What are your Gluten Free New Year Resolutions?

[FionaGFG]

Have you all recovered from the Xmas parties and flurry of Xmas shopping and Sales?

If so how did you get on? Did you manage to create your first yummy gluten free Xmas as Miss C did? Or did you discover that your jeans were suddenly a lot tighter?

Coeliac Food support:

A re-occurring point on our Facebook page is the issues many Coeliacs face with weight loss or gain after going gluten free. Personally as a relatively asymptomatic Coeliac who wasn't a 'skinny minnie' before diagnosis I was hoping that the ole 'gluten free life long food diet' would offset the hassle of reading every drink and food label for ever more....How naive was I?

My sister and I have both learnt over the last few years that being gluten free can mean your weight fluctuates. We were mulling over a Xmas gf mince pie or two (thank you M&S!), why there isn't more guidance for Coeliacs - both when they first get diagnosed on the diet ref the food planning plus the social impacts of being a Coeliac. Yes we all know we get to see a dietitian after the endo is positive. Yet this is often so long after that you were probably like us and had mastered the art of label reading, signed up to Coeliac UK, and googled gluten free and Coeliac until your eyes were square. What seems to be lacking is a 'Coeliac Buddy', food planner and tips on how to eat gluten free yet not increase your fat, sugar and salt intake. Even many Coeliacs who don't eat processed gf foods still put on weight after going gluten free. Could it be we over eat as we feel we're missing out on other foods? Or is it simply that we are now absorbing foods properly? For some, like my sister it's actually that there is also another underlying problem 'welcome Mr Hashimoto's Thyroid'. So if you do exercise, eat well, drink low amounts of alcohol and are continuing to gain weight it's worth mentioning it at your next Coeliac check up. A simple blood test can help identify any hormonal or thyroid problems.

So in the long tradition of good communications pledging to aid behaviour change I am going to share my gf New Year resolutions. Once I've pledged and shared these with you I have to stick to them...so here goes.

Why not join in and share your pledges and we can join in the NY fun and compare notes?

2011: I will.....

> create a weekly food planner of healthy gluten free meals for under £30 a week

... and stick to it for Jan and then review it

...I will share any good 'concoctions' on here and detail the calories etc to help pass on the good ones to other Coeliacs

>not buy any pre-made gluten free food (apart from gf bread and Yorkshire puddings *sigh*)

... I will smile as I pass by my favourite gf temptation and smile saintly safe in the knowledge I am not eating ridiculous amounts of fat, salt, sugar (why oh why has the organic/ healthy eating movement not reached gluten free foods yet - hmmmmm)

>experiment with my prescription food choices to ensure I find bread, pasta and flour for baking that I truly love and will use

...I'll keep note of the duff items and will hand in a pre-typed list with notes of why I want to alter the prescription to my GP, and I will aim to do this each month instead of feeling like a fool for ordering food from my GP

>not eat chocolate/ Doritos/ Cheese and secretly justify doing so as there is so much I can't eat

...I eat more of these now than I ever did before being gluten free - it's mind over matter

...I will reach for the tangerines, grapes etc instead

> I will try and eat Quinoa at least once a week and won't give up if I bodge up the cooking again...

> I will master making my own onion bhajis !

> I will revitalise my lifelong desire to eat 2 pieces of fruit and veg a day

...I will not try and fruit juice as one portion - I will aim for real big portions

...I hate salads - yet will find some great Jamie Oliver ones to inspire me

> I will attempt my Davina exercise DVD that has lain unwrapped since my last NY health kick

...I will not feel like a twat whilst trying to be 'healthy', I may talk to the TV...

>If I eat out I will adopt a Spooks stylee approach and plan it like a military operation

..menu check, ring ahead

...I will reward gluten free friendly places with my loyalty and thank staff and write to the head offices to reinforce there is a market for gluten free eating and labelled menus (and staff training!)

...well done Nandos, Leon, Carluccios, Bruschetta (Kingston), Starbucks

> I will strongly consider giving up wine....by Feb...

after all I've still got until the Chinese New Year haven't I?!

TELL US:

What your Gluten Free New Year resolutions are?

I will pledge to....

?

If you're looking for a gluten free buddy - why not ask a question on the helpvine and see if other members will volunteer to help you. Or post up foods you miss/ what you are struggling with and we'll aim to pass on our tips and experience.

