Gluten Free Diet

jessica490 · March 2014

Hi Guys! I've been doing a little reading on eating gluten free. I have no allergies or anything like that but most of what I read has said that cutting out gluten can help to prevent a lot of health issues, keep the waistline thinner etc. Overall, I'm a thin girl at 31, but starting to get this what I like to call possible "wheat belly", It's actually the name of the book I'm reading. I excerize 3 X's per week, cardio and lifting so I have muscle too. I don't seems to be loosing around the middle and it's annoying as I feel I eat pretty healthy but do have a sweet tooth. I try to avoid junk food when people bring it into work all the time but it's tough. Anyway, it seems like almost anything I eat has gluten in it. I don't want to go totally gluten free right away, but I'd like to start knocking it out a little bit to see if it makes any difference. I hope I won't be loosing any nutrients in the process but it seems like the eating is healthier. I know gluten free food is expensive so I'm not going to buy it specifically, I'm just going to use alternatives (for example- no bread for sandwiches, I'll have salads etc...). Maybe I'm being contradictory, but I'm starting out and trying to get a feel for the diet. I haven't gotten to that part in the book yet.

So, what do you usually eat for breakfast, snacks, and lunch?

brij2006 · March 2014

I do not have a gluten intolerence or allergy, but have started a gluten free diet due to my PCOS diagnosis and the infertility it has brought. For me, I exercise 5 days/week and train for half marathons. So I'm very active, but have always had a gut and looked 3 months pregnant.

When I went 100% GF, the belly has definitely flattened out some. Now there's actual definition to my abs and they aren't covered with as much fluf.

However, I too went about 50% GF for a few months. I noticed a little difference, but not much. It wasn't until I went 100% GF that things started really helping and my body responded to it.

So here's what I have for the most part:
Breakfast: Lara protein Bar after the gym with a banana. Eggbeaters and bacon. Chex cereal with almond milk. On the weekends I will make GF pancakes or waffles.

Lunch: Can of soup with a salad. Lettuce wrap, pretty much anything I would've made into a sandwich I will put into a big piece of lettuce and eat it that way.

Snacks: GF peanut butter and jelly bars (found at Walmart and they're addictive), any fruit, celery w/ PB, almonds, popcorn, greek yogurt, granola (most of cascadia farms is GF), carrots w/ hummus. I try to get as much protein with snacks as I can, but that's more of the PCOS diet portion of my diet.

Dinner: Flounder with quinoa and steamed veggies. Tacos in a lettuce wrap or corn tortilla. Nachos has been my favorite lately. Kabobs on steamed rice. Stirfry. Burger (no bun) and french fries.
For the most part I cook like I usually would, but don't do things with processed food or wheat. It takes some adjustment, but it was a lot easier to switch than I thought it would be.

Erikan73 · March 2014

I would recommend tracking your food for a while on a site or app like myfitnesspal or livestrong. Both are free. They will help you track your proteins, carbs, salt, etc. Then review is your intake in line with what you should be based on your weight goals. My nephew is a trainer & he said the reason so many people lose weight when going gluten free is by going gluten free you are reducing your carb in take and most people over eat on carbs (even good carbs) so when they lower that, they automatically lose weight.

brij2006 · March 2014

^ I completely agree with that. I did not go gluten free to lose weight. In turn I have lost weight and inches, but it was so that my hormone levels wouldn't be all over the place and we would possibly have a shot at getting pregnant without medical intervention.

It has forced me to eat a lot better than I would have, and not overeat things like cookies, cake, bread, and beer.

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2014

the GF diet for weight loss is more about clean eating...plants and lean proteins, read some of Michael Pollan's books (In Defense of Food, Omnivore's Dilemma...). You're not going to loose weight eating gluten free brownies, bagels, or bread...you'll also spend more money on the GF versions of those foods.

@CHICK1250 has some good points about maybe going the route of naturally GF items rather than substitutes. My MIL is GF for medical reasons and I always find it much easier (and more appitizing) to prepare meals that are naturally GF than using GF substitutes.

jessica490 · March 2014

Thanks, I do agree with all of you. I think I eat to many carbs, so that is something that I need to look into. Maybe I need to head towards the more clean eating approach, and doing the naturally GF items.

