Recently, I have been cutting back on costs and calories effectively by not buying much gluten-free-specific food. Except for the occasional treat, I have just been eating naturally gluten-free foods and primarily sticking to the outer-ring of the supermarket.
I have almost returned to my pre-diagnosis weight! A lot of people gain weight after being diagnosed with Celiac disease because of the following (some of this I've read, some are my own observations):
- Your body no longer has to fight off a constant inflammation in your small intestine so you don't burn as many calories on a daily basis.
- You can now get more calories as well as vitamins and nutrients from your food.
- You don't have constant stomach pains so it's more tempting to eat. I remember starting on snacky foods like pizza and beer and stopping after a slice or a glass because of stomach aches.
- Many of the low-calorie snack foods or lite varieties of high-calorie foods contain modified food starch. Many of the tasty safe foods are high in calories like ice cream, cheese, chocolate, etc.
- I found it hard mentally to further restrict my diet. I kept thinking, "There's so much I can't eat, surely I deserve brie." In retrospect, I deserve to be healthy and happy - which, for me, means maintaining a healthy weight.
- Most low-calorie, gluten-free food at restaurants is not very tasty. There are some great dishes out there that are relatively safe, but a lot of them have a lot of fat or sugar. I have restricted my eating out to about once a week.
- Many grab-and-go gluten-free bars are very high in calories because they are packed with fruit and nuts instead of wheat filler. This sounds great because fruit and nuts are good for you, right? However, I find they don't fill me up very well and I end up eating more. Also, dried fruit and nuts contain large amounts of sugar and fat. I now eat half of a protein bar before my workouts.
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2 comments:
"There's so much I can't eat, surely I deserve brie."
Exactly where I've been the last few months. I lost a considerable amount of weight my first few months on the GF diet, but have levelled off all summer, because I've indulged in ice cream and candy bars and other safe sweets.
Let me suggest:
http://easytobeglutenfree.com
for easy GF recipes that don't require a lot of special ingredients.
Also, I've been reading cookbooks and planning meals, so I always have leftovers. That makes this easy.
I have to say, too, that once I went GF, I lost my sweet/bread tooth. I just don't have the sorts of cravings I used to!
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