How are the GF and grain- free people doing?

[Miss Peregrine]

Today starts day 3 of grain- free for us. The kids are all being whiny and bratty about it, even though we are letting them finish up the tortillas and bread in our house! They keep talking about all this "abnormal food." :lol:

We had amazing carne asada tacos rolled in romaine leaves. And I made black beans for the kids( haven't decided if we will drop the beans or not)

 

Anyway, I started getting grumpy last night (48 hours) I was picking fights with DH.

Last night w as also the first night I didn't eat anything after dinner! I just wasn't hungry. I realized it after I got in bed.:001_smile:

 

How is everyone else faring?

Edited January 3, 2012 by Miss Peregrine
Edited for clarity

[amyable]

Not bad, it's only day 2 though. :) I felt kind of "low blood sugary" most of yesterday. We've had a few complaints over the last week as I've been phasing out things, but they are used to eating weird (we already deal with other allergies).

 

Everybody's crabby but that is nothing new here. :glare:

 

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[knittingmomof3]

I just wanted to chime in with encouragement. I went grain-free in November. Just me-not the rest of my family. That's my next challenge...

 

Anyway, the first 4-5 days are the hardest. I was cranky and miserable and had flu-like symptoms. Once I was past that initial break-in period I felt wonderful. No more cravings or unstoppable compulsive eating. I often eat breakfast and am not hungry until dinner. And I no longer have that awful "must snack" feeling in the late evening hours after my children have gone to bed. I've lost 25 lbs since the beginning of November. I have 15 more to go. My clothes fit better, my mood is better, and I am no longer a slave to food.

 

Hope you have similar results. Hang in there. It gets better.

[elegantlion]

I'm doing gluten free and it's going well. The only thing I am eating that is questionable is oat and honey bars. I know some say that oats can contain gluten, but since I'm doing this for personal reasons, not celiac, I'm okay with the oats.

 

My biggest issue is having some snack food. I've been munching on almonds and cranberries.

[Chava_Raizel]

I've been gluten free, along with my youngest dd, since mid-September. It's just the two of us, so that's been an interesting transition.

 

The positives have far outweighed any difficulties though. I used to have constant stomach aches and diarrhea that would last for days. Since going gluten free I haven't been sick except for once after eating at McDonalds (and I only had a salad--don't know what happened there.)

 

My dd's changes have been pretty amazing too. She tends towards constipation, and has speech delays. Since going gluten free she rarely gets constipated anymore. She went from saying 3-4 words randomly to having a vocabulary of over 100 words. The language breakthrough was amazing. She still has a ways to go, but just the fact that she's able to communicate with us now is phenomenal. I know dd and I will never touch gluten again.

[Critterfixer]

I've been gluten-free for about a month now. I've lost some weight (about 4 lbs). My GI issues are almost all resolved. My inhalent allergies are greatly reduced. The itching and blistering lesions I used to get so often are gone. My joints, which always hurt in weather changes are almost pain-free. I've not had to take pain medication but once in the last month.

 

But, I did have issues with some cream-gravy I made the other night. I made it with tapioca flour, so I know it wasn't gluten from that. What about milk? I have not gone lactose free, because I have always been able to tolerate cheese and yogurt. But now I'm wondering. Could it have been the cooked milk? Or could the milk be contaminated with gluten?

Anyway, I'm not doing it again until I find out. I don't drink milk, but if I'm going to cook with it I may need to find a milk that I can use that is either certified gluten free or a milk substitute that is non-soy base. So anyone who has info on that--I'd appreciate it.

I'm also looking for a gluten-free, soy-free chocolate.

 

I've not had the rest of the house go gluten free as of yet, and am being careful about butter, knives and crumbs.

 

What's really interesting is that I thought I would crave bread, crackers, things that I used to love. I really don't. I can be around them and not want anything to do with them. Not even when I am very hungry.

[elegantlion]

I'm on day 6 and aside from another issue yesterday I feel good. The pain in my hips is gone. I knew it would, happens everytime I quit gluten. I just need to remember this.

[mamakim]

I've been gluten free for over a year now because of hypothyroidism, and I never felt any difference or lost any weight. But I was doing it because I knew it would help my thyroid.