Thank you for all the help! This is new to me, so I'm trying to get some advice aside from what I've been reading. It's a little overwhleming because everything seems to have wheat/gluten in it. Maybe now, H will be a little more willing to do the same, as his belly is growing as well and he's a thin guy too. We need to clean up out diets!

brij2006 · March 2014

Have you ever thought of the Paleo Diet instead? That one is more about clean eating, and eating non-processed foods.

vlagrl29 · March 2014

It's normal to have a bit of a pooch, but it you think yours is bigger than normal maybe you do have a glueten belly. When I lost all my baby weight which was way more than the normal 30lbs, I exercised 4-5 days a week and ate clean all the time except on friday nights when I had my cheat meal. I ate whatever I wanted to for that 1 meal a week. If you haven't tried yoga yet, I highly recommend it. I lost 1 pant size by only doing yoga, no crunches or lifting weights.

Honestly I would not go gluten free unless I had celiac and had to. It's too much work trying to figure all that stuff out. Track what you eat and just subtract less carbs

jessica490 · March 2014

brij2006 said:

Have you ever thought of the Paleo Diet instead? That one is more about clean eating, and eating non-processed foods.

No, maybe I will look into this as well.

jessica490 · March 2014

vlagrl29 said:

It's normal to have a bit of a pooch, but it you think yours is bigger than normal maybe you do have a glueten belly. When I lost all my baby weight which was way more than the normal 30lbs, I exercised 4-5 days a week and ate clean all the time except on friday nights when I had my cheat meal. I ate whatever I wanted to for that 1 meal a week. If you haven't tried yoga yet, I highly recommend it. I lost 1 pant size by only doing yoga, no crunches or lifting weights.

Honestly I would not go gluten free unless I had celiac and had to. It's too much work trying to figure all that stuff out. Track what you eat and just subtract less carbs

Well my pooch has grown over the last year or so and maybe it's because I'm 31 but I must be doing something wrong. All my work pants are snug and I've worn them for years. They've been tight before but once I get back to excerize they fit again, but not this time, and I think its due to diet. I may have to clean eat and cut carbs. I've tried yoga on demand but I just don't see how that would help...maybe I need to do it over a period of weeks/months as opposed to once in awhile.

vlagrl29 · March 2014

jessica490 said:

vlagrl29 said:

It's normal to have a bit of a pooch, but it you think yours is bigger than normal maybe you do have a glueten belly. When I lost all my baby weight which was way more than the normal 30lbs, I exercised 4-5 days a week and ate clean all the time except on friday nights when I had my cheat meal. I ate whatever I wanted to for that 1 meal a week. If you haven't tried yoga yet, I highly recommend it. I lost 1 pant size by only doing yoga, no crunches or lifting weights.

Honestly I would not go gluten free unless I had celiac and had to. It's too much work trying to figure all that stuff out. Track what you eat and just subtract less carbs

Well my pooch has grown over the last year or so and maybe it's because I'm 31 but I must be doing something wrong. All my work pants are snug and I've worn them for years. They've been tight before but once I get back to excerize they fit again, but not this time, and I think its due to diet. I may have to clean eat and cut carbs. I've tried yoga on demand but I just don't see how that would help...maybe I need to do it over a period of weeks/months as opposed to once in awhile.

Before I was married and working in an office I could feel my size 4 pants getting snug as well and a bit of a muffin top and I was 28. I had to buy bigger pants and actually went up to a size 8. Got pregnant and after that journey of loosing weight I'm back in my size 4 again at 33.

Do you work in an office where you sit down most of the time. I have found when I sat in a cubicle 40 hours a week I put on weight just because of not getting enough physical activity.

It's most likely diet for you but I'm sure its a bit of fitness as well. Cut out all processed crap and I"m sure you will see a difference. It's a part of getting older as well.

On demand yoga is not like going into a yoga studio where the instructors push you to push yourself. Yoga has cardio in it with the asthanga and vinyasa classes. Even the combo yoga class gives you a workout. I do it regularly and it does work if you commit to it. I won't lift weights again. I prefer to use my own body weight.

emily1004 · March 2014

vlagrl29 said:

Honestly I would not go gluten free unless I had celiac and had to. It's too much work trying to figure all that stuff out. Track what you eat and just subtract less carbs

I agree with this. I have been advised by several doctors if you do not have celiac disease it can actually be unhealthy for you. Personally I don't like diets at all, for the exception of Weight Watchers. I eat whatever I want in moderation and drink a lot of water. Every day I make sure I have fruits and vegetables, and I work out 4-5 times a week for at least a half hour. I am normal weight and very healthy.

