July 17, 2025 • 41 mins
If you’ve ever felt like your gluten-free journey was a winding road full of questions, misdiagnoses, or “it’s all in your head” moments—today’s episode is for you.
I’m chatting with Michelle Kooi, a fellow gluten-free warrior who opens up about her path to healing after years of health struggles and food confusion.
Michelle shares what finally led her to discover the root of her symptoms, how her life has changed since going gluten-free, and why she’s passionate about helping others feel seen and supported in their own journey. Whether you're newly diagnosed or have been living gluten-free for years, her story is both validating and inspiring.
Mentioned Resources
Reclaim your Energy and Focus Free Guide
Connect with Michelle Kooi
Michelle Kooi is a professional coach, writer, and CPA who helps entrepreneurs, financial professionals, and ADHD business owners create sustainable success without burnout.
A former CPA firm owner, she understands the pressures of business and guides clients in managing their time, energy, and money more intentionally, setting healthy boundaries, and cultivating well-being with greater ease and alignment. With expertise in self-care, work-life balance, productivity, and ADHD-friendly strategies, Michelle blends practical tools with intuitive coaching to help professionals and business owners reclaim their focus, confidence, and fulfillment—both in their work and personal lives. She integrates mindset, structure, and self-care into her coaching, helping women feel more grounded, empowered, and capable. A lifelong yogi and adventurer, she believes in the power of mindfulness, movement, and nature to fuel resilience and success.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RadiantLifeWellness
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellekooiwomensbusinesscoach/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/michelle.j.kooi
Website - www.confluencecoaching.life
Come join us in our free Facebook Community, The Gluten Free Engineer.
It’s a space where you can connect with others living gluten-free, ask questions, swap tips and recipes, and get support from people who truly get it. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned gluten-free pro, you’ll feel right at home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
If you've ever felt like yourgluten-free journey is a winding
road full of questions,misdiagnosis or it's all in your
head moments, today's episodeis for you.
I'm chatting with Michelle Kooi, a fellow gluten-free warrior,
who opens up about her path tohealing after years of health
(00:23):
struggles and food confusion.
Michelle shares what finallyled her to discover the root of
her symptoms, how her life haschanged since going gluten-free,
and why she's passionate abouthelping others feel seen and
supported in their own journey.
Whether you're newly diagnosedor have been living gluten-free
for years, her story is bothvalidating and inspiring.
Let's dive in.
(00:44):
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
(01:06):
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we have a special guestwith us and her name is Michelle
Kooi.
(01:27):
She's a professional coach,writer and CPA who helps
entrepreneurs, financialprofessionals and ADHD business
owners create sustainablebusinesses without burnout, and
she has been on a gluten-freejourney for a good while now.
So, michelle, welcome to theshow.
Michelle Kooi (01:44):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here, Carrie.
Carrie Saunders (01:47):
So, Michelle, tell us a little bit about who
Michelle is, from both thebusiness side that I just gave a
little summary on, as well as alittle bit about when you
started this gluten-free journeythat you've been on.
Michelle Kooi (02:00):
Yes, yes.
So I have my business, which isConfluence Coaching and
Consulting, which I started in2022.
And I absolutely love workingwith female entrepreneurs and
helping them with time andenergy management, with mindset.
(02:23):
I work with new business owners, so usually in their first
three years and often in thefirst year, so there's a big
switch, especially if they'venever been a business owner
before.
The mindset shift from being anemployee to becoming a business
owner is a big one and, havingstruggled with burnout multiple
(02:44):
times in my career as a CPA andkind of coming to the brink of
that in my own business, I knowhow we wear so many hats as an
entrepreneur that we just caneasily overextend ourselves.
(03:05):
And so I am super passionateabout health and nutrition and
my gluten-free journey reallywas a pivotal point in my life.
So that started in 2012,.
12, um, quite by accident, um,in just exploring.
(03:34):
I'd been exploring for decadeslike my issues with, uh, chronic
fatigue and um, gluten-free waswas the magic, uh solution to
that.
Carrie Saunders (03:42):
So it sounds like you've been gluten-free for
just about as long as myself.
I think it was about 2011 whenI accidentally myself I
accidentally figured it out, toofor me.
So what helped you figure outthat you needed to be
gluten-free?
Was there something that youread or saw or did, or somebody
talked to you about it?
How did you figure that out?
Michelle Kooi (04:03):
talk to you about it.
How did you figure that out?
Yes, so I had spent decadesseeing doctors, different from
traditional doctors toalternative medicine
practitioners, acupuncture,Chinese medicine, chiropractic,
energy work, all kinds ofsupplements, diets, all kinds of
(04:25):
things.
No one ever suggested thatgluten might be the culprit.
And, um, I was reading one ofthem, a magazine.
Um, I don't know if it was oneof my food magazines.
I love to cook, Um, but um,there was an article in there,
uh, interviewing Chris Carr, whois who is.
(04:46):
She wrote the crazy sexy dietand she is a cancer survivor and
she was talking about herjourney and her 21 day cleanse.
And, while I didn't have cancer, I really resonated with some
of the things she talked about,resonated with some of the
(05:07):
things she talked about and Idecided to buy the book and do
the 21 day cleanse and it waspretty, pretty intense.
So there was.
It was gluten free, sugar free,coffee free, alcohol free and
vegan.
Oh wow.
So I cut out a lot of thingsall at once.
Oh, wow.
So I cut out a lot of thingsall at once and the first five
days I felt like I had the flu.
(05:28):
I just felt horrible.
But then I started to feel alittle better and I was sort of
coming out of a tunnel.
Almost by the second week, byday 14, my energy was better
than it had been in a long timeand I was feeling clearer.
And by the third week I feltbetter than I can ever remember
(05:53):
feeling and I didn't know whatI'd gotten rid of.
That did it.
So I was actually afraid to goback to what I was eating, and
the way she teaches it is youneed to reintroduce things
slowly to figure out what it is,and so I slowly started
introducing different things.
I remained vegan for 18 monthsbecause I just felt so good I
(06:18):
kept that.
But every time I hit gluten andI added that back, I would just
crash for five days and itwould take yeah, it would take
five days to get it out of mysystem and start to feel better.
But I was in complete denialbecause I love bread and pizza
and crackers, and so I keptthinking oh, it's a coincidence,
(06:41):
it's not that.
And so, after about four orfive tries of adding it back, it
became clear to me that thatwas it, and so I decided well, I
guess this is where I'm at.
I'm going to be gluten-free.
And back in 2012, there washardly any options at
(07:02):
restaurants or in thesupermarket for gluten-free
items, so it was a bit of achallenge.
But I had to relearn how tocook because I had not been
vegan before, and, of course,you don't have to be vegan to be
gluten-free.
But I wanted to remain that waybecause I felt so good.
(07:23):
So I suddenly had the energy todo some things that I had not
done and I started trail running.
But my first thought, when I,at the end of the three weeks my
husband and I had been havingmarital problems for years I,
(07:43):
literally, at three weeks, Idecided I finally have the
energy to get a divorce.
So it was a completelife-changing year, for sure.
Carrie Saunders (07:56):
Sure, sounds like it.
And you know, as you're talking, I know what it's like to be
vegan too, because I've got, youknow, friends that are vegan
and I'm thinking and one of mychildren's girlfriends was a
vegetarian whenever they, youknow, started dating and being
gluten free and vegan orvegetarian can be really hard
because a lot of the you knowcomponents that you eat to bring
(08:19):
in the proteins and things likethat you know are typically,
you know, have wheat or barleyor rye or, you know maybe, oats
that aren't gluten-free.
