Diagnosed Tuesday... What Now?

[seth12345]

So after months on chronic diarrhea, fatigue, and abdominal cramping I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease on 2/8/2011. I'm finding out 80% of my diet contains something with gluten in it. To give everyone a little history on me; I'm 25 yr old, 6'2", 6% body fat, and about 175 lbs., almost exactly 2 years ago I was almost 240 lbs, was at 28% body fat, and had very high blood pressure. I decided it was time for a lifestyle change. So i went to a diet where I eat 5-7 times a day, eat alot of carbs, and work out 4-6 times a week. I have been completely baffled at what I can and can't have. I am honestly starving right now because i have no idea what to eat. I went to Whole Foods Tuesday night and spent $60 on gluten free food which taste worst than any cardboard I ever put in my mouth as a kid. I understand the concept of a "quick" meal or snack has gone out the window. I work about 50 hours a week so if anyone has any quick recipes for me that would be great! I need to be able to pretty much cook everything in one day that I'm going to eat throughout the week. Ughhhh this sucks...

[SaraKat]

These are things I snack on during the day at work- gluten-free cereal, greek yogurt (Chobani is good and had a lot of protein), apples with peanut butter, other veggies cut up. I don't really like the gluten-free stuff from Whole Foods either- I was never a bread or pasta person so any of the gluten-free bread stuff is gross to me. I do like the Glutino pretzels though and the Synder's are good too. Some gluten-free granola bars aren't bad, can't think of the brand right now.

As far as cooking goes- I usually make chicken or fish with tons of vegetables for dinner and sometimes quinoa if I want a carb. Rice too.

Can you just cook tons of chicken and vegetables? That would be easy and it is good. I usually do zucchini/yellow squash/mushrooms or yellow/green/red/orange peppers/onions and just cook it in with the chicken in a big saucepan. Sometimes I add curry or cumin for extra flavor.

Good Luck!

[mushroom]

Rice cakes with or without nut butters make good snacks. Lundbergs are good and I love the apple cinnamon flavor.

A crockpot could be your best friend. You could put a chicken with vegetables in in the morning, plug it in, and come home to a cooked hot dinner at night. Take a lot at gluten free crockpot recipes here on the forum. Some crockpots even have timers on them if you will be working out after work, where you can have them turn on at a specific time. Larabars (while not low cal) are a good pick-me-up mini-meal during the day. Nuts are a high energy good fat food to prevent that starving feeling. Explore the kinds of foods cyclists eat so that you can eat before/during your workouts?? alathough they may contain gluten. Make a big bowl of coleslaw at the weekend with plenty of carrots and whatever else strikes your fancy and this will last the week. Popcorn is a good snack if corn is not a problem. But a hot air cornpopper.

[Happyw5]

I found one bread that I really like, it is Udis...I always toast it and add gluten free sandwich meat (I like budding--it's cheap and gluten free)and pile on the veges...I also like progresso rice soup (make sure it says gluten free--I think they just changed it)... I buy chicken breasts and cut them up and make very good gluten free chicken strips... I like all Bobs red mill gluten-free products... It has taken me about a month being gluten free and I am starting to experiment with more food and starting to enjoy food I have never even heard of...(with five kids I was living on frozen pizza and oreos) I must say I already feel like a different person.... Good Luck

[AerinA]

Second on Udi's being good for bread

I had a hard time my first week on the diet because I was cautious about anything that wasn't labeled "gluten free," until I figured out for sure which brands I was allowed to have. There are actually some products that you can have (Hebrew National hot dogs??) that seem pretty surprising, I have a smart phone so whenever I'm at the grocery store I type in the brand name to find out what their policy is on declaring gluten. General Mills is making gluten free things; Chex cereal and some of their Progresso soups are safe--real food!! I've got an app on my phone with recipes in it as well, so I've been cooking more. It gets easier pretty fast once you get the hang of it. Lots of companies and restaurants are catching up to their gluten free customers, I'm hopeful that it will get even better in the future.

Best of luck.

[cashman19]

I'm right ahead you! Jan 28th, I lived on CHEX cereal (there are five gluten-free flavours!), rice cakes and hard boiled eggs the first few days while I wrapped my head around this and gathered info on how to deal with it. You'll be surprised at how much you can make at home rather easily. I eat a lot of Mexican-inspired dished, because except for the Flour tortillas (just use corn tortillas, Mission has some that are pretty cheap and you can get them at regular stores) most of the ingredients are already gluten-free! You can make a lot of Thai and Curry dishes easily and they make for great leftovers. For italian: rice noodles substitute for regular pasta rather well, its all in the sauce anyway! Fresh fruit and veggies are gluten-free so take some wherever you go. Hang in there its not so bad!!! At least we don't have to take any dreaded corporate drugs with major side effects.

Cashman19

[sb2178]

I love having a rice cooker and wish I had invested in one earlier. I bought a basic 6 cup at Target for something like $11 and it is the most helpful item I've bought. Brown rice in 30 minutes while I shower and not a single thought about it or pot overflowing.

