Things I have discovered since going Gluten Free & losing Weight

Hello everyone

I was sat in bed the other morning thinking about the last few months and I realised how much I have changed my diet and changed within myself since going Gluten Free and also since losing weight.

Chocoholics cold turkey!

I don't need chocolate, I was and always had been a chocoholic.  In honesty I would eat quite a lot of chocolate every day, although I was in denial at the time. I thought that because I ate snack size bars I was ok but in reality I was eating more than one a day! Since going Gluten Free I know I can still eat chocolate but I have just cut down a lot.  I now buy a chocolate bar called Kinnerton Luxury Dark Chocolate, its nut free, dairy free, egg free and of course GF.  Its not as high in calories or fat. So now if I have a day where I really need chocolate then to satisfy my chocolate craving I will have 1-2 squares.  It works out at 132 calories and 7g fat for 6 squares so you can tell its quite low for chocolate!
 

I must admit I no longer crave chocolate like I used to, some days  I can go all day without chocolate.  I could never have done that last year!  I think sometimes we crave things but we don't really need them, its all in the mind.  You can train your body to not crave things like chocolate and cake etc.  

 

 

Gluten free cake/biscuits are not low fat............

 

 

This is a popular misconception...in fact a lot of gluten free food is higher in fat and sugar that's why I tend to stay away from GF cake and GF biscuits...I only have them as a treat.   I rarely eat cake now even GF cake/puddings.  Tesco do a pack of Free From Chocolate Digestives which are so yummy and they are only 2.6g fat and around 60 cals so not so bad but still I don't eat them every day like I used to eat biscuits.

No Carbs before Marbs........................

I know they say 'no carbs before marbs' ha ha and I used to think what rubbish how can bread be bad!  But actually bread is not good at all especially not for me anyway as I have an intolerance to wheat/gluten which was making me ill.  I used to eat a lot of bread. Also Gluten Free bread can be higher in fat although I tend to buy the lower fat bread which is about 99 calories and 1g fat per slice which is the same as normal bread.  GF bread is extremely expensive. Its between £1.50-£2.50 for a small loaf so I tend to not eat too much of it anyway.


Fruit is fab............

I have discovered a love of fruit...I cannot go a day without eating fruit and I my new craving is blackberries!  Never ever thought I would say that!!!  I eat loads more fruit than ever before.  People say fruit is high in sugar...ok so it may be but its still 100 times better than eating sweet/cakes.  Before I cut down I found fruit boring...that was because I mainly force fed myself bananas and apples...what I call 'boring fruit'!  I have discovered delicious fruit like Kiwi, Pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blackberries in fact any berries!

I don't need my cake and eat it...................

I have trained my body to not want cake.  On the team I work on one of the ladies makes incredible cakes, I have tasted them before I was GF and they were so amazing!  I just look at them now and think how amazing they look but I never want a slice.  I know it will give me a stomach ache anyway but also I don't really want a piece, its like I know I don't need it now.  On a Saturday my treat would always be a fresh cream cake or a slice of some sort of cake.  My Saturday afternoon treat now is a slice of Gluten Free bread toasted with blackcurrant jam...I know jam is high in sugar but like I said its a lot better than having a cake and you have to have some treats in life. When we were in Devon I had a Gluten Free Fruit Scone with cream and jam and my gosh it was amazing I actually thought it tasted nice than normal scones.  However, I won't buy or make them a home because I don't want to get into a trap of eating things like that all the time.  I suppose I have more willpower now than previously. 

Saturday Night No Takeaway

I don't eat takeaways at all!! I am the first to admit I loved takeaways.  Chinese curry & egg fried rice, pie and chips I loved it all.  I am not going to lie and say I don't miss them as in all honesty I do miss a chinese curry and chips/rice. The thing is I look on it like this..........

A) it will give me a tummy ache or could make me ill

B) After I ate them in past I always felt greasy and unhealthy 

C) I can have egg and chips at home.  Or I can make my own curry with rice.  Mccain oven chips are lush and I do love eggs so there is an alternative! You can also have GF pizza.  Pizza Hut now do GF pizza and I admit Mike and I often go to Bella Italia,  They do GF pizza and pasta.....yummy.

The greatest achievement for me is ................

 

I feel better about my body and ultimately this is one hell of a achievement for me as I am hard on myself about how I look and always have been.  I admit I do have some sort of body dysmorphia as people have always been very positive about how I look but I don't think I will ever love myself, however losing weight has definitely helped how I feel.  I am not saying that everyone who is a size 10 will be happier but for me it does mean that I can look in the mirror in just my bra and pants (something I avoided before) and I can see positives. I also love being able to go into a shop picking up a size 10 and knowing 9 times out of 10 it will fit.  I am going out now without a cardigan, something I never did before as I hated my arms plus I hated my back fat.  I do feel a lot more confident and I will never go back to my old weight. 

I have some photos I took of me in my old dresses and you can see how loose they are.  I may post these some time soon so I look at what I have achieved

Anyway I hope this post has been interesting its certainly made me realise how much I have changed.

Lisa-Jane

xx