Amie
I'd be glad to help you answer your questions. Big High 5 for even suggesting on doing the gluten free diet for a week. Nice to see someone who puts that much effort into it.
I'm not extremely sensative like some people are. I can take meat off bread and still be okay - where as others do this and get very very ill. I try not to do it - but sometimes, the easier approach is taken.
To answer your questions:
Do you find it difficult to get gluten free food and can u get it from supermarkets?
At first - YES. It's been very hard to find where to purchase gluten free foods. The first few months I was on the diet, I just stuck with the old fashion food approach. Meat, potato and vegetable. No gravy - No breading, very plain. Then I searched the internet and printed EVERYTHING I could find on Gluten Free. Found some companies who are mail order who is my best source of gluten free (GF) foods. My local supermarkets don't carry too much and I'm not in a rural area. I'm in the suburbs of Chicago which I would think has a good selection. You have to stop reading the internet stuff after a while because you drive yourself nuts. The first trip to the grocery store took me over 2 hours because I read the label on EVERYTHING before I bought it. If I didn't know what something was, I didn't buy it. Now all my foods come from mail order (pastas, premade bread (great company who bakes breads fresh, sends them to your door, and you freeze them and pop them in the micro when you want them).
Do u find it difficult to go out for meals?
Not really, I try to go very basic. Avoid marinated meats, sauces, breaded stuff. I don't worry too much about cross contamination, so it's not as difficult. Mexican food and chinese are the easiest for me to order from, however steak places are good too.
What sort of meals do you eat on a regular basis?
Lot's of steaks, ribeye, chicken, ground beef. Very very few pastas.
Do you find it difficult to maintain a nutritious diet?
Not really. Without the gluten, it's mainly the starches you can't have.. but I substitue the rice. As long as you have the meats and vegetables I think you do okay.
Are their any disadvantages to this diet eg. weight gain or lethargy?
Disadvantages: Some of the specialty food is higher in fat due to getting the taste right. Exercise is a must on this diet unless you don't care about gaining pounds.
Diadvantages: Our 'specialty' food is very expensive. That took a lot to get used to. For example: In the store on sale is Pasta 69 cents a box. The SAME size box of ours is $4.39. BIG DIFFERENCE. And our pasta doesn't plump up, so whatever size you see, is the size you get. Breads - in the store, on sale what - 89 cents a loaf? We don't really have 'loafs' and it's not soft, but I can order a 5 pack of premade buns and have it shipped. The buns itself are for a 5 pack $6.00 plus shipping. I recently ordered some premade bagels and the shipping itself was over $20.
Disadvantage: the biggest disadvantage is the lack of convenience. It makes it hard when family forgets and they say, we're going to order a pizza do you want any? Well, no I can't have pizza so I'm stuck making my own dinner instead of just joining in with everyone else.
Otherwise, it's just getting used to what you can and can't eat.
Hope that helps
Janet
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