So I can see how that was beeven extra restrictive on top of
it.
And I actually accidentallyfigured it out via a book too.
It's a different book, thePrimal Blueprint, and it was
(08:41):
kind of similar in that you knowyou ate primarily.
You cut out the sugar, you cutout the dairy, you cut out quite
a few things.
You, you know you tried to eat,you know more grass fed type of
meat products if you're eatingmeat products.
And it was pretty obvious aftertwo weeks of eating this way and
having a cheat day on Fridayslike having a cheat meal on
(09:04):
Fridays because he's like got an80-20 rule I felt like I had
the flu all weekend.
So I can totally relate to youfeeling so terrible.
For about five days.
I mean, I was completelydebilitated with fatigue and
migraines and stomach issues andyou know I just felt awful.
So I'm glad that, like a book,helped open your eyes to not
(09:26):
only what was bothering you butto this new world and I like to
describe it too is likeeverything became in high
definition.
You don't realize when you'reeating something that's
incompatible with your body whatit does to you, because it
takes it slowly, over timestarts making you feel bad and
when I went off gluten it waslike the world was in high
definition again.
(09:47):
I had the energy, I could seethe world in a different light
and I sounds like it was kind ofsimilar to you when you
realized that gluten was yourproblem.
Michelle Kooi (09:56):
I can completely relate to that.
So I, after about a year and ahalf, I decided to start
experimenting.
I discovered that actuallywheat was my issue.
So I can actually.
I discovered I can actually eatbarley and rye with no issues,
but it's the wheat that I'msensitive to.
Carrie Saunders (10:20):
That's interesting For me, barley
actually.
I mean I can't have all threebecause I'm celiac, but barley
affects me worse than wheat orrye, I have found.
So it's interesting how ourbodies will kind of treat things
a little bit differently.
And wheat is the most commonform of gluten that we have in
our food today, unless you'repurposely seeking out something
(10:42):
with just barley or rye.
So that's interesting thatwheat affects you more.
Michelle Kooi (10:46):
Yes, yes, and I just went and do a deep dive on
learning all about it.
I read the book Wheat Belly andjust learned about the history
of some agriculture around wheatand the changes in it in the
United States in the last 60years.
Agriculture around wheat andthe changes in it in the United
States in the last 60 years.
(11:07):
And the gluten you know thewheat today has so much more
gluten in it than it did becauseof it being hybridized and
things like that that you know.
More and more people arerecognizing that they need to be
gluten free because our bodiesjust aren't designed to digest
that type of product.
(11:28):
And so I also.
About three months later, Idecided to go through a program
with the Institute ofIntegrative Nutrition in New
York to get a holistic coachingcertification.
And I really went through that,not to become a coach but to
(11:54):
just learn more about nutritionand health.
And I went through that programfor two years and just learned
so much and because peoplestarted noticing the changes in
my energy and what I was doingand how I looked like.
(12:14):
My eyes were brighter and I gotin the best shape of my life
because I had the energy.
I mean I had always worked outmy whole life, but my stamina
was not good and that completelychanged and so people started
asking, like what are you doing?
(12:35):
Like I want what you have.
So people started asking me tocoach them around their about
health and diet.
And so I started doing thatjust and to share, you know,
what I had learned and it wasjust so rewarding to be able to
(13:00):
change people's lives.
I ended up just, you know,keeping that and moving forward,
but I didn't really pursue thatas a career.
And then, about 2019, the ideaof becoming a coach which I had
(13:22):
actually had back in 2010, cameback and very strongly and I
started coaching clients in myCPA world business clients and
helping them understand moreabout their money and their
relationship with money andtheir mindset and emotions
(13:43):
around that.
And I decided to get anothercoaching certification and went
through the Coactive TrainingInstitute, which was my most
most recent program.
Carrie Saunders (13:55):
So whenever and I love how you talk about how
much you, how much better youfelt after being gluten-free,
because I find that to be thecase for just about everybody
that I've run into that eitherI've helped or or you know,
they've come to me for questionsbecause they knew.
You know, I've been celiac for,or I've been celiac probably
all my life, but haven't knownuntil like 2011.
(14:17):
So what other changes did youhave after going gluten-free?
Were there, were there anyother revelations?
Like, did you have like lessmigraines or less skin issues,
or was your hair better?
Like, did you have any of thosetype of good benefits from
going gluten-free that aren'tmaybe quite the typical thought
of being gluten-free?
Michelle Kooi (14:38):
I didn't really have um, skin issues, um or
digestive issues, surprisingly,from gluten.
So I mean, really my biggestone was my energy, which you
know our energy is everythingLike.
If we don't have the energy toparticipate in life.
(14:58):
I mean it affects ourrelationships with our family,
our kids, our work.
I remember I used to have totake naps at work under my desk.
I would shut my door and sleepunder my desk on the floor like
a kindergartner after lunchbecause I would be so tired back
(15:24):
when I was eating gluten and,of course, again, I didn't know
that's what it was Um, and so II got more time back, um, I
didn't need that anymore Um, andI was able to, like I said, I
was able to exercise more andmore and intensely.
So my, like, my physical healthuh improved um greatly from
(15:48):
from greatly from being able tohave the energy to do that.
I was able to make some changesin how I worked and so it
really affected a lot ofdifferent areas of my life and
at the same time.
So my daughter was in highschool at the time and she saw
(16:12):
me go through this transitionand she had been having some
digestive issues and my andagain, my husband and I did end
up going through a divorce, andso she would be a week at her,
his house, and a week at myhouse, and she noticed that the
week she was at my house shefelt better.
And so because my house wasgluten-free, and so she, you
(16:40):
know, I suggested she do it fora while, and of course you know
she was like 15 and that's justlike totally not.
And of course you know she waslike 15 and that's just like
totally not.
After kind of seeing thechanges that I made and her
stomach problems getting worse,she decided to try it and she
had almost immediate relief fromher stomach pain and because
(17:02):
that was her biggest symptom,and so she has been gluten free
to this day since she was 15.
And so she's been gluten-freeto this day since she was 15.
And so she's been gluten-freefor 12 years.
Yeah.
Carrie Saunders (17:11):
Yeah, I mean that actually kind of relates a
lot to some things that we raninto is like we've had our
children have had either friendsor girlfriends or current
girlfriends that you know theywere having symptoms.
One of them actually, weactually kind of helped a former
girlfriend figure out.
She actually had celiac.
She got tested.
My oldest was like I think youmight have celiac based upon all
(17:34):
the problems that she washaving and she was anemic, she
was fainting all the time, soher iron levels were really low
and she always had stomachissues and you know she actually
had celiac disease.
And then another girlfriend wasalways having stomach issues.
You know she was always.
She couldn't figure out whatwas wrong.
She was always having stomachissues.
She was the one that'svegetarian or was vegetarian.
(17:56):
And you know my middle child waslike, you know, maybe you
should try to, you know, takeout gluten for a little bit, see
how you feel.
And she felt immediately better.
Her stomach issues went awayand you know she now eats
protein.
You know animal proteins now,you know, in a careful manner,
because she needs the extraprotein, because it's a little
harder, like I said, when you'revegetarian or vegan to quite,
(18:18):
you know, especially as acollege age person, to get what
you need and nutritionally.
And yeah, I mean, there's justbeen so many people we've ran
into that we've either helpedthem realize they had celiac a
couple other band members wehelped them realize they had
celiac and marching band in highschool or realized that they
were intolerant.
And what I like to talk about alot on the podcast too is you
(18:40):
know we need to make gluten-freeeasy, and I know you mentioned
to me, you know and takequestions, you know that it can
be easy and you know we'vealready talked about how it's
made your life easier, causesometimes people will be like
how can you stand beinggluten-free?
