To say eating gluten free food sucks

[Stickseas0n]

It's been a month since I was diagnosed and I'm so miserable as I'm so hungry.
Not to mention how expensive it is for much smaller portions.
I've gained so much weight in the month, my iron is low as shit, I'm struggling at work because as soon as I eat any foods I'm on the toilet.
I'm just so fed up

There's a national difference of the sausage front, Ireland here, did a recce, all the sausages in Lidl - de Luxe, Clonakilty and the others, and all in Aldi except their own g-f, had wheat rusk. So keep reading the labels,

Totally understand as it means a total change in mindset. I felt completely overwhelmed initially but some relatives have coeliac disease too so they really helped with advice. Your intestine is still recovering but for the first time in years, my iron levels are normal. You will adjust, a month is still early days but you will start to find stuff you can eat and get used to it. (I still have an occasional meltdown in bakeries 😂) Do your research - Facebook pages like Coeliacs eat out too and Coeliacs abroad are really helpful. Becky Excel is the goddess of GF cookbooks. Most recipes can be adapted - use cornflour instead of plain in sauces etc. Add a tiny bit of xantham gum to cakes with GF flour to hold them together.
If you are going somewhere, use the app Find me Gluten free - it gives you restaurants and cafes in the area that offer gluten free. Accept your menu will be smaller and you might have to expand your palate. Always have a snack with you even if it's just a cereal bar or chocolate bar.
Always tell the waiting staff and ask re cross contamination - shared fryers might mean you have a baked potato instead of chips. If the staff have no idea what you are talking about, ask the manager or leave!
I have coeliac disease diagnosed 2 years ago. Other than bread and occasional biscuits, I dont really buy specific gluten free food as it's expensive and full of rubbish and usually tastes a bit crap. Warburton's is about the best. M&S GF shortbread biscuits are nice.
It does take a change in mindset - I have to take my reading glasses everywhere so I can check labels! Check every time even if you've bought it before as ingredients change. Stock cubes, gravy granules, chocolate bars are a few things that can catch you out. I also avoid may contain. I cook from scratch so i know whats in everything (still mess up occasionally eg wrong stock cubes) My kids and husband all read the labels too.I have separate toaster and chopping board at home.
Meat, fish, fruit, veg, pulses all naturally GF. Meal plan the week so you don't end up with nothing to eat.
Aldi sausages and chipolatas are GF ( their special range) Chocolate is good too.
I have a list of restaurants and cafes in each place I visit in my phone I can eat safely at - Nandos, pizza express, Bills, Wagamama plus independent cafes often do GF cakes.
It will become easier.

I agree, it does suck! I've been gluten free for just over a year now and I did find it really tough at first. I mostly shop and Asda and aldi and surprised to find a lot of their stuff (not labelled gluten free) are naturally gluten free.

Most of aldi crisps are gluten free where the branded versions are not. Their tempura chicken is gluten free, they do nuggets and mini fillets. Asda have the best range of sausages as most of them are gluten free. Just because it doesn't say gluten free on the packaging, doesn't always mean it isn't. Be sure to check for wheat, barley and rye as we can't have any of that.

Asda do a really nice gluten free frozen pizza. I jazz it up by adding my own toppings.

A lot of it is trial and error. Some gf products are alright, some are truly awful. I've yet to find decent cake! Either too stodgy or too dry. Try and pick one new thing a week snack wise if convenience food is what you are missing. I started rating things every week till I found the things I liked. I highly rate asda jammy wheels (like jammy dodgers). Asda Free from range is sometimes better than the branded ones (like schar...those prices are extaustionate!). I have heard M&S have a really good range but yet to try.

Same here.

My tip is to avoid 'gluten free' processed food as much as possible.
Tesco sausages are gluten free. At least, the ones from the finest range are.
I don't bother with gf bread, ever, but I've occasionally made linseed bread. It's a bit too moreish to have too often though.

Quinoa is naturally gluten free. I only just discovered this!

Snacks here are mixed nuts and dark chocolate. Full fat greek yogurt with grated choc, chopped fruit and a teaspoon of ground flaxseed is delicious and very sustaining.

There a quite a lot of gluten free cooking blogs about. You'll get used to it and probably feel better than ever, but the transition is hard!

I'm intolerant rather than coeliac so I can have traces and the occasional sneaky bread but there's so much that's gluten free - potatoes so as long as you avoid pastry most English food is fine (buy gluten free stock cubes, and you can make great dumplings from chickpea flour and suet). Ditto French food, Spanish is easily adapted too. We eat Asian food at least half the week anyway, rice noodles of course are fine, chickpea flour chapattis. Rice, in all its forms is fine... it's really bread and pasta, it sucks as bread is the best but plenty is fine

Tesco frozen cocktail sausages are gluten free. Great for parties , gluten free alternatives often just don't match up, the old el paso fajita kits come in glutenfree . The trick to this is to read the ingredients on everything it takes a while but once you get in the habit it gets easier.

Haven't read all replies so will go back, I got very overwhelmed after posting so only just back to respond.
Thank you all for being nice and not judging my very poor diet.
It's been a very rubbish month, I was diagnosed with very low iron while being diagnosed with coeliac, I was only pointing it out as I find standing for long periods of time to make everything from scratch, very exhausting.
Before being diagnosed I went through about 13 days of constant V&D symptoms(which what led me going to my Dr in the first place) now whenever I have any foods, gf or not, it's going back through me. I'm not sure what's happening to me to be quite honest. I'm exhausted and irritable.
I'm so bloated and sore, my clothes don't fit me and I can't really afford to keep buying more. My skin breaks out all the time, I was already battling depression but now I feel even worse. My mh has taken a battering and I don't really have anybody in real life that understands.
But I'm not sure if that's related or not, just feeling very sorry for myself.

