New To Gluten Free

[lesliew]

Greetings, I just wanted to introduce myself. I discovered after going on the atkins diet for weight loss, that I am gluten intolerant. I have had IBS since I was a teenager and noticed how much better I felt without bread and my symptoms were much better. So now I am off the atkins diet and *trying* to learn to eat gluten free. I don't think I am CS, but I haven't tested either. I don't really have alot of the symptoms, although my sister, who as also recently gone gluten-free does have, although she has had Lyme's before and thinks they are related to that (I am trying to convince her to have the test, esp. since she has had intestinal & weight loss improvement from gluten-free, but her muscle/sleep problems continue. Anyway, I am having such a hard time sticking to gluten-free. I finally broke down and purchased some gluten free products. However, I tend to be sensitive to carbs so I really want to limit them. I also have another 10-20 lbs left to lose. Does anyone else have trouble sticking to the diet? I *always* regret when I cheat and wonder what I could have been thinking, lol. Also, I am still learning what I can and can't eat. I was eating oatmeal for hte fiber and realized that's why my stomach was bothering me so. Does anyone know if methycelluose is ok?( main ingredient in citrucel) It's a main made chemical for fiber. My son also has IBS, but I think it is really encropesis, so I am not sure if I should put him on the diet or not.

[tarnalberry]

As you move from learning all the things you CAN'T have, to all the things you CAN have (and get your house stocked on them) the diet becomes easier. Read around the message board for a while and you'll find a lot of useful advice. It does get easier!

[flagbabyds]

WELCOME!!!!! This message board is AMAZING, you will find many useful things, i agree with tiffany, think of what you can have, actually a lot of people loose weight when they go gluten-free so that might help you out a bit, get your whole family tested because it runs in families, go to the site index and you can look at the mainstreem products that are gluten-free. if yoyu hvae any more questions you can pm me

[wclemens]

Hi LeslieW,

Welcome to the board! I am five feet tall and have fought the weight problem most of my life. I am intolerant of all grains, milk, dairy, egg whites, and yeast, so I must never touch any of those if I want to breathe (mine comes out as asthma).

Seven years ago I discovered a book called, "The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet," by Drs. Richard and Rachel Heller. It connected weight gain with overproduction of insulin, a factor leading to diabetes, which my mother had. The diet is basically the Dr. Atkins low carb diet 23 hours a day, with a one hour reward meal where you can eat anything you're not intolerant of. This way your body limits the insulin output. I lost about 20 pounds on the diet, and have stayed on it all these years. Today my weight was 106 pounds, and I knew that I could eat anything I wanted during my one hour.

You might want to get that book. Also, stay open to the possibility that you may be intolerant of certain things like Casein (derived from milk) or modified food starch, or some other ingredient in processed foods. I mainly eat as much natural food as possible, and read each and every label, and only eat at certain restaurants that I know I can tolerate. Living with Celiac means being aggressively diligent to take care of your own health, no matter what other people, doctors, acquaintances, or passersby may say. God bless! Welda

[pixiegirl]

Hi I just wanted to say that I do the carb. Addict's diet too. I've been on it for 2 weeks and have lost 5 pounds. I went on it because a friend of mine lost 35 pounds on it and has been on it for the better part of 3 years. He doesn't crave carbs at all now.

And for me the same thing has happened, I do eat carbs at my reward meal but I don't crave them all day long. So far I really like it.

Susan

[jenbody2003]

You aren't alone, I was diagnosed in Feb of this year and found it helpful to pack a snack bag before I leave the house. gluten-free Pudding like Hunt's pudding packs, fruit cups, apples, and cheese are some easy grabs. Also, once I was free of gluten...I found that I didn't crave these foods anymore. It used to be an addiction. Almost all of my food allergies disappeared also. I keep easy grabs incase of temptations and I decided that as long as I had my Hershey's chocolate, I could handle the rest!

It is a learning process for finding out what is allowed and what isn't, but keep your chin up...it is soooo very worth it!

[Dustyman]

Good morning. Just thought I'd check the message board before leaving to have my biopsy for celiac today. Don't know that you'll see this because it's so long after your post (October 16), but WClemens...I have never heard anyone refer to asthma as something that happens to them when they eat wheat. That happens to me too. Now I know I'm not just imagining it. Thanks.