Gluten Free and "Clean Eating"

littlenyama

This week's milestone: Could wear a belt I haven't worn in YEARS. It had become my son's play belt. I have to use the very first hole, but before it didn't fit by several inches. Now all my pants are falling off. :-)

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Over the two years of being Gluten Free (GF) (trying to be...) I've read tons of websites and books. I'm a librarian, so that's what I do. I find that trying to focus solely on GF recipes drives me nuts. Often the replacement ingredients are other things I can't have (ie nuts & seeds), so I instead focus on using a "clean eating" philosophy. "Healthy" eating is my primary goal and GF is a sub-part of that. I eat lots of chicken, beans, lentils and veggies.

I am not celiac. Rather I am allergic to wheat. I have about 40+ food allergies and can't possibly function while avoiding them ALL, I know, I've tried. So I pick wheat/gluten as one of big things to avoid. I find that eliminating it affects my health far more than eliminating oranges, so that's what I focus my energies on.

I don't do packaged/premade GF food except bread and pizza crusts bc often the premade ones are still unhealthy snack food. If I eat snack food then I still have cravings and that gets in the way of eating healthy overall.

I also don't do complicated recipes because I work full time and have a family. I don't have the time and energy to prepare a complicated recipe, nor money for special ingredients. If it's complicated and I'm tired, I'll give into something "easy" and that usually equals unhealthy. I try to keep "easy" meaning simple and healhty. Lots of rotisserie chicken with spinach salads for me.

I went 100% GF (again) about 2 months ago. It has been very easy this time, I think bc I've eliminated my snack cravings through eliminating processed snacks (even GF ones). I am doing the GF as an overall aim to be healthier, not just to lose weight, though that is a definite bonus. I topped out at 198 (Jan 2013) and am now 171. My low was 157 in Aug 2008 when I eliminated ALL allergy foods. My average range over the last 7 years has been 170-180.

Pick your battles. Keep it simple. I recommend Clean Eating magazine or the Clean Eating book series (check your local library). It might be GF, but if it's not Clean then it's not healthy.

My next goals are to eliminate corn and dairy, and to buy more organic veggies & meat ($$$).

BTW, I'm also training for a half-marathon and have been working out more so that definitely ties in with being healthy and lossing weight.