Basically fruits and veg are very limited, I know someone said ill just have to get used to them but I've been a picky eater for so long it's hard to change it around. I like grapes, banana, pear. Veg wise is carrots, sweetcorn and onion.

Pre diagnosis meals aren't all that different from now, I'm just finding the constant sameness a struggle. Spaghetti bol, chicken & rice, sausage, bean & pasta bake, mince & rice/tatties.
(Pre diagnosed) Lots of ready meals when I'm at work, cuppa soups, pot noodles - now I just have nothing.

Tesco do a couple of gf pot lunch type things and have a look at Zenb as they do as well .Bol also do some pot lunches that are gf , you just need to read labels in the supermarket, after a while it becomes second nature .

@Stickseas0n do you eat a lot of dairy?
Try to avoid that for a few weeks or limit your intake that can cause massive bloating and issues and dairy intolerance goes hand in hand

🤯🤯🤯
I do have a cuppa now and again, and love nothing more than a cold glass of milk.

Heck sausages are gluten free

I went to Sainsbury's today, my nearest one is an hour away and was disappointed but I found these and omg they are so nice!! I wish I got more now 😂

Chicken stir fry ..chicken casserole homemade ..just get glutten free stock cubes ..my sis makes her own glutten free cakes ..banannas ..etc

Tesco have gluten free pot noodles, also you can get really thing rice noodles that basically just need hot water and you can add whatever to it, I have a one with just stock and peas sometimes. There’s defs gluten free cup a soups.
have some time in a supermarket and really mooch the aisle, when I first got diagnosed I went late at night and spent hours looking at the back of labels for alternatives and it really gives you confidence to know there are options.

for getting used to veg are you open to them blended into pasta sauces etc? I also had very low iron at the beginning of this year a combination of iron supplements and really trying to pack leafy green veg into as much as I could helped bring it up, it really makes a difference when your levels are back up to normal.

get the free gf trial boxes and see what breads etc you like.

So the low iron is going to make you feel rubbish. Giving up gluten is going to help you long term to build up your iron again. You're not there yet, but you are closer than you were pre-diagnosis.

Like @NailsHairNipsHeels and others have mentioned the milk could be part of the problem at the moment.

You will feel better when you have sorted some lunches. A lot of Covent Garden soups and I think tinned soups are non-gluten-containing although do check. I'm on a big HM leek and potato soup kick at the moment. Before that it was jacket potatoes, scrambled egg burritos with cheese and BBQ sauce,

Which shop is easiest to get to for you?

Lunch - soup and noodles, from tesco
CupaSoup and rice noodles

Did the doctor give you some iron tablets?
Do you take a multi-vit?

One thing to be aware of, DH found this out the hard way, psyllium husk is not digestible for everyone. For some it can be very unpleasant. Some GF foods contain a lot some far less. If you are drawn to GF biscuits, breads and similar consider if you might have simply overloaded an already unhappy gut with too much of a new food or if you might be sensitive to the stuff. It is not added to none GF food so it can be a shock to the system when you have to crash straight into a GF diet. It can have a laxative effect and cause bloating and related gut fun if you are sensitive to it.

That was/is true for me - Obviously rice and potatoes and natural non-gluten things like buckwheat and gram flour are fine, but psyllium and also that gum that is in a lot of sweet stuff can be catastrophic.

OP, if standing in the kitchen during food prep is too much, have you space for a folding stool? Also what kitchen kit do you have - a microwave is great as a quick way of cooking potatoes for mash, or of pre-cooking potatoes to finish off in the oven. Also for stewed apples - cut them up and put them in the dish you're going to eat them out of, zap for 3-5 minutes. Great for breakfast and very good for re-balancing your gut.

They advise that their gluten free pizza is not suitable for coeliacs

Correct, they use flour in the kitchens. it stays airborne and can easily cross contaminate GF pizza bases that are almost always bought in ready made. They may be suitable for those intolerant to gluten but certainly not for coeliacs and those with a significant allergy to gluten. Its always wise to check if a takeaway is recommended by the local coeliac society.

What’s your regular supermarket?

Asda and Tesco are both very good, my Morrisons is hit or miss but they did have gf pizza bases at the pizza counter today so I have pepperoni pizza and garlic bread while everyone has takeaway pizza! 😅

there’s lots of cuppa soups, tinned soups, ready meals and rice pots (I can’t get away with rice noodle pots, they always turn slimy!)

like a pp said go to your regular supermarket and look at everything you normally buy, check the labels and look for alternatives. Often own brand stuff is gluten free.

my skin was terrible too, I understand how your feeling. It took about 4 weeks for me to feel better and my skin to clear up.

you need to try and eat regular meals, your gut is healing and if your going hungry then eating it won’t be working properly.

have you been referred to a dietician?

My sister makes the most amazing gluten free Yorkshire puddings..
I can't tell the difference.
She bakes gluten free cakes/ pastries / cookies.
Batter for fish etc.

Highly recommend Becky excells books

Usually Asda or Tesco, Morrisons is quite out of the way too
I was referred through GP but that was over a month ago so not sure what happened there
Made a very basic gf curry, no cross contamination at all but I've been stuck on the toilet for the past hour. I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem at the same time so I don't actually know what is causing the issue anymore.
Was given antidepressants at the same time but have had the good sense not to start them yet as I can't pinpoint what is making me feel so rubbish and sick

Did your curry have dairy in? You might need to try cutting lactose too, it’s so hard and you will feel deprived but honestly when you feel better nothing is worth eating that makes you feel like that so it does get easier to stick with it! What else have you eaten today? I’m Sending virtual hugs!!! I wish could send Peppermint tea and Imodium!!