Gluten Free.... I need help

mtpalacios

I am about to be 32 next week and this week I found out that I have Celiac Disease, I have no clue how to live my life gluten free and it scares me. I want to still be able to lose weight but most of what I love have some wheat in it and it just totally brought a bummer on my life right now. I am soo much in a rut and looking for other people that have to deal with gluten free so I can get some ideas of what to eat. I look online but none of the food sound yummy

RobynDCrossman

Time to get the cookbooks! I have some great GF cookbooks.

katekizm

You'll be fine. It just looks scary right now. The recent news and bummer-ness of it is coloring your search.

stanvoodoo

There are so many options and cook books out there to help you and the internet has so much information.

Once you are off the gluten, I bet you notice a huge difference in how you feel and your energy level as well!!!

The grocery store have a wide variety of items to choose from as well!!!

Most everything you eat with wheat can be made or bought without the gluten!!!

Don't stress!!!

Best of Luck!!!

cygnetpro

I know that our grocery stores have larger and larger sections of gluten-free items. A few years ago a friend's daughter was diagnosed, and it was incredibly difficult to find anything gluten-free.

Do you have large grocery stores in your area? They might have a lot more delicious things than you expect. Good luck (and health!) to you!

Argent78

I also have some AWESOME GF books!!! everything is super yummy!!!
I don;t have Celiac disease but I barely eat gluten

For example, Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta is DELICIOUS and you don't even notice is quinoa

Another good advice, is get a Bread machine. I make all my breads GF and they are delicious!!

Sabine_Stroehm

That's a bummer of a diagnosis but it's wonderful that you know! You'll feel so much better!

If it were me I'd start by NOT running out and replacing your favorite foods with GF substitutes. They are typically highly processed, and very caloric.

Are you in the U.S.?

If it were me, I'd think of a few of my comfort foods, and substitute those (a morning english muffin maybe, or the occasional pizza night out). Then otherwise I'd focus on finding good healthy GF grains that work for you. Get your gut healthy!


You can do this!

peachprl

There are soooo many options, girl. It takes a bit of adjusting, but I promise you that there are a lot of yummy options! One of my favorite websites for food recipes is skinnytaste.com- there is a section of gluten free recipes that are really, really good and you wouldn't know the difference. There are some really tasty recipes on webmd that I have found, too. I've been eating GF since the end of 2010 and have been feeling so much better since. Hang in there- it gets easier! :-) Feel free to add me if you need some extra support!

kaetmarie

It's definitely an adjustment, but it's so much better to FEEL good. I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance in December, and I'm very slowly getting used to the new lifestyle. Some of my carb-y staples include potatoes, rice, and quinoa (seriously good!).

I gained weight at first, because GF replacements often have more calories/sugar to make up for taste, so be careful with that. I tend not to replace things like bread, cookies, crackers, etc ... because I don't like it as much (usually) and it's just a waste of calories. Focus on things you can have. Meat, cheese, yogurt, fruits, veggies -- all naturally gluten free!

Feel free to add me. I'm still getting used to it, but my diary is open and you're welcome to look at it for ideas and such! Good luck. You can do this.

agbaeb

Hey! I do a lot of product reviews and besides a once-in-a-blue-moon box cake for a friend, I do all gluten-free cooking! You can do this, and it's SO worth it!

www.threelilsisters.wordpress.com


Feel free to be-friend me. I'll answer any questions.

exacerbe

Cookbooks. Read labels. Grocery stores have sections devoted to GF foods. I know Kroger includes a "Gluten Free" label to their price tags. Central Market and Sprouts do as well.

Get into the habit of eating more vegetables, fruit, rice, unprocessed meats.

Today, GF is more accepted (whether allergy and fad) and many companies are jumping on the whole Gluten Free Bandwagon.

I agree with the bread machine statement -- Pamela's has a great line of GF bread mixes..

Most store bought GF bread is gross unless toasted. Udi's is the best of them.

Beerwise - Redbridge is decent. Green's Tripels are good.

belladonnablue

My boyfriend's gluten-intolerant and his mother is Celiac. He was a meat-potatoes-bread kinda guy before being diagnosed, and being unable to eat wheat depressed him a lot. He despises most fruits and veggies, and I think would live on a solid diet of cinnamon rolls, pizza, sandwiches and pasta if he could.

The good news, though, is that as gluten-free awareness increases, more products are becoming available and more restaurants are catering to GF customers.

