GrainFree/SugarFree Support?

[crunchy_mama]

Anyone else grainfree/sugarfree(or at least sugar-light- I am ok w/ occasional raw honey)? I have been in the past but since pregnancy had let it slip, but desperately need to get it back together! For one thing I feel better, sleep better, have more energy and a better mood- and for another if I don't I will gain 2-3 lbs a week in pregnancy- I gain 1 lb as it is and am on track for 35- would rather not make that 70 +- especially as it is just excess weight and not what my body or baby needs.

Desperately need the support! I have tried to get back on the wagon a half- a- dozen times, but keep failing miserably! I bought lots of salad fixings this week, as I have been craving that and even bought some commercial dressing- I had kept making myself some but just not getting the taste right. Tried to get somewhat better brands and no hcfs for sure.

Anyone out there?

[Chinese Pistache]

Crunchy_mama, I'll join you. When I was trying to lose weight several months ago, I went mostly grain free and I felt great. I had salads everyday for lunch, meat and veggies at night, frittatas for breakfast. Oh, I also ate oatmeal for breakfast frequently, so I guess I wasn't totally grain free (I feel pretty good eating oatmeal). Anyway, aside from having energy and losing weight, I think I also correlated that with my kp going away and my skin in general looking better.

I've fallen off the wagon recently since I've been doing a lot of gf baking for my kids. I've been snacking way too much on that stuff. And I've put on a few pounds:

So, yeah. I'll join you. What do we post in this thread? What we're eating?

What salad stuff did you get? I'm always trying to think of new ways to toss together a salad. Makes it seem more interesting

[cristeen]

I really need to work on this, myself. I have to admit that I have been giving into my cravings far too much during this pregnancy. Yet at the same time I'm not eating nearly enough every day. I'm losing about 1/2 a pound a day - and my DH is getting on my case about it.

Wheat is my big trigger - bread, pasta, whatever. And it causes reflux pretty darn quickly at this point.

So I'm not going to be perfect, but I will strive to join in.

[crunchy_mama]

Oh, goodie! I am sure not perfect either, I think it is about figuring out works for you, we all have different triggers. I eat corn, which is considered a grain, but I still feel great eating them, so I think it works for me.

I thought it would be nice to post meals to share idea, share struggles, triumphs- withdrawals and anything else!

I made it my "first" day, not too bad as far as withdrawal and such. I was a bit grumpy but not bad.

breakfast: HUGE salad(like the bowl that everyone is supposed to serve from is what I used :0- the kids did help eat it)- Baby spinach, romaine, bell pepper, carrots, purple onion, almonds and then I sauteed some shrimp(had some already cooked and thawed in the frig) w/ sesame and hot oil- ginger- cayenne and another spicy mix along with a big handful of sesame seeds. It was super yummy! Topped w/ poppy seed=- this was commercial, so it had sugar, but not hcfs- tried to be conservative w/ it.

snack- fruit leather(but all fruit)

lunch- ham and beans- was at mom's house and a bit of steak

supper- will be chili haystacks- chili over tortilla chips topped w/ lettuce and tomato

My big struggle will be breakfast- being df/gf- grainfree- I am not sure if eggs bother me and it is hard to do smoothies that taste good w/o too much carbs(I am having crazy pregnancy taste bud issues)

cristeen- I can so relate to the pregnancy cravings, it is so hard!!

CP-I so relate on the baking-I like to try stuff for the kids and I can so not resist!!

[Kino]

I am! 100% grain-free as I have what seems to be an autoimmunity to the entire grass family. I don't really care what the exact problem is as my health improved dramatically without the grain.

I am also sugar-lite as I enjoy the occasional raw honey in my tea. Recently I began craving choco like crazy so I added a daily, small piece of raw choco into my diet until I satiate the need. Choosing to listen to my body than the general advice of 'sugar is bad.'

