To say eating gluten free food sucks

That sounds rotten. A month in you should be feeling better, not worse.

Possibly unhelpful but I gave up dairy for a couple of months in the beginning, which I think helped the digestives symptoms a tonne. I can eat it fine now my system has adjusted.

Generally I don't think too much about main meals. Pasta I swap for GF pasta, rice and potatoes are obviously fine. Tamari, GF Worcestershire sauce, wine vinegar instead of the usual versions. I always keep GF biscuits and some crisps in so I am not tempted to cheat. Sausages are usually GF, especially if you go for the premium range.

Lunches have been trickier for me. I have never really liked GF bread so finding non-bread lunches that I positively look forward to has been key. I can't ever look forward to a GF sandwich. At the moment I'm in a soup phase which I have with a little pack of GF crackers. Domino's for takeaway.

If you tell us what you like we might be able to suggest safe alternatives or easy recipes. It’s a massive change but if you concentrate on what you can eat instead of what you can’t it makes the transition easier.

ive had a chicken tikka masala ready meal tonight with chips - processed but it’s Friday and it’s been a long week! Followed by a slice of m&s Victoria sponge.

i find the m&s brown bloomer the best for sandwich’s, its expensive so I only use it for work a couple of days a week.

there are lots of easy swaps you can make at first as you get used to it, have a look at Becky Excell, she’s got loads of recipes online, she replicates almost everything. You might feel overwhelmed just now but keep researching and reading and you’ll find inspiration.

theres loads of people on here who will help too.

it gets easier, i promise 💐

ASDA

Could you give us some idea of your preferred meals, pre diagnosis, and maybe we can come up with some suggestions or work arounds?

My daughter was diagnosed as coeliac when she was four, and we came over here six years ago - to be honest, one of the pro's which influenced our move was how good the gf offerings were over here!

The M&S free from flours are next level, as are their pastas.

I'm sorry WHAT?????!!! MALTEASERS?!?!?! NOOOOO. Explain. I've an allergy/intolerance rather than celiac but I really need to stay away from the stuff. You are breaking my heart. My heart has broken several times over (pringles was one, but they apparently changed the recipe anyway and are now shit. Garlic bread is a major)

Exactly. There is no reason why being gluten free should bring down your iron levels. If anything all the healthy food you are now eating should bring them up.

But for somebody who is new to it, they'll see

Bisto Gluten free - £6.50
Rice contaminated in the factory
Sauces containing gluten
Lentils contaminated in the factory
The price of gluten free tempura batter or having to buy GF flour/GF cornflour
The price of Tamari instead of soy sauce
The price of GF sausages compared to Richmond
Having to search for oven chips not covered in wheatflour

etc.

It is stupidly expensive once you get past the jacket potato (watch out for the beans and sausages because they've changed the recipe) and GF labelled rice with everything, never mind the emotional impact of finding out that 90% of the supermarket is off limits with what's left being raw vegetables or stupid prices if they just want to have a biscuit. I eat a fair amount of GF pasta because I like it (just as well, really), but the difference between 75p for a packet of linguine and £3+ adds up very quickly when it's practically everything that passes your lips.

Once you get the hang of it, all you have to worry about is the product recalls two months after you've been doubled up, the cost and never being able to think 'oh, I'll just grab something whilst I'm out'.

Look out for a beautiful gluten free multi grain loaf by Promise. I buy mine from Morrisons, approximately £3.60 a loaf, it’s the closest to normal bread and makes a lovely sandwich.p.s the white loaf isn’t much cop.

It does gets easier, I have to cook mostly from scratch, which isn’t such a bad thing, although time consuming.

It's a massive adjustment. I felt like I was told to give up 100 of my favourite foods all at once. And yes I did go hungry sometimes at the beginning or when out and about. Hope you find some more foods you like soon.

The breads are rubbish, I’ve moved to potatoes, rice, gluten free grains for my carb hits. What did you used to eat to keep your iron up? High iron foods tend to be gluten free?

Maybe you should look at that in a new way? It will make cooking easier for you.

I honestly don't understand. I just moved out of a house with a gluten-intolerant person who lived there. Also we travelled together (for work) so I know a bit about her meals abroad.

She loved bread & missed it.
Accidently eating gluten hugely sucked, that's true, it made her quite ill.

But her diet otherwise was great! Lots of choices.

Would you eat rice & stir fry veg ?
Are you fine to still eat milk products or meat & eggs ?
Can you learn to make your own cake using safe ingredients?

I hear you with the cost...

I find gf pasta fine taste wise, you just need to make sure the water is boiling when you add it and be careful not to let it cook too long or sit in tepid water or it'll go gloopy. If you're doing gf spaghetti, you need to separate it with a fork a couple of minutes after it's gone into the pan or it clumps together.

