Going gluten-free can be a very hard commitment to make. Even if you don’t have cravings for bread or pastries, it’s still not an easy task. Gluten is everywhere! You don’t have to get stressed out about it, though, especially if you have people in your life to help get you through it. To help you set up a good gluten-free system that involves others, here are six social tips to get you connected.

1. Do Some Research
Whether you go to the book store or simply search gluten-free topics online, if you’re new to the gluten-free lifestyle, first, you’ll need to know some things. Reach out to your doctor and see if he/she can recommend some diets or programs that will help you get educated on the subject. If not, they will at least refer you to someone who can.

2. Recruit your family
It’s hard enough to remove gluten from your diet. The only thing harder? Trying to figure out what to fix everyone else for dinner, if you’re the one who usually does it. No one wants to sit at the table with a completely different plate of food in front of them than their loved ones. Even if they only commit to one gluten-free meal a day, ask your family to go with the flow and make that meal one they eat with you.

3. Post on Social Media
Not sure what to buy at the grocery store that doesn’t contain gluten? Just post a question to Facebook or whatever site your friends are on. If you have a couple of hundred “friends” or more, the likelihood that at least a handful of them are gluten-free is very high. Take from them what worked during their gluten-free journey and make note of what didn’t.

4. Organize Your Email Contacts
How many email groups are you currently a part of? If you’re like me, it took awhile to start the process, but once I had the setup complete, it was very easy to maintain. Whether you get names of gluten-free eaters from your Facebook posts or you just reach out to your closest friends, creating an email group is a great way to share ideas, recipes and frustrations about the goal you’re working towards.

5. Throw a Gluten-Free Get Together
Once you have a solid support system of family, friends, and even neighbors, who want to be gluten-free, invite people over to eat and unwind. Ask them to bring one gluten-free dish or drink, along with a recipe card (if applicable), so you can duplicate their creation another time.

6. Start a Blog
So many people write blogs these days for money, but many still do it as a way to connect. Whether you make your page public or private, writing a blog just about your gluten-free journey will not only help you sort out your feelings about the topic, it may help others who are struggling as well. Remember, you can pay it forward.