I live in a town of 30,000. One thing I miss about living in a larger city is the artisan bakeries. A couple years after I moved here, a fellow opened up an all sourdough bakery in a little hole in the wall. I'm in there once a week. About a dozen times I've been there when someone walks in, looks at the: kalamata-rosemary, cranberry-walnut, German rye, etc. and asks, "Do you have any gluten-free bread?" The baker just shakes his head. And then, the customer walks out. Motherfucker, there's gluten in the air here, what did you think? That heavenly smell should have been your clue there's no gluten free crap.

This guy, like thousands of bakers, spent years learning about gluten, specifically; all its idiosyncrasies, how it reacts with acid, temperature, salt, etc. And he rules; my life would be poorer if he wasn't around. Then this asshole decides to build his media empire and tells everyone gluten is a toxic chemical.

It starts out with this asshole who's now made millions of dollars convincing people gluten is evil to humans. Then suddenly it's open season, because other folks realize there's money to be made all down the line by writers, nutritional consultants and food manufacturers.

Now we have tens of millions of people who were raised on wheat, but "can't" eat all the breads/pastas/etc. they grew up learning to love, so there's a huge opportunity to manufacture and market a whole class of new foods that emulate wheat.



One of the fucked up things about the whole ridiculous GF fad is that as long as you're not Celiac's or have a legitimate gluten intolerance, gluten is the best part of the wheat. If you want to be healthy, reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates, not protein. I can tell you from experience you can get just as fat eating too much rice and potatoes as bread.

20 years from now the gluten free thing will be forgotten for the most part, and the shysters will have villainized some new aspect of our diet. It'll be something like umami. They'll have discovered that glutamate in any form is deadly, so there will be umami-free diets, and hundreds of shitty new manufactured foods that simulate the taste of meat using some weird new chemicals, and restaurant cooks will be getting tickets for umami-free rib-eyes & Caesar salads from crazy ass customers insisting they had it last week.

Dude if you want to make real money, write books that simply tell people that eating gluten is something they shouldn't eat. Even if they don't have any conditions preventing them from doing so.

According to this book brain fog can dissapear after you stop eating wheat.

Maybe just try it and you'll see

I would pick up a Paleo cookbook. All the recipes will be no grain and pretty low starch. The recipes may be higher fat than your mom wants (people who follow a paleo diet embrace saturated fats) so adjust them to your desires. Paleo Comfort Foods is not too preachy and has a lot of recipes that turn out very familiar foods.

It was published as Gluten-free Girl
https://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Girl-Found-Food-Loves/dp/0470411643

I will probably get downvoted for this unfortunately, but:-

Minimise (don't completely eliminate, but restrict) rice and all other forms of carbohydrates, such as potatoes and primarily starchy vegetables. Conventional opinion assumes (as the people in this thread have) that weight gain is caused by animal fat in the diet, but said conventional opinion is wrong. The lipid hypothesis is BS. Carbohydrates are the real problem; they get converted to sugar, and then directly to body fat.

The Vegetarian Myth. The author of this is a prototypical cultural Marxist, but she provides the best debunking of the lipid hypothesis (why animal fat in the body is supposedly destructive) that I've ever encountered.

Wheat Belly. This is an accompanying book about why wheat and cereals, rather than milk and fats, are the real enemies of weight loss.

I knew that the diet fixed this, and obviously I was eating gluten like mad previously (Cheez-its, anyone?). I found out for sure it was gluten when I made a pumpkin bread from an Atkin's mix which has vital wheat gluten as the first ingredient. I swelled up and did my ole vomiting routine, and verified that yes, gluten is the devil. If you have any academic interest in learning more about gluten, the history of wheat and its health effects this book called Wheat Belly is awesome.

Well if they're staying under 50g (or especially under 10g) it definitely sounds like Keto. I'm not sure how they eat berries or grapefruit though because both of those have more than 10g in carbs per serving.

The nice thing is that paleo people can still eat keto foods so you're safer getting a keto book. There's one called "The Ketogenic Cookbook" that is pretty popular.

I'm copying and pasting much of this from a previous post because I have had some success treating LPR/GERD:

I had very severe symptoms, to the point where I had a 2-month long bout of laryngitis (I was completely unable to speak) brought on by my LRP. Now I suffer from almost no GERD or LPR symptoms save for very occasional phlegm. Last night I had a cocktail, wine, steak, and this afternoon I had a fried chicken sandwich with hot sauce. If I had done this 3 months ago, I would have experienced SEVERE symptoms. So this works!

First, check out "Dr. Koufman's Acid Reflux Diet" by Dr. Jamie Koufman. It worked very well for me. In the meantime, check out the Stanford LPR Protocol.

When you read Dropping Acid or the Acid Reflux diet, you're going to read about a 2-week "induction" diet. This is a very strict diet with only low acid foods. Until your copy arrives, here is a decent list of safe, low-acid foods to get you started: http://www.mediterraneanbook.com/wp-content/uploads/list_of_low_acid_foods_chart.png

The diet works great to get you back to 100%. If you're really suffering, you may need to run the diet for 3 weeks in order to heal yourself up. Think of it as you having a sprained ankle. While you're ankle in experiencing the acute effects of a sprain, you can't run, jump, or even walk well. But if you give your ankle time to heal, you can probably get back to doing the activities you like after a certain period of time. However, if you keep re-injuring your ankle before it has time to heal, you will continue to experience your ankle problems in perpetuity. This is what's going on with your LES (lower esophageal sphincter). It's damaged, and you need to give it a rest before you can start running (i.e. eating normal foods) again.

