Discouraged

[barbinwisconsin]

Hope someone can offer some advice. This is my first post. I was diagnosed in May. I have been trying to stick to this awful diet but am getting tired of puffed rice or cream of rice with yogurt for breakfast & only salads or fruit for lunch. I eat egss once or twice a week.

Checked out the health food stores but food the food seems unappetizing in appearance & over-priced. What do others eat for breakfast? How about lunch when you have to brown bag it 5 days a week?

I am always tired & still have stomach aches. I fear I am not getting enough nutrition, & yes I do take vitamins & iron & calcium. I often wonder what is the point of this miserable diet when I don't feel any better?

Can someone offer some advice?

Thanks

[veggf]

Hi Barb,

There are lots of options out there, although it doesn't seem that way at first. The Gluten Free Pantry makes some great mixes for pancakes, bread, muffins, etc. Pamela's makes a great pancake mix that I use for making waffles. Those products are available in most health food stores. You can often find them cheaper by ordering online or through a natural food co-op. A good cookbook to start you on doing your own gluten-free baking is The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy. I bake a big batch of muffins, pancakes, or waffles and then freeze them two or three to a container or package for a quick morning prep. Enviro Kids makes a wide variety of cold breakfast cereals.

As for lunches, if you have a microwave you can nuke all kinds of pilafs and rice pasta dishes that you make ahead of time. The cookbook that I mentioned above has lots of lunch/supper recipes, as does Wheat-free Recipes and Menus. You can alter a lot of standard recipes too, it may take some expermentation though. If you don't have a microwave: I take everything to make a sandwich with and then prepare it at work, since gluten-free bread does not travel as sandwiches well. Or hummus and rice crackers/gluten-free bread--yum! A cold wildrice salad is good and hearty with pinenuts in it. Pb or almond butter or cashew butter with jam on rice crackers, rice cakes, gluten-free bread. Or a nut butter with apples and a gluten-free muffin on the side.

As for the cost, it is more expensive. But as you learn to do your own gluten-free baking that helps drop the prices. Also the cost is worth it when one's health has improved. I use to see a doctor regularly because of symptoms, but since dx and going gluten free I've just had a few visits (check-ups)--that is a lot of money. Also you can claim the costs on your taxes (don't ask me how ). Some people can use their flexible spending account money on gluten-free food.

Have you discussed your continuing condition with your doctor? Maybe s/he can help you. Also if you still have stomach aches--maybe you are getting some gluten contamination. A lot of the cookbooks, websites, books, and this message board can help you identify hidden gluten sources.

Oh, also there is a gluten-free bakery/prepared food place in Hayward. I don't remember the name, but I be the Hayward Chamber of Commerce would. If Hayward is not your neck of the woods, they do send their food frozen.

I hope this helps. Good Luck! Smile!

[klm]

That recipe book mentioned is good. I think this one has the chicken simmered in orange juice that is really good. My mom lives in Wisconsin and even her small town grocery carries white rice flour and the other necessary flours to make me different desserts and dishes I can eat when I visit.

I do either the envirokids cereal (I like gorilla munch best) for breakfast, one of the gluten free frozen waffles, or I make a batch of banana nut muffins ( all you need is white rice flour for this one). For my lunches I try to make extra meat during our dinners so I can have that the next day. If you are not a vegetarian, there are some ham "breakfast" steaks in small portions in the meat area of the grocery store that are good cold or hot. Blue Diamond (they sell almonds, cashews etc. that are gluten free) also makes a "Nuthin" almond, pecan and another nut cracker that are good with tuna salad instead of bread. You could also take tacos/nachos or taco salad as there are a lot of corn chips that are gluten free as well as corn tortillas ( you just have to read the labels).

At first it seems overwhelming, but when you get the hang of it you find you are only missing out on a few favorite things. Also try joing a group like CSA that have product guides to help you out at first. Good luck.

[Guest imsohungry]

Hi Barb! and WELCOME!

I kind of had to giggle when I read that you were tired of eating puffed rice...hee hee...that is all that I ate my first month Gluten-Free for breakfast! Gosh, I was tired of that stuff! I can totally relate!

The bad news? If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease or you are gluten-intolerant, you need to stay on the diet for your health's sake.

The good news? You will feel better with time.

The really good news? This diet does get easier as you learn.

As soon as I realized I could have some brands of hashbrowns, eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, and orange juice....I quit eating rice puffs every morning!

Yes, I do eat a few of the expensive foods, but in the last two months, I have learned to eat the "expensive foods" (like Ener-G gluten-free "granola" cereal) a few mornings, rice puffs a couple of mornings, and bacon/OJ/grits the other mornings.

