Free from foods

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas about low calorie free from foods? I love brown bread, and i used to have gluten free brown rolls but they were 400 cals a roll! and once i'd put some meat or cheese in them they were pushing 500-600 plus in calories. And that was for ONE roll. It was just insane! I managed to find a white version which is sliced bread that's about 200 calories for 2 slices but again ONE sandwich is pushing 500 calories.It's just insanity.

Unfortunately most free from foods have something in them. I am wheat/egg/dairy intolerant but most free from foods have one or 2 of them in, but luckily i don't eat processed free from food very often and tend to cook everything. But it can be very, very limiting on what i can eat! So i mainly have chicken, fish, some red meat, pasta, rice, veggies, dairy free milk and cheese and that's about it really, unless i forgo my diet for once and risk making myself very poorly. I'm trying to wean myself onto potatoes but they still give me a really bad stomach which sucks cause i love baked potatoes. Unfortunately i have very severe IBS so any citrus fruits/veg/seeded fruit and veg can give me a really bad stomach. Which sucks cause i love things like apples and tomato's.

I'm getting utterly sick of my diet atm and it means i'm having more and more foods that i REALLY shouldn't be having. For the past couple of days i've been eating apples and i even have some tomatoes in a salad, and had some normal chocolate cause i was craving it so badly. I have felt so poorly it is unreal. It felt like my stomach was twisting in knots. It's not a fun experience but it serves me right really.

Just so bored with my diet :( and it doesn't help that i only got told 4 years ago i had such bad IBS so i'd eaten normal foods up till that point, so i still crave things like strawberries and other yummy things i now can't have! They just never realised when i was younger that it was that, that was making me sick all the time.

Does anyone else have trouble finding good low cal free from foods or is it just me???

Replies

  • crystalbluewolf13
    crystalbluewolf13 Posts: 197 Member
    Aw come on please help someone
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
    Can you define Free from food?
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
    Sorry, I don't understand what free from food is.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
  • jny1179
    jny1179 Posts: 8 Member
    Or Free From "Insert food intolerance here"
    Gluten free, Dairy free, Egg free.... etc.

    I try to avoid gluten and dairy based on having Crohn's disease and gluten intolerance, but don't look at my diary lately or you'll see a disaster lol.

    Anyway, when I am being strict, I just search the internet high and low for interesting "free from" recipes. I find that Paleo blogs are awesome because the Paleo diet is free of most triggers (gluten/dairy/added sugar/etc). I do eat a lot of meat and veggies but there are lots of ways to get variety in your diet by using different recipes/preparations. I would definitely search Paleo or Clean Eating blogs for good ideas. :)
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member

    Although I am willing to type back, yes, I am too lazy to copy and past that link into my browser to see if i can help. I will suggest, however, if you buy this brand of food, and there are no low cal options-maybe you shouldn't buy this brand and possibly get something else?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Prepare you own foods and make them free from whatever you are trying to avoid without adding other things you want to avoid.
  • Not a brand. It is just her way of grouping all prepared foods that are free of a certain thing, like gluten or dairy.

    Search for Paleo foods. When you type them into your search engine, type in stuff like "Paleo dairy free chicken recipe". I have found that coconut milk can sometimes be interchanged with sour cream as well.

    I have been making a lot of home made stir fries and curries. I found some great curry paste at a local Asian market that is gluten free.
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
    Might be worth trying sweet potatoes? They're really tasty, fill you up and aren't actually potatoes at all. You can pretty much cook them like normal spuds, mash, bake or roast, and I prefer them to the real thing.

    Rice noodles are okay too, usually in the fresh section rather than with the dried noodles. Take on the flavour of whatever sauce you use.

    My elder daughter is gluten free, so I do understand a little how hard it is to find nice food.:flowerforyou:
  • MaggieSporleder
    MaggieSporleder Posts: 428 Member
    I've been gluten free for almost two years. And the best I can tell you, is just try to get on without bread. I've never been able to find one which tastes anything less than heavy and chalky. But I save so many calories in a day, by not being able to eat bread or pasta most times. And you can fill that void with an amazing variety of fresh fruit and veggies. Right now you've got sweet potatoes, or squash in season, and pomegranates just came in. It's hard to give bread up, but it's so many empty calories I really think I'm healthier without it.
  • I'm eating vegan refried beans with cucumbers right now and enjoying myself thoroughly. I also love snacking on hummous and veg, edamame, mary's gone crackers (GF/vegan), and dehydrated veggies that work with my tummy.

    A dear friend of mine loves this blog for help finding foods that work for her -- http://www.marksdailyapple.com/. I don't dig on meat all that much, but the dude occasionally has some good reading.

    www.whfoods.com is also great for coming up with in-season cooking ideas.

    Good luck sweetie!
  • 03428
    03428 Posts: 48 Member
    I'm a gluten intolerant vegan, so I think we might have similar food issues!
    Tesco seem to stock a relatively low cal brown roll without any of the nasties in it, but only in certain supermarkets (?!).
    Take a look at my diary if you want, it might be a little useless because I only eat gluten free bread a couple of times a week, but might give you some ideas :) the free from pasta's a great lunch, I know it takes longer to make than a sandwich, but I make my lunches the night before and it seems to be going okay. Where do you live? There are some great dairy free chocolates up here in Scotland, The Chocolate Tree is a fantastic brand (maybe you can buy online?). I know that the 'fake' chocolate from supermarkets isn't great, but if you go for dark chocolate from normal brands it tends to be dairy free. Even Hotel Chocolat do dairy free (they have a dairy free section on their website! :)) xxx
  • crystalbluewolf13
    crystalbluewolf13 Posts: 197 Member
    Thanks guys :) will have a moocha. Yeah just to be clear Free From foods are what we called 'excluded foods' in the UK. Such as wheat/gluten free foods etc. Will hopefully get some good ideas and will have a god with sweet potatoes to see if can tolerate them :) cause me a veg don't mix for some reason apart from a select few veggies