I want to make a couple of important notes about diet change. It sounds like it's terrible, but it's really not that bad. You don't have to be 100% compliant with your diet once you're healed, but you do have to be cognizant of what your triggers are, and avoid them when you notice your symptoms flare-up. You want to generally symptom-free, so when you symptoms kick in, get strict with your diet until they've subsided. That said, once you've got yourself up to snuff, and aren't experiencing reflux, you can be a little bit more cavalier with your diet.

After the 2 or 3 week induction period, keep a very detailed food journal for a couple of months and figure out what your trigger foods are. I keep mine in Google Sheets with 5 columns:

1. Date,
   
2. Meal (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack 1, snack 2, etc.),
   
3. Foods consumed,
   
4. Current symptom level (1-5),
   
5. Potential trigger food? (Yes or no)
   
   I think you'll be surprised that it's a fairly small list of serious offenders. If you cut them out you'll end up with 90% of the benefits of a more restrictive diet. For example, I can drink alcohol but had to switch from beer to tequila. I can eat tomatoes, spicy food, etc, but have a little bit of trouble with high vinegar content hot sauce. Coffee had to be mostly cut out (I have a cup or 2 each week), and I switched my whey protein flavor from chocolate to vanilla. I also cut back on marinara sauce, but am not cutting it out. When I'm on solid ground as far as my LPR, I can eat it. If I've had reflux events recently, I eat a little more restrictively. It may sound like a pain, but I promise it's not that bad.
   
   A couple of other small notes. You probably want to get a 2x daily dose of 20 mg of omeprazole while you start fighting your symptoms. I'm not a doctor, so consult your doctor before you do this. It will help you get your initial symptoms in check. Once you have them in check, you can drop your dose to once daily 20 mg, with ranitidine before bed. Then drop you omeprazole dose to every other day, with supplemental ranitidine, then drop the omeprazole all together. Ranitidine can be used in the meantime on an ad hoc basis to combat flare-ups as they occur.
   
   Now, I almost never have phlegm or have the need to clear my throat. Given how annoying the symptoms were, this seems like a pretty low price to pay.

I bought The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, and found it a helpful introduction. One thing I dislike about is it that it tries to give a 4 week plan, but the recipes aren't made for all seasons. For example, there are some soups I know I won't try for a while. Also, some of the recipes look really good but contain hard to find ingredients (none of my local CA grocery stores carry blood oranges). Many of the recipes are good (made the apple crumble with peaches/blackberries and it was to die for!) but sometimes the obvious substitute recipes fall flat (I'm sorry, but you can't have "garlic mayo" with that much coconut. It just doesn't work). I would buy it again - it was just so helpful getting started.

I also recently bought He Won't Know It's Paleo which is actually an AIP book as well. I haven't had this one as long, but I've mostly tried the baking recipes. If you're looking for an AIP substitute that people won't know is AIP, look elsewhere. But damn, after not eating real brownies for a long time, the cacao brownies taste almost as good to my palate. But there in lies the danger: if you're the only one willing to eat this because of your starved palate, you may end up eating more than you intended. The best dinner recipe in this is for the lettuce wraps, which the author has posted online. I've got to try more of the recipes before giving a full review. I would prob be disappointed if I spent $30 on this one.

http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/

Randomly found her cookbook at Costco a few weeks ago, that's what started it all.

Food is all amazing. Even desserts!

Feels kinda weird referring to it as a diet given all the amazing food my wife's been cooking.

After only a couple of weeks I'm down 9lbs, appears to be water-weight, but it's a start.

tl;dr: buy her cookbook

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1628601000/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_1628601000

My neurologist recommended giving this a try. The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0578135213/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1419802096&sr=8-1&dpPl=1&dpID=61ItZmIggTL&ref=plSrch
Just picked it up, but haven't tried it yet?

Read "The Wheat Belly"... it's a good book that goes over a lot of the history of how wheat has changed and how is affects your body.

Personally I have no allergy to wheat/gluten, but the fact is that modern wheat products hold almost no nutritional value and can lead to serious health problems when over consumed. I have personally gone wheat/gluten free for a long time and lost a serious amount of stubborn weight in the process, and so have many of my friends who tried it. Improved mood, fat loss, more healthy overall, so much benefit I've seen from it.

Now most people who remove something like wheat from the diets will start eating more whole, unprocessed foods in the process, like they should have been doing all along. This is a good thing as it will eventually bring up the demand and hopefully lower the cost of healthy eating in America.

I could rant for hours and go in to pretty detailed discussion, but I think you get it.

Sure thing. This book provided me with about a dozen different recipes that I've added into my routine. Of those, the mexican burgers, tacos, chicken wraps, wedding soup, etc, etc, etc are easy to make, inexpensive, and absolutely delicious (and healthy!).


I really enjoy what the book offers. In addition to the recipes, there's an 8 week grocery shopping list that incorporates at least one recipe for each day of the week and the list includes what to buy for that given week. They reuse a lot of the ingredients so it's pretty efficient. Personally, I modify the list and skip some things or replace with others as desired but it's generally a nice jump-start to eating more conscientiously.


My biggest piece of advice; do what works for you. I eat flat breads, yogurt, and pasta when I'm craving it. The important thing is my eat habits have changed and it's no longer a diet - it's a lifestyle now.


For what it's worth, I'd recommend the book to friends and family.

My first advice is to get some counseling, if you haven't already. Take care of yourself emotionally and mentally.

As for a book, you might find this one interesting. I just bought it the other day (kindle version) and I am salivating. Many of the recipes remind me of my childhood.

