Going Gluten-Free

I'm going gluten-free to help loose weight.. and plainly eat more healthier. It's interesting finding stuff without gluten in it that I like (I'm a picky eater anyways) but I am having fun with the challenge thus far.

If anyone has any gluten-free substitutes/brands they know of I'd be happy to hear them! Or any good simple recipes. I don't have a lot of money to buy gluten free stuff, or things like gluten-free flour (maybe next week though).

Today is Day 3, and I've already lost 2lbs. I've noticed half the time I'm not really hungry! Breakdown of my meals so far.

Day 1:
-Vans gluten-free apple cinnamon waffles with butter and cinnamon sugar
-Humpty Dumpty salt n vinegar potato chips (bad.. but gluten free!)
-My recipe of chicken, ranch dressing, and srachi sauce.
-M&Ms (bad.. but again.. gluten free! lol)

Day 2:
-Eggs and bacon
-Honey ham, all natural cheese puffs, raisins, fruit snacks
-generic Crystal Light raspberry lemonade
-Wendys bacon and cheddar baked potato (omnomnom)

I've found that the Udi's brand of gluten free stuff is okay. I rarely eat any of the breads, though -- just cutting out white food altogether for the most part, sweet potato instead of white, etc.

Truthfully, cutting out gluten has made me not really care too much one way or the other about food. It's just fuel. Even stuff I used to really love doesn't matter. The only food that really still tastes good is Mexican, and it's pretty easy to eat gluten free.

sighs...nuts and dried fruit. Yeah, hates the gluten thing completely. Lost weight I have never been able to get back even when I did reintroduce because it changed the lesion battle not one bit. I still pretty much try hard to keep it to a rock bottom minimum but if I understand right even a little bit blows the whole deal.

Yup. Even a little bit blows the deal, Smkie. It's not something you can do by increments; it's all or nothing.

You'd think I'd be really thin by now, but I'm not. I'm better, but not down where I should be. I really need to add the ultra low carb to it.

The produce section of the grocery store is a great place to find gluten free snacks Nothing beats veggies and dip!

It's been pretty easy for me so far. The hardest part is not being able to grab a quick sandwich if I'm hungry at work, but I go get vegan soup instead if I get that urge. It's gluten-free, costs the same, and I have to walk the same distance.

At home, it's easier. A lot of my cooking has essentially been gluten-free anyway. Cutting out my starchy carbs and replacing them with good carbs in minimal doses has significantly improved my moods, and I've lost weight!


^ very true! Substitute with lots of veggies. Get creative!

I figured meat/fruits/veggies were a given. LOL. I'll only eat carrots and very rarely cucumbers as a snack (I don't like any other veggies uncooked). But planning on having a big ol' bowlful at dinner when I'm actually at home to eat.

One thing about veggies--be aware some of them actually have a very high sugar content (carrots, beets, etc). Cutting out gluten is awesome, but replacing it with high levels of sugar, even if it's naturally occuring, sort of mitigates the good. Not completely, but there is an effect.

Same with fat, as I discovered. The basics of any diet should also apply to gluten-free if you're doing it for weight loss - cut fat where possible, cut sugars where possible. Otherwise, once the initial water weight is lost from the lack of gluten, a plateau will happen.

Zero-cal sugarless veggies like cucumbers are great for snacking. Putting a lot of zero-cal veggies with low sugar content in soups, casseroles, steamers etc. is a great way to fill up. A few I use a lot are celery, broccoli, leeks, spinach and asparagus.

Also, I've snacked on less apples and tangerines lately, but I still nom them occasionally as a sweet snack. I've used a lot of dark berries (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) in my morning smoothies for antioxidants. They're still quite sweet as well, but they have less carbs than an apple.

ETA: Two of my big secret weapons in my cooking are lentils and quinoa. Both are gluten-free, and quinoa is a complex carb as opposed to a super-starchy one (though it's still a bit more starchy then I'd like). They can be added to a million different dishes, since they tend to take on a lot of the flavours in a dish instead of adding their own flavour. Both are good, healthy protein sources with a host of other nutritional yumminess to them as well. I make a lentil casserole every week or two, and where I used to use white rice I've now put in quinoa. It's great for multiple meals and is super yummy.

Actually I don't cut fat. People doing keto go out of their way to eat lots of fat and drop weight like crazy.

I am now down 13 pounds now and fit into jeans I didn't since I was running.