I hope I will be of some help

Concerning breakfast I eat a chunk of raw liver with my glass of squeezed lemon + sea salt first thing out of bed. Then a bowl of broth. Then usually a small helping of rare, red meat, some vegetables, maybe an egg, or once in awhile a filet of salmon. Lots of butter with both. I follow a TF diet with emphasis on raw foods.

[blueridgewoman]

Count me in too! But... I have to wait until a week from Friday to start- I'm having an allergy panel done and everything needs to be in the mix.

I feel great when I'm GF/SF.

[crunchy_mama]

So great to see a few more people!

Kino- I really admire rawfoodists- but I have tried raw liver a few times and well I just cannot stomach it, as it is all my liver got lost in a horrible freezer acciden I will be interesting in reading your food ideas though! I totally agree about not following anyone's rules, everyone's body is so different.

blueridgemama= look forward to seeing you well- hope you get some good results from the test!

cristeen- I was curious- have you tried eliminating gluten and see what happens? Seems like it is probably a good place to start. I cannot imagine losing weight eating grains or in pregnancy, but it can effect everyone differently.

I made it through day 1- woot- now I have the awful detox cold that I get everytime, sigh, was really hoping to miss it this time! I am sleeping hard though, so I guess that is good. Off to go back to bed and hope the kids sleep in today!

Edited to add:
Sigh- this is going to be a rough detox day. I forgot the first day is usually the easiest. I am in mean-mommy withdraw mode, not good. I am all out of whack and my coordination is horrible. I almost dropped my salad twice- then did drop and spill part of it and dropped and broke my glass of water. I hate this part.

[Chinese Pistache]

Well, I cheated last night. I made some oat bars for the kids and ate two. They weren't super sweet ones (had a little maple syrup and brown rice syrup for sweeteners), but I could definitely have done without them.

For lunch yesterday, we didn't have any lettuce, so I threw together a salad of beets, hearts of palm, cucumbers, red peppers, and olives. It was good, but not as filling as a big green salad (I love those huge ones, too).

I'm really missing legumes. Baby ds reacts to pretty much all of them that I've eaten (maybe not lentils, but I'm not willing to trial them right now). The jury is still out on eggs, too. So, it's meat and vegetables for now.

This morning I'll probably make a salad.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I made it through day 1- woot- now I have the awful detox cold that I get everytime, sigh, was really hoping to miss it this time! I am sleeping hard though, so I guess that is good. Off to go back to bed and hope the kids sleep in today!

Edited to add:
Sigh- this is going to be a rough detox day. I forgot the first day is usually the easiest. I am in mean-mommy withdraw mode, not good. I am all out of whack and my coordination is horrible. I almost dropped my salad twice- then did drop and spill part of it and dropped and broke my glass of water. I hate this part.

I'm sorry I'm rooting for you:

[bella_stranger]

hi there! I'm pretty much grain-free/sugar free, though today is my 4yr anniversary so I am making ice cream out of coconut milk and raw honey. (okay, and I made dark chocolate covered apples :-|

I have really been craving salads with deli meat as of lately, and that has been great for keeping me on track-- fresh greens, meat, mayo, a little tomato- yum!

This morning, I made a huge casserole-size fritta of pancetta and leeks (and eggs), then refrigerated the leftovers which make a great cold snack, or warmed in the microwave/toaster oven.

here's a link to that recipe on my blog: http://sugarmagnolia.wordpress.com/2...allium-family/

[karlin]

I am grain free and sugar free. I do have the occasional honey, but it's part of my plan. I've been following the paleo diet since January. This is my way of eating for life. I've had great success with my health and also significant weight loss...though that was more of a side effect (a very welcome one! ).

Glad to see I'm not the only one here who is grain free.

[karlin]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I made it through day 1- woot- now I have the awful detox cold that I get everytime, sigh, was really hoping to miss it this time! I am sleeping hard though, so I guess that is good. Off to go back to bed and hope the kids sleep in today!