Doesn't that make things harder?
I'm like, no, I feel so muchbetter and I, you know, I have
(19:01):
so much more energy and life isso much fuller, and so I'd love
to hear your perspective of whyis living gluten-free easy and
how do you make it easy.
Michelle Kooi (19:10):
Yes, that's great .
So, yeah, I love this topicbecause I hear that all the time
People say to me that theycouldn't be gluten-free because
it's too hard.
And how do I do it?
How do I like, if they putbread on the table at, you know,
at at a restaurant at dinner,how do you not eat it?
(19:32):
And I'm like it's completely, Imean, it's a, it's a no brainer
, Like I look at that bread andI see it as poison for me, Like,
it's like, why would I eatsomething that's going to make
me feel horrible, Like for days,why would I, you know?
So it's like I look at that andmy instant connection is
(19:54):
feeling terrible, Like, so itdoesn't even look appealing to
me because I know how I'm goingto feel after I eat it and so I,
yeah, it's just, it's just notjust, not even a question.
You know, I like to say thatyou don't know how good you can
feel until you feel that good,Because when I, you know, after
(20:19):
that three weeks of that cleanse, I don't remember feeling that
good, probably since I was achild, like an interesting, and
probably, and maybe never so my,I was actually diagnosed when I
was six years old with a glutenor not, with a wheat allergy or
not wheat allergy.
(20:40):
But just, my doctor told my momto take me off of wheat.
So I was off of wheat for sixmonths and you know, I don't
really remember much about thattime other than my mom really
struggling and just being justlike stressed about what she was
going to cook for me and howshe was going to do this.
(21:00):
Like you know, no peanut butterand jelly sandwiches, no
crackers, no like, and, and sowe did that for six months.
And then the doctor said well,I think she's grown out of it.
You can put her back on wheat.
Well, you don't.
You don't grow out of somethinglike that.
Like, but because my, my systemhad cleared, when I started
(21:21):
eating it again, I wasn't havingthe same symptoms and again, I
don't even remember what wasgoing on as to what led them to
take me off of wheat.
But I and I really forgot aboutit.
I mean, it was only six at thetime, so it just changed.
(21:44):
You know, it didn't reallymanifest as intensely until I
was probably 14 or 15 is whenI've started really being aware
and noticing like that otherpeople had more energy than I
did.
I was a competitive gymnastfrom probably age 10 to 14.
And so just working out likethree, four hours a day, you
(22:09):
know, competing, traveling, andat about the time that I left
that I guess started noticing,just like that, other people had
more energy than I did and I Ididn't understand why, and that
led me to seeking out someunhealthy alternatives to get
(22:31):
more energy.
You know drinking more caffeineand some diet pill supplements,
Like I remember taking Dexatremin high school not to lose
weight I was thin but for thecaffeine in it to give me more
energy.
So I think it's not commonknowledge that it can affect you
(22:57):
that way.
And again, it affects differentpeople different way.
I know some people that havegluten sensitivities or that
fatigue is not their main issueand I didn't really struggle
with that.
But that was definitely myexperience.
Carrie Saunders (23:12):
Yeah, and I actually remember as a kid, as
you were talking, like mygrandmother taking me to the
doctor.
I started living with her infourth grade and you know her
telling the doctor that she'stired all the time.
She always complains of beingtired all the time.
I don't really remember beingtired, but I remember my
grandmother saying why are youtired all the time?
Or going to the doctors andsaying she's tired all the time.
(23:34):
We can't figure out why she'stired all the time.
So I do know that fatigue can beone of the major things,
because your body's fighting.
It's fighting for its health,it's trying to fight off this
substance that's in it that itsees as foreign and, as you know
, as this bad thing.
And we don't realize it.
You know, generally at the timeand you know you're talking
(23:55):
about the bread on the table I'mthe same way, Like I don't even
, like it's not even aconsideration, I don't even miss
it, like I can make breadbetter than just about any other
place out there.
Now, you know, and so I don'teven miss it.
And, ironically, being celiacand I've heard this from other
celiacs too I can't even walkdown the bread aisle without
getting a headache.
I have to actually take abreath, hold it as I walk
(24:18):
through the bread aisle quicklyand then release my air and then
start breathing again on theother side of the bread, because
my body has even come attunedto the smell of it, giving me a
headache.
Or if I go into, like a donutshop or a pizza place, like it
gives me an instant headache.
So once you've removed it fromour system, many times our
(24:39):
bodies will find other ways,like your association, of just
looking at it and, you know,associating it with something
that's going to make you feelbad and that it's more like
poison.
Our bodies will help us alongthose lines as we are, you know,
gluten free for longer and helpkeep us safer.
Michelle Kooi (24:56):
Yes.
So back to the.
You know the easy.
So I love to cook, and so I,you know, I can easily look at a
recipe and modify it for gluten.
So there are things that youdon't even recognize that have
wheat in it, like soy sauce.
So I switched to tamari, whichis gluten-free for many years,
(25:24):
but then I am now soy-free aswell, and so tamari has soy in
it.
So now I use coconut aminos.
So there's, like you know,there's hidden things.
I, you know, I got I'm reallygood at reading labels on things
, but I mean I can look at many,many recipes and modify them
(25:47):
for gluten.
It's really not that hard.
There's substitutes and there'sjust getting creative.
That's where I feel like I am.
Sometimes the most creative isin the kitchen, and so I like
finding recipes and just makingthem.
(26:11):
Sometimes it's just a few smalltweaks to make it gluten-free,
and other times it's a littlebit bigger one.
But I think the fear of goinggluten-free is that people are
going.
Most of us like to eat, and Iwould call myself a foodie, and
so you know, don't take awaylike I believe food can be
(26:35):
healthy and delicious.
It's not one or the other, andso you know, I want people to
know that going gluten-free doesnot mean that you lose your
ability to go out to eat.
You don't lose your ability toenjoy eating again and cooking.
(26:59):
It is absolutely doable andagain, just feeling better makes
things easier.
When you're tired all the time,everything feels hard, like
everything you know decision,fatigue and whatever.
So it just I feel like goinggluten-free has made my life
(27:23):
easier.
Carrie Saunders (27:25):
I completely agree with you there too, and
whenever and you talking aboutyou know working in the kitchen
and converting these recipes, Iwould love to encourage those
listening to us, you know, tohear our stories about this.
We both love to have thatchallenge of you know converting
a recipe to gluten-free, and Ikind of like to look at it as
therapy, like it's therapeuticfor me, even if you're not a
(27:47):
good cook yet, just try it out.
It's therapeutic to accomplishchanging that recipe to be
something that you can eat.
Like that makes you feel goodabout yourself emotionally as
well, as you know you're lovingthe food that you're eating too.
But I find it as therapy, andso I would encourage anybody
listening to maybe look at it inthat perspective.
(28:07):
You know this, this is a goodway to heal your mind, as you're
healing your body, and you knowtaking on these small
challenges is going to make youa stronger person.
I know I'm a.
I mean, I was a good cookbefore I realized I had to be a
gluten-free.
But, like I'm, my friends andmy family tell me I'm such an
amazing cook and my childrenhave tried to convince me to
(28:28):
open a gluten-free restaurant.
I'm like I do not want to run arestaurant, but thanks for the
compliment guys, but I'm sureyou can relate there.
Do you find it a bittherapeutic to be able to
convert that recipe togluten-free and make it still be
as tasty and texture fun as itwas otherwise?
Michelle Kooi (28:47):
Oh, definitely, I mean, I love it.
