If I can find my way to the Windy City anytime soon, I know exactly where I’m gonna meet up with Julian… Chipotle! He’s speaking my language when it comes to those amazing burrito bowls!

Check out his gluten free story below and see what other advice and favorites he has coming from Illinois!

Your story…tell us a little bit about yourself! 

“Whats up?!  The name is Julian,  I’m 28 yrd old born and raised in Chicago Illinois, I’ve been gluten free for 1 year now and it’s been a wild journey and a struggle dealing with it. I always suffered with the worse acid reflux , bloating and heartburn had bad anxiety with it also. I went to so many doctors and so many visits to the hospital and tried so much stuff to try to fix it and nothing would ever work.  I barely could eat and lost so much weight until I did a food allergy test where I found out I had an issue with gluten. Since being gluten free, my life has been so much better, anxiety free and can eat without getting bloated and having heartburn.” 

Why do you eat gluten free food?

“It’s a lifestyle now and I would never go back to eating gluten because I feel great and amazing being gluten free.” 

What is your favorite gluten free snack? Where can we find it?

“I would have have to say a bag of nacho cheese dorritos or Cheetos puffs” 

What’s your favorite gluten free recipe?

“My favorite recipe is my pesto spinach mushroom fettuccine dish that I make. You can find it on my IG page”  https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hpCovpV5D/

What’s one thing you wish you knew when first went gluten free?

“To search for food bloggers on IG instead of searching myself. It was a struggle in the beginning being gluten free.” 

If you could only eat one gluten free meal for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?  

Another hard one!!! Haha it would be a toss up between a dominos gluten free pizza or chipotle chicken bowl which both are so good and I eat a lot of, which is funny because I never liked chipotle before being gluten free. Now I can’t stop eating it!” 

What advice would you give someone who is about to go gluten free?

“The best advice honestly would be don’t be afraid to research and make sure you read a lot of the ingredients when buying stuff. I do this now because you would be surprised to see what’s in the stuff you’re buying. The best thing I did was, there’s always a replacement for your favorite dish, so take a list of stuff you eat that’s not gluten free and find replacements. Most of the time for me, the gluten free tastes better then the gluten version and you won’t feel sick which is a plus!” 

What’s your favorite thing about being gluten free?

“My favorite thing honestly is the way I feel and my stomach being symptom free and me being able to actually eat food. It made me learn how to cook which I love doing now and me creating a gluten free IG page.” 

What is one thing you dislike about being gluten free and what do you do to mitigate it?

“Sometimes I would get jealous of not eating at certain classic food places in Chicago when hanging with the fam, but I would always work my way around it. Luckily, gluten free options are more popular now. After the nightmare I was dealing with last year, I honestly don’t dislike anything because being gluten free changed my life and I made so much progress from it.” 

How can other people find you?

“Catch me on IG GLUTENFREEJULZ” 

Thank you!

Julian, thank you so much for taking the time to share a little bit about yourself and connect with other gluten free guys. You know all to well the struggle it can be when first going gluten free, so hopefully others follow or reach out to you! Thanks again!