Xstatic3333 · March 2014

emily1004 said:

vlagrl29 said:

Honestly I would not go gluten free unless I had celiac and had to. It's too much work trying to figure all that stuff out. Track what you eat and just subtract less carbs

I agree with this. I have been advised by several doctors if you do not have celiac disease it can actually be unhealthy for you. Personally I don't like diets at all, for the exception of Weight Watchers. I eat whatever I want in moderation and drink a lot of water. Every day I make sure I have fruits and vegetables, and I work out 4-5 times a week for at least a half hour. I am normal weight and very healthy.

This is sort of where I stand (though I know there can be other medical reasons for it as well). I make meals from scratch, avoid processed, and am working on portion control and exercising. I think pasta in moderation, bread, rice, etc. can be part of a healthy diet for most people. That said, if you find cutting back makes you feel good, go for it! I think I'm just wary of restrictive diets for non-medical or non-moral reasons.

hoffse · March 2014

You might want to look into getting a standing desk. They help you burn a lot more calories throughout the day than a sitting desk. If you haven't changed your diet, it's probably more to do with activity level than anything else.

I'm afraid I'm not help with a gluten-free diet. Let's see... breakfast is cereal or a bagel, lunch is a sandwich, dinner is almost always pasta....

jessica490 · March 2014

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

vlagrl29 · March 2014

hoffse said:

You might want to look into getting a standing desk. They help you burn a lot more calories throughout the day than a sitting desk. If you haven't changed your diet, it's probably more to do with activity level than anything else.

I'm afraid I'm not help with a gluten-free diet. Let's see... breakfast is cereal or a bagel, lunch is a sandwich, dinner is almost always pasta....

lets not forget the pop tarts

vlagrl29 · March 2014

jessica490 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

It does sound like you are active on a regular basis. It's probably time to look at your diet and keep a journal of what you eat. You can always post it here like we do the budgets and we can give you advice.

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2014

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

When you say exercise, what do you mean? 30 min on an elliptical? a 60 minute total body workout? HIIT? yoga?

hoffse · March 2014

vlagrl29 said:

hoffse said:

You might want to look into getting a standing desk. They help you burn a lot more calories throughout the day than a sitting desk. If you haven't changed your diet, it's probably more to do with activity level than anything else.

I'm afraid I'm not help with a gluten-free diet. Let's see... breakfast is cereal or a bagel, lunch is a sandwich, dinner is almost always pasta....

lets not forget the pop tarts

Pop tarts are God's gift to processed breakfast food. They're incredible...

Keeptruckin · March 2014

My daughter has Lots of allergies, as well as Celiacs.

Breakfast is typically so delicious coconut yogurt with berries. She is dairy free too.

Lunch we eat a lot of sweet potato fries, corn based tacos, sometimes just grilled chicken and veggies.

Dinner is usually a protein, starch like spaghetti squash or potatoes, and veggies.

Spaghetti squash is our best friend, she can't have rice so most gf pastas are out.

I do bake a lot, we had dairy free, egg free, gluten free chocolate cream pie last night. Not bad!

I will say gf stuff is usually higher in calories. Sometimes double. So just substituting gf for regular bread, pasta, etc will not help.

My husband did wheat belly and yes, he lost a lot of weight. Let's be honest, it's great you can eat all the cream cheese you want, but without a bagel, how much can you really eat lol? Same with butter, he got sick of eating just eggs and butter.

Even small changes can help. And since we learned about all my daughters allergies we have had to be more protein focused with our meals, and you do feel satisfied quicker. So there is that.

jessica490 · March 2014

Gdaisy09 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

When you say exercise, what do you mean? 30 min on an elliptical? a 60 minute total body workout? HIIT? yoga?

I usually do 25 min on the treadmill- 5 min walk, then switching from walking slow to running every minute. Then I do 30 min of all kinds of weight machines.

jessica490 · March 2014

vlagrl29 said:

jessica490 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

It does sound like you are active on a regular basis. It's probably time to look at your diet and keep a journal of what you eat. You can always post it here like we do the budgets and we can give you advice.

