Food Rock Star Heidi Kelly

This week’s Food Rock Star is the coolest gal.  Heidi has an amazing way of making you just feel great when you are around her.  The first time I met her was in Seattle at a food blogging conference.  I knew it was her right away by that funky hair style.  I love her hair.  It matches her personality to a tee.  Heidi is a go getter when it comes to finding out answers to problems.  She will search out, talk with, and hunt down the information she needs for her and her family.  She is someone you want in your corner.

She’s an amazing mom too.  She comes up with the coolest things for her kids to eat and do.  She makes life fun and in my book, that’s the best.  Make sure you head over to her blog and see what she has going on.

Name: Heidi Kelly

Business and or blog name: Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom

URL: http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/

Location: Albuquerque, NM

Favorite quote: I love inspirational quotes but my two most favorite are the following:

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration” – Thomas Edison

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself” – Leo Tolstoy

Focus of blog or business: Well, that has evolved somewhat since I began blogging 2 years ago, when we were just a gluten-free family.  Due to the recent discoveries of new food allergies, I now share family/kid-friendly recipes that are gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free and corn-free.  I also share relevant medical research on celiac and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, as well as our family’s medical adventures.

Social Media I play in: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adventuresofaglutenfreemom

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/adventuresgfmom

I started my blog in the month and year: June, 2009

Training/education I received: Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management, The Ohio State University

My favorite healthy food: Green Smoothies

My favorite snack food: Hummus and raw veggies

My top 3 healthiest foods I love to eat or recommend: Blueberries, Oregano and fermented foods like raw sauerkraut

Childhood ambition: to be an FBI agent (I really just wanted to be Clarice Starling)

Wildest Dream: To wake up in the morning and find myself living on a gluten-free planet!

Favorite activity: Cooking, Hiking and Gardening (well, pretending to garden, talk to my husband)

Favorite thing to cook: Anything that is naturally free of gluten and our other allergens…simply fresh, whole foods

Favorite kitchen tool: Definitely my Vitamix, it’s been my saving grace since we began our food allergic lifestyle.

Biggest risk I’ve taken: Deciding to share my family’s personal medical journey on my blog.

Favorite exercise: Walking and yoga

Proudest moment: When I was able to self-discover my childrens’ underlying health issues after all of their doctors kept telling me that nothing was wrong (when in fact there were many things that were very wrong).

What I you do to treat myself: I have a membership to Massage Envy. :0)

What I do to feel at peace: Yoga or relax on my hammock and read a good book.

Biggest challenge: Learning how to care for myself being an asymptomatic celiac. I really envy the people who get noticeable symptoms when they eat something that is so harmful to their body.

Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere with a beach and access to a kitchen.

Craziest thing I’ve ever done: Fly a plane when I was 11

Health concerns I’ve cleared up: This is ongoing at the moment but I’m hot on the trail!

I started my blog to: Share some of the great gluten-free recipes I had found that allowed me to finally find peace and happiness with the gluten free diet. I spent the first 3 years after my celiac diagnosis cheating on the diet because I was asymptomatic (at least for GI issues) so I had an extremely difficult time making this crucial dietary change because I didn’t “feel sick.”

After all my fits and starts though, going strictly gluten-free has definitely been one of THE BEST things that has ever happened to me, not only am I on the road to better health, but because we were forced to slow down and be mindful of the activities we get involved in (ya know, since no one can seem to do ANYTHING anymore without involving food), my family is much closer than we would have been living the standard American lifestyle (always on the run and eating mindlessly), because we now eat together every night…and I’ve lost 85 lbs. as a result of that! :0)

What I hope the people that visit my blog find: Encouragement, Hope, Inspiration and Laughter.

What I love about what I do: My readers, I absolutely love them and I am so thankful for everything they share with me…I finally feel as though I belong somewhere, to a community that is full of people very similar to me and my family, people who understand the pleasures and pitfalls of living a food-alternative lifestyle.

In the future I see myself: Continuing to spread the word about gluten sensitivity and the most current medical research.

 

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19 Responses to Food Rock Star Heidi Kelly

  1. Shirley @ gfe March 30, 2011 at 7:13 am #

    Awww, such a beautiful, heartfelt interview with one of my favorite gluten-free rock stars! Heidi, we have the same wildest dream and I've got a massage scheduled for Friday. 😉

    Love your intro to Heidi, too, Diane–it's perfect. 🙂

    xoxo to both you and Heidi–both of you rock stars in our gf world (soon to be planet!),
    Shirley

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 8:56 pm #

      Shirley…that's right, we do! We will make it happen yet, just you wait…and Dr. Ford will have to be president!
      😀

      Glad you are getting a massage, I think it should be a part of everyone's health regimen.

      xo,
      Heidi

  2. Ricki March 30, 2011 at 9:07 am #

    I love that Tolstoy quote! Great interview, as always. Heidi is definitely a cool mom and an inspiration! Thanks for giving us a peek into another "rock star"'s life and blog. 😀 And I'm still dying to know how that plane flight came about. . . !