I look at it as a little bit ofa challenge and again it brings
out my creativity.
I think you know there are, youknow, some skills to learn or
just knowledge around whatthings to substitute, like the
soy sauce, tamari, gluten-free,coconut, aminos.
(29:11):
That's just one item, but thereare a number of things that can
be switched out and so kind oflearning.
So, having some tools in yourtoolbox, I had to keep a list
for a while of things that Ineeded.
Like, if I wanted to use this,then I needed to use that.
And now it's just I don't evenhave to think about it cause
I've been doing it for so long,but initially, like it does take
(29:33):
um, just learning some of thosesubstitutes.
But, um, you know, I I thinkcooking is fun and um, I know I
know some people do not Um um.
But you know Um um.
But you know I know even someof those um, those companies
where you can order, like thefood you know, pre-packaged,
that that you can assemble themeal.
(29:54):
I don't know that, I've neverused one of those, but I know
some people use that for um,that you know you can request
gluten-free for recipes forthrough those, those
organizations you know there'sthere's so many gluten free
cookbooks out there and glutenfree magazines with recipes in
(30:15):
it.
Like it, just I feel like itmade me a better cook.
Like like you said, like I Ialso feel like I am a good cook
and get compliments on mycooking, but I feel like I
actually became a better cook.
I broadened my you know myrepertoire.
(30:35):
Like I started experimentingwith different spices and
different um, uh, just differentum ways to add, you know, maybe
add more protein into the mealor add especially when I was
vegan as well Um and uh, addingsuper foods in and um superfoods
(31:03):
in, and things like that.
Like I truly believe that foodis medicine and and you know our
food system today, there's somuch processed food and our, our
bodies just aren't meant forthat.
Like we, you know we are meantto eat real food.
You know so it was here.
You know we are meant to eatreal food.
You know so it was here, likethe shop on the perimeter of the
store you know, to just meet,you know, meat, dairy produce,
(31:25):
you know, and you can, you know,create your meal from from that
.
So, just like relying less onprocessed foods and relying more
on you know real, real, actualfood like that helps improve our
health as well.
So, because I know I know somepeople it's you go gluten free
(31:46):
and then substitute with a lotof processed food, gluten free
and that's that doesn'tnecessarily make you healthier.
Yes, you might be gluten free,but I don't know how much better
you're going to feel justeating a whole bunch of
processed foods, because a lotof that also has added sugars
(32:08):
and fillers and other thingslike that.
So I think in you know,combination with that is really
understanding and learning moreabout, like you know, nutrients
making sure that your food isnutrient dense as well as being
delicious.
Carrie Saunders (32:28):
Yes, and I think that's one of the
blessings of being either celiacor gluten intolerant is we're
forced to look at what we'reputting in our bodies, forced to
look at what we're putting inour bodies, and so that helps us
over time, as we learn more,make better decisions on the
foods that we put in our bodies.
And you know, it's one of thethings I encourage on on our
podcast is, yes, you might findthose processed gluten-free
(32:50):
substitutes and they might be agood, okay, for like an
occasional treat, you know, ifyou're not, you know that good
of a baker or something.
But we definitely need to beputting in the whole foods
instead as the majority of whatwe're eating, so that we're
fueling our body properly andfeeling much better.
Because, like you said, thoseprocessed gluten-free foods many
(33:11):
times have extra sugar, extrapreservatives, extra whatnot,
just so that you can make it,you know, from the, you know
warehouse to your store, youknow safely, and then into your
kitchen.
So we really got to be carefulabout those processed
gluten-free foods.
So, in closing, I'd like to ask,before we completely wrap up,
what let's?
(33:31):
Let's go to the processed foodsof gluten-free.
Do you have a favoritegluten-free processed snack you
would love to tell us about, andI know that you try to minimize
that.
And then also, is there afavorite gluten-free recipe you
like to make?
Michelle Kooi (33:47):
Oh, my goodness, I mean, probably the thing I eat
the most often is a brown riceEnglish muffin.
That is I think it's Food forLife is the brand, and I
probably eat that with breakfastlike five days a week.
(34:08):
So, like this morning, I hadsmashed avocado with sprouts or
microgreens on my English muffin, so that's a very common, uh,
common breakfast for me.
Um, another one is, um, thisalmond flour crackers I cannot
(34:31):
remember the brand of it at themoment Um, Sam Mills is one of.
Carrie Saunders (34:36):
Sam Mills is one of my favorites.
That's it.
Simple meals, yes, yeah that'sit.
Michelle Kooi (34:39):
Those are my favorite, absolute favorite
crackers Um and um recipes.
I mean I I can't even think ofone.
I mean I have a to go with thecrackers, just because that that
popped in my head.
I have this, this dip that Imean I have a to go with the
(35:00):
crackers, just because thatpopped in my head.
I have this, this dip that Imake.
That is absolutely a huge hitat parties Like I.
Pretty much that's my go-tothing to bring is the almond
flour crackers with some veggiesand this dip.
So it's a.
It's a roasted almond androasted red pepper almond dip
(35:20):
and it is super easy to make inthe food processor.
So it's just like a jar of ornot even a whole jar of, roasted
red peppers and then a coupletablespoons of olive oil, some
roasted almonds and some saltand pepper and just blend that
(35:46):
all up and it's like pretty.
It's like this orangey redcolor and it is so good and it's
gluten-free and it's vegan.
So you can like pretty muchanybody at any party can can eat
it, unless they are sent, youknow, allergic to almonds.
Carrie Saunders (36:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'd love to have you send methat recipe sometime.
That sounds delicious, causewe're always looking for, you
know, something like that, ago-to thing that you can bring
to parties.
So I know we talked earlierbefore we started the podcast.
We're praying that you have abook coming out and it's part
business, but it also has someof your gluten-free journey in
it too, so can you tell me alittle bit about the book that's
(36:28):
coming out?
Michelle Kooi (36:29):
Yes, so this, this has been a labor of love.
So I I honestly I startedwriting this book in 2010.
And I got about halfway throughand my son started having some
health issues and then I gotdivorced and things just went
(36:53):
crazy.
So I literally sat it down.
I didn't look at it until 2018.
Did not even look at it.
I picked it up in 2018 anddecided I wanted to, that it was
not even relevant anymorebecause so much had changed in
my life.
So I started over.
So I started writing the bookagain in 2019.
(37:14):
So it's been six years ofworking on this.
The book is called Burn Struggleto Strength A Woman's Guide to
Reclaiming Herself.
So it is really about gettingin touch with your is about.
So we I mean, we talk aboutboundaries, we talk about
(37:43):
changing perspective, we talkabout fear, anxiety, but I do
talk about my gluten-free storyat several points in the book
because, again, it was just alife-changing.
There's a whole chapter onenergy, uh, and having energy,
and so, um, it's very.
It's sprinkled in there and indifferent pieces about about my
(38:07):
journey and how it reallychanged, really changed
everything for me.
Carrie Saunders (38:11):
That sounds like a great inspiring book,
especially those you goingthrough maybe a new diagnosis of
celiac or you know newlylearning they're gluten
intolerant or something likethat, so that you can really
look inward into yourself andjust reclaim your energy and
focus and really you know claimwhat you are and not be afraid
(38:32):
of it, and you know move forwardwith life the best you can.
Michelle Kooi (38:35):
Yes, and then in 2021, I was diagnosed with
Hashimoto's, which is a thyroidhypothyroid disorder, and so
I've been managing that throughnutrition as well.
I'm not on any pharmaceuticalsfor that.
I know that's not possible foreveryone, but that was very
important to me to just be ableto manage it with diet.