I should go back to the Myfitnesspal webite. I used to use it but now I may want to, to see what the issue is. Maybe I will start this week and post my results after 1 week. But don't hold me to that

)

formerlyGDaisy09 · March 2014

jessica490 said:

Gdaisy09 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

When you say exercise, what do you mean? 30 min on an elliptical? a 60 minute total body workout? HIIT? yoga?

I usually do 25 min on the treadmill- 5 min walk, then switching from walking slow to running every minute. Then I do 30 min of all kinds of weight machines.

So you're doing 30 minutes of light cardio and 30 minutes of weights? I'd do a combo of increased exercise and cleaner eating. if you're doing the same workout every time you go to the gym it's really easy for your body to get used to it and it'll stop working for you. start pushing your workout to the next level. do 30 mins on the tredmill, see if you can run for more than a minute each time. increase the weights on the weight machines, do more reps...sounds like your body adjusted to your workout and you need to step it up. get off the tredmil and try a bike or take your run outside and set a distance goal instead of a time goal.

jessica490 · March 2014

Gdaisy09 said:

jessica490 said:

Gdaisy09 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

When you say exercise, what do you mean? 30 min on an elliptical? a 60 minute total body workout? HIIT? yoga?

I usually do 25 min on the treadmill- 5 min walk, then switching from walking slow to running every minute. Then I do 30 min of all kinds of weight machines.

So you're doing 30 minutes of light cardio and 30 minutes of weights? I'd do a combo of increased exercise and cleaner eating. if you're doing the same workout every time you go to the gym it's really easy for your body to get used to it and it'll stop working for you. start pushing your workout to the next level. do 30 mins on the tredmill, see if you can run for more than a minute each time. increase the weights on the weight machines, do more reps...sounds like your body adjusted to your workout and you need to step it up. get off the tredmil and try a bike or take your run outside and set a distance goal instead of a time goal.

Very true, thanks!

brij2006 · March 2014

jessica490 said:

Gdaisy09 said:

Well thanks for the tips guy. I do have a desk job that I've had for the last 9 yrs almost so I guess it's catching up with me. LIke I said I excerize 3X's per week and walk 2X's everyday at work for 15 minutes. I try to get up a lot as well.

When you say exercise, what do you mean? 30 min on an elliptical? a 60 minute total body workout? HIIT? yoga?

I usually do 25 min on the treadmill- 5 min walk, then switching from walking slow to running every minute. Then I do 30 min of all kinds of weight machines.

Definitely switch things up. What about doing C25K training outside or on the treadmill. Also try any fitness classes your gym offers. Those can help amp up your workout and they're lead by a trained professional that can help you gain more strength in certain areas.

jessica490 · April 2014

So I am going threw carb withdrawal, literally....I've stopped eating cereal, bread and pasta on Monday and I feel tired, foggy and blah, but I googled the withdraw symptoms and it's totally normal....I didn't think it would effect me this much...I mean I feel fine and am still eating 6 times a days so I'm not hungry/starving...did anyone else go through this?

formerlyGDaisy09 · April 2014

I went gluten free a few years ago to try to address some GI symptoms (it didn't work well). I don't remember experiencing withdrawal symptoms. have you considered doing a step-down approach rather than cold-turkey? try low-carb for a while then slowly eliminate to nothing?

brij2006 · April 2014

Keep in mind that carbs are energy and fuel for your body. So you will need to supplement that somehow. I do so with protein rich foods like peanut butter, lean meat, almonds, greek yogurt, etc. It's a different form of energy, but helps with the lag.

blondie42107 · April 2014

Healthy carbs are good for you so it's likely that your body is adjusting to the change of fuel.

Search for Whole30 on Pinterest. I know a few people who did this and found it helpful in adjusting eating habits.

jessica490 · April 2014

Thanks guys! I did print out the Whole30 and I do have it....I have been eating the healthier options....I guess it will just take ahwhile.

vlagrl29 · April 2014

my mom was on slim for life and those first few weeks she had to eat pounds of meat and no carbs which seemed crazy to me. I can't do that. They had her eat oranges. Remember to eat your fruits. I can't live without carbs so I try and keep it low carb.

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