to cross
• 24:01
  into that territory just in case they mess it up because
• 24:04
  obviously cross contamination is a huge thing.
• 24:07
  It can be a lot of pressure. So I don't expect people to make
• 24:11
  gluten free things for me or buy gluten free things for me
• 24:13
  because it can be quite stressful if you're not used to
• 24:16
  it. So stuff like that really does
• 24:18
  go a long way. Someone said, I know celiac
• 24:21
  friends who used to moan about the quality of gluten free
• 24:24
  bread, et cetera. Has it improved?
• 24:27
  It has definitely improved. I remember when I was first
• 24:30
  diagnosed, obviously the gluten free world was completely new to
• 24:34
  me, but I thought it was rubbish because there was nothing good
• 24:37
  out there. Like the bread was awful.
• 24:40
  I went through so many different types of bread, so many
• 24:45
  different companies of bread and nothing was good.
• 24:49
  Like people were really trying to find gluten free bread and it
• 24:51
  was just not out there. But now there's plenty of gluten
• 24:54
  free bread that's actually edible and still quite crumbly
• 24:59
  at times. But the ones I would recommend
• 25:02
  would be genius, genius gluten free bread is amazing.
• 25:05
  There's lots of different types. They have brown, they have
• 25:08
  white, they have seeded, they've got it all.
• 25:11
  And Warburton's gluten free is really good, especially their
• 25:14
  buns. They've got like fruit buns,
• 25:17
  they've got like brioche buns, burger buns, they're really good
• 25:21
  as well. And also just like free from
• 25:23
  buns, like Tesco, free from Marks and Spencer have really
• 25:27
  good bread now they've got like tiger loaves, they've got
• 25:31
  sourdough loaves that I need to try because I only discovered
• 25:35
  this recently and I haven't tried it yet.
• 25:37
  And I know sourdough is quite a popular brunch bread and I love
• 25:41
  a brunch. So I have to try this out.
• 25:44
  So I'm very excited to try that out.
• 25:45
  I will let you know how it is. But yeah, finding gluten free
• 25:49
  bread is so much better these days, as well as pasta.
• 25:51
  I feel like gluten free pasta used to be very starchy and it's
• 25:54
  not too bad now. So, I mean, Tristan eats it, so
• 25:57
  it must be all right. I'm just refreshing my Instagram
• 26:01
  for more questions to come in. OK, I've got some more questions
• 26:05
  someone asked. What hobbies do you have as
• 26:08
  someone with reduced strength? Oh, I think this is a really
• 26:12
  good question because something I see a lot online is that
• 26:17
  people lose their hobbies because of their reduced
• 26:20
  mobility, because they lose their mobility, therefore they
• 26:24
  lose their hobby. And it's really, really sad to
• 26:27
  hear when people stop doing the things that they grew up loving.
• 26:31
  Like, I used to love dancing. I used to love tap dancing.
• 26:34
  I used to go to lessons on a Saturday morning and I just
• 26:39
  couldn't do it now. And I couldn't, I could barely
• 26:40
  dance now. But then it makes me think like
• 26:43
  there's so many different types of dancing out there.
• 26:46
  Like surely I can just tailor dancing to me, you know, like
• 26:50
  I'm kind of tempted to try a dance class that's suitable for
• 26:54
  people with disabilities just so I can just still dance, but in
• 26:58
  a, in a different way. So it's safe.
• 27:00
  You do have a hobby that you feel like you can't keep up with
• 27:03
  anymore. Try and find like an alternative
• 27:05
  to that. Try and find the adapted version
• 27:07
  of that and find something that's comfortable for yourself
• 27:12
  that you can still do that hobby without completely missing out
• 27:16
  on it. But a lot of hobbies I love
• 27:17
  doing that don't require any kind of physical activity.
• 27:22
  Reading. Reading is very important.
• 27:24
  I've been reading quite a lot of books recently.