/r/ketorecipes

www.cavemanketo.com

www.ruled.me

www.ibreatheimhungry.com

www.mariamindbodyhealth.com

Fast food: McDoubles hold the bun, Chipotle bowl (no rice/beans), Wendy's Baconator hold the bun, buffalo chicken wings (baked not breaded).

PS. I've found more good blogs to subscribe to rather than websites. Poke around the ones I listed above, as well as here, and you'll find links to build your library of recipes. I think there are also recipes in the back of Gary Taubes', David Williams', Dr. Perlmutter's books:

http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Brains-Killers-ebook/dp/B00BAXFCPO/

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes-ebook/dp/B000UZNSC2/

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health-ebook/dp/B00571F26Y/

The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/Autoimmune-Paleo-Cookbook-Allergen-Free-Approach/dp/0578135213/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0B6RPRWS8NKKY07DWKR5

​

Great AIP stater book with a meal plan and grocery list for 4-8 weeks.

An autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet would be mostly what she's doing. There are a number of sites and recipes available for that. Like this https://autoimmunewellness.com/recipes/


Here's a good book option The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook: An Allergen-Free Approach to Managing Chronic Illness (US Version) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578135213/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9VRODbYWA73TK

I get swollen joints (hands, knees especially) , stiffness, random pains, and plantar fasciitis from Hashimotos. It happens exclusively due to my immune system being triggered. For a long time I just thought people had random pain but then once I got it under control I realized it only happens when my immune symptoms are triggered. Depending on the trigger I get different symptoms... for example gluten and dairy cause the stuff listed above but I'll also get really spacey and forgetful and then get bout of depression within 48 hours. Almost all of my triggers are food triggers and I have way more than most people so I had to do a lot of trial and error to figure out what was causing me problems.

If you feel inspired to attempt some different elimination diets here are a few to consider:

• IMF Elimination Diet Is a good first step.
  
  
• Whole30 I really recommend the book for the recipes, food planning, and cooking intro) there is also a subreddit for support
  
  
• Autoimmune Protocol - There are lots of online resources. This is a great intro book
  
  
• FODMAP elimination diet. The Monash University app for iPhone or Android is very helpful for starting the diet.
  
  Also I can't recommend enough a good doctor or dietitian/nutritionist who will help you with vitamin deficiencies and elimination diets.

Same here, for Gluten and Dairy. My levels have remained the same, but my antibodies at last test were insane (almost 5k), but my quality of life improved exponentially. someone recommended this book to me, which I would highly recommend. Good Luck!

Here's a few I found handy.

Good Gut Healing by Kathryn Marsden.

Listen to your gut by Jini Patel Thompson (can also be found at her site as a downloadable pdf, well that's how I bought it.)

And for general anxiety : Change your thinking by Sarah Edelman

And Wheat Belly by William Davis (maybe not as relevant but examines the effect of the genetic changes to wheat, which can be a common trigger for some gastrointestinal issue sufferers.)

Hope any of these may be of help.

you could tell your friends to read the recently released book "Wheat Belly", or you could just stop talking about it and let the results speak for themselves...

It just depends on what's important to you. Assuming that wheat is causing a lot of health issues for you, then you may be forced to confront a simple choice: fix your health or satisfy your cravings. Some people won't make that choice until they're in really bad shape, like a smoker who won't stop smoking until s/he is diagnosed with cancer. If things are going this badly when you're this young, you can safely assume it's only going to get worse if you don't make some changes (eliminating wheat being one, others maybe be important too).

You might try reading the book "Wheat Belly." It's not paleo, it's not perfect, but I think it's an informative and worthwhile read for somebody in your situation, and it may scare you into trying something for your health. It's worth seeing if it resonates with you, and it will provide you with some insights I can almost promise you don't yet have.

The book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1609611543

The associated website: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

While eliminating wheat can be tough, especially if you're essentially "addicted" to it, I don't think you have to take the approach right in the beginning that you must never have wheat again. I would suggest, however, that you, when you are emotionally prepared to do so, cut wheat out for 30 days, promising nothing more to yourself than you will re-evaluate your decision once those 30 days are up and you see whether it had an impact on you. Again, that won't be easy, but it could give you some information you need to determine whether or not you should make it a lifestyle choice.

And you have certainly identified one of the big problems cutting out wheat, it's convenience. So many packaged and/or easy-to-prepare foods are wheat-based, so you really do have to plan ahead and be prepared if you want to deal with cutting it from your diet.

Also, I don't know how much you've really bought into "paleo," but it does tend to be a relatively high-fat diet. This would mean that a lot of the calories you replace from weight should come from things like butter (technically not paleo, but most are okay with it), coconut oil, fatty cuts of meat, olive oil, and some other stuff too. These things tend to fill you up much better and much longer than wheat products to, so hunger shouldn't be a problem if you do the diet right, though I certainly recognize that cravings can be something distinct from hunger. Those, you will just have to will yourself through.

The replacements for breads, cakes, and wraps are probably not ideal if all you are doing is buying the "gluten-free" versions of these things. That would help some, but not a lot. Some general replacements would be lettuce wraps, nori (seasoned seaweed), almond bread (in limited quantities), coconut bread, buckwheat products, rice crackers, maybe some other stuff too. Some of that stuff is probably going to have to be homemade though, so it won't help with convenience.

I think you should take 30 days to eliminate wheat. You could go all out and do a Whole 30 challenge - /r/whole30 - and see how you feel. (I think Whole 30 is a good idea, because it won't let you get away with adding a bunch of paleofied versions of things you crave, and it will probably also reduce your overall carb intake, which may be an additional issue than just wheat intolerance.) Or just cut out wheat and also avoid non-gluten bread for those 30 days, and don't worry as much about cutting all the other stuff out for the time being. That may be beneficial as well.

