Gluten Free Diet Support

BBCTiffyB
BBCTiffyB Posts: 114 Member
edited October 2 in Food and Nutrition
Hello all!

I am still new to this GF diet stuff too, so I thought that by having a "one stop shop" place to go for support on all things Gluten Free, it would help a lot.

I will start by saying I have been GF for about 2.5 months and feel so much better. I will say that I have NOT been diagnosed with Celiac's Disease, however I WAS diagnosed with IBS a few years ago. Someone mentioned that the reason I always look like I am 6 months pregnant and constantly have GI issues could be because I have Celiac's. Well, since I don't have the money to go to the Dr.s, I figured I would just "test the waters" by seeing what happens when I cut out gluten .... WOW!

I have NEVER felt better, more energized, and **TMI** spent so LITTLE time in the bathroom! I enjoy eating again and have lost 3 inches of "bloating" off of my waist =)

What did I do? I cut out unnecessary carbs (breads, pastas, etc.) and IF I must have some bread, I buy the GB bread mix and make my own =) I check ALL labels now, and also shop at Nutrition S'Mart for the GF foods that "normal" supermarkets don't carry. However, I went into Publix yesterday (a grocery store in FLA) and they had a BUNCH of NEW GF foods that they didn't have before. The cashier said that they have been having MULTIPLE people complain and request more GF stuff, so they started shipping more variety of GF foods to that store (not sure about all stores).

For beginners, I recommend simply cutting out ALL foods that do not say Gluten Free on the label. At least to start! This way there is no chance of contamination or anything. Once you learn what to look for in the ingredients and can then start shopping by ingredients instead of GF. However unless it specifically states that it is certified GF, then there IS still a chance of contamination!

What have you done to go GF? Did you need to? What would YOU recommend to beginners?

Thanks All and hope this helps!
~Tiffany

Replies

  • Fairysoul
    Fairysoul Posts: 1,361 Member
    There is gluten free pizza dough at safeway, a lot of my GF friends miss pizza. PF changs also has a lot of gluten free things, for times when you want to eat out. Oh yeah and I make all kinds of gluten free stuff for our friends, if you want to friend me I will make posts about it!
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
    Eat totally clean for the first two weeks, there is a small amount of gluten allowed in GF certified foods. I'd cut out all processed foods for the first two weeks just to get on track.

    Modified food starch (generally) = gluten/wheat

    I have Celiac, I'm totally GF and I've never felt better. I also learned I'm sensitive to lactose and to soy, so I avoid both of them.

    Edited to add: I've been totally GF for over a year.
  • mcjabber
    mcjabber Posts: 374 Member
    This is pretty much my story as well! No official Celiac diagnosis, and it would probably be negative anyway--from the reading I've done, Celiac sort of needs a trauma to kickstart it, and I haven't really had that. But I had IBS and MAJOR bloat, and my aunt gave up gluten a long time ago, so I gave it a shot. It's been a little over a year and I am definitely better off. I was never really a bread/pasta person to begin with (probably because it never made me feel good), so cutting out that stuff was really no big deal and I rarely miss it.

    I do have a pizza binge every few months--my mom calls it the "Eat Now Pay Later" plan, since I eat it knowing full well I will pay for it in a few hours with major stomach issues and zapped energy. But what can I say--every once in awhile, I make that choice :ohwell:
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
    Hello:flowerforyou:

    I've been gluten free for a couple of weeks. I'm not eating dairy as much also. I also feel fantastic! :smile:


    http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/09/12/interview-with-wheat-belly-author-dr-william-davis/~a great article about the benefits of a wheat-free lifestyle.
  • lalunah
    lalunah Posts: 4
    I was GF for a year and lost an easy 25 lbs without any exercise.....I have strayed away from my GF ways and gained 15 of the 25 I lost. :(
    I was actually doing the GenoType diet which states that Gluten is a no-no for O blood-types.
    So, now that I am back on track....I'm back to GF. Please let me know if you need any tips at all.
    Good luck!!
  • tuneses
    tuneses Posts: 467 Member
    bump for later, im new to the game too
  • BBCTiffyB
    BBCTiffyB Posts: 114 Member
    Is anyone else blogging about their GF journey?