• 27:27
  I'm on my third book of this year, Cleopatra and Frankenstein
• 27:31
  by Coco Mellas. Very interesting, not what I was
• 27:35
  expecting at all, but very good, very beautifully written.
• 27:39
  What else have I read recently? I've also read Forever
• 27:41
  interrupted by Taylor Jenkins, read who wrote The Seven
• 27:45
  Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, my favourite book of all time.
• 27:48
  What else have I read? Small Worlds by Claire Keegan, I
• 27:52
  want to say really short book. So if you're in a reading slump,
• 27:56
  I recommend that. Very easy read and very short.
• 27:59
  It's like 80 pages or something. But yeah, I'm really trying to
• 28:02
  get through a lot more books this year.
• 28:04
  So that's a really nice hobby because it's also a way to like
• 28:07
  force yourself to stop, to like actually wind down and stop what
• 28:11
  you're doing and just like take some time for yourself.
• 28:15
  I tend to read in my bed before I go to sleep with my electric
• 28:20
  blanket on. So I'm getting all nice and
• 28:22
  warm. It's so nice.
• 28:24
  Another hobby that I need to do more of, but I'm getting into is
• 28:27
  colouring. And I know it's quite big on
• 28:29
  TikTok, especially those like cosy friends colouring books.
• 28:33
  They just seem so like wholesome and people splash out on those
• 28:36
  alcohol pens. I haven't bought those but I'm
• 28:40
  tempted to because they just look so nice.
• 28:42
  I guess like looking after my home.
• 28:45
  I know it's like a chore because I have to do it, but it is a
• 28:48
  hobby in a way. Like tidy home, tidy mind.
• 28:50
  Honestly, I feel so much better after I give my flat little
• 28:54
  clean and it is quite physical. Like I feel exhausted after I do
• 28:58
  that. Like sometimes I think, OK, I'll
• 29:00
  clean the flat and then I'll go to the gym and then I clean the
• 29:03
  flat and I'm like, I've done my workout, I don't need do
• 29:05
  anything else, I need to sit down.
• 29:07
  So that doesn't really help. So yeah, sometimes I need to be
• 29:10
  careful when it comes to that to be honest.
• 29:14
  But what else? Love a Mario Kart session on the
• 29:17
  Wii. I'm thinking of buying a
• 29:19
  Nintendo Switch. If you guys have any
• 29:21
  recommendations, let me know if they're worth it.
• 29:24
  But me interest and I've talked about getting one for a while,
• 29:26
  so I think it might happen. But yeah, I love a good we
• 29:31
  session playing Mario Kart, we sports resort, we party and it's
• 29:36
  like a childhood thing as well, you know, like it's it's
• 29:38
  nostalgic. So yeah, I do love it.
• 29:40
  I've already talked about going to the gym and swimming, which I
• 29:43
  love. Obviously it's not possible for
• 29:45
  everyone, but I do think that they're a nice hobby.
• 29:47
  Even if you don't exercise that much, just to like Bob around in
• 29:51
  the water for a bit. It's just a nice activity.
• 29:54
  And sometimes I bring my book to read by the side of the pool as
• 29:57
  well. Make it a nice relaxing thing.
• 30:00
  Another hobby is going for a coffee with a friend.
• 30:02
  I went for a coffee with my friend this morning and it was
• 30:05
  so nice. Nice little catch up and it's
• 30:08
  just nice to feel like you've done something, even in rubbish
• 30:12
  weather to just like get out the house and do something, you
• 30:14
  know. And so, yeah, I'm really
• 30:16
  enjoying that as well at the moment.
• 30:18
  OK, I think I've rambled on about a mix of different things
• 30:21
  here, guys. My memory card just died, so it
• 30:24
  stopped recording and I had to quickly delete my old videos
• 30:27
  just to make some more room. Anyway, I'm back and I'm just
• 30:30
  going to finish this episode with one final question that has
• 30:35
  been asked a lot, and it's probably my most asked question
• 30:37
  at the moment. So what advice would you give a
• 30:40
  young adult with a new diagnosis?
