Anyone wheat/gluten free?

mjboswell

Starting tomorrow I am starting my wheat free diet. I have UC, probably related to celiacs, so I am going wheat free. I was just wondering if anyone here has expierence with this way of eating?

brneydgrlie

It's really not too hard, once you give up the idea of cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. I found the first week or two to be the most difficult, but after that, I did not crave bread, etc anymore. Just stick with meats, fish, poultry, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Instead of breads and pastas, have potatoes, rice, quinoa, or beans. I eat glass noodles often also - they are thin Asian noodles made out of bean starch - and great in stir frys and soups. For breakfast, I eat eggs, turkey bacon, and fruit. Sometimes oatmeal. You can even prepare quinoa the same way as oatmeal, and it's delicious. Van's is also a company that makes gluten free frozen waffles, and they are really good, if you crave that sort of thing.

EAlexandraB

I am (reluctantly) wheat-free...it does NOT agree with me.

I find it fairly easy, provided I eat whole foods and avoid processed foods (which is my goal anyhow).

For breakfast, I usually have smoothies, yogurt and fruit, or oatmeal (if you're going totally GF, you need to buy GF oats - I don't worry about this myself).

Lunch gives me trouble, but then, it did even before I had to stop eating wheat. I will often have protein powder in skim milk with some fruits and vegetables in place of a "real" lunch.

Dinner is variations on the theme of a protein (chicken breast, sirloin, fish), yams, and a green vegetable.

Tinkyada rice pasta is not bad as a GF alternative to regular pasta. If you're needing dessert, Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix makes an awesome one-minute mug cake (about 1/4c. of mix, 1 TBSP of oil, and water until the consistency is right, put in the microwave for one minute). Otherwise, I avoid gluten-free "alternatives" to foods that are usually made with wheat (bread, cookies, cakes, etc.) because they are just NOT satisfying.

mjboswell

Thanks for the responses. Do y'all find it easy to stay in your calorie range to loose weight? I was in the hospital for 3 days, because of the UC. I have not gotten back to normal since then. I've been tired/sluggish and put on weight. I'll know how much tomorrow morning when I weigh in for the first time in over 9 months. I'm going to start out with the diet change and then add exercise. I'm hoping the diet change will help with the abdominal pain and tiredness.

brneydgrlie

If you stay away from breads and pastas, and eat more veggies, fruits, etc, you will actually be amazed to find that it feels like you are able to eat even more (quantity-wise) than you did before and still lose weight. Theoretically speaking, you would have to eat a whole lot more spinach to consume the same amount of calories as in an order of french fries (for example)!

And you will most likely find the sluggishness and bloating will disappear, too!