I will say wheat elimination seems to have done a lot for me and others I know as well, and none of us were diagnosed one way or the other as gluten-intolerant.

Good luck!

Most cookbooks advertised as paleo, low carb, or ketogenic should fit perfectly within a diabetic lifestyle. I'm a fan of Jimmy Moore and think his cookbook is fantastic.

Butter and Bacon has a catchier title, but this is the One Keto Cookbook to Rule Them All.

My boyfriend will eat whatever I cook, he doesn't care what diet or life style it adheres to, which is pretty handy. Usually I'll make a Paleo dinner and if he wants to add some kind of grain or bottled sauce to it, it's his call, I just ask him to do it to his plate only and leave my food alone.

PS: I highly recommend "Make it Paleo" it's a great cookbook (quick, easy, tasty). Everyone I know is getting one for xmas from me. hah!

The hard part is just being prepared for meals, because your eating-out options will be more limited, and there's practically nothing you can get in ready-made, microwave dinners in boxes. So, there's very little room for laziness.

On the upside, you'll be cooking a lot, which is a wonderful skill to have and also makes food taste better. There are a lot of great cookbooks out there for paleo diets. My favorite is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Comfort-Foods-Homestyle-Gluten-Free/dp/1936608936/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341336840&sr=8-2&keywords=paleo

Basically, if you cut out grains, most dairy (all is best), legumes, and sugar (particularly added sugar), you're paleo.

EDIT: If you are feeling lazy, there are places you can go. If you're in California, you can get an In-and-Out burger with lettuce instead of a bun. You can also make this request at Chick-fil-a (just make sure you get the grilled chicken, not the fried.) I tried a similar request at Five Guys, and they were disappointingly inept at making that request. At Chipotle you can order the salad bowl, get some meat in there, skip the rice and beans and sour cream, and load up on pretty much everything else. Their guacamole is good. And don't eat the chips.

I might add that the book is probably free on every national amazon site right now. At least on the german site it is: http://www.amazon.de/No-Grain-Cookbook-Delicious-Gluten-Free-ebook/dp/B00PNAWOWY/

Buy an obsene amount of cornstarch and the cook book 1000 Gluten Free Recipes. I'm not GF, but my best friend is and the recipes in this book are pleasing to all.

I skimmed it years ago and don't remember specifics much at this point, but you can go to the Amazon "Look Inside" feature and do a search for "mother". Jackpot!

See if they have her first book....aside from the sexy parts, a lot of the same ground is covered... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470411643/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_bibl_vppi_i3

That's a tricky set of conditions for sure. The instinct for how to throw things together just comes with time and practice really. At the beginning, especially dealing with allergies, following recipes may be necessary.

Paleo will be challenging with no eggs and dairy, and many recipes also rely heavily on coconut and cashew.

Realistically it would be best to start with paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) cookbooks and build from there.

A great reliable cooking fat is pastured lard. Rich in vitamin D also.

Gelatin is a good replacement for eggs to act as a binder, also it is gut healing.

For the most part you should be able to replace nuts with seeds. Hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc.

Lots of books out there, here's a popular one: https://www.amazon.com/Autoimmune-Paleo-Cookbook-Allergen-Free-Approach/dp/0578135213

I started a modified Paleo diet a year ago and I've seen a dramatic improvement. I'd say 95% improvement. There are days and weeks where I forget I even have HS. The diet change is difficult--I would get depressed at the thought of food--but I adapted to it after 6 months.

Castaway Kitchen (Cristina Curp) and Curious Coconut (Amanda Torres) have very good AIP/Paleo recipes. They both have HS and have put it into remission using diet.I've tried their recipes and they taste very good. I've made the chicken more times that I can count.

https://thecastawaykitchen.com/2018/01/crispy-ginger-lime-baked-wings-whole30-keto-aip/

https://thecuriouscoconut.com/blog/paleo-plantain-flour-pancakes

Also, this is a great book - Mickey Trescott's Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578135213/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
I use the winter squash soup recipe quite often.

Cristina Curp's book 'Made Whole' is excellent.
https://www.amazon.com/Made-Whole-Anti-lnflammatory-Keto-Paleo-Recipes/dp/1628602945

Yeah I think this is pretty common across Lyme patients. The infection (or lingering damage) creates so much inflammation, you need to eat pretty clean to even get close to feeling "normal."


This book on the Autoimmune Protocol Diet has been pretty useful for me in terms of finding some new creative ideas that don't involve grains:


https://www.amazon.com/Autoimmune-Paleo-Cookbook-Allergen-Free-Approach/dp/0578135213

My doctor also recommended my diet - though not specifically keto. He told me to read this book - http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397240330&sr=8-1&keywords=wheat+bellies - which essentially led me to a keto understanding. I have diabetes in the family and my blood sugar was high, so I think he was just trying to cut the sugars in my blood rather than specifically induce ketosis, but it worked and he's happy with my results so far (~20 lbs lost in 4 mos)

There's a book dedicated to that topic actually: Wheat Belly, it's a heart doctor who recommends avoiding grains. It's not strictly about the paleo diet as far as I know, but following a paleo type diet (paleo, primal, PHD, etc) will take care of that for sure.

Wheat gluten is the first ingredient. Wheat is a terrible thing to eat.

