It finally happened. Someone finally figured out the route of all my IBS issues. I can't say that 21 years of pain and discomfort was worth it, but at least we're getting somewhere, right?

So, I can no longer eat gluten (or tapioca, or oats - yay). I am gluten intolerant, apparently. This means finding alternatives for the vast majority of my favourite foods, and it also meant a very grumpy, hangry Haze for the last few days of this week, before I had a chance to go food shopping.

I'm really going to miss 'normal' pasta, cakes, cookies, cereal, bread, pastries. But, if it means the end of bloating, pain and cramps I am totally on board. In fact, I'm actually pretty excited to get in the kitchen and start cooking/baking up some gluten-free storms.

I was officially diagnosed on Wednesday, and was feeling pretty down about it if I'm honest. I'm a massive foodie, I eat pretty much everything and so feeling forced to restrict my diet was a difficult concept to adjust to! Along with this, gluten free food is just so damn expensive.

After spending this morning wandering around a food festival (expect a blog post soon), though, I feel much more positive; I've realised that I'm not the only one (not that I ever thought I was), and that there's actually a whole range of gluten free alternatives to my favourite foods out there for me to enjoy.

Apparently, Indian cuisine is the best for my newly shrunken diet. Very few Indian restaurants thicken their sauces with flour so I'm still able to enjoy my favourite takeaways, which I'm seriously relieved about. 

I was also dead happy to see that Mexican is still a strong possibility for me, too, as long as the tortillas are made from corn flour, how good does this look?!

I have not been at all consistent over on this blog and for that I apologise. I don't even have a real excuse; I was busy with exams, but they ended a while a go, then I flitted between home and Birmingham for a while with no real purpose, and now I'm back at work.

If anything, then, I missed my couple of weeks of free time to get this blog back up and running again. So, we're starting again now. Happy hump day, I'm going to walk you through some of my goals for this summer, let's get on with it!

First things first, and hopefully this one can get out of the way sooner rather than later, is tackling my IBS. After countless, useless GP appointments which have gotten me absolutely nowhere I have decided to turn to homeopathy. I have my first appointment next week and I will definitely be keeping a log of how it goes on here.

SO many people have told me that IBS is most commonly linked to food allergies and intolerances, and I think that up until now I've ignored them because I really don't want to be forced into cutting things that I love out of my diet. But there's only so long you can put up with regular pain without seeking further help, so I'm giving it a go. 

I also need to sort myself out, ready for my year abroad which starts in September. I'm off to do a teaching assistantship in Andalusia, Spain and right now I could not be more excited. I'm 100% sure that the fear will set in closer to my departure date, but for now I'm focusing on organising as much as I can for what is looking to be an incredibly exciting year. 

Before I can sort out September, though, I desperately need to sort out my life right now. I've been back from Birmingham for a week now and my room is still covered in bags of clothes, boxes of stuff, stacks of books. I have far too much that I barely use, or even look at, so that's my to-do list sorted for this weekend - I need to get started on a HUGE clear out!

I've recently started running (again) and I want to actually keep it up this time. I want to feel fit and healthy, happy and good about myself and I enjoy being outside. I've bought myself some comfy new running tops and sports bras as a little bit of motivation to keep going and so far I'm pretty damn proud of myself. I can't quite say I'm enjoying running in this heat, though!

Another thing that I really need to get better at, is keeping in touch with friends. As much as I hate it, I am one of those people who too many times has let friendships dwindle purely due to a lack of contact. So, this summer (I hope) will be one of catch ups with friends that I miss and who I didn't really ever mean to stop talking to. Besides, what better pastime in this gorgeous weather than a good old gossip in a pub garden, right?

And last but not least, I want to get my butt in gear with this blog. I have lists of half-finished blog posts that I want to post, but just haven't. I'm not really sure why that is; I've been finding it hard to open my laptop and put into words exactly what I want to say. Despite this lack of motivation, writing on here is something I really have missed doing over the last couple of weeks, and if anything that's proved to myself how much I do love doing this!

So there we go, my thoughts of late all wrapped up in a good old ramble for you.