Has anyone gone grain free?

[Persephone]

If so, how do you do it? What are your typical breakfasts? Lunches? Dinners? Snacks? I really really think this is what I need to do to lose weight (and i have a lot to lose), but I really don't know HOW. It seems that even when I eat fat, I don't feel full without SOME grains- I can have a roast chicken and two veggie sides for dinner, and eat nearly the whole chicken, or eat a normal amount, and then feel hungry 20 mins later.

[quietserena]

I've gone gluten free and corn free because I've realized I react to those foods. Here's a typical daily menu for me:

Breakfast and morning snack: (I just take a looong time to eat breakfast)
fried eggs
kefir smoothie
piece of fruit

Lunch:
big salad with cheese and good high fat dressing

Dinner:
Chili

Evening snack:
Cheese and dried fruit

I do eat some rice and quinoa and occasionally oats but usually I keep those out too.

I did realize that after a few days with little to no grains, I found myself craving them less. There's a detox stage, I think when your body just screams for the food you're sensitive to. I'm still going through it with corn actually. Mexican food calls to me loudly. Once you're over it, you realize it just isn't that important anymore. If that makes sense.

Going extra on fat helped me get over the hump of eliminating gluten grains. Also realizing that if I make a mistake, I just pick up where I left off and not use it to gorge on whatever food I'm supposed to be staying away from.

[cristeen]

There's a grain-free thread around here somewhere... I'll see if I can find it and bump it up.

The key to going grain-free IMO is also removing sugar. They both cause similar bodily reactions, and doing one without the other doesn't really resolve the underlying problem. There is also a detox period associated with going grain-free... during that period you can expect to be ravenous and want to eat everything in sight. That period usually lasts about a week, during which I encourage you to eat protein and healthy fats to satisfy the cravings. Keep lots of snacks on hand for this detox period. Once you're past that first week the hunger will drop off and you will be eating (generally) less than you were before you started the journey.

As to what we eat, our weekday breakfasts are fairly fixed... I eat egg custards every morning, DH eats corned beef hash with eggs (he likes a hot breakfast). My lunch is also pretty fixed, salad with some source of protein (usually leftover meat, maybe some cheese or nuts), a cup of yogurt (homemade), fruits, veggies, cheese, maybe some PB. DH's lunches are a little more varied. He will usually get leftover veggie/meat (he's not fond of salads), then yogurt, fruits and veggies, cheese and nuts. Dinner is a meat and at least one veggie.

For instance, last night's dinner was lamb steaks with pesto and roasted corn. The night before was lamb meatballs with yogurt sauce and broccoli. Before that was a tropical chicken salad (green salad with chicken, bananas, peanuts, coconut... we were having a heat wave). Tonight will probably be roast chicken now that the heat has broken and I can turn the oven on.

HTH

[gardenmommy]

I've done it several times, and it did help me to lose weight. I agree with cristeen that it is much easier to cut out sugar at the same time; you will find it easier to lose weight when you do that, too, IMO.

Here is what I eat:
Breakfast:

Eggs (scrambled, fried, soft-boiled, hard-boiled, quiche, frittata, etc.)
Cheese (usually combined with the egg)
Sausage or some other meat (again, usually combined with the egg)

Smoothies (yogurt or kefir, fruit, veggies, coconut oil, protein powder)


Lunch:
Soups of all kinds, but esp. those that include broth and a meat with lots of veggies.
Salads with eggs, meat, and cheese (maybe not all three protein sources, but at least one or two), lots of veggies (peppers, peas, avocado, tomatoes, apples, mushrooms, etc.)
Smoothies
Leftovers from a previous meal


Dinner:
Beef, lamb, chicken prepared in a variety of ways
Lots of veggies
Salads
Soups
Stews
Quiches

Snacks:
Nuts,
Jerky
Frozen berries (by themselves or with some cream)
Ice cream (homemade, very low sugar, so technically not sugar-free, the fat helps with cravings, though; not every day)
Cheesecake (same idea as ice cream)
Hard-boiled eggs
For in the car, I like the bars from perfect weight america, or larabars (not totally sugar-free, but they don't set off cravings in me; it is better than stopping at a fast-food joint, IMO)
Apples
Grapefruit


I agree that there is a "detox" period with grain-free. Once you get past the first week or so (maybe longer or shorter, ymmv), it really isn't too hard. I find that the key, for me at least, is to eat plenty of protein, fat, and veggies, and to eat often enough. 3 squares aren't enough for me, I have to eat like 6 or 8 small meals per day initially, and then I get to where I can almost eat 2 meals and a snack.

I am at the point where I can do small grain meals with no problem (I can tell when I've overdone it by the yucky feeling I get in my throat). It has taken awhile, but I can go days without grains or sugar and I feel great. Definitely check out the grain-free thread, as it has a lot of good info. I will say that it is much easier for me to just skip the grains than to try to sub out acceptable foods in baking. I can't really afford the substitutions, and my family isn't very accepting of them anyway.

[Persephone]

How many calories do you grain free women usually eat? I know most probably aren't counting calories, but your best guess?

I actually did quite well when I only ate sprouted grains- I think I'm sensitive to gluten, but it seems to go in phases- sometimes I can eat a speck and be really sick, and sometimes I can eat a sandwich (regular storebought whole wheat) and not really have a reaction.

Sugar free- duly noted! I have been meaning to do sugar free anyway, but you know, I think sugar is a REAL addiction. It's not just something you can shake, and it's so insidious. It's in everything! (And I mostly get unprocessed food and make everything from scratch!) I don't have any sugar in the house anymore- no honey, maple syrup, nothing. I'm out, and haven't bought more. Just some stevia. It'll be REAL interesting, as this is the first day of af!