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:00 pm #

      Hi Ricki!

      Flying the plane was courtesy of my (very brave) father, who is a pilot. It's funny, I have a major case of claustrophobia, but being in the cockpit of a small airplane, I have no problem because of all the beautiful open scenery, it's exhilarating.

      xo,
      Heidi

  3. Wendy March 30, 2011 at 9:35 am #

    Heidi is just the best. She truly is a rock star in the gluten-free world. I am always impressed with her ability to research and go right to the experts for every twist and turn on her path to wellness. You are so right, Diane, when you say you want her in your corner. The gluten-free community is safer and more informed with Heidi on the job.

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:04 pm #

      Wendy,

      I could say the same things about you my friend! This is what I love about our gluten-free community, everyone genuinely cares about keeping each other informed on the latest issues.

      Hugs,
      Heidi

  4. Tina @ mgfv March 30, 2011 at 9:48 am #

    Heidi is a real inspiration, not just to me, but to her many readers. She's open, caring, and does a great job educating the gluten-free community. Thanks Heidi! 🙂 Tina.

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:08 pm #

      Aww, thanks Tina! I couldn't do it without the support and encouragement of my readers, as well as my great blogging friends and my medical heroes Dr. Rodney Ford, Dr. Vikki Petersen and Dr. Ron Hoggan who have graciously taken the time to educate me so that I better understand this crazy chameleon of a condition.

      Hugs,
      Heidi

  5. Kim-Cook IT AF March 30, 2011 at 1:13 pm #

    I love those quotes! And I just LOVE Heidi! She is a total crack-up and so much fun to be with! Even though I think I knew a lot of the answers it was fun to read about some of the things I didn't know about our crazy "glutadoodle" friend!! Thanks for sharing Rock Star Heidi with us, Diane!!

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:10 pm #

      I love you too Kimmy!!!

      xo,
      Heidi

  6. Erin -GF Fitness March 30, 2011 at 4:12 pm #

    Thank you so much Diane for posting all of these profiles. I love them! And Heidi-my sister from another mother-love ya, girl 🙂

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:12 pm #

      Oh Erin, you are just awesome in so many ways! 😀

      You haven't met me yet, but when you do, you'll probably start saying "my sister from another planet," LOL!

      lots of love,
      Heidi

  7. Megan March 30, 2011 at 5:05 pm #

    I love Heidi's blog! I like that she can speak openly about the difficulties of converting to a GF diet. Thanks for providing this profile, Diane.

    • Heidi March 30, 2011 at 9:27 pm #

      Hi Megan!

      It wasn't always easy to talk about my former dangerous ways, in fact, I was down right embarrassed and ashamed of my foolish behavior…then I had a lovely conversation with Dr. Ron Hoggan (author of Dangerous Grains and Editor of The Journal of Gluten Sensitivity on celiac.com) and he helped me to let go of the shame by telling me how addictive gluten is (by way of opioid peptides). I hope to help other people who cheat on the diet understand that there is a valid chemical explanation as to why it can be hard to embrace the diet in the beginning…but to also let them know that there is a BEAUTIFUL rainbow on the other side! No amount of cheating is worth the very heavy price that will eventually come with it, very serious health issues (I am now paying the piper for my former cheating ways).

      Hugs,
      Heidi

  8. Heidi March 30, 2011 at 8:50 pm #

    Diane, thank you so much for saying all those nice things about me, definitely worth all the money I sent you, LOL!

    Kidding aside, you sure know how to make a girl feel special, thank you!

    xo,
    Heidi

  9. Iris March 31, 2011 at 11:05 am #

    Lovely Heidi! These really are so fun…getting to see everyone from a different angle. And under your biggest challenge? It's a relief to hear someone else say they envy people who have noticeable symptoms! For me, I DO have noticeable symptoms, but they're only noticeable to me. As awful as it sounds, sometimes I wish I would get hives or something else that other people could see as tangible proof that I'm not just being a hypochondriac!

  10. Alisa Fleming March 31, 2011 at 5:24 pm #

    Heidi IS so cool. It was incredible to meet her too as she is so frickin' hilarious!!

  11. tastyeatsathome April 11, 2011 at 2:51 pm #

    Heidi IS a rock star! Her unwavering strength as she continues to work towards healing her family amazes me. And her creativity when it comes to being a mom that wants to indulge her kids in "normal" things as much as she can, while keeping them healthy. Love her!

  12. Carol, SGF April 25, 2011 at 8:57 pm #

    Heidi really is a rock star and she looks like one too! Great interview, I agree with everyone above – she is funny, endearing and just so freaking cool!