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So, I'm posting this in case anyone else has tried going off wheat (who doesn't need to medically) and how it went and all. It sounds terribly hard to me right now though it helps that I've been low carbing all week anyway. Or maybe you're thinking about it?
i've told this a couple of times before, but this is my experience with wheat. In the 80's I found out my cholesterol was very high, and started eating an extremely low fat diet, a very large part of which was wheat, both whole grain and white. I was eating a LOT of crap- angel food cake, low fat brownies,for some of the worst examples. Also lots of white pasta with marinara sauce and white rice, along with whole grain breads. And I was the skinniest I've ever been as an adult, before or since. I wasn't worried about portion control at all. I wasn't trying to lose weight. My exercize level stayed the same. And the weight just kept evaporating anyway.
(My cholesterol didn't improve at all though. Now that there's more and better info out there, I know why.)
i've told this a couple of times before, but this is my experience with wheat. In the 80's I found out my cholesterol was very high, and started eating an extremely low fat diet, a very large part of which was wheat, both whole grain and white. I was eating a LOT of crap- angel food cake, low fat brownies,for some of the worst examples. Also lots of white pasta with marinara sauce and white rice, along with whole grain breads. And I was the skinniest I've ever been as an adult, before or since. I wasn't worried about portion control at all. I wasn't trying to lose weight. My exercize level stayed the same. And the weight just kept evaporating anyway.
(My cholesterol didn't improve at all though. Now that there's more and better info out there, I know why.)
So what are you eating now? I tried all that back in the day and was the fattest I ever was b/c I love all that stuff but have always struggled with sugar addiction and going low-fat high carb was the worst thing I could have done but it just goes to show that we're all different and we've got to find what works for us.
We finally figured out a little over a year ago that our teenage daughter had a gluten intolerance of some kind. She tested negative for celiac, but had a strange report on one of the blood tests which is what led me to suggest we try removing gluten from her diet for at least 2 weeks. We had tried going gluten free for a week several years before, but I was not well-educated on what to look for in the ingredient lists and gluten-free products were not easily available. Also, I had now read that it is better to try for at least 2 weeks to get an accurate picture. We were really hoping gluten would not prove to be the culprit of her years of discomfort as this girl loves bread and pastas of any kind! Sure enough, about a week in I asked if she had noticed any difference. Her comment: my stomach doesn't distract me at school any more. Wow! Great, but sad, news for her.
The family has now gone to almost all gluten-free eating. Every so often I will make some WW pasta, but now we have noticed that my husband does better without gluten, too (too much heartburn otherwise), so now we are pretty much just eating the brown rice, corn, or quinoa pasta. Truly we are more of a brown rice family -- no white in the house for years.
My hubby has experimented with cauliflower for quite some time as a substitute for mashed potatoes. He steams it, runs it through a food mill and then mixes it with some smashed garlic-heated milk and a little sour cream before baking in the oven. Sometimes he goes a little heavy with the garlic, but everyone likes it. I just wish it had more color!
Our daughter misses pizza sometimes, but we have found that the Udi's line includes some thin personal pizza-size crusts. A package (of two thin crusts) is sufficient for a month. Sometimes she will experiment with tortillas, but not quite the same. She is also a mac & cheese fan, so I do break down and buy her the box mixes at Trader Joe's. Again, she does not have these often, but it is nice for her to not feel excluded from this old standby.
I'm not understanding at all why your husband needs to substitute for potatoes. Potatoes are gluten-free, and aren't grains. They -are- starchy but people with gluten allergies/sensitivities don't need to avoid starch. They only need to avoid gluten. If you scrub them, bake/roast/grill them with the skin on, they are a pretty nutritious starch.
Your daughter would probably even love having half a baked potato, topped with some chili and cheese, instead of the mac & cheese.
I try to keep a pretty balanced diet among the food groups, still pretty many grains but almost all whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, lots of monounsaturated fats, nonfat or low fat dairy, moderate amounts of chicken and fish. No sweets. I exercise a lot less now. I'm still in the normal BMI index, but at the top of normal, where back then I was close to underweight.
But my cholesterol has gotten much better. The simple carbs and avoiding even monounsaturated fats screwed that up for years.
AnonChick, I am sorry that I did not go into more detail. My husband has been eating low-carb for quite some time, but only recently has gone to removing gluten. Cauliflower is quite a bit lower in carbohydrates than potatoes, so that is the reason he came up with his garlic smashed cauliflower dish. Actually, a number of low-carb fans will substitute cauliflower for potatoes.
So glad I found this thread based on one of my most recent favorite books...Wheat Belly. I am seriously sensitive to wheat. I am in a program that does not allow us to have "flour" or "sugar"...but for me, I know that "flour" means "wheat". Since being off of wheat for almost 3 months, I feel so much better. All that wheat bloat I am so sensitive to is gone. My stomach is flat again, even though I have some more to lose. For me, wheat is worse than sugar. In 2005, I had a very large colon polyp removed along with a smaller one or two. These were giving me no symptoms. In the Wheat Belly book, he says that if we will leave wheat out of our diet completely, the wheat-related illnesses should reverse in 5 years. I think this will be easy for me to do.
Yes, occasionaly I will have a craving for pizza. I have rosacea so avoiding tomato products tends to help my skin out quite a bit. I avoid wheat 100% so pizza is out of the question forever in my case... Oh well, I will just have other snacks that I enjoy just as much.
No, pizza does not have to be out of your life forever. A number of places are now carrying GF crusts and will make it upon request. Just costs a little more. I have three within 15 minutes of me, though one place is my favorite. And even Domino's is or will be offering GF pizza, if you live somewhere that such places are your only choice.
It is a shame that there is not healthy gluton free bread....I keep hoping....I used to eat those gluton free pastas and bread products...started gaining weight so stopped. Have you been tested for celiac?
I eat the Udi's bread, but not in quantity and not every day. Sometimes I want toast with peanut butter for a quick breakfast. Fortunately, I've never been a big pasta head. Now potatoes--they'd be harder to give up.
Hmmm...I haven't heard of Wegman's...I'll look it up. Because of the empty calories (high carbs low fiber), I rarely buy gluten free products any more. Udi's bread is high in calories, almost non-existent fiber and so expensive....and to me it is only good when it is toasted. I guess I'm a bit picky....I still have fond memories of real bread, LOL.
Trader Joe's does carry many gluten free products - many of them have the #1 ingredient listed as corn and I'm trying not to eat corn....sometimes if causes me to have digestion issues as it does many others who have celiac...difficult to digest.
My favorite guilty gluten free pleasure - flourless chocolate brownies - decadent....I only make these once or twice a year...so good.
Yeah, I only eat the bread toasted, too. Corn is making everyone fat. Corn contains Omega-6 fats, which we used to need in the fall back in times when we needed to store fat in our bellies to survive the coming winter. When you buy farm-raised fish, like salmon, it is fed corn, so now you are eating fish that has more omega-6 than the beneficial omega-3. Corn is plentiful in this country, and it's making us fat.
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Oh well, I will just have other snacks that I enjoy just as much.
as it does many others who have celiac...difficult to digest.