Edited to add:
Sigh- this is going to be a rough detox day. I forgot the first day is usually the easiest. I am in mean-mommy withdraw mode, not good. I am all out of whack and my coordination is horrible. I almost dropped my salad twice- then did drop and spill part of it and dropped and broke my glass of water. I hate this part.

In low carb circles, you have what's known as "the induction flu". My carbs have never been Atkin's low, but I still went through the detox. It lasted at least a week or two (sorry to tell you that it went on so long), but afterwards my energy skyrocketed. The active low carber forums are a great place for support in giving up grains/sugar. Everyone's been through the detox, so they can all be a great source of knowledge. Hang in there!

[bella_stranger]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

...Anyway, aside from having energy and losing weight, I think I also correlated that with my kp going away and my skin in general looking better.

whats KP?
keratosis pilaris?

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by bella_stranger

whats KP?
keratosis pilaris?

Yep.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

cristeen- I was curious- have you tried eliminating gluten and see what happens? Seems like it is probably a good place to start. I cannot imagine losing weight eating grains or in pregnancy, but it can effect everyone differently.

Not lately. I did when I was GF/SF before - for about 9 months and I felt fabulous. I don't know if it's the gluten or the wheat that's the problem - I do know that wheat affects me far more than say a true black rye (with no wheat in it) does. But right now I'm not sure what the problem is... this is literally the first time in my adult life I've lost weight without having to *really* work at it. Even doing hard core low carb, I wasn't losing weight like this.

Although I will say my diet must be pretty out of whack judging by the edema I've had since yesterday. I'm working on increasing my salt and protein intakes - hopefully that will help. Right now I don't have a single pair of shoes I can put on and even my slippers are tight. Ugh - and now I have a bruise on my tailbone to go with it... my yoga ball just burst out from under me. Maybe I just need to go crawl back in bed and make today go away. :

Anyway - as for induction flu, try increasing your fruit intake if you can. That's a sign that your carb levels are really low right now - increasing fruit and dairy can help with that.

[BedHead]

Hi Can I join you guys? I eat mostly tf and have slowly been putting on the pounds since starting it last fall, so I'm going grain free and lowering my sugar intake to see how that works. I started last week then fell off the wagon rather spectacularly yesterday when I had naan bread one of the girls at work brought in, then a horrible take out tray I grabbed at the deli for supper with rice and noodles, then home made ice cream with home made chocolate sauce for dessert. I feel like CRAP today.

So for breakfast today I had a kefir smoothie made with an orange, a banana, some frozen strawberries and kefir, then a handful of cashews a couple hours later to tide me over for lunch. Lunch is in about an hour so I'll post what I end up having - I'm planning on salad. I find if I post whatever I eat it holds me accountable and I'm less likely to do what I did yesterday.

One huge challenge for me is that the hubby refuses to give up his carbs and always wants them at meals. A typical meal for us when I make it is meat, salad and a carb, with me doubling up on the salad and eating another veggie besides sometimes and passing on the carb. But when he cooks it's invariably something carby, like Sunday he did BBQ'd store bought smokies with these huge buns he bought. So I just prefer to cook myself. Smokies in a bun are bad enough, but all by themselves I just can't stomach them. Or he'll do a pasta or rice one-dish meal that it's impossible to take the rice out of.

I have to do this though! I need to drop about 40 lbs. I also need to get off my lazy butt and exercise more, but that's another story.

[Zenzero]

I will be following this thread with interest as it is something I've been considering doing. I've already almost completely eliminated sugar and drastically reduced grains but would like to take them out all together for a bit to see if it makes any difference to how I feel or helps me lose some more weight.

I've been doing TF for a few months now and feeling good on it but would like to take this next step and up until now it has seemed a bit too difficult but it is starting to feel more doable!