Carb counts aren't the only thing that matters on keto: the type of carbs is important too. It's entirely possible for many people to stay in ketosis while consuming 40-50g of net carbs per day in the form of leafy greens, nuts, and fibrous veggies. Eating a ham and cheese sandwich on two slices of Wonder Bread for dinner, on the other hand, will kick almost anyone out of ketosis, even though the Wonder Bread only has 33g of net carbs.

If you're desperately craving baked goods, there are plenty of recipes online that use alternatives like almond meal or coconut flour. Don't ruin your keto with wheat.

1. The stipulative definition given for food faddism "The phrases food faddism and fad diet originally referred to idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity. [1]" does not in any way apply to paleo as the point of paleo is to optimize long term health by removing foods that cause inflammation and allergic reactions.
   
2. The source used to establish the "faddism" of paleo in the wikipedia article is suspect and uses one observational study to dismiss the entire paleo movement.
   
3. There is mounting evidence for the connection between wheat, obesity, cancer, auto-immune disease, and cardiovascular disease.
   
4. Though vegetables are lower in B vitamins and calcium per gram they are also not very calorie dense being composed mostly of water and fiber. For you to argue that eating more non-starchy vegetables will cause weight gain is patently absurd.

Also a ton of gluten, which is processed and stored as fat more efficiently in the body than white 'table' sugar. Best would be to find those nutrients in non-bread sources.

If you're eating well and exercising you probably don't have to worry about the sugar content of your food, but everything we're learning about bread suggests it's better off out of your diet.

Source

Yes, the exact same thing happened to me. I had had symptoms regularly for a few years: lots of bloating, gas, trapped gas (so fucking painful), intestinal cramps, some diarrhea, and just general pain that I couldn't pinpoint. I'm embarrassed that I just kind of shrugged and never bothered to get to the bottom of why I was so often in pain. I think I was pretty depressed and just self-medicating with food, and I didn't want to have to give anything up.

But once I started eating healthy food, I just sort of dropped bread and pasta without really thinking about it. Exactly as you describe, my symptoms come back immediately and severely if I eat any gluten. One thing I've noticed is that the sensitivity has gotten worse, if anything...I used to be able to eat a piece of bread now and then and have minimal symptoms, and now if I eat anything that has even a relatively small amount of gluten in it (like soy sauce), my symptoms come back. Check labels religiously. Fortunately there's lots of gluten-free options out there--I just ate some delicious brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's! And Udi's gluten free pizza is a wonderful "cheat" meal.

Here's an interesting book about gluten allergies and a theory about why more and more people are developing allergies and celiacs. Very informative!

Regarding weight, a recent post mentioned the benefits that come from dropping wheat from your alimentation. Have you considered that?

Edit: that review seems interesting.

These would go really nice with Jimmy Moores brown butter sauce. From his The Ketogenic Cookbook

To make brown butter syrup, I highly recommend using Swerve confectioners’-style sweetener. You can use pure erythritol, such as the brands Zevia or Organic Zero, but as the syrup cools in the refrigerator, the almond milk will separate from the butter, which will solidify into chunks. If you decide to use a different sweetener, add an ounce of cream cheese to help the sauce emulsify.

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  
• ½ cup powdered erythritol
  
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) cream cheese (optional)
  
• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
  
• 1 teaspoon maple extract or 2 drops of maple oil (optional)
  
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  
  > 1. In a large saucepan, heat the butter over high heat, whisking every few seconds. The butter will foam up to the top of the saucepan and then fall back down. When you see lots of brown flecks, remove from the heat. Watch closely; you do not want black flecks.
  
  > 2. With the saucepan off the heat, whisk in the erythritol until smooth. If you used a brand of erythritol other than Swerve confectioners’-style sweetener, add the cream cheese. Then whisk in the almond milk, maple extract, if using, and salt.
  
  > 3. Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks—if it lasts that long! This syrup will thicken in the fridge because the butter hardens as it cools.

ruled.me

ibreatheimhungry.com

If you want to get fancy the Keotgenic Cookbook is nice
https://www.amazon.com/Ketogenic-Cookbook-Nutritious-Low-Carb-High-Fat/dp/1628600780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502407861&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ketogenic+cookbook

I like her other book Quick and Easy Ketogenic Cooking a lot more. I've also found that I do better with her recipes when I use the exact ingredients she calls for. For example, her recipes are all written to be dairy free and I tried to substitute things like almond milk for half and half, and it just doesn't come out right. Same with the sweeteners she uses.

But I still find myself looking more at her books than actually making anything. The Bacon and Butter cookbook is more practical in terms of things I want to make, but less fun to look at (less pictures and not as fancy looking recipes).

Even a little gluten can have a big impact on your body and mind. This video illustrates it: https://youtu.be/YLZGpxkRdBs as well as this acticle: https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-much-gluten-can-make-me-sick-562489

The best advise I can give you is to read Alessio Fasano's book Gluten Freedom ( https://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Freedom-Essential-Gluten-Free-Lifestyle/dp/1681620510 ) and the articles about celiac on www.verywell.com ( https://www.verywellhealth.com/search?q=Celiac )

That will give you some good guidelines and a better understanding of celiac.

I thought you were my SO when I read your post!

I can tell you, as a man, in my mid-30's, who loves to cook (raised in a family of chefs), I get very frustrated with a few things when I'm cooking for a SO. Add in: I'm a perfectionist, lawyer who is a stereo typical "Type A to everyone else in the world (MR. Tough Guy, hear me roar!), but I'm really a Type B deep down inside (Roaring makes me exhausted...)." Over the years, I have learned to settle down, but it took a bit: A LOT of patience from my SO, couple's counseling, and reading a few books.

