gluten-free Food - trying & tracking - Likes vs dislikes

[Carrie.j]

I'm finally realizing that I need help and forums/support groups were suggested. Here goes...

I've been diagnosed with celiac disease a few months ago and I've lost about 30 pounds (and continuing). Even though my family has been supportive, I'm having a really hard time. My 7-year-old son even tells me he prefers gluten free, so I won't hurt anymore. I'm still struggling to accept the diagnosis but adjusting my diet has been the main complication. I also have other dietary restrictions to navigate, so it’s not just about being gluten-free.

Gluten-Free food has come a long way from 10 years ago (so I’m told). There are so many new brands to explore, and I’ve been pushing myself to try new flavors and types of food. I’ve found some things I really like, many things I don’t mind, and then quite a few that are utterly disgusting. Some have almost made me throw up even. I find it hard to keep track of these new preferences. When I can't remember what I’ve tried before and what I’ve thought of them, I’ve lean more toward skipping meals. Skipping meals is obviously going to make things worse. While grocery shopping, sometimes I decide not to buy something because I think I tried it but can't remember. When my husband catches me doing this, he pushes me and will even try to make me something to eat. I say try because he’s also still learning and doesn’t realize certain foods have gluten, so I feed it to the kids and I’m in the same boat of “what do I eat now.” Salads are the easiest so I was eating those the most but it got old, fast. I still eat them, just not often.

I’m reaching out for suggestions on tracking. How do you remember what items you liked and what ones you disliked? Do you keep a list or take pictures or have an app or a completely different process? Do you have issues pushing yourself to try new food and how do you deal with that?

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @Carrie.j!

Either making a list or taking pictures or both would work to track what you have tried that you like. Taking pictures of is easy these days with cell phones and then you could transfer the information to a spreadsheet. Whatever method you use would require consistency. That is the key.

But I'm concerned that you seem to rely so heavily on gluten free packaged and prepared foods. It is not at all necessary and they generally are lower in nutrition than their mainline counterparts. The feds require gluten flours to be enriched with vitamins and minerals but do not require that of gluten free facsimile flours. So, ready made packaged/prepared gluten free foods tend to have a lot of empty calories.

It's best to focus on mainline foods that are naturally gluten free such as fresh meats, vegetables and fruits - things that are basic and simple and don't bear an ingredient list a yard long. Oranges, apples and bananas are naturally gluten free. So are potatoes and tomatoes and broccoli. So is a chicken, a pork roast and a beef roast. Be careful about seasonings. Many of the are not gluten free. Stick to salt and pepper. Avoid eating out like the plague. You have no idea how the food is prepared back in the kitchen. So, for instance, you order a burger patty without bun at a fast food restaurant. But was it grilled on the same surface as breaded things? Were those fries cooked in the same vat as breaded things? Was the gluten free pasta at Olive Garden cooked in the same pot of water as another customer's wheat noodles?

Eating gluten free using main line foods is less expensive and a better route from a health perspective. Probably the main things you would still need to purchase that are marketed specifically as gluten free would be hot breakfast serials such as gluten free oatmeal and gluten free flours for baking. There are some good gluten free pasta items out there made from chick pea flour such as Banza Rotini. They are actually a better choice nutritionally than wheat noodles.

It sounds like your family is supportive of your need to eat gluten free but it also sounds like you may need to educate yourself about how to avoid cross contamination and be more consistent in your efforts to avoid gluten. The goal needs to be not eating a lower gluten diet but to eliminate it entirely. I offer this article as a means to that end: 

I also suspect you need to look into some high quality, high potency gluten free vitamin and mineral supplements. Losing 30 lbs. unintentionally probably has not been good for your health, especially since you are continuing to damage your small bowel lining with frequent glutening episodes. 

Edited March 23, 2024 by trents

[Scott Adams]

We have two people in my household who are gluten-free, and over the years we've gravitated towards certain items which became standards to get during our shopping trips, and most of those items can be found at Costco and Trader Joes. Many cooking recipes can be found online, so you should be able to convert nearly all things that you enjoy eating to gluten-free versions. It's definitely a good idea to invest some time in educating your husband about the gluten-free diet so that no mistakes are made, and it's good to hear that he sounds like he's willing to help.

[Rosecottage]

I found that what worked best for me was replacing the gluten ingredients or just removing gluten from the same plate. Most of the time you can just switch up the starch by adding a baked or roasted potato instead of a bun, pasta instead of buttered bread (tuna salad instead of a tuna sandwich), or using rice as a base. 
 

Gluten is fat-soluble.  I noticed that when I stopped eating it and started losing weight, my own burning fat felt like it was poisoning me. At least in my case, I was sick all the time, randomly, for about a year or so until my weight stabilized. It’s just what detoxing from gluten felt like. 
 

Some gluten free foods are kinda gross. I find the commercial versions of things like pasta are better than the specialty ones that have unusual ingredients. Most gluten free bread except raisin bread is pretty bad. Waffles, cookies, and pancakes are usually okay. 
 

But the easiest thing is to just take the gluten out of the recipe. 
 

For me the turning point was when I discovered Bento expo. It’s a free show on NHK radio Japan about different lunchbox ideas. Japanese people don’t eat a lot of bread, so their recipes saved my life. lol, literally. 
 

here’s that page in case it helps you too https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/bento/