[VickiK]

I don't make resolutions generally, it's been pointed out that I have ODD... that's oppositional defiance disorder - seems I have trouble with authority ie bossy me saying "do this" and unco-operative me saying GET F$%&@D. So instead of resolving to do things and dealing with inner conflict I'm just doing them

I've decided to keep a better store cupboard of food - being on a constant food hunt just pisses me off.

I've made a recipe book from some of the lovely blogs with stunning GF options. I'm happy to share of course.

I've cut out all processed foods except muesli but I've bought the ingredients to start making my own - hence the recipe book. Which is now in powerpoint form and since I got a digital photo frame for Christmas I'm hoping technology will allow me to cook using that.

I'm back on the cutting out sugar, coffee and alcohol bandwagon except on special occasions... there's no point being silly with it.

I'm drinking a lot of water of the high PH variety, which indicates I'm either easily lead or I'll try anything ...or both.

I have no idea what to do about the weight gain. I got glutened in October and hardly ate for 10 days and still put on weight. I've had my thyroid checked so many times it's getting indignant. Maybe the malabsorption has been my friend for years. Or maybe I should try this exercise thing. There's a coastal walkway at the end of my street that's goes from one end of the city to the other or so I've been told. Other people seem to like it. I've never got past the coffee caravan. I might find some of those endorphins there, my dog will pick up anything.

Oh and Fi, wine is full of sugar which is generally bad for everything. I'm planning on soda with loads of ice, limes (which are acidic but in a neat trick process to alkaline) and a large splash of white rum ...Hola mojito! Fruit is a villain is sheeps clothing, your 5+ a day should be more veges AND (of course there's more) fruit juice is the sugar part of fruit without the goodness of the fibre - or so I've been told. Being virtuous is bloody hard work.

[FionaGFG Administrator]

Ah so true VickiK. I normally don't bother but as 2010 was such a dire year I am taking one of my other resolutions (write more lists) and using this to ensure I stick to them. I'll keep the totally nuts ones to myself.

I think the crux of being a Coeliac may also be whether you are an naturally a planner or naturally a spontaneous type. After all going gluten free is a pretty radical life change. Where else would you be confronted at least 3 times a day with a reminder of what you need to do (aka meal times), have to grill each waiter or work caterer, continually have to explain why you are asking 'odd' questions? Not to mention the 'food porn' on TV (shocking business!) and in magazines. I suspect I have started watching Celebrity Chef food shows just to drawl over the food in all it's rich variety. Whereas when I eat out I am no longer 'reading the menu' yet mentally analysing where a) the hidden gluten maybe and b) where the cross contamination risk maybe. Recently it was only as I knew my diner well that I actually doubled checked that the gluten free risotto did use a gluten free stock...only for the Manager to come back looking sheepish and explain the chef had merrily been using some old stock! Thankfully the manager did check in advance (and didn't just brush me off as a food fad nut - I guess not being a skinny minnie Coeliac does pay off at times), and she apoligised and explained the chef had now thrown all that away. I guess if I didn't have some Irish roots and 'gift of the gab' I never would've known. My point being - that if you weren't a forward planner type pre CD then it's a lot harder afterwards. I still forget to take snacks with me. I've found a bottle of water and the odd fruit stall can be dead handy.

I agree that cutting out processed foods really works. It was only at Xmas that I caved in. Even now I'd rather make a curry from scratch than use a ready made jar. The plus side is I've learnt to cook and have discovered so many new foods and flavours. I've even forced myself to eat foods I hated before (mushrooms and beetroot!) and found them bearable just to add variety.

I need to follow your suit on cutting out more sugars. I only have OJ with my iron supplements (helps absorption), yet suspect my coffee intake lets me down!

The weight gain is a bugger. Looks like plain old portion size, healthy low fat foods and exercise is the trick. Who knew eh? I know I tend to have extreme cravings for chocolate and cheese (which I hated before CD). I read somewhere that gluten bread has some kinda feel good factor chemical and that chocolate and other items mimic that. So maybe we're treating ourselves to other items to make up for the bread loss? Although I'm only really craving Peshwari naans and Garlic bread.

Wine has so many calories. I think you've nearly hooked me onto the soda mojitos! Let me know how the 'walk' goes. Take some pics and post them up. You may inspire others with this new walking craze.

Being virtuous maybe too high an aim. Maybe being healthy & gluten free is simpler. After all a glass of red wine and chocolate is good for us isn't it?