From my perspective, I want everything to be perfect. (I know, I know. It can't be. Working on that...) I want the meal to be plated and put down on the table exactly when the main / sides finish AT THE SAME TIME. It frustrates me to no avail when everything is on the table, and my SO is walking around the house, NOT eating. &%#%#&*@!!!
(╯ಠ_ಠ）╯︵ ┻━┻ (edit: added /u/spaghettirobotti 's emoticon)

But, I've come to realize that's just the way it is.

What has helped me calm down in the kitchen is my SO talking to me in a very, very gentle way about how I'm a perfectionist and I need to calm the f down. She started with a lot of "I feel ____ when you're upset that we don't eat right when the meal is put on the table." "I love that you take the time to cook, and I appreciate it so much. I want you to know my favorite meals, so we can enjoy them together." "It's been a long day, I'm really craving pasta, but I can't eat it because of our dietary restrictions. I've found nuking it a bit in the microwave gives it more of that pasta mouth-feel." Give him the opportunity to be open with you. I'm sure he looks at it as if he's providing for you, he's doing daily acts of service, and he [REALLY] wants to please you and he's being vulnerable with his food (see below, food is art).

Some other things that have helped me. 1) My SO and I started going to couples counseling. Up until then, no one had ever taught me how to be in a functioning, working relationship. Sure, my parents stuck together, but they weren't in the best place and I didn't learn how to truly be in a relationship until my early 30's. 2) I read a bunch of books... Seriously. I found so much clarity in Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. And I figured out how my SO felt loved with this one: 5 Love Languages. Both of these books had such an impact on my relationship.

I totally get where your SO is coming from. It's like bearing your soul to the world when you cook something. Just like an artist or singer showcases their talent and wants positive feedback. It can be tough for men, especially if at one time he was a professional cook / baker, to put their "food" out there and not get great feedback. I say "food" because for people who take cooking very seriously, it's our art.

Cooking healthy can be very tricky. No one grew up with their Mom teaching them the family recipe for spaghetti squash or cauliflower pizza crust. I have found two books that are amazing in this area:
Daniel Walker's Against All Grain Meals Made Simple, and her other book, Paleo Recipes. Walker's primary focus is to collect recipes for people with dietary restrictions / gastrointestinal problems / allergies. I cook 3-4 meals per week from them. If I want pasta, I'll sub out the squash; flour tortillas swapped for lettuce, etc. But the meals are VERY good (my favorites are the Ropa Vieja and Slow Cooker Orange Chicken). It also has a great spaghetti squash recipe. ;)

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Here are some baking substitutes that have worked for me (I also have a shitload of eating restrictions):

Gluten: Bob's Red Mill All Purpose gluten free flour is excellent. Their gluten free is great is general; I just made brownies from a mix tonight as a matter of fact.

Dairy: For butter, try macadamia nut oil or coconut oil. I don't like canola personally but that is also commonly used. For milk, try coconut milk (my favorite), almond milk, or soy milk.

Egg: Blend flax seed and a bit of water, or banana and a bit of water.

Sugar: If you're trying to be low carb, something like Splenda will work okay, make sure you can tolerate maltodextrin. For desserts that need the chemical properties of sugar (ie caramelization), look into sugar alcohols. Don't overeat these as they can cause indigestion. If you don't particularly care about low carb, I'm a fan of local honey and maple syrup.

Someone else suggested keto recipes, which is a great idea. Also check out /r/paleo for ideas, as Paleo/Primal is a way of eating that can be adapted to almost any food allergy or issue (flavors include autoimmune, FODMAP, etc) and has worked miracles for my health. As for a cookbook, I highly recommend Make it Paleo and the associated blog.

Not all strictly keto, but Eat Happy is a great cook book. Low carb, no sugar, no grains. My keto agnostic wife hasn't complained about anything I've made from it yet.

Eat Happy: Gluten Free, Grain Free, Low Carb Recipes Made from Real Foods For A Joyful Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/1941536883/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_GHeqzbHRQXG0D

Sure - I struggled with post nasal drip and mucus in my throat for years, and my doctors all insisted it was allergies. I took about 5 allergy medicines at once: Singulair, Allegra, Flonase, Bepreze (eye drops) and some other nose spray I don't recall now, and felt no relief. I can't believe they STILL insisted it was allergies, but they did. Finally, I started having heartburn mid last year. Well, technically I had experienced heartburn plenty of times in the past, but I started having it very regularly. And stomach pains. Super long story, but got tested for h. pylori, was positive, treated it, eradicated it, did nothing to help my symptoms. Had an endoscopy, mild chronic gastritis, mild esophagitis, neither of which concerned the doctors as they said just about anyone going in is going to show this. Not sure I fully agree with that, but whatever.

​

Started taking H2s more regularly to help with the burning in my throat. We kept having to up my dose as it would lose effectiveness after a few weeks. The throat symptoms got VERY bad. My throat was incredibly sore, terrible mucus after eating anything, cleared my throat constantly, lump in throat sensation and shortness of breath, all of which combined made me a very anxious person. GI doctor referred me to an ENT, who scoped down my nose/throat, confirmed vocal cord damage, put me on pretty strong PPI and H2 combo, and that was about 5 weeks ago. Felt AMAZING the first three weeks, totally abused it, ate whatever I wanted - and started having breakthrough symptoms around week 3.5. Started getting strict with myself about a week ago, and am feeling a lot better. I am not an expert, and many people here have struggled a lot longer than me, but I will say:

​

1. Read Dr. Koufman's book. It will spook you - don't let it spook you, let it inspire you to make healthier/smarter decisions for your reflux going forward. I'm learning that diet is absolutely key, and foods that I didn't think were THAT bad absolutely are. No more soda for me.
   
