Gluten Free diet

sarahp86

Right so I've signed up to a personal trainer last week because my motivation has jumped out the window. my ex cheated on me and I just gave up and made loads of bad choices and got lazy. I want to get back into it and my new trainer (Martha) has suggested a gluten free diet because I eat a lot of bread, pasta other gluteny stuff etc. I'm also a sugar junkie and have PCOS.

She reckons it is the best diet going. I don't know if its extreme or not I'm getting mixed reviews from people I've spoken to. Was just wondering has anyone gone gluten free for the sake of weightloss and health rather than because they had to?

I'd love to hear your opinions. Good or Bad.

Thanks


I know my ticker says I've only 15lbs to go but I'm gong on mini goals. I've a total of 70lbs to lose

5000thAngel

I know that your post asks about people that are GF for diet reasons, but I wanted to give my opinion because I have only recently (since July) gone GF due to a mild gluten-intolerance that causes me to have IBS flair ups. My doctor has told me I don't have to be GF, I choose to be because it makes my health easier (and ever since I went GF the regular bloating feeling I had was gone). My boyfriend eats GF because it's easier than buying two different types of foods.


Going GF is NOT an easy thing to do and is NOT cheap. In order to eat the gluten products that I love (bread, pizza, bagels, etc), I have to make them myself. I make homemade bread, pizza (which allows me to also make a very healthy pizza with less calories), bagels, muffins, etc. There are recipes online or in cook books designed for people that are GF. The ingredients are "odd" to most people: rice flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, millet flour, xanthum gum (which holds the flours together in place of the gluten), etc. These are very expensive ingredients and can be difficult to find if you aren't sure where to look for them.

Same thing goes for pasta: you can buy GF pasta, but it is expensive.

Many of the GF bread products can be purchased at health food stores but some of them taste AWFUL. I prefer to make my own and using the recipes I've found I can make my bread taste almost normal.


Also, a note: My boyfriend has gone home to visit family and was eating regular bread products and found that it really bothered his stomach for several days readjusting to wheat.


For me, GF is a lifestyle, rather than a "diet", and the change was definitely not an easy change and can be VERY overwhelming.

I would be happy to help you with the information I have along the way to help make things easier (I got information from my aunt who has celiacs, which is the only way i managed to go GF without feeling SO overwhelmed), but keep in mind it is not an easy way to go.

sarahp86

Thanks so much for your reply I'd be willing to give it a go for awhile anyway. I had heard it was expensive and I wouldn't be exactly flush with cash right now. I could probably live without pasta and rice but is be willing to bake bread and other stuff I'd love any advice you could give me. Feel free to add me as a friend and thank you again

ALH1981

Thanks so much for your reply I'd be willing to give it a go for awhile anyway. I had heard it was expensive and I wouldn't be exactly flush with cash right now. I could probably live without pasta and rice but is be willing to bake bread and other stuff I'd love any advice you could give me. Feel free to add me as a friend and thank you again

I there - i am gluen free due to cealiac disease. I am also mostly paleo. I never had a appetite for bread pasta etc so maybe its easier for me as i dont try to seek out the 'gluten free' versoin of these things. I woudl definately say that for weight loss steering clear of those things as much as possible (even the GF free ones) is your best bet - although i'm sure ill be crucifed for say that here. Sorry its true!

Stick with lean protein, green leafy veges, fruit (in moderation) and you'll be fine - no bloating, fast weight loss, feeling great and always full!!!! I also think that if you steer clear of dairy as much as possible you will aid this further... I dont have dairy at all, i did soy for a while but hated the hormones and the bloating i got from it, if i need something creamy its unsweetened almond milk.

Stay away from sauces or basically anything processed - rule of thumb nothign from packets cans etc. I know this seems very restrictibve but rightly or wrongly its a great way to lose weight fast and allow you to have a full diet which also gives you plenty of energy to get through workouts and repair your muscles.

I also jsut recently added protein shakes which have helped my muscles repair from my training more than ever - i was always skeptic becuase of my paleo beleifs but the benefit i am getting form them is amazing so willing to bend on that one!!!

of course i am not perfect and although all of this works im not 100% following this all the time ... I also know its worked for me but maybe not for everyone so take these words with a grain of salt but feel free to PM me for more information..

barkin43

I recently decided to go gluten free because one of my MFP friends posted his testimony on how it had helped his joint pain. I had pretty much the same results--joint pain subsided and energy level went up. Then for about a week (from Thanksgiving until the following Friday) I ate wheat products such as stuffing, yeast rolls, etc. By Friday, I was in so much pain (worse than pre-gluten free) that I couldn't bend to pick up something from the floor, and climbing stairs was nearly impossible. So, I've decided that gluten free is a good option for me. It can be expensive if you feel you have to have breads and pastries, but there are still many foods that you can eat. The oriental stores usually sell rice noodles much cheaper than the gluten free section of the supermarket or health food stores and are a nice substitute for wheat pasta. Anyway, for me, nothing tastes as good as pain-free feels! Good luck on a successful transition.

