Where Do I Go For Help Staying On The Gf

[Guest missyflanders]

I was tested because of family members with it and trouble with my last pregnancy.

I was on the diet for a year then just gave up. Started it again a month ago and am not doing well sticking with it. Help!!!!!!

Missy

[Carriefaith]

As you know probably know, it is very important to stick with the diet or you may run into serious complications like cancer. I would suggest going to a dietician that is very knowlegeable about celiac and reading a few books about the disease. If you need help with recipe ideas don't hesitate to ask.

[Jnkmnky]

You need to choose to be healthy. You have a serious disease that you are in charge of managing. There is no drug out there to assist you with this disease. It's up to you alone, to decide to commit to the gluten free diet and take control of your health. People here will help you find foods to make this easy.

[uclangel422]

If at all possible, remove all the gluten containing food from your house or at least the stuff that you enjoy the most and dont walk down those aisles in the store. Print out food lists and restaurant guides, and find substitutes for those foods that you have a hard time giving up.

When in doubt, post on the boards and everyone will help.

Good luck!!

[tarnalberry]

I was tested because of family members with it and trouble with my last pregnancy.

I was on the diet for a year then just gave up. Started it again a month ago and am not doing well sticking with it. Help!!!!!!

Missy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What are the problems you're having staying on the diet? Do you cave into the temptation for things you don't have substitutes for? Do you have trouble finding anything to eat? Do you feel pressure to "have just a little"?

It is vital to stay on the diet, so you might start by figuring out WHY you are having trouble sticking with it.

[KaitiUSA]

As the others have said-you need to stay on the diet. There are things we can have that are good substitutes and its just a matter of finding the brands. For everything with gluten there is something without.

An important thing to realize is if you do not follow the diet you put yourself 40-100 times more likely for cancer, diabetes, and other life threatening or disabling diseases. It's not worth it. It also knocks an average of 10 years off your life.

This site will be a tremendous help to you and will provide you with info you need to know. If you have any questions- just ask.

[misskris]

I had trouble sticking to the diet too at first. I thought well I'll just have a little bit - so what if I feel bad. It must be REALLY hard for you since you don't have any symptoms. I know I wouldn't care as much if I didn't feel the pain of it. It's like someone telling you that something is loaded with fat - SO WHAT - it tastes good and I can work it off later! But it doesn't cause me any immediate harm, so I don't really care. Same with Celiac when you don't have symptoms.

The thing is tho - it does hurt your body. I had to come to this realization for myself before I could actually go completely gluten-free. The other thing that helped was the fact that I could still eat out on the go. My biggest problem would be that I would be starving and was rushing from one place to another. The only thing available would be a fast food joint so I would cave in and grab a burger. But now I know that I can order a burger w/o the bun or just a grilled chicken breast (my favorite) and slice it up and dip it in sauce - just like chicken fingers w/o the bread! This has been a major lifesaver!

There are some excellent recipes on this site and lots of info about restaurants as well. I think you're in the right place to help you get a grip on this diet. (By the way - it took me over a year before I became COMPLETELY gluten-free. So hang in there!)

[Canadian Karen]

Well, I can tell you what did it for me - the doctor mentioning to me the word "refractory" when I failed to show any improvement. Just google up "refractory celiac sprue" and that should be enough to convince you of the severity of this disease.... It scared me onto the straight and narrow and that's when I found all of the hidden gluten in my diet at the time.....

Karen

[misskris]

Wow Karen - that definitely makes me want to be as careful as possible. :::shudders:::

[Guest nini]

I can imagine it would be difficult if you aren't having any symptoms, however... keep in mind that gluten is POISON for your body and would you willingly ingest poison if you knew that it was slowly killing you? Arsenic can be hidden in foods and kill someone slowly without them really noticing they are sick (at first) but IMHO it's JUST as deadly as gluten.

so in my mind gluten = poison ie:arsenic... so no way would I willingly put poison in my body...

that is the mind game I play with myself to keep myself from ever cheating.

you may not have any symptoms now, BUT if you continue to consume gluten, YOU WILL. Trust me on that one. Eventually something would happen to trigger your symptoms and then you may have a lot of other health issues to contend with because of it. stop it NOW while you can!

[WLJOHNSON]

Hi,

I hope so much that you will find it within you to stick to your gluten-free diet. It is truly the difference between life and death. It must be hard when you have no symptoms, but who else will take care of you if you don't?

Start by making a list of the foods you find that you can eat. Print them out on the computer and keep a copy with you, a copy on the refrigerator, a copy in your purse. Eating just meats, fruits, and vegetables, nuts and seeds, is a good way to start, then add in experimental foods, such as Ener-G wheat-free, yeast-free bread made into french toast, Soy Delicious Ice Cream in many flavors, peanut butter by the spoonful, Van's Wheat-Free Waffles (I put powdered sugar or ice cream on them) and I would suggest staying away from all grains, all milk and dairy, butter, egg whites and yeast, and be watching to see how you respond to such foods as soy, potato flour, rice flour, etc.

This diet really becomes a great experiment if you can look at it that way. Read all labels thoroughly and think about food additives such as casein, whey, maltodextrin, etc. which bother many people. 1 out of every 133 Americans supposedly has Celiac. Perhaps soon you will be helping other people as they get on the diet. Good luck to you! Welda Lou