I've also learned (through this site and calling the companies) some easy dinners that are gluten-free:

example:

1. Tacos with McCormick brand seasoning and corn tortillas or tostitos

2. A hamburger pattie with O-Rida french fries

Anyway, good luck. Do some more research and ask plenty of questions. It is not as bad as it initially seems!

Much hugs. -Julie

[barbinwisconsin]

Thanks for the input. Rice Crackers, rice cakes, rice bread - ugh. I actually LIKE rice but it is getting old. I have made biscuits & pizza crust using potato starch & corn starch & they are edible - barely & only when hot. I guess I just haven't gotten used to not eating wheat bread or cereals without wheat. I have tried the rice pasta & it too was gummy. I had gluten free bread in the hospital & thought it was like pet food. Dry & tasteless.

Maybe it is just taking too long for me to adapt.

[klm]

Watch what kind of rice you eat because some of it is "enriched" and not gluten-free. Basmatti rice is a nice change cause it smells like popcorn kind of. Tinkyada pastas (they have macaroni, pasta, etc...) are so far the best pastas I've found and no matter how long I boil them - have yet to find them gummy or mushy.

And don't give up because after you start feeling better you'll get more energy back and it won't seem so exhausting to check out new labels and recipes. It does take a while of trying the gluten-free products before finding the good ones. And then I use them as a treat for staying on track. Most of the meals we eat I make and my whole family eats them ( I do keep real bread for them though). And after I learned which brands to buy I don't think anything but my "treats" are very expensive ( the gluten free pantry chocolate truffle brownie and angel food cake are very good ).

Also - try the bob's red mill garbonzo bean flour recipe for pizza crust. Adds a different flavor than rice.

[tom]

Anyone w/out their own breadmachine should GET one asap ! I went thru all the gluten-free breads at the stores and even got to thinking a couple were acceptable but now that i've made a gluten-free loaf at home i can't believe i didn't buy a breadmachine sooner.

I'd assumed gluten-free bread just COULDN'T be as good as regular gluten-filled bread but i was SO wrong. gluten-free breadmachine bread is great in every way.

Also, Barb, you may need to go lactose-free and/or casein-free for a while. Or just use the milk products w/ the added lactase enzyme. W/ our damaged villi, the lactase enzyme production is impeded or even completely halted.

gluten-free for almost a year now, I'd plateaued on the improvement, and while i was at least 30x better than pre-gluten-free, i didn't truly feel glad to be alive again until also going dairy-free. This was after 10 mos gluten-free. I felt like my brain woke up and i was ME again. The daily nausea finally was gone, and i started to be able to leave the house an hour after getting up instead of the 6 or 8 or 10 hrs it had been, waiting to feel like i wouldn't have diarhhea or throw up a block away.

Maybe lactose or casein isn't the issue, but it's GOTTA be worth a shot for a few days to see if it makes YOU glad to be alive every day again.

If it doesn't help, I'd continue trying eliminating diff foods from the diet. MANY celiacs find they have problems w/ seemingly unrelated foods.

Another option, instead of the slow trial-and-error method is to get a foodScan test thru York Labs.

Open Original Shared Link

I think i'll be doing the 113-food test, tho expensive, this is a quality-of-life issue and i won't let a couple hundred bucks get in the way of feeling better every day.

Good luck Barb.

[veggf]

Hi,

Tom is right--gluten-free bread can be good. I'd really encourage you to experiment with baking and different mixes. I really thought that the gluten-free bread and baked goods I first tried were gross. But I've experimented on my own, tried different recipes, tried different mixes, etc.

My sister who is not a Celiac (or at least not sick yet) loves my gluten-free bread and use to come over for a fresh warm piece just after I baked it. Mixing flours is key--rice flour alone is tasteless and gritty, but combined with other starches and flours it is great. For pizza crusts--my hubby and I love putting roasted seasame seeds in the crust and the bean flour that someone else mentioned--yum!

Best Wishes!

[tarnalberry]

there are SO many options for breakfast, but you've got to get creative. some of the things I do (I'm casein free as well as gluten free):

rice cakes w/ peanut butter

cold cereal w/ soy or almond milk (like Cranberry Sunrise, Nutty Rice, or Crispy Rice)

hot cereal w/ soy or almond milk, honey, and cinnamon (like buckwheat, quinoa flakes, rice bran, millet meal, or a combination of them)

omlettes or gluten-free pancakes (weekends, when I have time to cook)

leftover rice served with soy milk, dried fruit, and nuts

smoothies (strawberry/banana and pumpkin are my two current favorites)

apple w/ peanut butter

homemade muffins or banana/pumpkin bread

I try to not have soy on back to back days, so I rotate through this a fair amount.

