Not Satisfied On My New Diet

[MLB]

So it's been about 2 months of my gluten, dairy, egg and soy free diet. I have definately had many positive reactions to the diet (less stomach aches, no more reflux, better mood mostly, fingernails and toenails growing out healthy and strong, lower blood pressure, less anxiety) but it's been so hard. I don't feel satisfied when I eat. I feel like i keep needing to eat more and more until something "hits the spot" but it never does. It's almost to the point of feeling anxious after I eat. Is this a physical or emotional/mental reaction? Anyone else feel this way and does it go away? It's been a really hard day....my family had these yummy cheesy grilled sandwiches and my lousy piece of gluten free bread with a piece of meat on it paled in comparison. It's also so discouraging when I get a stomach ache. I try so hard to do everything right and I must have had something bad because I've had a stomach ache for 2 days.

[Ursa Major]

Do you have enough saturated fat in your diet? Fat and protein keep us satisfied, carbs do not. And yes, our bodies absolutely NEED saturated fat to be functioning properly. The myth that low fat diets are healthy, and that saturated fat is evil has made many people sick.

Just make sure you stay away from hydrogenated fats. They truly are bad.

Animal fats are healthy and needed, but there are some healthy saturated plant oils as well. Cold pressed, non-hydrogenated coconut oil is an excellent fat, that is heat stable and is perfect for cooking. Avocados contain a lot of fat as well, and are very healthy.

You may want to eat meat at every meal and snack and make sure you get plenty of fat, and you will stop feeling deprived.

[purple]

Can you munch on nuts during the day? Put flax meal in /on your food? Take fish oil supplements? Put olive oil in your guacamole and other foods? I make popcorn with coconut oil on the stove for a late night healthy snack. You could bag some for a snack too. It has protein and fiber. Microwaved popcorn is junk. Make trail mix with nuts and seeds and dried fruits. Eat a handful of nuts before a meal. Peanuts may not be good for you.

[gfpaperdoll]

well your meal does not even sound good. I knew a gluten-free guy that had a boring diet. He almost cried when I started taking him lunches & pie etc. Lifted him right out of his food depression. Maybe what you need is a menu overhaul. I love all my meals & would rather have them that eat out. & I do eat out a lot sometimes - I work & am lucky to be surrounded by a lot of places with gluten-free menus.

can't help you on the bread front - I do not have any bread. the closest that I come to bread is on he weekend I wrap a white corn tortilla around some bacon. I heat the tortillas in the bacon fat & add some chopped red onion & chopped cilantro - yummy!!!! or I have ham & almond butter & all fruit jam wrapped in the tortilla - any combination of anything is good.

& salads - well mine are NEVER boring & they taste fantastic. I am also dairy free & have found that the secret to a good salad is to use two different kinds of meat. Also, you can add a stone fruit - like apricots are in season now - here is a sample - layer of kale, 1 grated carrot, minced red onion, 1 diced green onion, sliced apricot, grape tomatoes, chopped broccoli, sprinkle of raisins, or dried cranberries or dried cherries, walnuts or pecans, sliced jicama, two kinds of meat - top with salad dressing. I use equal parts of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, & honey - add any of the following: salsa, mustard, fresh herbs, organic dill, any fruit jam (might want to skip the honey), plain tomato paste, ketchup, V8 juice, - well you see you can add any flavoring that you have on hand.

I love shrimp & chicken, chicken & ham, shrimp & bacon etc.

Please plan to have your favorite foods fixed in a tasty way. If my family were having grilled cheese - I would be having a shrimp cocktail...

[MLB]

Thanks all! I do like the suggestion to eat saturated fat and meats. Since starting this diet, I crave meat and fat. I will eat a whole avadaco in one sitting. Yes, I have put on a few pounds. My family looks at me so strange now because before the diet I used to be semi-vegetarian, but now I pile on the meat. I thought it would be overkill to eat meat at every meal/snack, but maybe I will try that. I have also been using coconut oil for cooking and baking.

gfpaperdoll - thanks for the recipe suggestions, I'm printing them out. They sound delicious, although a little time consuming. Making everything I eat from scratch is definately something I need to adjust to. I'm realizing I feel awful when I try to grab processed foods ("allowed" ones) for snacks (chips, crackers, cookies). That definatly seems to aggrevate how I'm feeling instead of helping me feel nourished.

[Jestgar]

It took me several months of gluten-free before I didn't feel I was missing something. I chalked it up to my body telling me I was missing something (some vitamin or mineral that had previously been poorly absorbed) and waited for my system to stabilize, which it did.

[ShayFL]

These really helped me in the beginning with "hitting the spot". I used almond butter, but if you can eat peanut butter, probably even more yummy!

Teff Peanut Butter Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine without sifting:

1 1/2 cups of teff flour

1/2 tsp. of sea salt

3. In a food processor blend:

1/2 cup of maple syrup

1/2 cup of corn oil or canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup of peanut butter

(This recipe works best with peanut butter that is not fresh ground).

4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.

5. Shape into walnut-sized balls, then flatten them gently with a fork.

6. Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Makes 2 dozen.

[gfpaperdoll]

The secret is to cook one day & freeze a bunch of stuff. I always keep chopped chicken in the freezer. & the chicken stock from boiling the chicken - strained & ready for soup or freeze in two cup portions to use to cook rice or pastaetc.

