Eating Habits

[msmini14]

Hi Everyone! I am new to these forums and was diagnosed with Celiac in Feb of this year. I have noticed that since I have been living a gluten free diet I find myself eating healthy meals but wanting junk food. It is wierd, I never had this problem before and it is hard to talk about so if anyone else here has experienced this please tell me. I have developed this taste for peanut butter, something I never cared for and again I feel like I am over eating. I have put on 15 lbs since I went gluten free. I understand that I am absorbing food again, but I went crazy at first. Made a bunch of gluten free cupcakes, cookies, brownies, etc and ate most of them. Now mind you this was probably in a months time but still a lot of junk. How do I consume the proper amount of calories? I eat lots of chicken and vegis, but I dont want huge portions and I dont feel satisfied after I eat. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

[missy'smom]

Welcome.

There are many possible aspects to this problem. I'll address the things that I know best and maybe others will offer advice from other angles.

You may or may not be overindulging but assuming you are, and I'm not saying you are, you can take several approaches. Plate up your snack nicely and serve it like a nice restaurant would, without their size portion. Add some fruit garnish too. Stick to the amount you've served up. No seconds. And use an appropriate size plate, dish. A brownie on a salad plate looks very small and lonely. . We've always used salad plated for our meals instead of dinner plates. We like smaller portions and they look more appealing on the smaller plates, plus the plates look full. We also have a scheduled snack time in our house and we look forward to it rather than feel restricted. Not whenever you feel like it. Lastly, after baking, keep out enough for the next day and freeze the rest. That way, they won't be sitting on the counter just waiting to be eaten up!

Just food for thought.

[KimmyJ]

The PP had some really great ideas! Another suggestion for you if you want larger portions is to bulk up your meals with foods that are low in calories and high in fiber and nutrients. Add more veggies to your meals - not necessarily as salads or sides, but that is good too. You can add tons of veggies to soups, stews, pasta dishes (assuming you like and eat gluten-free pasta), chili, etc...

Summer is a really great time to bulk up on veggies because lots of things are in season. Watermelon is a good food to add bulk without calories too because of it's high water content. (You can add up to 3 cups of cubed watermelon without adding a significant amount of calories to your diet.) Salsa, homemade or store-bought is another good food that is low in calories and adds interest to meals. I personally like it on salad. You can find a good recipe for gazpacho, another good summer food that can be low in calories depending on what you make it with.

I'm really thinking now... if you want a cold snack, you could freeze pureed fruits to make your own ice fruit pops. That way you avoid the high sugar content of the commercial brands, again cutting back on calories. Frozen yogurt is as tasty as ice cream and lower in calories.

I hope you find something in there that helps! I think the key to changing your diet is having foods that you like to eat that can replace other foods that might be helping to put the unwanted pounds on. I haven't found any good low-calorie substitutions for baked goods yet, but if I do, I'll be sure to let you know.

[msmini14]

Thanks you 2 for your imput, I really appreciate it =)

[BRUMI1968]

I also crave peanut butter, but I don't think I should eat it because I don't do well with beans, and I've read that PB has a lot of mold issues.

One thing is that it sounds like you were at least (still are?) eating lots of baked goods. These will put the weight on whether gluten-based or not.

It is hard to give them up. I used baked sweet potato and winter squash to help me get past it (creamy and sweet and strarchy, but not as starchy as the baked goods). I also eat NO sugar of any kind (save for the rare dash of agave nectar in my salad dressings.)

Instead of peanut butter, I've tried other nut butters. But one thing that really seems to work is something else fatty, like an avocado for example. That seems to kill the urge for the PB.

Good luck to you.

[Takala]

When I did the initial diet change I was doing something close to the specific carbohydrate diet, where one doesn't eat any grain at all, and uses ground almonds for baking. (they do use yogurt, which I did not at the time use) . When one goes super low carbohydrate like that, you have to increase the amount of good fats and vegetables in the diet dramatically or you'll feel like you're starving. Most people will add in a lot of fruit for the sugar rush, but that is not enough. You also have to supplement with calcium, magnesium, and a multivitamin type with increased levels of the B- complex vitamins. The supplements will cut down on the cravings. Typically really bad sugar/carbohydrate cravings mean that you're having problems absorbing enough calcium, this should ease up in time, meanwhile, the supplements help.

