Undecided Tribe

[Teenytoona]

I keep popping into the TF Agrarian Tribe (grain eaters, essentially) and the TF Grain Free Tribes, and reading lots of both. I find myself agreeing with both most of the time, heh. Which makes a fat lot of sense right? I think I agree with Grain Free in theory for myself (since I'm an overweight adult) and Grains in theory for the kids and other adults at a decent weight. I can't give up the concept of grains in my life, but I also can't deny that I lose weight when I go without.

So if you're like me, and undecided, do you want to make it a tribe?

[Holiztic]

I am totally undecided, too. We all went grain free last summer and it gave DS a bad rash from eating too much salt and spices in meat, cheeses, fermented veggies. I am sooo not into making different meals, so I am back on grains.

Not overweight and no known issues with gluten, insulin, gut issues, etc. Grain free just makes sense to me in theory, but then properly prepared grains also seem good in many ways.

For now we're just grain-conscious (not eating them when it makes easy sense to leave them out). So we eat rice a few times a week and 1-2 slices of sourdough bread daily. I use bread crumbs for fried fish and meat loaf. That's it here. I am thinking about making soaked banana bread again as I used to make it weekly and we'd eat it for snack, dessert, whatever.

I'm totally in the middle!

[BedHead]

Grain conscious describes me too. I'm trying to do 100% without right now, but I just can't give up my sourdough bread. It is just TOO good not to eat, and I adore making it. And last night we had quinoa, which may or may not be a grain depending who you talk to. I just can't bring myself to eat oatmeal for breakfast though - that's too much for me.

So yah, I'll join your new tribe

[Holiztic]

Today (big snowstorm) I felt decadent and we had pancakes for breakfast (okay, 3 silver dollar ones with our eggs and sausage) and then I made beer battered cod for lunch.

Normally wouldn't do both in one day.

Do you all do a starch with every meal? Like if no grains, are there potatoes?

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by BedHead

And last night we had quinoa, which may or may not be a grain depending who you talk to.

This blog is technically 'grain free', but utilizes pseudograins like buckwheat and quinoa. May be of interest to in-betweeners.

And I think it's totally fine to just take what works for each of us, from whatever 'tribe' we're in (if it's more than one, good for you if they each serve you!) I don't think anyone must be all the way anything to benefit from reading and sharing about food/nutrition/health/etc. and all of the various perspectives... OTOH, it is always nice to have a place that feels like home...

[rayo de sol]

I wanna join the Undecided Tribe!

I like the idea of grain-free, but I also really like grains in moderation. I eat maybe one serving or less a day.

I don't eat gluten anymore, so when I indulge in grains, I eat buckwheat, rice, quinoa, millet, and amaranth.

[organicmidwestmama]

me too. i'm not "undecided" per sey, more likenot completely fanatically committed to grain-free. i am doin' gluten-free and really feel inspired to do this upon reading these doc's blog- www.paleonu.com, the heart scan blog, reading Good cals, Bad cals by Gary Taubes, and other research i've done. i am generally eating grains maybe a few times a week, in very small quantities, and that includes properly soaked beans. grains i will eat are basically white potatoes, sweet potatoes and white rice. my kids eat some bread, rice crackers and the like.

[BedHead]

I try to stay away from starches too, so if I have potatoes for example I eat very few. Unfortunately I am married to a carboholic who seems to think a great meal is nothing but meat and potatoes. So I usually end up making a protein, a salad, a starch and another hot veggie. We both eat the protein and salad, he eats the starch and I eat the hot veg.

I do eat pulses, I like them quite a bit actually. I try to limit them to once a week, but last week I made a sweet curry chickpea stew that was heavenly and I ended up eating it every day for lunch because no one else liked it.

[wholewheatchick]

been wanting to post here for a while, but in the midst of moving it has been difficult!

Anyway...I eat too many grains, I think. I have some at every meal. Oatmeal for breakfast, beans + grain (millet, rice, barley, etc) for lunch, and then DH is a serious carboholic...it's ridiculous...and so dinner must contain some starch, and I can't really get away with quinoa there (he'd eat white pasta and rice everyday if i let him!) although sometimes I do potatoes.

I do make a conscious effort to only eat wheat once per day, hence the oatmeal and alternative grains for non-dinner meals.

I keep dithering about whether to drop grains at breakfast or at lunch...

[425lisamarie]

Well I'm not undecided, but i don't eat the same way all the time. I'll only post relevant things to the grain free tribe, but it doesn't mean I don't periodically eat them. I do a little oats, kasha, brown rice in smaller amounts. I workout pretty hard, and I've just come to realize no matter if I want to or not, a total "primal" diet just doesn't work all the time for me. I don' t think there is ANY way to try to reproduce a caveman in the modern world.

I eat really low carb for a few days at a time, and then I change things up and eat my regular oats and eggs for breakfast.

I think if you are stressed or feeling undecided you should just stick to a whole foods, whole grain when needed, etc provided you don't have negative reactions to grains. I cannot eat them often, but they do have a place in my diet because I feel better. I did a total strict primal thing for a month, and I lacked some serious energy no matter what, and I ended up gaining a pound or two back which I don't really care about, it was mostly from lack of energy, not food. I couldn't workout the same. It is like night and day for me, being primal VS eating primal plus a few days a week adding some more carbs. I never eat anything processed though, and never gluten/wheat

[MyLilPwny]

I did grain-free for about 3 or 4 weeks and I loved how my stomach became flat (I guess grains cause a bit of bloating in me, which I never would have known without going grain-free). I'm back on grains now, which I seem to only consume when I eat out, but at home I keep it mostly grain-free for myself and opt for vegetables as a replacement. So, I consider myself low-grain now and I'll probably keep it that way. Maybe I'll go grain-free for a few weeks again in the future, but I don't see myself doing it for the rest of my life. I soak brown rice and garbanzo beans for my 2-year old and she likes it with butter and Celtic sea salt and some tomato sauce. Its a way for her to eat butter, which I want her to consume for the fat-soluble vitamins, and she's not too fond of eating green vegetables, even with butter on them.