Congratulations to Michelle!

Michelle entered the Celiac Disease Foundation – Facebook contest to win two free VIP tickets to our National Conference & EXPO with airfare and accommodations provided by CDF Proud Sponsor New Planet Beer.  Michelle is our lucky winner, and we are delighted for her and her husband to attend the Expo,  June 7-8 in Pasadena, CA.

Michelle’s passion for health and wellness, and staying on a strict gluten-free diet will be an inspiration for many.  Michelle shares her story about how she found out she had celiac disease:

I was a middle school teacher for five years, but I left in 2008 because I felt burnt out.  Unknown to me at the time, I had celiac disease,  though I left my job because I thought teaching was taking a heavy toll on my health.

In February of 2010, I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance.  The nurse practitioner that I was seeing at the time gave that diagnosis without testing me.  I struggled with the gluten-free diet.  I felt better almost immediately but found it difficult to not lapse on it.  In August of 2012, my endocrinologist had me tested for celiac disease.  We both thought the test would come back negative, instead it came back a very high positive for celiac disease.  At this revelation, I realized that even a little bit of cheating on a gluten-free diet for me was not okay. I got very serious about maintaining a gluten-free diet and my health has improved tremendously for it.  I write a blog called “My Road to Good Health” about my journey with autoimmune disease (both celiac disease and hypothyroidism) and exercising.

On June 6^th, the weekend of the CDF event, my husband and I will celebrate our 22^nd wedding anniversary.  We currently have two black labs and a cat.  All our pets, past and present are rescued.   We enjoy bicycling and riding our motorcycles.  I also enjoy taking yoga classes, reading and photography.  I turned 50 years young on May 25^th.

We are so excited for Michelle and her husband to attend the CDF National Conference and Gluten-Free EXPO!

Cheers!