Gf bread is not great, you definitely find the most expensive (promise) is much nicer than the (somewhat) cheaper supermarket brands. All gf bread is much better toasted than as bread.

You can get gf chocolate digestives which I happily eat!

Where I live, there's a local gf/coeliac facebook group and that's great for tips on new products, special offers in the supermarkets, eating out ideas etc. There might be similar where you live?

I'm sorry but you'll just have to learn to like them. Processed foods are horrendous for your health. Think of your new diet as being one that will help prevent cancer and heart disease etc.

Kindly OP, thats probably the issue. Its fairly easy to follow a GF diet if you minimise processed food, and a lot of supermarkets now offer some really good alternatives (Tescos GF pasta is really good, and less than a £1 a bag).

It'll take a while for you to adjust but it will get easier, I promise!

Why don't you say what you do like and we can try and recommend safe alternatives?

Which supermarkets do you use?
We can be helpful.

Lots of people put on a bit of weight when they do GF. Once you stomach starts working properly, you stop suffering from malnutrition.

As someone else said don't try and eat what you ate before, look at it with fresh eyes, apart from, most substitutes are horrible. Go for potatoes, rice, brown, red, carmargue, and quinoa. In terms of snacks, nuts or cheese and GF oatcakes.

Lots of the supermarket best ranges of sausages are GF. They’re not particularly labelled as such, you have to check.

Agree that naturally gluten free is the best way. The convenience foods are shit. But then I think the same of non-GF convenience foods.

M&s do GF chicken nugget/fillet type things which are ok (in the fresh section)

Tesco finest sausages are gf and very nice . Promise bread is the best type and they also now do English muffins which are really good . It’s early days and honestly you get used to it and it’s so much easier now than when my daughter was diagnosed 14 yrs ago . We all eat mainly gf now except the odd ready meal and snacks / puddings for my husband .

Eating out can be a PITA but eating at home really shouldn't be too onerous after you've made a few storecupboard switches. It will be different for everyone but my main ones have been:

Tamari for soy sauce
GF stock pots for stock cubes
Henderson's Relish for Lea and Perrins

GF pasta for regular (look for Italian brands, this is something worth paying extra for!)

There are loads of GF breakfast cereals and breads and you will have to do trial and error as everyone's tastes are different. I find the Warburtons GF pittas to be extremely versatile and they freeze well. Their seeded sliced loaf makes decent toast.

It gets better.
A month is a short time to get used to a new way. It's a new mindset.

I haven't eaten gluten/diary for 40 years. I don't buy a lot of 'special free food' but go for unprocessed food, fruit, vegs, eggs, nuts, rice, meat. Sometimes I do buy pasta.

You can learn to bake quite a lot of glutenfree bread, cake and snacks.

You can explore different kitchens and find your favorites. I do online cooking courses. FB has groups with a lot of sharing how to cook glutenfree.

But it takes time and some work.

Nairns GF Chocolate Chip biscuits make a reasonable close to a plain choclate digestive. lower sugar too. I suggest BCC Good Food gluten free recipes that are easy to follow and DK Gluten Free Cook Book as it’s nice simple to follow recipes. www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241185674-the-gluten-free-cookbook/ Buying ready made gluten free is more expensive considerably so, supermarket ready meals are very expensive and rather processed. I batch cook and freeze so I always have a freezer ready meal to go. It takes time to adjust but you will get there. the Cealiacs Sanctuary gives lists of safer places to eat out than most. be careful, if you are severely affected only use cealiac society/ sanctuary listed outlets. Gluten is air borne and easily cross contaminates in restaurants, bakeries and similar outlets.

You shouldn’t be hungry, it doesn’t take a lot of adjustment
Loads of sausages are gluten free - look at supermarkets own ones. Lidls and Tesco ones are nice.
Schar crispbreads are £1.50 or less a box and make a great snack with cheese/ham etc
Potato waffles are a good alternative to toast if you want eggs on them (and can be cooked in the toaster)
Sainsbury’s and Asda have packs of gluten free pasta for less than £1
Bread is the only real problem. M&S tiger bread is the nicest we’ve found but it’s expensive so we don’t have it very often.
Today we have had:
Greek yoghurt with granola and berries for breakfast
Baked potato with cheese and beans for lunch
chicken and bacon pasta bake for dinner

tomorrow will be a brunch fry up and salmon, baby potatoes and sweetcorn for dinner
Sunday will be omelettes for breakfast, crisp breads with cheese and tomato’s for lunch and a full roast dinner. Gravy and Yorkshires will be gluten free, everything else just normal.

yes, you do have to plan but you can eat loads still