(38:57):
So I've I've definitely addedanother component to my
nutritional journey with withthat and again learn that
discovered new recipes, justlike I did when I became gluten
free, and you know new, newfavorites and some new ways of
doing things.
So it's, it's.
We're always learning andlearning more about our bodies
(39:21):
and and you know, we only getone, so helping it be the best
it can be is so important.
Carrie Saunders (39:31):
I love that and I think that's a great place to
wrap up.
So, because it's such greatadvice and I'd love to tell the
listeners that they just need totake care of their bodies and
listen to it.
So thank you so much, Michelle,for being on our podcast today.
I thoroughly enjoyed ourconversation and learning more
about your gluten-free journey.
Michelle Kooi (39:48):
Thank you so much .
It was great to talk to youtoday.
Carrie Saunders (39:52):
Thank you for listening to this episode of the
Gluten-Free Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
(40:14):
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
(40:35):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
If you've ever felt like yourgluten-free journey is a winding
road full of questions,misdiagnosis or it's all in your
head moments, today's episodeis for you.
I'm chatting with Michelle Kooi, a fellow gluten-free warrior,
who opens up about her path tohealing after years of health
(00:23):
struggles and food confusion.
Michelle shares what finallyled her to discover the root of
her symptoms, how her life haschanged since going gluten-free,
and why she's passionate abouthelping others feel seen and
supported in their own journey.
Whether you're newly diagnosedor have been living gluten-free
for years, her story is bothvalidating and inspiring.
Let's dive in.
(00:44):
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
(01:06):
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we have a special guestwith us and her name is Michelle
Kooi.
(01:27):
She's a professional coach,writer and CPA who helps
entrepreneurs, financialprofessionals and ADHD business
owners create sustainablebusinesses without burnout, and
she has been on a gluten-freejourney for a good while now.
So, michelle, welcome to theshow.
Michelle Kooi (01:44):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here, Carrie.
Carrie Saunders (01:47):
So, Michelle, tell us a little bit about who
Michelle is, from both thebusiness side that I just gave a
little summary on, as well as alittle bit about when you
started this gluten-free journeythat you've been on.
Michelle Kooi (02:00):
Yes, yes.
So I have my business, which isConfluence Coaching and
Consulting, which I started in2022.
And I absolutely love workingwith female entrepreneurs and
helping them with time andenergy management, with mindset.
(02:23):
I work with new business owners, so usually in their first
three years and often in thefirst year, so there's a big
switch, especially if they'venever been a business owner
before.
The mindset shift from being anemployee to becoming a business
owner is a big one and, havingstruggled with burnout multiple
(02:44):
times in my career as a CPA andkind of coming to the brink of
that in my own business, I knowhow we wear so many hats as an
entrepreneur that we just caneasily overextend ourselves.
(03:05):
And so I am super passionateabout health and nutrition and
my gluten-free journey reallywas a pivotal point in my life.
So that started in 2012,.
12, um, quite by accident, um,in just exploring.
(03:34):
I'd been exploring for decadeslike my issues with, uh, chronic
fatigue and um, gluten-free waswas the magic, uh solution to
that.
Carrie Saunders (03:42):
So it sounds like you've been gluten-free for
just about as long as myself.
I think it was about 2011 whenI accidentally myself I
accidentally figured it out, toofor me.
So what helped you figure outthat you needed to be
gluten-free?
Was there something that youread or saw or did, or somebody
talked to you about it?
How did you figure that out?
Michelle Kooi (04:03):
talk to you about it.
How did you figure that out?
Yes, so I had spent decadesseeing doctors, different from
traditional doctors toalternative medicine
practitioners, acupuncture,Chinese medicine, chiropractic,
energy work, all kinds ofsupplements, diets, all kinds of
(04:25):
things.
No one ever suggested thatgluten might be the culprit.
And, um, I was reading one ofthem, a magazine.
Um, I don't know if it was oneof my food magazines.
I love to cook, Um, but um,there was an article in there,
uh, interviewing Chris Carr, whois who is.
(04:46):
She wrote the crazy sexy dietand she is a cancer survivor and
she was talking about herjourney and her 21 day cleanse.
And, while I didn't have cancer, I really resonated with some
of the things she talked about,resonated with some of the
(05:07):
things she talked about and Idecided to buy the book and do
the 21 day cleanse and it waspretty, pretty intense.
So there was.
It was gluten free, sugar free,coffee free, alcohol free and
vegan.
Oh wow.
So I cut out a lot of thingsall at once.
Oh, wow.
So I cut out a lot of thingsall at once and the first five
days I felt like I had the flu.
(05:28):
I just felt horrible.
But then I started to feel alittle better and I was sort of
coming out of a tunnel.
Almost by the second week, byday 14, my energy was better
than it had been in a long timeand I was feeling clearer.
And by the third week I feltbetter than I can ever remember
(05:53):
feeling and I didn't know whatI'd gotten rid of.
That did it.
So I was actually afraid to goback to what I was eating, and
the way she teaches it is youneed to reintroduce things
slowly to figure out what it is,and so I slowly started
introducing different things.
I remained vegan for 18 monthsbecause I just felt so good I
(06:18):
kept that.
But every time I hit gluten andI added that back, I would just
crash for five days and itwould take yeah, it would take
five days to get it out of mysystem and start to feel better.
But I was in complete denialbecause I love bread and pizza
and crackers, and so I keptthinking oh, it's a coincidence,
(06:41):
it's not that.
And so, after about four orfive tries of adding it back, it
became clear to me that thatwas it, and so I decided well, I
guess this is where I'm at.
I'm going to be gluten-free.
And back in 2012, there washardly any options at
(07:02):
restaurants or in thesupermarket for gluten-free
items, so it was a bit of achallenge.
But I had to relearn how tocook because I had not been
vegan before, and, of course,you don't have to be vegan to be
gluten-free.
But I wanted to remain that waybecause I felt so good.
(07:23):
So I suddenly had the energy todo some things that I had not
done and I started trail running.
But my first thought, when I,at the end of the three weeks my
husband and I had been havingmarital problems for years I,
(07:43):
literally, at three weeks, Idecided I finally have the
energy to get a divorce.
So it was a completelife-changing year, for sure.
Carrie Saunders (07:56):
Sure, sounds like it.
And you know, as you're talking, I know what it's like to be
vegan too, because I've got, youknow, friends that are vegan
and I'm thinking and one of mychildren's girlfriends was a
vegetarian whenever they, youknow, started dating and being
gluten free and vegan orvegetarian can be really hard
because a lot of the you knowcomponents that you eat to bring
(08:19):
in the proteins and things likethat you know are typically,
you know, have wheat or barleyor rye or, you know maybe, oats
that aren't gluten-free.
So I can see how that was beeven extra restrictive on top of
it.
And I actually accidentallyfigured it out via a book too.
It's a different book, thePrimal Blueprint, and it was
(08:41):
kind of similar in that you knowyou ate primarily.
You cut out the sugar, you cutout the dairy, you cut out quite
a few things.
You, you know you tried to eat,you know more grass fed type of
meat products if you're eatingmeat products.
And it was pretty obvious aftertwo weeks of eating this way and
having a cheat day on Fridayslike having a cheat meal on
(09:04):
Fridays because he's like got an80-20 rule I felt like I had
the flu all weekend.
So I can totally relate to youfeeling so terrible.
For about five days.
I mean, I was completelydebilitated with fatigue and
migraines and stomach issues andyou know I just felt awful.
So I'm glad that, like a book,helped open your eyes to not
(09:26):
only what was bothering you butto this new world and I like to
describe it too is likeeverything became in high
definition.
