Gluten free

[Tamar]

Hi. I've been eating gluten free for a year now, although I've not be officially tested for Coeliac Disease as I'd have to eat gluten again, and I really don't think I could handle the pain again.

I've been doing best re food, but I'm starting to struggle especially on evening snack. I have to eat around 9/10pm due to the high risk of waking up in the middle of the night with seriously low blood sugar.

I seem to be eating lots of cereal, buckwheat flakes, yoghurt and raisins - breakfast and at least 2 snacks are based on these foods. Fresh fruit never seems to fill me up and I have to eat something afterwards.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can eat to add a bit more variety to life????

[cassiegose]

Hi. I've been eating gluten free for a year now, although I've not be officially tested for Coeliac Disease as I'd have to eat gluten again, and I really don't think I could handle the pain again.

I've been doing best re food, but I'm starting to struggle especially on evening snack. I have to eat around 9/10pm due to the high risk of waking up in the middle of the night with seriously low blood sugar.

I seem to be eating lots of cereal, buckwheat flakes, yoghurt and raisins - breakfast and at least 2 snacks are based on these foods. Fresh fruit never seems to fill me up and I have to eat something afterwards.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can eat to add a bit more variety to life????

I've been gluten free for over a year now and can't believe how much better I feel having it out of diet!

Sounds like you need to increase your protein intake and possibly healthy fat intake. This will helpsimmensly in keeping you full and satisfied longer. I've found that having a great deal of carbs in diet typically only makes me hungrier.

Instead of the yogurt you might consider greek yogurt or cottage cheese... these have more protein and fewer carbs/sugar than regular yogurt. Instead of the raisins you may try berries. I buy frozen blueberries (again fewer carbs/sugar than raisins). Oats are also great. As is brown rice, quinoa, and legumes (lentils have a ton of fiber and protein!). Fruit is good but don't forget those veggies! Brocolli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, celery, and fruits like cucumbers, zucchini, tomatos, peppers. Mushrooms are also great, lots of fiber and protein.

In addition don't forget about the protein! Chicken breast, lean red meat, lean cuts of pork, fish, eggs/eggwhites, soy, turkey. I try to eat atleast body weight (in lbs) in grams of protein each day.

Lastly, don't leave out the healthy fats... nuts, natural nut butter, avacado, oils, eggs, fish, and flax are all great sources of healthy fats.

I would make it a point to eat some form of protein and complex carb with every meal and have fat with atleast every other meal. For instance something like this might work for you:

Meal 1: buckwheat flakes (or oats), blueberries, 3 eggs
Meal 2: almonds, fruit, low fat cheese
Meal 3: grilled chicken salad with olive oil vinegarette
Meal 4: fish, veggies, peanuts
Meal 5: lentils, lean red meat, veggies
Meal 6: greek yogurt, nut butter

[Tamar]

Cheers for the replies.

I do try to have healthy fats quite often - nuts and seeds mostly, as I can't tolerate oil, so olive oil, nut butters and even some fish is out for me. I promise I'm not making obstacles, but I would be seriously in pain if I ate them. I do love eggs though - I can have the omelette lunch example almost every day of the week! The yoghurt brand is specially chosen for having no added sugar and the protein is reasonable - 3 large spoonfuls equals about 100 cals. I do like the idea of frozen berries. I've used them before but never replaced them when I finished the packet!!

diet at the moment is

Breakfast; buckwheat flakes with raisins (or sometimes grapes) and linseed/pumpkin seeds, lots of skimmed milk in there too

Snack: chocolate soya dessert (sometimes yoghurt) with walnuts, gluten free cereal flakes, banana and raisins

Lunch: omelette with baked beans, sweetcorn, spinach/other salad leaves, tomato, cucumber, cheese and carrot

Snack: handful of brazil nuts and couple of squares of dark (80%) chocolate

Dinner: fish pie or cottage pie or bolgnese (Can never spell that right) or chicken breast with veg and potato/rice (all homemade)

Snack: gluten free cereal again, with raisins again. (It's mostly this meal, I'm not sure I can stomach much else at that time of night)

I wrote this out because I couldn't see myself where the differences were to your meal plans, but I think I've found some. It's mostly the protein, isn't it??

[cassiegose]

Cheers for the replies.

I do try to have healthy fats quite often - nuts and seeds mostly, as I can't tolerate oil, so olive oil, nut butters and even some fish is out for me. I promise I'm not making obstacles, but I would be seriously in pain if I ate them. I do love eggs though - I can have the omelette lunch example almost every day of the week! The yoghurt brand is specially chosen for having no added sugar and the protein is reasonable - 3 large spoonfuls equals about 100 cals. I do like the idea of frozen berries. I've used them before but never replaced them when I finished the packet!!

diet at the moment is

Breakfast; buckwheat flakes with raisins (or sometimes grapes) and linseed/pumpkin seeds, lots of skimmed milk in there too

Snack: chocolate soya dessert (sometimes yoghurt) with walnuts, gluten free cereal flakes, banana and raisins

Lunch: omelette with baked beans, sweetcorn, spinach/other salad leaves, tomato, cucumber, cheese and carrot

Snack: handful of brazil nuts and couple of squares of dark (80%) chocolate

Dinner: fish pie or cottage pie or bolgnese (Can never spell that right) or chicken breast with veg and potato/rice (all homemade)

Snack: gluten free cereal again, with raisins again. (It's mostly this meal, I'm not sure I can stomach much else at that time of night)

I wrote this out because I couldn't see myself where the differences were to your meal plans, but I think I've found some. It's mostly the protein, isn't it??

Yes its mostly the protein. Could you do another omelete for this meal? That would be a great meal for this last one of the day.

[Tamar]

I could possibly do another omelette - on the days I work until 10pm that would be excellent because dinner is usually a rushed salad or sandwich. Isn't there a problem with having so many eggs?

[cassiegose]

I could possibly do another omelette - on the days I work until 10pm that would be excellent because dinner is usually a rushed salad or sandwich. Isn't there a problem with having so many eggs?

Oh I hadn't even thought about that. I wouldn't do more than 2-3 whole eggs per day. How many eggs do you use in your omelette? You could do something like 1 whole egg and 3-5 whites per omelette. OR you could do something like chicken, fish, or lean beef for lunch then do the omelete for that last meal if you feel like you could better stomach the omelette for that last meal than chicken, fish, or beef.

[Tamar]

It used to be a 3 egg omelette, but I've put it down to 2 on account of the extra calories for very little overall satiety... think I was just being a bit greedy!

I'll play around with a different lunch - had scrambled egg last night instead of omelette because I thought it would go down easier, lighter texture and all.... that worked well.

[cassiegose]

It used to be a 3 egg omelette, but I've put it down to 2 on account of the extra calories for very little overall satiety... think I was just being a bit greedy!

I'll play around with a different lunch - had scrambled egg last night instead of omelette because I thought it would go down easier, lighter texture and all.... that worked well.

Sounds great. You could do 2 eggs and a few eggwhites for added protein.