When I started baking with alternative flours I discovered I was a little ... too good at it, and I have to save that sort of thing for special occasions because now I gain weight like crazy if I eat very much of it.

[katebuggie28]

I just started a gluten-free diet on wednesday, and I have the same problem. I was craving snickers bars and peanut butter something terrible. I spoke to the doctor I work for about it, and in his opinion he thinks that since my body wasn't absorbing nutrients for so long that it craving what I was missing. I haven't gotten a whole lot of protein, so my body is craving snickers (peanuts) and P.B (peanuts) He told me that I should go ahead and eat what I can have and whatever is appealing to me until I find a healthier substitute that I don't have an adverse reaction to.

[CeliacMom2008]

There was a post recently about foods people were craving. If I remember correctly peanut butter, cashews, and dates were common favorites. I found it facinating how so many Celiacs craved the same things. These three in particular aren't really "normal" craving foods - chocolate, potato chips, yes, but nuts and dates?!?!? My son falls into the peanut butter group. He can't get enough of it and I have really watch him. He'll grab the jar and pull out a spoon! Uh oh!

I know that doesn't really address your issue, but I still find it really interesting. Maybe there is some nutrient missing or in short supply that causes these cravings...

[aikiducky]

Yes I think this kind of cravings are a sign that there's a nutrient that you're low on, so you start to crave foods that have that nutrient. A good example is magnesium and chocolate - or in my case I ate tons of raisins for a while, also for magnesium.

Nuts have good oils and protein, so an alternative could be fatty fish like sardines and mackerel, or fish oil capsules, and some more protein in your diet. Adding b vitamins is also a good tip.

But I don't think peanuts are actually that unhealthy. Maybe have your peanut butter with carrot sticks or apple wedges instead of on baked stuff?

Pauliina

[msmini14]

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one craving PB =) I am really trying to kick that, so hard but doing a lot better. I am not doing the baked goods anymore, last thing I made was some corn bread and that was it. Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate the input. Glad to read that I am not the only one eating a a lot of food, etc. Will get it all under control once my body regulates itself, I hope anyway =)

[gfpaperdoll]

If you are craving foods like PB I suggest that you get your blood levels checked for all vitamins & minerals. Also, like others said be sure you get enough good fats in the diet along with protein. Any fat from meat is not going to hurt you. I cook with the leftover bacon fat & never drain my bacon on paper towels. If you can eat beef, a good fatty steak or T bone would be good, along with coconut oil, cold pressed olive oil, nuts (not roasted), & yes avocado is good for you.

If you will check PB is a legume & thought to contribute to leaky gut. I switched to almond butter.

I think at first most people eat all those gluten-free flour carby things, then once you know that there is a good brownie or cookie - you get over it. I keep gluten-free/DF chocolate chips at home but rarely use them...

[RiceGuy]

I think if you're eating the natural peanut butter, which is just peanuts and salt, then it's not so bad IMO. The ones full of fillers, sugar, and all that are what I'd call junk food. That's not to say there isn't something better than PB, but the body seems to do a decent job of telling us what it needs (at least most of the time).

I agree that coconut oil is wonderful stuff, and very healthy. So if you enjoy that go right ahead. It's not the same as the long chain fatty acids that meats have. Just Google coconut oil, and you'll get tons of references to the benefits, and why it is so.

I use Stevia for a sweetener, and along with all the various other things I use in baking, the results aren't unhealthy. Using only whole grain flours is a real plus too. While I don't indulge, I don't have any cause for guilt either, just as long as the overall diet remains balanced.

And yes, I had intense food cravings for awhile as well, to the point of literally stuffing myself beyond al reason, and still I couldn't stop the hunger. Thankfully, with time and supplements, I now eat much more normal size portions. So I'd say give your body what it needs, and give it time to "catch up", and repair the damage.