2. One of her main recommendations: drink alkaline water. DO it, if you can. This soothes my symptoms more than anything, and makes me feel less guilty/panicked when I eat things I shouldn't (nobody's perfect, right?).
   
3. I know a lot of people praise weight loss for reflux, and I've heard it can help tremendously, but unfortunately I'm a size 2 and still have moderate to severe symptoms, so I don't think it's a magical solution. I will say, if you're eating foods that are healthy for your reflux, they will also almost certainly help you lose weight.
   
4. * I forgot to add Gaviscon! I saw on another one of your comments you mentioned it. Gaviscon Advance, aniseed, the UK kind, before bed - supposedly forms a little raft on your stomach that physically prevents reflux. I do feel like my throat is a bit less dry/tender when I use this, and it's highly recommended for LPR.
   
5. * Another edit b/c why not, I live here now: chewing gum. I chew gum after lunch for a while and it really helps with the mucus/urge to clear my throat.
   
   ​
   
   A couple of other thoughts; I have never had issues with protein specifically. I have read that before, but have not noticed it myself. I will say, PPIs/H2s feel like they slow my digestion somewhat, but not with a particular kind. In general, I would discourage the Betaine tablets. I've read it can be a bit dangerous for anyone with LPR or gastritis. Bit like playing with fire. Apple cider vinegar is also a hard no. I tried a LOT of supplements early on in this process (D-limonene, DGL, L-glutamine, melatonin) and the only one I feel comfortable recommending was mastic gum for my gastritis pains; it really seemed to soothe the pain. It did not help reflux. Ginger teas also help my digestion/bloating overall.
   
   ​
   
   Sorry, I've turned this into a bit of a novel, but I've had a LOT of time to think about my plans and long-term management going forward over the last few weeks, haha.

Unfortunately you can't just swap the amount of regular flour for GF in recipes, due to the differences in chemistry created by the lack of gluten. Gums help with this to a point, but sometimes you also need to increase or decrease acid amounts (lemon juice is commonly use) or alter how much moisture.

I suggest picking up a gluten free cookbook. I LOVE this one. http://www.amazon.com/000-Gluten-Free-Recipes/dp/0470067802/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

turns out baked goods even better than ones with gluten in them. My family who is not GF adores these recipes.

Go read wheat belly sheds light on the changes in wheat over the last 100 years
http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543

Currently reading this. One of the best sources to learn why wheat has no business being in the human body.

The entire book is in the Amazon preview, but I was getting a headache from looking at the screen for so long so I just bought it.

tone: eyebrow raised

I'm not a dude. And Paleo has never endorsed carbs. Taken from the FAQ under "what did Paleolithic man eat?":

> heavy reliance on animals as food, including land animals (game), birds, fish, molluscs, small mammals and insects

> moderate consumption of plant foods, fruit, and nuts/seeds

A couple more questions down, "So what shouldn't I eat?":

> everything made from grains like wheat, corn, rice, barley and oats: this includes all baked goods (bread, crackers, muffins, cookies, etc.), pasta, and breaded/fried items

> sugar in all forms except whole fruit

> vegetable and seed oils like corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower/safflower oil, etc.

> legumes (beans, peanuts)

tone: encouraging & informative

Check out the rest of the subreddit for the myriad of questions of "Are rice and potatoes bad? They aren't grains." The overall consensus is that if you want to lose weight, avoid these (and hardcore Paleo lifestyle dieters will typically tell you to avoid them anyway), but if you're hurting for calories, eating them in moderation is okay.

You should also do some research and check out things like the book Wheat Belly, which has also been posted & talked about in this subreddit. It details how your body stores grains differently than other sources of energy, hence the wheat belly (or commonly known as "beer belly".)

P.S. Keto and Paleo are closely related, the main difference being that Keto endorses dairy (because of the fat), while Paleo doesn't and encourages much more veggies.

I did lots of research back in high school while I was trying to get my health in order, and I discovered one of those sodium studies. It showed that, if you feed Americans about 10 times their usual sodium intake, it increases their blood pressure by about 1/1. This was a statistically significant result, but in most cases hardly the determining factor for heart disease.

You're more likely to have cardiovascular disorders and clogged arteries from a carbohydrate-rich diet, usually heavy in sugars and wheat. In low-to-moderate quantities (0-600 cal/day, for me), carb sources like potatoes, carrots, and fruits appear essentially harmless, but one has only to look at the average American to see the impact of high carb intake.

Tom Naughton's "Fat Head" documentary is an excellent introduction to the subject of proper nutrition. It's also worth checking out the Doctors Eades' blogs and the books Wheat Belly and The Big Fat Surprise.

I second this. I gradually cut way down on wheat after I started using MFP and basically ended up paleo. Now the cravings and hunger I used to feel are totally gone. Even if I do feel hungry, it's purely biological and easy to ignore. Usually, I am so stuffed after I eat, and I easily end up under my net calories. This never happened when I tried to cut calories w/o cutting on down on wheat. (I've lost 12 lbs in 1.5 months)
I recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331087216&sr=1-1

You should check out the book Wheat Belly by William Davis. I'm almost done reading it and it provides a ton of research and real-world examples of how people's health problems improved or went away after dropping wheat from their diets. He has a large section dedicated to arthritis and inflammation.

Did you mean this link?

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/

Yours didn't work for me.

Amazon link for the lazy

Christ on a stick. Read this book or watch this movie. But more importantly, don't make assumptions.

It doesn't take a genius to see the correlation between the rise of processed flour and the 'high carb diet' and the rapid increase in weight-related illness.