    I am: http://glutenfreetiffany.blogspot.com

    I would love to follow =)

    I have also replaced all sauces, dressings, mayo, ketchup, etc. in the house so that we don't get them mixed up or hubby doesn't "accidently" add on of "his" dressings to my food =)
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I was eating high-carb (grains) the first 6 months here. Lost 9.6lbs. I went Primal at the end of April (I follow Primal Blueprint) and dropped another 9.8lbs in four months. Lost my belly. Going grain-free was the best thing I have done for my mind, body, and health. I was suffering from IBS, hiatal hernia, constipation, belly bloat, eczema, anxiety, Fibromyalgia, bad PMS and TOM issues. All of this went away when I gave up grains. (And legumes, and milk, and sugar although sugar is an ongoing battle - if my man would stop bringing it in the house maybe I can get past this addiction). Doctors treated all of these as SEPARATE ISSUES. And just pushed pills on me.
    I don't eat gluten-free products. They are still processed crap.
    I eat veggies, berries, nuts, occasional real cheese, meat, poultry, fish, and healthy fats (mostly saturated). Lots and lots of fat. I am at the lowest weight I have been since before puberty (And I only have to minimal exercise - my body is doing the rest). Primal Blueprint is a great lifestyle for someone who is gluten intolerant.
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
    Hi!:flowerforyou:

    Hope everyone is doing well:smile: All is well in my gluten-free life. My husband is not GF and our kid is the dog. He isn't going GF at the moment. I will be making homemade dog treats soon. So anyway, I wanted to tell y'all I printed some GF coupons. It's not cost effective at the moment for me to buy all the ingredients to make bread and pasta.

    Udi's website you can get $1 if you sign up for emails.
    Whole Foods, I got a coconut oil, GF pasta and GF soup coupon.

    Last week, I got a Whole Foods Groupon on Groupon.com

    Hope everyone's week is going so far so good. Peace.
  • BBCTiffyB
    BBCTiffyB Posts: 114 Member
    Yikes! The people at the office that I am doing my rotation at had lunch catered today. They had sandwich wraps in corn tortillas (I think). Well, I didn't want to take the chance so I just ate the lunch meat wrapped in the lettuce along with the fruit bowl they had. Well SOMETHING didn't like me, because within 10 minutes I was bloated, gassy, and sick to my stomach =(

    Now I just took a ginger tablet and am going to have some of my hot ginger tea (as I heard ginger helps with the pain and bloating) and we will see how I feel tomorrow =(

    Hope everyone is doing well!
    Tiffany
  • BBCTiffyB
    BBCTiffyB Posts: 114 Member
    Yikes! The people at the office that I am doing my rotation at had lunch catered today. They had sandwich wraps in corn tortillas (I think). Well, I didn't want to take the chance so I just ate the lunch meat wrapped in the lettuce along with the fruit bowl they had. Well SOMETHING didn't like me, because within 10 minutes I was bloated, gassy, and sick to my stomach =(

    Now I just took a ginger tablet and am going to have some of my hot ginger tea (as I heard ginger helps with the pain and bloating) and we will see how I feel tomorrow =(

    Hope everyone is doing well!
    Tiffany

    Well, I am feeling much better today. Although when I woke up this morning I thought it was going to be another painful day, as it started out the way. But by lunch I was feeling much better. Even felt well enough to do PlyoX tonight along with AbRipperX! Feeling even better after that. Now drinking a new recipe of Shakeology I came up with .... I call it Banana Spice Latte :

    1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology
    6oz chilled coffee
    2-3oz Vanilla Almond milk
    1/2 banana
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1/4 tsp nutmeg
    ice

    = AWESOME!!!

    I'm sure you can try this with any chocolate protein shake! It was soooooooooo good and definitely something I will continue to drink around the holidays =)

    How was your day?

    ~Tiffany
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
    Glad to hear your feeling better:flowerforyou: Your recipe sounds delish!! Thnx!!