Garlicmash

If you cut out just bread and past you will notice a difference as I did this myself while following a 1200 cal diet some years back and lost the weight a lot easier.
But after that I did find bread made me ill,this wasn't due to cutting it out.I had been ill before the weight lose but didn't realise what was causing it.
I found out this year that I am in fact Allergic to gluten and recently realised I have been since I was a least 8.
Trying to cut out all traces of gluten is extremely difficult resulting in having nearly no pre-made shop bought products.

preslyann50

I have been tested for Celiacs but I don't have it. But I think I might have a sensitivity. My only worry about going completely gluten free is it's pretty much a life long thing because when you stop it and you start up again it will make you sick. So if you are really sure you want to do completely gluten free go for it, if you just want to try it out, like I am, start off with cutting it out in some foods (pasta, pizza crust) etc. I don't eat a lot of bread so I leave it in there.

My dr suggested this to me since I have some gastro problems.

Ral263

I've been eating gluten free for the last 3 months, and I've never felt better. I definitely don't have Celiac, but I have to have a sensitivity of some kind because I get awful IBS flareups whenever I have it. Some things are worse than others-- for example, cereal and crackers are much worse than if I drink beer--like, debilitatingly so--but I really avoid most of it 99% of the time. Like one of the posters above, I constantly had a bloated feeling that was actually really painful, and my energy level was really low and my skin looked like absolute s hit.

Prior to going GF, I didn't really eat carbs to begin with-- I'd snack on cereal or a bit of granola in the morning as a midmorning snack. And even then, any carbs I did eat were 100% whole wheat (I grew up not eating any "white" carbs), which apparently is even worse for gluten sensitivities.

Anyway, I am extremely active (run 8 miles 6x a week, lift 5x a week and walk everywhere), and I think that a lot of people tend to think that means you need a lot of carbs...not true. I eat a ton of protein (chicken, fish, egg whites, soy protein) and veggies. My carb sources are fruit and starchier vegetables like squash, berries, cherries, etc.

I've never had more energy, felt better, or had better skin and hair.

Becky388

I've been trying to go GF and low carb, sometimes a very difficult combo. I personally feel better without wheat and on low carb, hubby needs low carb because he's diabetic. The clash comes in with some of the wheat replacements - rice flour, tapioca flour, etc, they can really spike your blood sugar in a hurry then you may experience a rapid drop much like eating any other fast carb and then want more. The calories can also be higher too. I'm not saying don't go GF, not saying that at all! Just thought you should be aware of some of the other pitfalls with it. I'm experimenting with nut, seed and even bean flours to try to bring the carbs down some.

Firefox7275

Are you literally going to go gluten free, ie. avoid even the tiniest speck of grains in a sauce or stock? Or are you simply intending to avoid the obvious sources like breakfast cereal, bread and pasta? The latter is neither difficult nor expensive, you can eat root or other starchy vegetables, beans/ lentils, wholegrain rice and also oats (a coeliac would usually not eat oats because it contains a similar protein to gluten).

There are some good gluten free low glycaemic index flours which work for different purposes such as peanut flour (high protein), bean/ lentil flours, reduced fat coconut flour (high fibre).

cookiemonster7565

I've been 85% gluten free since June (eg. I'd have gluten maybe once a week) but only started to get seriously about it in the past month. I didn't notice a huge difference in my weight since I was not tracking my calories at the time but the one SIGNIFICANT difference I noticed was an improvement in my skin. I had pretty normal skin to begin with, no acne or scars or anything but I had little bumps on my face that I could never seem to get rid of. After going gluten free for a while, my skin was almost flawless (and every time I ate gluten again it would go back to the way it was before within a day or two). I've actually lost t 5lbs in the past 2 months which isn't a lot but some of that has to do with the fact that I've been eating cookies, cakes, and other "gluten" desserts a lot less. I've replaced my dessert cravings with chocolate (which is also terrible for you but it's much more difficult to binge on chocolate rather than a bag of cookies). Overall I find it is a worthwhile lifestyle change and I've never heard anyone with a negative experience after going gluten free! As for the pasta/bread, I've replaced that with rice and other asian noodles which are just as satisfying