• 30:43
  And it's not quite the same as the question I asked my
• 30:46
  interviewees about your younger self.
• 30:48
  I'm talking about receiving a diagnosis now.
• 30:51
  And that is actually one thing I didn't go through.
• 30:54
  Like I haven't received a diagnosis as a young adult.
• 30:58
  Like I kind of grew up with it. But just, I can imagine that
• 31:03
  having this diagnosis now can be a massive shock and it can all
• 31:08
  kind of hit you at once. Whereas I kind of grew up with
• 31:10
  like little snippets of it. As I got older, like I kind of
• 31:14
  understood it more and more. And so I've I've had time to
• 31:17
  kind of deal with it, but a lot of people haven't.
• 31:20
  And a lot of people are just getting diagnosed now.
• 31:23
  They're just beginning their journey of, you know, accepting
• 31:27
  themselves as a disabled person or whatever condition that they
• 31:32
  have. So I can imagine that this is
• 31:35
  just a huge kind of change. There's a couple of things I
• 31:39
  have to say on this. And the first one is, as much as
• 31:45
  these conditions have a list of symptoms, a list of
• 31:47
  expectations, everyone's different.
• 31:50
  And just because you have this diagnosis now doesn't mean your
• 31:54
  body is different from the one you're used to knowing.
• 31:58
  You know your body better than anyone.
• 32:00
  And my condition, yes, it aligns with my diagnosis obviously,
• 32:06
  because that's what I have, but I don't have all the symptoms on
• 32:09
  there. So it's better to just focus on
• 32:12
  your own body and your own symptoms rather than having
• 32:16
  expectations and looking out for symptoms that may not come
• 32:20
  because, you know, everyone's different.
• 32:22
  So I'd say, you know, you still have your own body that you're
• 32:26
  used to. Just give it some grace, look
• 32:29
  after it as much as you can and don't beat yourself up for it.
• 32:32
  You know, everyone goes through life changes so you've got a lot
• 32:36
  on your plate already. Don't beat yourself up for
• 32:38
  anything and just look after your body as much as you can and
• 32:41
  listen. Listen to your body.
• 32:44
  Another thing I'd say is find your community.
• 32:47
  You need to get in touch with people with the same thing as
• 32:50
  you because it just is. It really changes your world and
• 32:55
  it changes everything around your diagnosis, everything
• 32:58
  around your life with this condition, knowing that there's
• 33:01
  other people going through the same thing as you.
• 33:03
  Obviously, This is why I've started this podcast.
• 33:05
  That's why I'm so glad I've been in touch with so many other
• 33:09
  people with the same condition as me, or different conditions,
• 33:12
  but still kind of in the same boat, you know?
• 33:15
  It's just so important. And so to have these people in
• 33:19
  your life that you can just relate to and turn to if you
• 33:22
  have any questions or want to share advice with.
• 33:27
  It's just so nice to have that community.
• 33:30
  And that's definitely the best thing that comes out of having a
• 33:33
  diagnosis like this, you know? So yeah, that would definitely
• 33:36
  be my piece of advice. I hope you guys enjoyed this
• 33:39
  episode. This is perfect timing because
• 33:41
  I'm just seeing out the window. The Tesco van is here with my
• 33:45
  grocery shop, so I better wrap this up.
• 33:48
  I am so grateful for you guys time and energy into this
• 33:52
  podcast. It really means a lot when you
• 33:54
  all message me or post something on your story that you're
• 33:57
  listening to it or when you rate it five stars because that
• 34:01
  really helps me out. So keep spreading the unbalanced
• 34:04
  word and I will be back with you guys with another episode very
• 34:07
  soon. I hope you guys have a lovely
• 34:10
  couple weeks. And if you want to keep up with
• 34:12
  me in the meantime, don't forget to follow Unbalanced Podcast on
• 34:16
  Instagram. I love you guys so much and I'll
• 34:19
  see you very soon. Bye.