 

In December when I got my cancer diagnosis, I went totally grain free (sugar free as well).

 

Now I DO notice a difference. The cancer itself makes me tired and weak feeling, but the dietary change makes me feel "light", agile, non-bloated. Like I'd had a weighted jacket and weighted pants on for a week and took them off. I know that's the diet because in 2005, to lose weight, I'd done a grain-free, sugar-free diet and felt the same feeling. I've lost weight without exercise, 17 pounds at this point. And when I say "without exercise" I mean I am in bed at all times when I don't have to drive a child (3X/week). So NO exercise.

 

I'm pretty convinced it's the diet making me lose weight and not the lymphoma. I haven't had radiation/chemo at this point. And in 2005 the weight pretty much fell off with that diet, too - I ONLY did "Walk Away the Pounds", and the earlier videos, really low intensity. I used Mercola's book "The Grain Free Diet" at that point but now just do Paleo/Primal.

 

The one thing I don't share with you other posters is the lack of hungriness at bedtime. I'm always hungry around midnight. But I don't crave anything in particular. I have been getting a regular-sized kitchen spoon of sunbutter and sprinkling some raw seeds on top of it and eating that. That hit of good fat holds me through to breakfast and I find it's a good time to take my Vitamin D, since that should be taken with a fat.

[Critterfixer]

The pain in my hips is gone.

 

Mine too. That is where I tended to hurt the most. I wonder what the mechanism of action for that is? I wonder if it is just generally less inflammatory mediators floating around or whether there is some sort of mild auto-immune compliment activated stuff that leads to joint pain that is caused by the bodies reaction to gluten.

[Onceuponatime]

I went gluten free for a while before Thanksgiving and lost around an inch in my waist. I'm working my way back to it now because it has become clear that if I even have one cracker, cookie, pretzel or brownie, then I'm on my way to eating quite a few more.

 

I have kept off eating bread for the most part, except for holiday meals. It's those holiday snacks that got me. I'm getting back on track now.

[Tressa]

I am on my 6th day. I thought I would have cravings by now, but I really don't. Tonight I am trying brown rice pasta for the first time. We will see how it goes. I may feel differently after that.

 

I am hoping that my joint pain will go away. So far I don't feel too different, but I didn't need to get up last night and walk around. Maybe that is progress?

 

My sister sent me a huge care package of gluten free foods. Udi's bagels are great if you can eat eggs and dairy. I am also enjoying the GF cookies she mailed me as a treat. So all is not lost and I haven't felt deprived yet. I am waiting for it. ;)

[Unicorn.]

I have one teen who is getting grumpy and mean. The one that decided to go vegetarian at the same time. :tongue_smilie:

We started on Sunday. I'm getting my occasional carb fix from some really good almond and rice crackers. :D The extra dishes for the vegetarian are making me nuts, but otherwise, we are doing ok. I did have fun making homemade black bean burgers this week though!

[Enough]

 

I've not had the rest of the house go gluten free as of yet, and am being careful about butter, knives and crumbs.

 

What's really interesting is that I thought I would crave bread, crackers, things that I used to love. I really don't. I can be around them and not want anything to do with them. Not even when I am very hungry.

 

:iagree:I'm on day 6 of gluten free- haven't cheated, haven't craved AT ALL. I made mac and cheese for my family tonight, with regular (wheat) pasta and actually gagged a little when I considered testing the noodles to see if they were al dente. (I ended up just testing with my fingers. ;))

 

I haven't weighed myself, but yet again (I've done GF trials before) I've noticed that all my pants are loose- very loose. Why IS this? No bloating? (What causes the bloating? :confused:)

[Critterfixer]

I haven't weighed myself, but yet again (I've done GF trials before) I've noticed that all my pants are loose- very loose. Why IS this? No bloating? (What causes the bloating?

 

Mine too, although I have weighed myself and I'm down some, but not enough for me to feel that my pants are loose. I would imagine the bloating would have been caused by excess fermentation of the gluten which wasn't very digestible. I know that I don't feel bloated anymore, (except for the bout with the gravy). It's almost as if my abdomen was the ocean, and for the first time in many, many years the sea is calm.