For lunch, I usually take leftovers - and always eat at my desk 'cause I'm too busy, so it's often something like:

stir-fry over rice

stew

soup

salad (be it green salad, bean salad, vegetable salad, gluten-free pasta salad, fruit salad, etc.)

tuna w/ avocado

nuts and dried fruit

raw fruits and veggies (sometimes w/ dip)

sometimes a bit of chocolate ;-)

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Hi Barb,

ooh, i love the pizza crust with the garbanzo bean flour, too. It's so yummy. But since i always try the dough, before i put it in the oven, i also did that with the garbanzo bean flour. I have to warn you. Do not eat it, when it's not baked yet. It's yacky. But once it's done, it's so good, you can hardly believe, it didn't taste before. Once baked it loses it's beany taste.

Stef

[plantime]

Breakfast does NOT mean cereal! I eat whatsoever I please for breakfast, as long as it is gluten-free. For instance, yesterday I enjoyed leftover manwich mixed with mashed potatoes for breakfast. I enjoy pancakes for dinner sometimes, too. As for lunch, I can nuke leftovers, or make something from scratch. I am fortunate to be a stay home mom, so I have that advantage, but even working, just take leftovers and nuke them! Something else I like is rolled up ham slices that I dip in mustard with a veggie tray for munching. Add some cheese (if you are able), and have a yummy lunch! Don't get into a rut! Ener G makes some delicious (expensive) gluten-free/rice free pretzels, too. Don't limit yourself to certain foods for certain meals, your body just wants nourishment, not pickiness!

[wclemens]

Hi,

I am intolerant of all grains, milk & dairy, egg whites. and yeast, and can only eat carbohydrates during a 60 minute period once a day (The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet). If I eat any other way, I get sick. So, I have learned to eat anything I want that is okay for my diet:

Breakfast can be a double chili-burger from Carl's Jr. wrapped in lettuce (they call it a low carb burger); or meat loaf from Boston Market; or salmon, tuna or any other fish; or chicken, turkey, sausage, egg yolks, bacon, etc. etc. etc. endlessly.

All you have to do is decide which foods you have always loved the most, focusing on those without gluten, then go for it! I'm learning that the more I eat the more my weight stays low (105 pounds and I'm 4 feet 11 and 1/2 inches tall).

Sometimes I'll eat the same thing for several days at a time, just because it tastes so good. I ate refried beans, tortilla chips, navel oranges, and soy ice cream for a few of my one-hour meals, until something else sounded good. Baked potatoes are sounding good now, and since it is the day after Christmas and I never touched any of those goodies at all the Christmas parties, I made myself some candy, cookies, and ice cream treats (all gluten free) today.

I eat such a variety of healthy foods, that I stopped taking vitamins. I'm saving money there, and since I work outside the home, sometimes I just buy dinner on the way home, and enjoy someone else's having made it for me, but usually I cook my own food at home.

I wish for you a life filled with many of the foods you love, with joy and happiness, and with good health, vim and vigor. Welda

[tammy]

I had to chuckle quietly when I read one of the latter posts about eating the same foods for a few days. I too have done that because I actually enjoyed what I was eating. May I suggest Kasha, buckwheat, by Wolff's. We enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or as a side dish for dinner. We also make our own Roti's, an Indian flat bread, that is of course, gluten-free. We like to combine a gluten-free buckwheat flour with rice flour. Now it is a bit bland but it works and you can stuff the bread with anything from eggs, to tuna fish, to refried beans, salads etc. My husband likes them, while I don't mind them. We also enjoy making stir fries with different oils. Just mixing it up a bit does make a difference.

Yes, after going gluten-free and I am suppose to be casein free too for two whole years now, WOW! Hard to believe. Anyway, yes I still get bored at my limited food choices, but it is certainly better than the first few months on this challenging diet!

Best Wishes to you!

[Carriefaith]

My suggestion would be to go out and spend $15-20 on a good gluten free cookbook that has lots of yummy recipes and try making all your favorite foods (gluten free of course)! I have lots of gluten free cookbooks and I can usually find a recipe for whatever I want (if I can't then there are lots of gluten-free recipes on line) I try not to limit myself because I too ate boring foods for awhile and it's not fun! I still have my basic foods that I eat all the time, but I try and make new things to keep the diet interesting and not boring.