You don't realize when you'reeating something that's
incompatible with your body whatit does to you, because it
takes it slowly, over timestarts making you feel bad and
when I went off gluten it waslike the world was in high
definition again.
(09:47):
I had the energy, I could seethe world in a different light
and I sounds like it was kind ofsimilar to you when you
realized that gluten was yourproblem.
Michelle Kooi (09:56):
I can completely relate to that.
So I, after about a year and ahalf, I decided to start
experimenting.
I discovered that actuallywheat was my issue.
So I can actually.
I discovered I can actually eatbarley and rye with no issues,
but it's the wheat that I'msensitive to.
Carrie Saunders (10:20):
That's interesting For me, barley
actually.
I mean I can't have all threebecause I'm celiac, but barley
affects me worse than wheat orrye, I have found.
So it's interesting how ourbodies will kind of treat things
a little bit differently.
And wheat is the most commonform of gluten that we have in
our food today, unless you'repurposely seeking out something
(10:42):
with just barley or rye.
So that's interesting thatwheat affects you more.
Michelle Kooi (10:46):
Yes, yes, and I just went and do a deep dive on
learning all about it.
I read the book Wheat Belly andjust learned about the history
of some agriculture around wheatand the changes in it in the
United States in the last 60years.
Agriculture around wheat andthe changes in it in the United
States in the last 60 years.
(11:07):
And the gluten you know thewheat today has so much more
gluten in it than it did becauseof it being hybridized and
things like that that you know.
More and more people arerecognizing that they need to be
gluten free because our bodiesjust aren't designed to digest
that type of product.
(11:28):
And so I also.
About three months later, Idecided to go through a program
with the Institute ofIntegrative Nutrition in New
York to get a holistic coachingcertification.
And I really went through that,not to become a coach but to
(11:54):
just learn more about nutritionand health.
And I went through that programfor two years and just learned
so much and because peoplestarted noticing the changes in
my energy and what I was doingand how I looked like.
(12:14):
My eyes were brighter and I gotin the best shape of my life
because I had the energy.
I mean I had always worked outmy whole life, but my stamina
was not good and that completelychanged and so people started
asking, like what are you doing?
(12:35):
Like I want what you have.
So people started asking me tocoach them around their about
health and diet.
And so I started doing thatjust and to share, you know,
what I had learned and it wasjust so rewarding to be able to
(13:00):
change people's lives.
I ended up just, you know,keeping that and moving forward,
but I didn't really pursue thatas a career.
And then, about 2019, the ideaof becoming a coach which I had
(13:22):
actually had back in 2010, cameback and very strongly and I
started coaching clients in myCPA world business clients and
helping them understand moreabout their money and their
relationship with money andtheir mindset and emotions
(13:43):
around that.
And I decided to get anothercoaching certification and went
through the Coactive TrainingInstitute, which was my most
most recent program.
Carrie Saunders (13:55):
So whenever and I love how you talk about how
much you, how much better youfelt after being gluten-free,
because I find that to be thecase for just about everybody
that I've run into that eitherI've helped or or you know,
they've come to me for questionsbecause they knew.
You know, I've been celiac for,or I've been celiac probably
all my life, but haven't knownuntil like 2011.
(14:17):
So what other changes did youhave after going gluten-free?
Were there, were there anyother revelations?
Like, did you have like lessmigraines or less skin issues,
or was your hair better?
Like, did you have any of thosetype of good benefits from
going gluten-free that aren'tmaybe quite the typical thought
of being gluten-free?
Michelle Kooi (14:38):
I didn't really have um, skin issues, um or
digestive issues, surprisingly,from gluten.
So I mean, really my biggestone was my energy, which you
know our energy is everythingLike.
If we don't have the energy toparticipate in life.
(14:58):
I mean it affects ourrelationships with our family,
our kids, our work.
I remember I used to have totake naps at work under my desk.
I would shut my door and sleepunder my desk on the floor like
a kindergartner after lunchbecause I would be so tired back
(15:24):
when I was eating gluten and,of course, again, I didn't know
that's what it was Um, and so II got more time back, um, I
didn't need that anymore Um, andI was able to, like I said, I
was able to exercise more andmore and intensely.
So my, like, my physical healthuh improved um greatly from
(15:48):
from greatly from being able tohave the energy to do that.
I was able to make some changesin how I worked and so it
really affected a lot ofdifferent areas of my life and
at the same time.
So my daughter was in highschool at the time and she saw
(16:12):
me go through this transitionand she had been having some
digestive issues and my andagain, my husband and I did end
up going through a divorce, andso she would be a week at her,
his house, and a week at myhouse, and she noticed that the
week she was at my house shefelt better.
And so because my house wasgluten-free, and so she, you
(16:40):
know, I suggested she do it fora while, and of course you know
she was like 15 and that's justlike totally not.
And of course you know she waslike 15 and that's just like
totally not.
After kind of seeing thechanges that I made and her
stomach problems getting worse,she decided to try it and she
had almost immediate relief fromher stomach pain and because
(17:02):
that was her biggest symptom,and so she has been gluten free
to this day since she was 15.
And so she's been gluten-freeto this day since she was 15.
And so she's been gluten-freefor 12 years.
Yeah.
Carrie Saunders (17:11):
Yeah, I mean that actually kind of relates a
lot to some things that we raninto is like we've had our
children have had either friendsor girlfriends or current
girlfriends that you know theywere having symptoms.
One of them actually, weactually kind of helped a former
girlfriend figure out.
She actually had celiac.
She got tested.
My oldest was like I think youmight have celiac based upon all
(17:34):
the problems that she washaving and she was anemic, she
was fainting all the time, soher iron levels were really low
and she always had stomachissues and you know she actually
had celiac disease.
And then another girlfriend wasalways having stomach issues.
You know she was always.
She couldn't figure out whatwas wrong.
She was always having stomachissues.
She was the one that'svegetarian or was vegetarian.
(17:56):
And you know my middle child waslike, you know, maybe you
should try to, you know, takeout gluten for a little bit, see
how you feel.
And she felt immediately better.
Her stomach issues went awayand you know she now eats
protein.
You know animal proteins now,you know, in a careful manner,
because she needs the extraprotein, because it's a little
harder, like I said, when you'revegetarian or vegan to quite,
(18:18):
you know, especially as acollege age person, to get what
you need and nutritionally.
And yeah, I mean, there's justbeen so many people we've ran
into that we've either helpedthem realize they had celiac a
couple other band members wehelped them realize they had
celiac and marching band in highschool or realized that they
were intolerant.
And what I like to talk about alot on the podcast too is you
(18:40):
know we need to make gluten-freeeasy, and I know you mentioned
to me, you know and takequestions, you know that it can
be easy and you know we'vealready talked about how it's
made your life easier, causesometimes people will be like
how can you stand beinggluten-free?
Doesn't that make things harder?
I'm like, no, I feel so muchbetter and I, you know, I have
(19:01):
so much more energy and life isso much fuller, and so I'd love
to hear your perspective of whyis living gluten-free easy and
how do you make it easy.
Michelle Kooi (19:10):
Yes, that's great .
So, yeah, I love this topicbecause I hear that all the time
People say to me that theycouldn't be gluten-free because
it's too hard.
And how do I do it?
How do I like, if they putbread on the table at, you know,
at at a restaurant at dinner,how do you not eat it?
(19:32):
And I'm like it's completely, Imean, it's a, it's a no brainer
, Like I look at that bread andI see it as poison for me, Like,
it's like, why would I eatsomething that's going to make
me feel horrible, Like for days,why would I, you know?