Quick Carbs:

-baked potatoes and sweet potatoes via the microwave

-packets of pre-cooked rice

-dried and fresh fruit

-canned beans or hominy

-frozen starchy veg like corn, peas, and lima beans

-Van's waffles (watch that you buy the gluten free ones as they make both)

Quick snacks:

-tortilla chips

-pirate's booty

-hummus and carrots/veg

-trail mix

-veg sticks with homemade dressing

-bean salads

-fruit and nuts

-popcorn

-crackers, my fav are crunchmaster multigrain

It's generally better to back off the dairy and processed foods in the beginning. It makes it easier to tell if some new processed food is problematic (me: mesa sunrise cereal was a baad idea, as was gluten free oats). Good luck!

[Tigercat17]

Hi Seth!

Welcome to the board! I know exactly what you're going through -believe me- we all do! There's so much great information here -just keep reading. Everything will get so much easier once you get used to the diet. It would really help you to stick with basic fresh foods for now- fresh meats, fresh veggies and fruit. You have to watch your spices too. It would be a good idea to start all over again with your spices. I always stick with McCormick since they will list gluten in their label. One good thing about eating whole foods is that this is soooo much healthier for you! I know it's hard to adjust at first, but you are going to feel so much better! And it is sooo worth it!!!! Read these forums as much as you can. There is so much to learn! I would also recommend a good dietitian that knows a lot about the gluten free diet. Your Doctor should give you more information on that.

In the beginning it's also a good idea to call the company about every product before you eat it unless you know for sure it's absolutely gluten-free. I know its a pain, but you have to ask if there's any Gluten or "CC" (Cross Contamination ) in all products. Cross contamination is when a product is originally gluten-free, but it's made on "shared lines." It really depends on your sensitivity if you can tolerate food made on shared lines. A lot of celias can't eat products made in a facility that also makes gluten products. I'm one of them... It's always better to be safe then sorry. I still call when I add a new product to my menu. Food journaling is also very helpful- Just in case you have a reaction you'll be able to track it down...

Also, make sure you double check all your over the counter meds, prescription meds and Vitamins. They can all hide gluten or cross contamination. I've had a lot of problems with this in the past and it took me longer for my intestines to heal because of it.

Here's some of the foods that are gluten free to help you get started- I make a lot of my own dinners. I always cook extras so I can freeze food for when I don't want to cook. Meatloaf -I make five small ones at a time and freeze them all. Chicken soup, Chili, stuffed cabbages and even gluten-free pasta with sauce is great frozen.

Snacks -

Planter peanuts or cashews are a nice little snack

fresh fruit

Lara Bars

Purfit Bars -they do have soy - not sure if your intolerant to it

Lays Stack chips

Xochitl corn chips

Microwavable Pop Weaver Pop corn

Glutino crackers (I think cheddar is the best)

Hell of a Good French onion dip

Glutino Pretzel sticks

Drinks-

Lipton Regular Tea bags

Snapple Iced Tea (all)

Crystal light packets -will say gluten-free on box

(I know there's more, but this is all I drink besides water )

Breakfast-

Glutino cereals

Ponoc Buckwheat cereal -hot cereal kind tastes like cream of wheat- with fresh fruit

Brown rice with fresh fruit

Eggs

Bacon - Oscar Mayor (kraft product)

toast -Udis gluten-free bread is the best I've found if you can't find this at your local store you can order them form their website.

Bagels -Udi's gluten-free Bagels

Muffin - Udi's gluten-free blueberry muffins

Smucker's jelly is all gluten free

Lunch-

Udi's Bread toasted or untoasted is great!

Oscar Mayor lunch meat -Turkey Breat or Honey ham (I'm sure there is more - kraft will always list all gluten)

Miracle whip

Heniz Ketchup

Heinz sweet relish

Hot dogs -Oscar Mayor

Fried egg sandwich

Walmart cheeses

Delallo Sweet Italian dressing (my favorite)

Kraft ranch dressing

yoplait yogurt (I'm not sure if you can eat milk or not -a lot of us can't until the small intestines heal)

Bumble Bee Tuna

Dinners-

Tinkyada pasta (my favorite)

Quinoa pasta

Bertolli spaghetti sauce (I like Olive oil & garlic)

any fresh meats & veggies

Dessert-

Edy's ice cream (except the ones with any bakery ingredients -no cookie dough, cake or brownie)

Betty Cocker Choc cake mix -Awesome!

Snickers - stick with the regular size

I know there are more advanced gluten-free food list out there, but at least this can get you started. Hang in there!

I hope this helps!

[mcbeez]

I was diagnosed Tuesday as well. Was gluten-free for 4 months, then had to redamage myself on the gluten challenge for 2 months. Now that I actually have a diagnosis, I realize that half-assing this just isn't a reality. Some things that I stocked up on today:

Grapes

Strawberries

Grapefruit

Oikos Greek Yogurt (the smaller 4 oz size with a few cut up strawberries makes the perfect breakfast)

Envirokidz Panda Puffs cereal with almond milk

Envirokidz Peanut Butter Rice Crisp bars

Salmon filets

Frozen veggies

Wild and basmati rice

Eggs

That alone has been great thus far. Card-wise, I'm a huge fan of Envirokidz cereals (you can find them at most supermarkets) and check out your supermarket's gluten-free section, as most have them!

Trader Joe's is AMAZING. They handed me a giant list with everything I could and couldn't purchase there.