    My day went well, thank you. The dog & I had a great walk this morning. I did an intermittent fast yesterday. Broke the fast at the best buffet IMO in Vegas for lunch. I logged it as 1200 cal. Not hungry so I'll skip dinner. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    Peace,
    Liz
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I was eating high-carb (grains) the first 6 months here. Lost 9.6lbs. I went Primal at the end of April (I follow Primal Blueprint) and dropped another 9.8lbs in four months. Lost my belly. Going grain-free was the best thing I have done for my mind, body, and health. I was suffering from IBS, hiatal hernia, constipation, belly bloat, eczema, anxiety, Fibromyalgia, bad PMS and TOM issues. All of this went away when I gave up grains. (And legumes, and milk, and sugar although sugar is an ongoing battle - if my man would stop bringing it in the house maybe I can get past this addiction). Doctors treated all of these as SEPARATE ISSUES. And just pushed pills on me.
    I don't eat gluten-free products. They are still processed crap.
    I eat veggies, berries, nuts, occasional real cheese, meat, poultry, fish, and healthy fats (mostly saturated). Lots and lots of fat. I am at the lowest weight I have been since before puberty (And I only have to minimal exercise - my body is doing the rest). Primal Blueprint is a great lifestyle for someone who is gluten intolerant.

    Let me correct something here. I try not to eat processed crap. But if I do buy boxed processed items I do look for GF.
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
    Hi:flowerforyou:

    Checking in. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

    Going to San Diego tomorrow. Packed some GF snacks. Looking forward to going to the farmer's markets b/c they usually have GF treats:smile: I'll be getting a lot of walking in too!! I :heart: San Diego.

    Peace:happy:
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
    I recommend reading Wheat Belly. I'm half way through it and it's quite fascinating, even for those of us without any (known) gluten problems. The author recommends all cut wheat completely out of their diets for various health ailments. I haven't yet, but I'm getting all my eggs lined up to try Wheat Free October (man, wheat is in a lot of unexpected places, like seasonings and salad dressing!)

    Just cutting back on it these last few weeks (it's easier for us to do small steps) and my husbands dry skin is much more manageable and I'm sleeping more soundly and awaking more alert. He talks a great deal about Gluten issues though and why it's not necesarily enough to just look for gluten free items.
  • rahzel20
    rahzel20 Posts: 9
    Yikes! The people at the office that I am doing my rotation at had lunch catered today. They had sandwich wraps in corn tortillas (I think). Well, I didn't want to take the chance so I just ate the lunch meat wrapped in the lettuce along with the fruit bowl they had. Well SOMETHING didn't like me, because within 10 minutes I was bloated, gassy, and sick to my stomach =(

    Now I just took a ginger tablet and am going to have some of my hot ginger tea (as I heard ginger helps with the pain and bloating) and we will see how I feel tomorrow =(

    Hope everyone is doing well!
    Tiffany

    My mum has Cealiac disease so our house is mostly gluten free but I will say, be careful of lunch meats, many of them are processed and wheat is used in that process which is probably what caused all that problem for you. I've found that avoiding wheat is fairly easy when your at home, its just when you go out that it can become a problem. Unfortunately though a lot of store bought GF products are processed (my doctor recently informed me that I might have an allergy to that stuff so I've been forced to cut it out) which is really annoying. Personally I've found that if you make everything from scratch with all fresh ingredients (mum makes her own bread and my sister makes the pasta instead of buying them) then she gets less pain.
  • Crowhorse
    Crowhorse Posts: 394 Member
    I recommend reading Wheat Belly. I'm half way through it and it's quite fascinating, even for those of us without any (known) gluten problems. The author recommends all cut wheat completely out of their diets for various health ailments. I haven't yet, but I'm getting all my eggs lined up to try Wheat Free October (man, wheat is in a lot of unexpected places, like seasonings and salad dressing!)

    Just cutting back on it these last few weeks (it's easier for us to do small steps) and my husbands dry skin is much more manageable and I'm sleeping more soundly and awaking more alert. He talks a great deal about Gluten issues though and why it's not necesarily enough to just look for gluten free items.