I do all the cooking, and I can almost always figure out a way to make a recipe gluten-free. We have Sunflower Market down here that provides a big variety of gluten-free substitutes (pastas, flour, bread, etc.), but even Albertson's has a gluten-free section. What you're going to encounter most is food made with quinoa or rice flour. Quinoa takes some getting used to, but I barely notice the difference between, say, rice noodles and flour noodles.

Try to concentrate on what you can eat instead of what you can't.

And yes, gluten-free food can be very processed and loaded with calories, but it's not too bad if you are just getting the basics. You run into trouble food the most with the gluten-free pastries. Just pay attention to the ingredients. Anything that makes you think you need to be a chem major to understand it is probably not good for you.

mtpalacios

Thank you everyone for the suggestion, I believe a lot of people are right... I know it will get easier with time and this is just adjustment that I have to get use to .. I will be looking at the website that was recommended

lporter229

This cookbook has a very good recipe for a flour mixture in it that you can use to make all sorts of things.

http://www.amazon.com/Artisanal-Gluten-Free-Cooking-Kelli-Bronski/dp/1615190031/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1336756020&sr=8-9

A little pricy initial investment for the ingrediemts, but for most of them you only use a small amount so they last. I ordered them on-line and saved a lot (vitacost.com). I also bought a set of air-tight containers to put them in to stay fresh, then I mix up a big batch of the mixture to use. The potato gnocci is particularly good. Also, as another poster said, try the Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta. You can hardly tell the difference (the ones made with brown rice flour are mushy...avoid).

It is a bit of a pain to be GF, but you will adjust. Especially when you see how much better you feel and the amount of energy you will have(I have Crohn's not Celiac, but the gluten-intolerance is common in Crohn's suffers and the GF has made such a difference).

Also, my husband's Aunt's granddaughter has Celiac and she uses a product called Glutenese (or something like that) pills that you can get at GNC. She said they help a lot.

Feel free to add me as well.

Sarahbara76

I have so many food allergies I tend to eat extremely clean , add me as a friend and I will do my best to help you and your welcome to ask any questions about my normal day and what I typically eat. I have Celiac disease and I am allergic to egg whites/dairy/shrimp/MSG'S and Alfalfa

tinksmommy2006

Pre-made ingredients that are safe for celiac include:

100% corn tortillas and taco shells
Pre-made polenta rolls with a gluten-free label
Plain teff wraps made from 100% teff flour
Plain 100% brown rice tortilla wraps
Unflavored mochi
100% Corn pasta
Quinoa and corn pasta
Soy pasta (if it states gluten-free)
Brown and white rice pasta, rice noodles, rice glass noodles
100% buckwheat soba noodles (check label)
Rice paper, rice and tapioca rice paper wraps (check label)
100% nut butters- almond, peanut, cashew, pecan
100% seed butters- sesame tahini, sunflower and hemp seed butter
Gluten-free beer and lager made from rice, sorghum or a non-gluten grain.
Oat flour. (made from regular oatmeal, not instant)
Old fashioned oat meal.

There are a ton more to list.....but here are some sites to help you:)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies

http://www.celiaccentral.org/Gluten-Free-Food/?gclid=CIOlqrjd-K8CFQgCQAodiFz4Gw

http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/what-to-eat-on-a-gluten-free-diet-week-one/

I am not 100% gluten free but I try to cut back on it....and things that i love like pancakes, well I thought I would never get to eat them any more...but I found I can still make them with things like oat flour...which is better for me any way..and lower cal! lol So it is possible to still have things you love...you just have to tweek them Hope it helps:)

fuhrmeister

I am sorry you are going throught this I'm sure it isn't fun. That beign said I choose to eat glutin free I don't have to. But I eat a primal diet. Try looking at www.marksdailyapple.com There is all kinds of information about why grains in general are bad for you and info on other foods. You can serach for recipies too.

Also, you can try googleing primal or paleo recipies. I am going to try glutin free pancakes this week.

try baking with almond flour, eat speghitti squash instead of pasta and make tacos with flour tortilla into taco salasd instead.

I wish you the best of luck finding new foods you love.