So it's like I look at that andmy instant connection is
(19:54):
feeling terrible, Like, so itdoesn't even look appealing to
me because I know how I'm goingto feel after I eat it and so I,
yeah, it's just, it's just notjust, not even a question.
You know, I like to say thatyou don't know how good you can
feel until you feel that good,Because when I, you know, after
(20:19):
that three weeks of that cleanse, I don't remember feeling that
good, probably since I was achild, like an interesting, and
probably, and maybe never so my,I was actually diagnosed when I
was six years old with a glutenor not, with a wheat allergy or
not wheat allergy.
(20:40):
But just, my doctor told my momto take me off of wheat.
So I was off of wheat for sixmonths and you know, I don't
really remember much about thattime other than my mom really
struggling and just being justlike stressed about what she was
going to cook for me and howshe was going to do this.
(21:00):
Like you know, no peanut butterand jelly sandwiches, no
crackers, no like, and, and sowe did that for six months.
And then the doctor said well,I think she's grown out of it.
You can put her back on wheat.
Well, you don't.
You don't grow out of somethinglike that.
Like, but because my, my systemhad cleared, when I started
(21:21):
eating it again, I wasn't havingthe same symptoms and again, I
don't even remember what wasgoing on as to what led them to
take me off of wheat.
But I and I really forgot aboutit.
I mean, it was only six at thetime, so it just changed.
(21:44):
You know, it didn't reallymanifest as intensely until I
was probably 14 or 15 is whenI've started really being aware
and noticing like that otherpeople had more energy than I
did.
I was a competitive gymnastfrom probably age 10 to 14.
And so just working out likethree, four hours a day, you
(22:09):
know, competing, traveling, andat about the time that I left
that I guess started noticing,just like that, other people had
more energy than I did and I Ididn't understand why, and that
led me to seeking out someunhealthy alternatives to get
(22:31):
more energy.
You know drinking more caffeineand some diet pill supplements,
Like I remember taking Dexatremin high school not to lose
weight I was thin but for thecaffeine in it to give me more
energy.
So I think it's not commonknowledge that it can affect you
(22:57):
that way.
And again, it affects differentpeople different way.
I know some people that havegluten sensitivities or that
fatigue is not their main issueand I didn't really struggle
with that.
But that was definitely myexperience.
Carrie Saunders (23:12):
Yeah, and I actually remember as a kid, as
you were talking, like mygrandmother taking me to the
doctor.
I started living with her infourth grade and you know her
telling the doctor that she'stired all the time.
She always complains of beingtired all the time.
I don't really remember beingtired, but I remember my
grandmother saying why are youtired all the time?
Or going to the doctors andsaying she's tired all the time.
(23:34):
We can't figure out why she'stired all the time.
So I do know that fatigue can beone of the major things,
because your body's fighting.
It's fighting for its health,it's trying to fight off this
substance that's in it that itsees as foreign and, as you know
, as this bad thing.
And we don't realize it.
You know, generally at the timeand you know you're talking
(23:55):
about the bread on the table I'mthe same way, Like I don't even
, like it's not even aconsideration, I don't even miss
it, like I can make breadbetter than just about any other
place out there.
Now, you know, and so I don'teven miss it.
And, ironically, being celiacand I've heard this from other
celiacs too I can't even walkdown the bread aisle without
getting a headache.
I have to actually take abreath, hold it as I walk
(24:18):
through the bread aisle quicklyand then release my air and then
start breathing again on theother side of the bread, because
my body has even come attunedto the smell of it, giving me a
headache.
Or if I go into, like a donutshop or a pizza place, like it
gives me an instant headache.
So once you've removed it fromour system, many times our
(24:39):
bodies will find other ways,like your association, of just
looking at it and, you know,associating it with something
that's going to make you feelbad and that it's more like
poison.
Our bodies will help us alongthose lines as we are, you know,
gluten free for longer and helpkeep us safer.
Michelle Kooi (24:56):
Yes.
So back to the.
You know the easy.
So I love to cook, and so I,you know, I can easily look at a
recipe and modify it for gluten.
So there are things that youdon't even recognize that have
wheat in it, like soy sauce.
So I switched to tamari, whichis gluten-free for many years,
(25:24):
but then I am now soy-free aswell, and so tamari has soy in
it.
So now I use coconut aminos.
So there's, like you know,there's hidden things.
I, you know, I got I'm reallygood at reading labels on things
, but I mean I can look at many,many recipes and modify them
(25:47):
for gluten.
It's really not that hard.
There's substitutes and there'sjust getting creative.
That's where I feel like I am.
Sometimes the most creative isin the kitchen, and so I like
finding recipes and just makingthem.
(26:11):
Sometimes it's just a few smalltweaks to make it gluten-free,
and other times it's a littlebit bigger one.
But I think the fear of goinggluten-free is that people are
going.
Most of us like to eat, and Iwould call myself a foodie, and
so you know, don't take awaylike I believe food can be
(26:35):
healthy and delicious.
It's not one or the other, andso you know, I want people to
know that going gluten-free doesnot mean that you lose your
ability to go out to eat.
You don't lose your ability toenjoy eating again and cooking.
(26:59):
It is absolutely doable andagain, just feeling better makes
things easier.
When you're tired all the time,everything feels hard, like
everything you know decision,fatigue and whatever.
So it just I feel like goinggluten-free has made my life
(27:23):
easier.
Carrie Saunders (27:25):
I completely agree with you there too, and
whenever and you talking aboutyou know working in the kitchen
and converting these recipes, Iwould love to encourage those
listening to us, you know, tohear our stories about this.
We both love to have thatchallenge of you know converting
a recipe to gluten-free, and Ikind of like to look at it as
therapy, like it's therapeuticfor me, even if you're not a
(27:47):
good cook yet, just try it out.
It's therapeutic to accomplishchanging that recipe to be
something that you can eat.
Like that makes you feel goodabout yourself emotionally as
well, as you know you're lovingthe food that you're eating too.
But I find it as therapy, andso I would encourage anybody
listening to maybe look at it inthat perspective.
(28:07):
You know this, this is a goodway to heal your mind, as you're
healing your body, and you knowtaking on these small
challenges is going to make youa stronger person.
I know I'm a.
I mean, I was a good cookbefore I realized I had to be a
gluten-free.
But, like I'm, my friends andmy family tell me I'm such an
amazing cook and my childrenhave tried to convince me to
(28:28):
open a gluten-free restaurant.
I'm like I do not want to run arestaurant, but thanks for the
compliment guys, but I'm sureyou can relate there.
Do you find it a bittherapeutic to be able to
convert that recipe togluten-free and make it still be
as tasty and texture fun as itwas otherwise?
Michelle Kooi (28:47):
Oh, definitely, I mean, I love it.
I look at it as a little bit ofa challenge and again it brings
out my creativity.
I think you know there are, youknow, some skills to learn or
just knowledge around whatthings to substitute, like the
soy sauce, tamari, gluten-free,coconut, aminos.
(29:11):
That's just one item, but thereare a number of things that can
be switched out and so kind oflearning.
So, having some tools in yourtoolbox, I had to keep a list
for a while of things that Ineeded.
Like, if I wanted to use this,then I needed to use that.
And now it's just I don't evenhave to think about it cause
I've been doing it for so long,but initially, like it does take
(29:33):
um, just learning some of thosesubstitutes.
But, um, you know, I I thinkcooking is fun and um, I know I
know some people do not Um um.
But you know Um um.
But you know I know even someof those um, those companies
where you can order, like thefood you know, pre-packaged,
that that you can assemble themeal.
