It can be a very overwhelming time when you receive a diagnosis of celiac disease. All the croissants you’ve ever eaten begin to flash in front of your eyes. It feels like you’ll never be able to enjoy another meal again. But as you ease your way into life as a celiac, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

First of all, the amount of restaurants, bakeries, and companies that manufacture gf products are growing exponentially (to find gluten-free and celiac-friendly businesses near you, click here). Instead of cutting out all the glutenaceous foods you love, think about finding gluten-free alternatives, which have come a long way from the gritty, crumbly rice cookies of a few years ago.

Secondly, by not being able to fall back on all the foods you used to eat, you may find yourself discovering interesting new foods and recipes that you never would have tried otherwise (can anyone say quinoa?)

Certainly--and we’re not going to lie to you—it’s not as easy as walking into any ol’ place off the street and having whatever you want on the menu (unless you find a dedicated gf restaurant, which do exist but are rare), but by following some of these tips, your transition into yakiness should be fairly smooth:

1. Come up with a spiel.

It can be hard and can make you feel overly conspicuous initially to have to explain to every single food handler you meet about celiac disease. We suggest that you come up with a funny spiel or a straightforward speech that you can deliver whenever you need to. It takes some of the pressure off and helps you to focus on enjoying your food instead of worrying about ordering it.

2. Start small.

Pick one restaurant that you love and get really familiar with the menu. Talk to the waiter or the chef and find out all the stuff on the menu that you can eat. Then proceed to eat all those things. Every time you feel sorry for yourself that you have CD or every time you think you can’t just go out anymore and have a regular, nice meal, go to that restaurant and order something you know is safe. No speeches, no concerns about contamination, just yummy food.

3. Don’t be shy.

Once you’ve gotten through the transition to a gluten-free diet and are comfortable with your new culinary lifestyle, don’t be afraid to speak up. If there’s a restaurant you like that doesn’t have any gf dishes on the menu, request that the chef make substitutions so that you can eat there. Talk to the manager at your favorite bakery and ask if they’d consider offering gf baked goods one day a week. Go into your grocery store and ask the manager if they would stock more gluten-free packaged goods. Don’t be shy. Good businesses will always listen to their loyal customers to see how they can best serve them. And if they do take your feedback, tell them that you’ll list them on this website to get the word out so more celiacs can patronize their establishment. The more we speak up for ourselves, the more businesses will recognize that there is a need for gluten-free food and the more businesses will become celiac-friendly.