MamaMouseA

Don't Panic. I am 43 and just starting my weight loss journey. My 5 yo was diagnosed with celiac right before Thanskgiving. My husband and I decided to make our household GF since it only the 3 of us. We also keep Kosher as well. It was a big shock at first. It seemed like a lot of my favorite foods were now off limits. I about cried when I realized I couldn't have bread anymore. A couple of books have really helped me make the transition. First was "The gluten free gourmet bakes bread" by Bette Hagman. I love the pizza dough and bagels. Not sure how this fits in the the diet, but I like them so much, I'm gonna make room. The other book I found isn't gluten free. Its a Chinese cookbook by Knack. Lots of chinese food doesn't have flour and also doesn't have dairy (which is great for Kosher). Chinese food is generally stuffed with vegetables as well. The books has lots of picture and 3 variations for each recipe. I like Ancient Harvest pasta and also Lundberg pasta and nothing beats Udi's bread. Feel free to add me as a friend it you want to complain, ask questions, or just talk.

dvisser1

My mom got diagnosed with celiac's last December and can not touch gluten or dairy. My older sister appears to be gluten intolerant to some degree, but I don't think has been tested for Celiac's. I've also got some friends with gluten food allergy. Even though I don't seem to have any problems, I can kind of relate to what you're going through.

The good news, now you know for sure what's been causing the problems so you can begin addressing it.

There are a ton of natural foods you can eat. More and more there are a lot of gluten free packaged foods hitting the market.

I got my mom a copy of The Gluten Free Girl (book) and one of the author's cookbooks. There is also a website under the same name with a forum, blog, recipes, etc. It's helped her a lot in identifying where gluten can be hiding in prepared foods and sauces (it's kind of surprising how common it is).

TKHappy

I order things off glutenfreely.com often, they have a few things I can't find in stores! I started eating it because they wanted to try gluten free on my son but he won't touch it....so instead of it going to waste I ate it!! Not bad!!

fitnhealthykaren

Hi! I was in your shoes 18 months ago. I drowned myself in information regarding Celiac. I consider myself pretty knowledgable now, and have been 100% gluten free since the day I found out. I'm now at the point that if I even get cross contaminated I'll feel sick. I was already overweight when I found out, but then, for the first year, I gained even more weight. Mostly because I think I ate extra of the things I COULD eat, kind of over compensating for losing all the gluten containing foods. Once my body healed (took a year) I started to feel so much better and wasn't depressed anymore. Now, for the last 5 months, I've lost 21 pounds (taking it slow and steady). I eat plenty of wonderful WHOLE foods. I am a pretty good cook and I make some great meals that my whole family enjoys.

If you are trying to lose weight, I highly suggest staying away from "gluten free" products that are on the shelves. The only thing I buy, and it's sparingly, is Udi's GF sandwich bread. I only use that when I want a breakfast egg sandwich. The products usually have added fat and sugar as well as preservatives. Bad for weight loss.

My breakfasts are either protein/fruit smoothies or eggs. Lunch usually big salads with lots of protein on them or Chipotle is my favorite lunch restaurant. Dinners is a lot of grilled meat now that it's grilling season with various veggies, stir fry at least once a week and tacos (various kinds). Sometimes potatoes or rice with dinner, but I try to limit those due to weight loss goals.

Here are my favorite condiments/products to make everything taste yummy:
San-J Tamari sauce (in place of soy sauce) - I use this all the time
All the San-J GF stir fry sauces like teriyaki, etc
Chili powder/blends for tacos
Franks buffalo sauce
Jasmine rice
Pirates booty
Think thin protein bars
much, much more

What kinds of foods did you typically eat? That might help me give you more ideas. Feel free to friend me and check out my diary! I'm here for you. It can be a tough transition.

EKarma

I've been making my own oat flour. Just stick it in a food processor and process, sift through a sifter and bam! You've got oat flour that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg!

Enigmatica

I have non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, which is bad enough. I'm pretty good at avoiding gluten though because I don't like how SICK it makes me! My diary is open and may give you some ideas. Note however that while I won't touch anything with wheat/gluten on the ingredients list, I do okay on some things that are merely processed in facilities that make other products which contain wheat. Or sometimes I don't. It depends on how danged sensitive my body wants to be!

Gluten free baking is actually fun for me because I like to bake. I love Pamela's mixes. Bob's Red Mill has some good ones too. One of the first things I did when I found I had to eliminate gluten was use it as an excuse to get myself a breadmaker, and I've been having a great time with it ever since.

There are plenty of options and believe me I'm not in the least bit deprived by staying gluten free. It's worth it to be healthier!

katekizm

There's an app for smartphones: Find Me Gluten Free

very handy! Even has a list of the most common restaraunts (fast food included!) and what they have on their menu that is GF.

spngebobmyhero

I eat gluten free! You have to cook a lot of your own foods when you are gluten free to be safe. Even the tiniest amount of gluten can cause an inflammatory response in your gut.

Try not to replace all of your former wheat based foods with gluten free options, because these can be higher in calories.

Feel free to friend me or take a look at my diary to get some ideas of what eating gluten free can look like.