(29:54):
I don't know that, I've neverused one of those, but I know
some people use that for um,that you know you can request
gluten-free for recipes forthrough those, those
organizations you know there'sthere's so many gluten free
cookbooks out there and glutenfree magazines with recipes in
(30:15):
it.
Like it, just I feel like itmade me a better cook.
Like like you said, like I Ialso feel like I am a good cook
and get compliments on mycooking, but I feel like I
actually became a better cook.
I broadened my you know myrepertoire.
(30:35):
Like I started experimentingwith different spices and
different um, uh, just differentum ways to add, you know, maybe
add more protein into the mealor add especially when I was
vegan as well Um and uh, addingsuper foods in and um superfoods
(31:03):
in, and things like that.
Like I truly believe that foodis medicine and and you know our
food system today, there's somuch processed food and our, our
bodies just aren't meant forthat.
Like we, you know we are meantto eat real food.
You know so it was here.
You know we are meant to eatreal food.
You know so it was here, likethe shop on the perimeter of the
store you know, to just meet,you know, meat, dairy produce,
(31:25):
you know, and you can, you know,create your meal from from that
.
So, just like relying less onprocessed foods and relying more
on you know real, real, actualfood like that helps improve our
health as well.
So, because I know I know somepeople it's you go gluten free
(31:46):
and then substitute with a lotof processed food, gluten free
and that's that doesn'tnecessarily make you healthier.
Yes, you might be gluten free,but I don't know how much better
you're going to feel justeating a whole bunch of
processed foods, because a lotof that also has added sugars
(32:08):
and fillers and other thingslike that.
So I think in you know,combination with that is really
understanding and learning moreabout, like you know, nutrients
making sure that your food isnutrient dense as well as being
delicious.
Carrie Saunders (32:28):
Yes, and I think that's one of the
blessings of being either celiacor gluten intolerant is we're
forced to look at what we'reputting in our bodies, forced to
look at what we're putting inour bodies, and so that helps us
over time, as we learn more,make better decisions on the
foods that we put in our bodies.
And you know, it's one of thethings I encourage on on our
podcast is, yes, you might findthose processed gluten-free
(32:50):
substitutes and they might be agood, okay, for like an
occasional treat, you know, ifyou're not, you know that good
of a baker or something.
But we definitely need to beputting in the whole foods
instead as the majority of whatwe're eating, so that we're
fueling our body properly andfeeling much better.
Because, like you said, thoseprocessed gluten-free foods many
(33:11):
times have extra sugar, extrapreservatives, extra whatnot,
just so that you can make it,you know, from the, you know
warehouse to your store, youknow safely, and then into your
kitchen.
So we really got to be carefulabout those processed
gluten-free foods.
So, in closing, I'd like to ask,before we completely wrap up,
what let's?
(33:31):
Let's go to the processed foodsof gluten-free.
Do you have a favoritegluten-free processed snack you
would love to tell us about, andI know that you try to minimize
that.
And then also, is there afavorite gluten-free recipe you
like to make?
Michelle Kooi (33:47):
Oh, my goodness, I mean, probably the thing I eat
the most often is a brown riceEnglish muffin.
That is I think it's Food forLife is the brand, and I
probably eat that with breakfastlike five days a week.
(34:08):
So, like this morning, I hadsmashed avocado with sprouts or
microgreens on my English muffin, so that's a very common, uh,
common breakfast for me.
Um, another one is, um, thisalmond flour crackers I cannot
(34:31):
remember the brand of it at themoment Um, Sam Mills is one of.
Carrie Saunders (34:36):
Sam Mills is one of my favorites.
That's it.
Simple meals, yes, yeah that'sit.
Michelle Kooi (34:39):
Those are my favorite, absolute favorite
crackers Um and um recipes.
I mean I I can't even think ofone.
I mean I have a to go with thecrackers, just because that that
popped in my head.
I have this, this dip that Imean I have a to go with the
(35:00):
crackers, just because thatpopped in my head.
I have this, this dip that Imake.
That is absolutely a huge hitat parties Like I.
Pretty much that's my go-tothing to bring is the almond
flour crackers with some veggiesand this dip.
So it's a.
It's a roasted almond androasted red pepper almond dip
(35:20):
and it is super easy to make inthe food processor.
So it's just like a jar of ornot even a whole jar of, roasted
red peppers and then a coupletablespoons of olive oil, some
roasted almonds and some saltand pepper and just blend that
(35:46):
all up and it's like pretty.
It's like this orangey redcolor and it is so good and it's
gluten-free and it's vegan.
So you can like pretty muchanybody at any party can can eat
it, unless they are sent, youknow, allergic to almonds.
Carrie Saunders (36:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'd love to have you send methat recipe sometime.
That sounds delicious, causewe're always looking for, you
know, something like that, ago-to thing that you can bring
to parties.
So I know we talked earlierbefore we started the podcast.
We're praying that you have abook coming out and it's part
business, but it also has someof your gluten-free journey in
it too, so can you tell me alittle bit about the book that's
(36:28):
coming out?
Michelle Kooi (36:29):
Yes, so this, this has been a labor of love.
So I I honestly I startedwriting this book in 2010.
And I got about halfway throughand my son started having some
health issues and then I gotdivorced and things just went
(36:53):
crazy.
So I literally sat it down.
I didn't look at it until 2018.
Did not even look at it.
I picked it up in 2018 anddecided I wanted to, that it was
not even relevant anymorebecause so much had changed in
my life.
So I started over.
So I started writing the bookagain in 2019.
(37:14):
So it's been six years ofworking on this.
The book is called Burn Struggleto Strength A Woman's Guide to
Reclaiming Herself.
So it is really about gettingin touch with your is about.
So we I mean, we talk aboutboundaries, we talk about
(37:43):
changing perspective, we talkabout fear, anxiety, but I do
talk about my gluten-free storyat several points in the book
because, again, it was just alife-changing.
There's a whole chapter onenergy, uh, and having energy,
and so, um, it's very.
It's sprinkled in there and indifferent pieces about about my
(38:07):
journey and how it reallychanged, really changed
everything for me.
Carrie Saunders (38:11):
That sounds like a great inspiring book,
especially those you goingthrough maybe a new diagnosis of
celiac or you know newlylearning they're gluten
intolerant or something likethat, so that you can really
look inward into yourself andjust reclaim your energy and
focus and really you know claimwhat you are and not be afraid
(38:32):
of it, and you know move forwardwith life the best you can.
Michelle Kooi (38:35):
Yes, and then in 2021, I was diagnosed with
Hashimoto's, which is a thyroidhypothyroid disorder, and so
I've been managing that throughnutrition as well.
I'm not on any pharmaceuticalsfor that.
I know that's not possible foreveryone, but that was very
important to me to just be ableto manage it with diet.
(38:57):
So I've I've definitely addedanother component to my
nutritional journey with withthat and again learn that
discovered new recipes, justlike I did when I became gluten
free, and you know new, newfavorites and some new ways of
doing things.
So it's, it's.
We're always learning andlearning more about our bodies
(39:21):
and and you know, we only getone, so helping it be the best
it can be is so important.
Carrie Saunders (39:31):
I love that and I think that's a great place to
wrap up.
So, because it's such greatadvice and I'd love to tell the
listeners that they just need totake care of their bodies and
listen to it.
So thank you so much, Michelle,for being on our podcast today.
I thoroughly enjoyed ourconversation and learning more
about your gluten-free journey.
Michelle Kooi (39:48):
Thank you so much .
It was great to talk to youtoday.
Carrie Saunders (39:52):
Thank you for listening to this episode of the
Gluten-Free Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
(40:14):
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
(40:35):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
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