[BRUMI1968]

I read an interesting thing about PB actually, which said the worst kind you can get is the grind it yourself kind. This article suggested that unlike some other foods, you want to pick a mainstream brand that goes off the shelves quickly. Peanuts have a big problem with mold, so if you have any issues with candida, you'll want to avoid it.

I avoid it due to the mold, and since I don't eat legumes. But I crave it like crazy sometimes. I used to mix it with maple syrup and eat that out of a bowl - that was a real problem for a while. I can't stomach almond butter, which is weird, since I eat lots of almonds.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be just fine eating PB, just thought I'd share about the thing about the mainstream brands. ADams seems good (no additives).

[ShayFL]

Hazelnut butter is yummy if you can find it.

Yes, peanuts have a mold that carries an aflatoxin. It can disrupt nerve impulses and since I am mainly neuro symptoms, I avoid them.

[Calicoe]

There was a post recently about foods people were craving. If I remember correctly peanut butter, cashews, and dates were common favorites. I found it facinating how so many Celiacs craved the same things. These three in particular aren't really "normal" craving foods - chocolate, potato chips, yes, but nuts and dates?!?!? My son falls into the peanut butter group. He can't get enough of it and I have really watch him. He'll grab the jar and pull out a spoon! Uh oh!

I know that doesn't really address your issue, but I still find it really interesting. Maybe there is some nutrient missing or in short supply that causes these cravings...

I love this forum, because you realize all of your ordinary, mundane impulses have significance!

Since going gluten-free for the last several weeks, I have been hitting the PB and other nuts particularly hard. I have been worried about the PB, because there were some cancer scares about it a while back, but I never understood what it was. I have also incorporated walnuts, which have been excellent for my brain fog, and inexpensive. I eat grounded up flax seeds and eat them in the silk soy yogurt cups - I definitely crave those. I find myself craving meat a lot more, which I didn't really do as much before. I try to eat spinach with garlic regularly for my anemia, but I can't really say that I CRAVE it yet. And, I recently incorporated the long forgotten raisin into my diet, and my body seems to love them now!

[RiceGuy]

I read an interesting thing about PB actually, which said the worst kind you can get is the grind it yourself kind. This article suggested that unlike some other foods, you want to pick a mainstream brand that goes off the shelves quickly. Peanuts have a big problem with mold, so if you have any issues with candida, you'll want to avoid it.

What I don't quite understand is the "grind it yourself kind" statement. If it isn't ground already, then it's not peanut butter yet LOL. Wouldn't that be whole peanuts? I guess what you mean is that if you buy whole peanuts, they're more likely to have more mold due to the fact that they would probably be sitting around longer than the ones which are ground and packaged quickly by a company.

Anyway, I agree about the mold issue, and the idea of picking one which doesn't sit around. That's why I always check the date on it. There are a number of natural ones which are also popular, Smuckers being one of them. I tried the walmart one, but it is inferior - I think they thin it out with extra peanut oil to cut costs, because it's generally somewhat runny. It also doesn't have the quality taste I'd expect. Sometimes even one which is usually good will have a lower quality batch, though once you find a decent brand, it's more likely to maintain a respectable standard from my experience.

[msmini14]

I read an interesting thing about PB actually, which said the worst kind you can get is the grind it yourself kind. This article suggested that unlike some other foods, you want to pick a mainstream brand that goes off the shelves quickly. Peanuts have a big problem with mold, so if you have any issues with candida, you'll want to avoid it.

I avoid it due to the mold, and since I don't eat legumes. But I crave it like crazy sometimes. I used to mix it with maple syrup and eat that out of a bowl - that was a real problem for a while. I can't stomach almond butter, which is weird, since I eat lots of almonds.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be just fine eating PB, just thought I'd share about the thing about the mainstream brands. ADams seems good (no additives).

Thank you for mentioning Candida, I had no idea what it was until I just went to google. I ate some PB last night and I feel depressed and irritated this morning. I also have a few other symptoms on the list for that. What other food causes this?