Re: Overweight Celiac

[Guest guest]

I think it is definitely possible to eat a gluten free diet that is

not high in protein. Some people eat a lot of salads and chicken and

meat and enjoy that kind of diet- but, it's not for me. Also, while a

diet high in hamburger or other high fat meats might be bad for you

long term, there are lean meats, fishes, and chicken. For me, I have

the most success and health on the GF diet if I hang out in the

vegetable aisles.

Some healthy, filling options (that don't have to be high calorie or

high fat) are sweet potatoes (my current addiction is sweet potatoes

cut into fries and baked in the oven with spices and a little olive

oil), regular potatoes, acorn squash, spaghetti squash (great for

dieting- you can top with tomato sauce and lowfat cheese for a 'low

carb' lasagna type thing), brown rice, basmati rice, risotto (arborio

rice), beans, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, popcorn, onions, wild

rice, corn polenta, tofu, spinach, brussel sprouts (broiled in the

oven in a little olive oil and spices), corn tortillas, lentils...

jicama, carrots, sweet peas, green beans... I won't put up with being

hungry. While some marinades (especially those with soy sauce)

contain gluten, you are by no means limited to flavorless, spice free

food! There are some naturally GF marinades- or you can make your own

following recipes- and it will probably taste better than the

prepared stuff. Most spices are gluten free, with the exception of a

few seasoning blends.

Another option for handling the gluten free diet is to go crazy with

International cuisine. So many are naturally gluten free! Thai pad

thai made with rice noodles, Indian dosas (admittedly a challenge but

so good if you can get the method down- I'm still working on it),

Japanese sushi, Chinese vegetable sautees, mexican enchiladas (make

the sauce yourself or use a salsa rather than enchilada sauce as a

lot of enchilada sauce contains flour), homemade corn tamales... You

just need a really good cookbook (or 20) and the passion to learn how

to create new yummy things.

I completely agree that many specially made foods don't taste that

great (especially premade foods). There are some real lemons out

there in the various products out there. But, in my opinion, there

are some that are very good. Also, the specialty flour blends

(especially mixed yourself according to Bette Hagman's recipes) can

make excellent products. It's just a matter of practicing, finding

good recipes, and learning a new art of gluten free baking. Please

trust me- the things I make do not taste like crap! I wouldn't bother

otherwise.

As far as dieting and weight loss- it is possible to lose weight on a

gluten free diet. I used Weight Watchers point system and, even

though GF bread is a bit different, still managed to lose the weight

I gained- it helped me think a lot about portion size (a big problem

here in the US), and rethinking the amount of certain foods I

consumed, like rice and (GF) pasta. It also helped me find

certain " free " snack foods like pickles etc.