Gluten free is a good plan. But you don't have to cut out the fat to loose weight. I am currently reading a book called Good Calories Bad Calories. Its basically a HUGE scientific review on fats and carbs, as well as the real causes behind heart disease and cholesterol. Its a very good and very surprising read.

I've read some similar things as well. I find for me at least, cutting fat where fat isn't required helps my overall energy levels - eating something heavy in saturated fats tends to slow me down. I'm not sure if that's just me.

I still take in a good amount of "good" and "bad" fat, including eggs for breakfast a few times a week.

I don't add fat the way some of them do lol. But I am not avoiding it and am dropping nearly a pound a day so its all good! (yes I am aware this rate of loss will not continue)

My energy levels are just as good if not better, so it could just be an individual thing. Though they do say people go through 'the keto flu' when their body switches over to heavily burning fats and can last up to 3 weeks. Mine only lasted a few days where I felt lethargic and icky.

Quinoa is really good. Also, if you have access to gluten free pastas, the best by far are the quinoa pastas. We love the curls. Even my husband prefers them to regular pasta.

I serve that with one of the Classico sauces (our favorite is Florentine spinach and cheese) and a bunch of ground beef. Nom.

Mexican food is super easy. Just use corn tortillas. I eat quesadillas almost exclusively in place of sandwiches. I'm not a big veggie eater, but they're a good way to sneak in some stuff like crushed garlic, peppers, kale, etc. 2-3 cheese quesadillas with a big bowl of tomato bisque for dipping is heaven.

Baked squash is awesome too.

We'll cube up squash and fry it with corn, green chiles, cheese, and whatever other southwesty stuff we can cobble together.

Also, we eat tons of fat in this house. Even my husband and daughter, who are more carb types than protein like me. None of us has problems with our weight, but the vast majority of the fats we use are cold pressed olive oil, grapeseed oil, and grassfed dairy fat. We use them straight as dip or on salads, but also to fry all of our tortillas and stuff.

These are the BEST gluten free waffles I've found so far. The homestyle flavor is sort of vanilla-esque. They're really good toasted with pretty much anything on top. For a treat we'll make some homemade whipped cream, and serve them with a bunch of berries piled on top.


Oats are really good and cheap too, and they're one of the highest protein grains. While they don't have gluten in them, Quaker oats brand do make me sick so I think they're cross contaminated or something. I haven't had any problems with bulk oats or Kroger brand. When we buy them from the bulk section I have an employee grab a sealed 25 lb bag from the back for me, so it isn't cross contaminated by people mixing up scoops (that much usually runs me about $12). They're also great if you have a high fat diet because they absorb a lot of saturated fats as they pass through and really help your cholesterol.

Chocolate no-bake cookies are a good gluten free treat.

Beans are always really good. They're so good for you. Beans and rice, like refried beans, or black beans with corn on rice is good too. You can chop up green onions and sprinkle them on everything. They're super cheap and it's an easy way to get some greens.

Good for you Meri!

If I could handle the taste of gluten-free food, I'd eat it. But I LOVE food with TONS upon TONS of flavor. I'm the person who adds extra everything on foods that already have plenty on it lol

I found whole grain foods, eating healthy (or healthy-ish) cereal for breakfast and maybe dinner, and drinking tons of more water has helped me lose weight.
I have high metabolism, which causes me to lose weight super slow, but once I find something that works, I try to stick to it and the weight falls off, plus I work out but my tummy needs more help :/ Stress doesn't help the bloating issue though.

ANYWAYS sorry for the thread highjack lol

BTW, gluten-free Chex cereal is GROSS (to me anyways) It tastes like rabbit food lol

I make mine into Puppy Chow. LOL. Totally healthy.

That might be the only time its good, it even SMELLS like rabbit food. Bleh lol

Mmmmm puppy chow...

Dak, don't you mean "slow" metabolism?

Er, yes that's what I meant. At least you caught that for me lol

I tried eating gluten free for about 2 weeks....thinking it might help with some of my health issues, depression and stuff.

It didn't help at all, and I didn't lose weight either (back then I wasn't as thin). I hear everyone going on and on about how horrible gluten is, and I guess plenty of people don't do well on it (or are downright allergic), but I think it's completely harmless for a lot of people, too.

I tried to cut out gluten, but it's hard one campus especially since I already limit myself to vegan foods. Reading this though, I may consider trying again. I do think it could help me health-wise.