I make my salads in an oblong tupperware container that fits in my lunch kit. I will line up & make 4 at a time. I put in everything except the meat, nuts, & dried fruit. I pack those in small tupperware container. Each day I grab whatever meat I want out of the freezer & pop in the top of my lunch kit, it is thawed by lunch time.

an alternative way is: on market day, chop a whole bunch of green onions, grate a couple of carrots, chop a red bell pepper, chop a bunch of celery, chop some cilantro, chop some jicama, chop in some red onion, any other veggie you like. Keep this in a tupperware container - that is lined with bounty paper towels - it will keep about 5 days.

Use this mixture to top your salad greens & add tomatoes etc., to make chicken salad ( chicken in freezer), or tuna salad, or rice salad, or potato salad, English pea salad, or add to a stir fry.

I have an advantage of coming from the 50's where we cooked everything from scratch. I cooked with my grandmother in the country. We cooked breakfast, cleared the table & started cooking the noon meal, fed anyone that was on the farm, cleared the table (that was in the day when you poured all the food in bowls & set it on the table & used cloth napkins...), supper was left overs with maybe a fresh pan of cornbread or something. homemade chow-chow & pickles were always on the table and all jam was homemade.

[purple]

So it's been about 2 months of my gluten, dairy, egg and soy free diet. I have definately had many positive reactions to the diet (less stomach aches, no more reflux, better mood mostly, fingernails and toenails growing out healthy and strong, lower blood pressure, less anxiety) but it's been so hard. I don't feel satisfied when I eat. I feel like i keep needing to eat more and more until something "hits the spot" but it never does. It's almost to the point of feeling anxious after I eat. Is this a physical or emotional/mental reaction? Anyone else feel this way and does it go away? It's been a really hard day....my family had these yummy cheesy grilled sandwiches and my lousy piece of gluten free bread with a piece of meat on it paled in comparison. It's also so discouraging when I get a stomach ache. I try so hard to do everything right and I must have had something bad because I've had a stomach ache for 2 days.

Here is a recipe for banana muffins that are gluten-free,df,ef and sf: recipezaar#301233

Its called gluten-free/vegan Banana Bread. I made muffins with it 3 times. They are good.

Flours are brown rice and millet. I used sorghum and millet. Ground flax.

I used only 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

I used 1/2 water and 1/2 almond milk.

One time I left out 1 banana and put in 1/2 cup peanut butter and 3 T applesauce.

They rise great but I noticed and heard that if you use gluten-free batter using flax instead of eggs to let the item sit in the pan while the oven heats up. It does work better. I baked 9 jumbo sized muffins 20-25 minutes. (not the cup cake size so just reduce the time to about 15-20 minutes) Test with a toothpick.

For variety, fill the muffin cups and then add something to each one to make them different. I put jam in the middle of one, chocolate chips in some, nuts, frozen raspberries, blueberries...whatever you can have...that way you won't get tired of the same thing. Wrap them individually,drop into a baggie and freeze, take out a frozen one on your way out the door for lunch or a snack.

Also, you can freeze the almost too ripe bananas (only need 3) in the skin until you are ready to bake, then thaw and cut the end off. Then squeeze it out(yucky) like toothpaste...weird but it works! eeeww banana juice stuff...yuck! I don't throw away bananas anymore, I just freeze them when they get spots.

Oh the new things we learn with this new kinda baking...Ha Ha...

[gfp]

Until you go 100% gluten-free you will have withdrawal reactions...

If your family are eating gluten, then you are too..... (unless you really are an expert ...)

This is like the nicotine patches and other nicotine aids to quit smoking being sold by the tobacco companies.... it just extends your addiction....

Gluten is addictive, its classed as an exorphin (google that)....

While you get tiny amounts you will keep getting feelings like you do now...

[WW340]

I was hungry all the time for the first few months of the diet. It finally subsided. I would agree with increasing protein and fats in the diet. I see you can't have egg, unfortunately, that is what gave me the greatest relief.

I think your hunger will settle down in time. I know mine did.

[Cath724]

I felt really unfulfilled the first couple of weeks, after stocking up on gluten-free foods from the health store. I spent 3 times as much money on my grocery bill, but nothing seemed to satisfy me. I finally found relief when I re-discovered rice---it was filling, easy to fix, and "normal," I ate it ravenously the first week. I thought I would put on a few pounds, but I didn't (maybe I was eating less of the processed foods as a result?). Also, I decided to start eating oats (controversial topic:) every morning for breakfast, which is much more satisfying to me than the junk cereal I was eating.

Good luck!

[Unclezack]

So it's been about 2 months of my gluten, dairy, egg and soy free diet. I have definately had many positive reactions to the diet (less stomach aches, no more reflux, better mood mostly, fingernails and toenails growing out healthy and strong, lower blood pressure, less anxiety) but it's been so hard. I don't feel satisfied when I eat. I feel like i keep needing to eat more and more until something "hits the spot" but it never does. It's almost to the point of feeling anxious after I eat. Is this a physical or emotional/mental reaction? Anyone else feel this way and does it go away? It's been a really hard day....my family had these yummy cheesy grilled sandwiches and my lousy piece of gluten free bread with a piece of meat on it paled in comparison. It's also so discouraging when I get a stomach ache. I try so hard to do everything right and I must have had something bad because I've had a stomach ache for 2 days.

Don't laugh, this is for real. Remember the Chia Pet? An animal made of pottery that you sprinkle these seeds on and they sprout and look like they are growing green hair? I was looking for a replacement for psyllium (Metemucil), as it doesn't agree with me. Chia seeds have a lot of nourishment and have hydrophilic properties. They can be eaten any way you want to eat them. Cook them, eat them raw or add them to water or juice. They provide a lot of energy and a teaspoon is probably enough to make you feel satisfied. They do stick to your teeth though. Here's a link with a lot of information about chia seeds:

Open Original Shared Link

Jack