    I had been eating a lot less of wheat products, and my skin was some of the best I'd seen it. Hit the road for a while, where everything comes wrapped in a bun or tortilla (makes it easier to eat and drive), and lots of that, I broke out all over and was bloated. Trying to cut wheat out again, but it's in everything. Made a potroast, and it was in the soup mix. It's in canned soup.

    Basically, I'm thinking I'll have to make EVERYTHING completely from scratch to avoid it. That'll be a pain.
  • alyssalanet
    alyssalanet Posts: 25
    If you love to cook. Check it out. : )

    http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

    I have really bad eczema (severe dry skin) and have realized that gluten makes my skin break out! Aha! My body telling me to stay away from the gluten!
  • megan6709
    megan6709 Posts: 60 Member
    Yikes! The people at the office that I am doing my rotation at had lunch catered today. They had sandwich wraps in corn tortillas (I think). Well, I didn't want to take the chance so I just ate the lunch meat wrapped in the lettuce along with the fruit bowl they had. Well SOMETHING didn't like me, because within 10 minutes I was bloated, gassy, and sick to my stomach =(

    Now I just took a ginger tablet and am going to have some of my hot ginger tea (as I heard ginger helps with the pain and bloating) and we will see how I feel tomorrow =(

    Hope everyone is doing well!
    Tiffany

    Well, I am feeling much better today. Although when I woke up this morning I thought it was going to be another painful day, as it started out the way. But by lunch I was feeling much better. Even felt well enough to do PlyoX tonight along with AbRipperX! Feeling even better after that. Now drinking a new recipe of Shakeology I came up with .... I call it Banana Spice Latte :

    1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology
    6oz chilled coffee
    2-3oz Vanilla Almond milk
    1/2 banana
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1/4 tsp nutmeg
    ice

    = AWESOME!!!

    I'm sure you can try this with any chocolate protein shake! It was soooooooooo good and definitely something I will continue to drink around the holidays =)

    How was your day?

    ~Tiffany

    That sounds awesome!! Even better if maybe adding some instant coffee?? My concern with this is that the protein shakes I have seen tend to have a lot of sugar - is there a particular brand that is better?

    Also, to the OP - if you have an iPod Touch/iPhone/Android, you can get the Kindle app, and there are about three free kindle books right now about gluten free cooking and dieting, as well as a vegetarian one that looked interesting as well.
  • megan6709
    megan6709 Posts: 60 Member
    Oops, didn't see the coffee in the original. LOL
  • mcjabber
    mcjabber Posts: 374 Member
    I was GF for a year and lost an easy 25 lbs without any exercise.....I have strayed away from my GF ways and gained 15 of the 25 I lost. :(
    I was actually doing the GenoType diet which states that Gluten is a no-no for O blood-types.
    So, now that I am back on track....I'm back to GF. Please let me know if you need any tips at all.
    Good luck!!

    That's SUPER interesting, and the first time I've heard this. I'm type O, so if this is the case, that would explain my intolerance!

    I had a bit of gluten last night (stupid soy sauce hiding in the recipe a friend made), and definitely paid the belly price. My weight was up a notch this morning, and I've had unusual stomach behavior since I ate it. Hope it's out of my system soon! Lots of water for me today!
  • theba2il
    theba2il Posts: 548 Member
    Tried Oberto Natural Beef Jerky today. Very good. There wasn't any wheat in the ingredients.

    Hope everyone is well. :flowerforyou:
  • trish028
    trish028 Posts: 4 Member
    I would like to hear more about the kind of symptoms people had before changing to gluten free
  • BBCTiffyB
    BBCTiffyB Posts: 114 Member
    I would like to hear more about the kind of symptoms people had before changing to gluten free

    I was "diagnosed" with IBS many years ago. Basically for me my symptoms where:

    - Diarrhea EVERYTIME I ate
    - Bloating in abdomen area ALL OF THE TIME but mostly after I ate
    - Fatigue
    - Adult onset lactose intolorent

    If you want to try gluten free, it really isn't hard to do and you can see improvement almost instantly. I saw slight improvement in 3 - 5 days and continue to see improvement still.

    Hope this helps =)
    ~Tiffany
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