[crunchy_mama]

So glad to see everyone! I am trying to increase my carbs,but honestly didn't think I was *that* low. hmmm. I sure hope the induction flu doesn't last a week or two, if I remember right it is usually about 3 days or so for me. Had a big handful of prunes today after lunch for a snack though and I think that would be pretty carb heavy. I try not to be a counter though as I try to just go w/ what feels right I am prego so I have to be careful. I do expect to lose just a couple of pounds of water weight that I have put on, but obviously nothing more.

I did salads for breakfast and lunch today, some curried shrimp tonight for supper I think- I have a bunch of garden fresh potatoes and squash and I wanted to serve mine over some steamed cauliflower.

cristeen- sorry that you are having swelling issues and I know the fun of a bruised tailbone(had one after Luke's birth) not cool- that must have been very scary to have it bust on you like that. Not that you have to answer I just thought you have a couple of signs of undiagnosed Celiac (if not at least ncgi) ie inability to lose weight and infertility issues are related to Celiac's. I am sure you probably know that though- just throwing that out there. I hope whatever the issue you are able to resolve it quickly.

CP- that makes it so hard to have to eliminate so many things. I am cautious about eggs now, but I used them so much in the past when grainfree. I am going to try my raw egg smoothie tomorrow(with just the yolks) and see how that goes as I know that I used to have a lot of those in the past and they seem to fill me up well and were so easy- have you tried just the yolks? It is a thought anyway.

bella- your salad sounds yummy! I love mayo and tomato! I will have to have dh pick up some good ham! MMMM = icecream! I need to make some more too, that would sure help w/ the intro period!

Hi karlin! Welcome! I have done paleo and pseudo paleo. Right now I am on beans, potatoes and corn though and they are not paleo approved. do try to keep dairy free though as it bothers me. Had recently been df for 2 yrs, but Lily just weaned, so I have cheated a bit. Was pseudo-paleo before the pregnancy, but man the cravings are sooo hard!

I would love meal plan ideas from everyone! Just trying to take it one day at a time here!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

So glad to see everyone! I am trying to increase my carbs,but honestly didn't think I was *that* low. hmmm. I sure hope the induction flu doesn't last a week or two, if I remember right it is usually about 3 days or so for me.

Yeah, it's usually about 3 days for me, too.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I did salads for breakfast and lunch today, some curried shrimp tonight for supper I think- I have a bunch of garden fresh potatoes and squash and I wanted to serve mine over some steamed cauliflower.

Oh! I forgot that I love curry over cauliflower. Thanks for the reminder. I have half a quart of coconut cream sitting here needing a purpose - think it'll be curry now. DH can have the rest of the leftover rice with it.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

cristeen- sorry that you are having swelling issues and I know the fun of a bruised tailbone(had one after Luke's birth) not cool- that must have been very scary to have it bust on you like that. Not that you have to answer I just thought you have a couple of signs of undiagnosed Celiac (if not at least ncgi) ie inability to lose weight and infertility issues are related to Celiac's. I am sure you probably know that though- just throwing that out there. I hope whatever the issue you are able to resolve it quickly.

Yeah - freaked both me and DH out a bit. I was sitting there and started hearing a hissing, and was just adjusting to stand up when it went *pop* and I landed on my butt and shoulders (I arched my back apparently, willing to take the damage to my head rather than my abdomen). It's a little tender, but not as bad as i was expecting.

I've wondered about celiac a time or two - never enough to do the testing though. Even DH has mentioned it in the past... maybe I should talk to my endo about it.

As for food - I made some chocolate custards this morning. Coconut cream, eggs, a spoon of honey and some unsweetened chocolate. Makes a great snack - being sweet without being *sweet* - rich and full of fat and protein for the baby. Dinner will be a pork roast and I don't know what else yet - although I have a bunch of broccoli in the fridge intended for broccoli salad - it's just a matter of bringing myself to stand for that long.

[BedHead]

My lunch was a very yummy salad with home made dressing - it had half an avocado in it and so has kept me full all afternoon! Normally I get hungry after a couple of hours if I just have salad.

For supper it's just the kids and I so I'm making BBQ'd steaks, grilled asparagus, and salad.