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Alright, yes, I am currently existing, during the day anyway, exclusively on Zone bars (well bar) in order to shed some pounds that seem to have piled up during the miserable June weather we experienced.  Of course, I thought I would relate it to my personal gluten free experience, quelle surprise!

When I was a Celiac living as a non-Celiac (meaning did not have an explanation let alone a diagnosis for Celiac disease) I was thin.  No, I mean really thin – think emaciated.  I am not kidding.  I would eat and eat and could not understand (nor did any medical professional at the time) why I seemed to have trouble actually putting on weight.  Remember, this was a time before Celiac came into vogue as it has of late.

I digress…fast forward to five or six years ago when I was actually diagnosed and changed my diet.  Enter the pounds…and pounds…and well, you get the idea.  Now that my digestive system was on the mend, I was absorbing nutrients correctly and it seemed like my body was making up for lost time.  I was also naïve at the time and would just find GF replacements and hoover them down not really bothering to look at the calorie counts.  This would be a lesson soon learned.

As I continued on through my GF journey, I became more aware or labels not just for ingredients but for calorie content.  I was amazed at how the GF replacements were oftentimes significantly higher in calories than their non-GF counterparts.  That coupled with the fact that I was over compensating for my loss of gluten-filled treats by eating every (though limited selection in the early days) GF treat I could find.

Now you will always find me looking at labels on all of the GF purchases I make to get a feel of the damage I am doing to my waistline.  This allows me to plan accordingly and eat smart – particularly when I want to indulge in sweet treats.
 


Comments

Lori Baird-Turner

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:13:46

Hi Mike. I am loving the blog. Went through your top 10 and am really enjoying your humor and the reality of life lived GF from your perspective. I have always wanted to do something of this nature and never had the guts!! I can sympathize with the above post from you. I found out I was Celiac on 10/19/06 and the first thing I did was cried. The second was find every item labeled SPECIFICALLY GF and stockpile it. I then proceeded to eat only those items out of shear fear of contamination and the sick feeling again. I was NEVER little, well maybe until age 6 or 7 :), but after that, caboom, I was quite a chunker!! I gained quite a bit after having my son 20 yrs. ago, but that's another story. So, in eating all of the GF foods, I gained and gained. I went to the endocrinologist for a diabetic checkup and she about hit the roof. We talked and realized that the amount of rice I was eating was killing me in carbs. My sugar levels were out of site, my triglycerides were way out there and the weight, well, I was no shrinking violet, or Lori as the case may be!! I learned, as you did, that the calorie/carb count of most of the GF items are very different than "regular" food. The weight came off and I felt better, MUCH better. I am still no skinny minnie, but rice and I have an understanding now: only brown and in small amts. and infrequently. I still have binges, ugh, but I am a label reader extraordinaire and have much more self control. Only took 42 yrs!!!

 

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