Some Advice and Thoughts on My First Four Weeks Without Ding-Dongs and Macaroni...or "What I Learned By Going Wheatless."
1. The first weeks are the hardest. Walking into a grocery store and seeing all the things you used to indulge in quite happily and are now banned from eating is hard. If you can, avoid the aisles that tempt you most at first, and when you’ve settled in a little bit, you won’t want the Twinkies or the Oreos so much. I’ve been at this a month. It still hurts to walk by the cookie and cracker aisle, but I have to turn my head and look the other way. Remember how sick you get eating those things and they’ll seem less appealing in about three seconds.
2. That said, don’t feel too bad if you crack once or twice, or start crying in front of the flour tortillas in frustration like I did (they don’t make big corn tortillas, probably because they’re more fragile than flour ones. I searched in vain for the big corn tortillas and found I had tears of frustration running down my face.) This is normal. You’re adjusting to a whole new way of living your life. Grief is part of the process.
3. Read your labels, even on things you wouldn’t think have gluten in them. I just found out French-fried onions have wheat flour in them. Unless I find an alternative, I might never eat green-bean casserole again. Soy sauce can be gluten-free but you have to get the right kind.
4. The produce aisle is your new best friend. Fill the space where breads and cakes used to be with apples, oranges, and carrots, etc. I spend most of my shopping dollar in the produce section these days.
5. Avoid the frozen food aisles unless you’re looking for frozen veggies. 95% of the stuff there has gluten in it and you’ll just make yourself miserable. You can have frozen french fries, but again, read the labels. Breaded stuff is out for good unless you bread it yourself and/or know the contents of the breading. It's better that way.
6. Keep it varied. Boredom means you’ll try and sneak Chips Ahoy. Don’t have blueberries every week; swap it off with peaches and then bananas and maybe something new you haven’t tried before. I make it a rule not to have the same produce in my fridge two weeks in a row. Also: experiment and eat new things, try stuff cooked different ways, even if the solution isn't entirely healthy (I haven't fried potatoes in my skillet just yet, but the day is coming when I probably will.)
7. Gluten-free flours, mixes, and other stuff are expensive. You might have to learn to live without pasta and bread for now if your budget doesn’t allow 3 dollar a box noodles.
8. You can have corn, potatoes, beans, and rice…and chow down, because they fill up the empty space a sandwich used to cover and they don’t cost you an arm and a leg. Replace bread with corn tortillas. I found that those with peanut butter are just about as close to fast-food as you’ll get. I can slap three of them together in ten minutes and that’s lunch for me. There are great lentil recipes online; I figured out how to cook them fairly fast and they’re awesome with the right spices.
9. Snacks you can have: I am currently dining on salsa and tortilla chips like there’s no tomorrow. Be careful what kinds you grab, however-I saw some “whole grain” tortilla chips yesterday that had wheat flour. Again, read your labels.
10. Going in a restaurant will be a nightmare for you unless you do your research. Go online and find out if your town lists GF restaurants. Find out if the chain does GF. If they’re not a chain, you may have to ask for special food or special preparation. Don’t be ashamed. You have a problem; it’s up to the staff to accommodate their customer or risk you walking out and going somewhere that will do what you ask.
I hope my experiences can help those starting out with the GF lifestyle. It ain't all bad, you know. I have dropped ten pounds since this lunacy started and I'm eating better than I have before.
But it does take adjustment and a lot of substitution to be able to manage being GF in a world that doesn't bend very much for you. I guarantee if you're reading this, you can find a way. It sucks sometimes, but face it: you either do it a new way or you keep having problems. Which would you prefer?
Ta,
Bec
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