You don't need the recommended 300g of carbs every day unless you're an athlete. For anyone else, especially those with uncooperative metabolisms, it'll just lead to unnecessary and unhealthy weight gain.

Wheat nowadays isn't the same as it was before. In the past, it was einkorn wheat, which isn't as bad for you (for instance, many with celiac can eat it).

> Your silly statement seems to place bacon as being more healthy than spinach because spinach has carbohydrates.

You're fucking stupid, because I didn't say that. By 'carbs' I obviously mean whole grains and processed starches and sugars. Vegetables are essential in a paleolithic diet and you have to be retarded to say that they are bad for you (although corn and carrots are high in sugar, so moderation in those is good).

You talk of protein and all that yet you don't mention fat at all, which is an excellent fuel source and one that's more reliable and healthier for you than carbohydrates. Eating a steak for breakfast is healthier than a bagel and cream cheese.

Great question.

I'm lactose-intolerant, so I never ate more than the occasional insignificant amount of dairy anyway. That wasn't much of a change.

Over a 6-month period prior to the first photo in the series (Jan 15), I started reducing gluten consumption more and more. I decided to eliminated it entirely after reading Wheat Belly, which was around the time I started paleo, so eliminating gluten wasn't that big a change, either.

It was really reducing other grains, and legumes, that was more of a change for me. I never ate many processed foods, but eliminating them as a conscious decision, and being more aware of what's on ingredient labels, is a big difference.

Re: IF, that was a big change, but it's really become easy with time (just be consistent for a few days / weeks and your body will adjust). See this comment I made above for more. This excerpt from Taleb's Antifragile is what inspired me to start with IF.

I can't view Youtube at the office, but I get the idea this book is relevant to the topic.

Check out this book from the FAQ

https://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609614798/

http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar--Your-Killers/dp/031623480X

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609614798

http://www.amazon.com/The-Paleo-Diet-Healthy-Designed/dp/0470913029

http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Diet-Athletes-Nutritional-Performance/dp/160961917X

http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Connection-Sensitivity-Sabotaging-Control/dp/1594863873

http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Grains-Gluten-Cereal-Hazardous/dp/1583331298

http://www.amazon.com/Healthier-Without-Wheat-Understanding-Intolerance/dp/0976853795

http://www.amazon.com/Going-Against-Grain-Reducing-Revitalize/dp/0658017225

I didn't really have a routine. The only thing I did consistently was the mommy-baby aquacise class 1/week starting at 3 months pp. The book Wheat Belly played a significant role in my diet, and gave me some ideas for not gaining so much next time around (mainly to do with controlling blood sugar and cravings). Exercise was a mix of strength and cardio. Emphasis on strength. Women tend to overdo the cardio, which is less effective.

I hear you when you say you miss the beer.

I miss the beer. It is most certainly the hardest thing about dieting, and in the way I do keto it is virtually absent compared to before. I used to drink 2 beers per evening. It was just a habit, but wow did I love my beer. In the first few weeks of keto for me I cut it out entirely, I didn't want it messing with the adaptation process. For a while I drank the low carb beers - some of them taste quite OK. Now I don't drink beer at all.

I got to thinking about how I became so bloated, and I read the book [Wheat Belly] (http://amzn.com/1609614798). I realized that beer is liquid bread, and that the carbs (alcohol not so much) were literally killing me. That was the main reason for my weight gain and for the creeping hypertension I was having.

So eventually I changed my relationship with beer. I started seeing it is something not to crave, but to fear. Drinking beer would send me back into a balloon shape, would raise my blood pressure, would increase insulin resistance and start me down the path of prediabetes.

No matter how great beer tastes, being healthy and slim feels a million times better.

The Ketogenic Cookbook (https://www.amazon.com/Ketogenic-Cookbook-Nutritious-Low-Carb-High-Fat/dp/1628600780/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519138682&sr=8-3&keywords=the+ketogenic+cookbook)

Theres a few different ones from the same author, but this one is a great starter. The homemade ranch is to die for and we tried the deep dish alfredo pizza last night. I bought a copy for my dad too.

I've read that the urine ketone test strips are not a good measure.

I've recently been reading Keto Clarity which has a lot of good information on how to measure.

But they basically say the most accurate way to measure ketones is a blood ketone meter or ketone breath analyzer. Ketones in the urine are inaccurate and could disappear after being keto-adapted for a while.

I bought the Precision Xtra Blood Glucose & Ketone Monitoring System and Ketonix to try it out for myself, so I could figure out my personal threshold. Haven't received them yet, so I can't tell you my results.

I really recommend that book though, it's a really good read so far. They went on to publish Keto Cookbook which I actually picked up first at Costco, and after reading that I picked up Keto Clarity on amazon.

Best treat I got myself after a couple weeks into Keto was the Ketogenic Cookbook by Jimmy Moore. Lots of great recipes, the steak with brown butter bernaise is to die for!

I purchased this book from Amazon a little over a month ago:

"Quick & Easy Ketogenic Cooking: Meal Plans and Time Saving Paleo Recipes to Inspire Health and Shed Weight"
http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Ketogenic-Cooking-Recipes/dp/1628601000

It provided me with a lot of useful health/food information, the recipes were pretty good for the most part and most importantly, helped me realize portion sizes

Posted this earlier today in another keto thread. You have to make it in advance, but it's SUPER easy to throw together, and is four servings (4 breakfasts!)

I'm pretty new to this diet so I've been living out of the Quick and Easy Ketogenic Cooking book (Link)

Author has a chocolate shake for breakfast that I love! I can drink one serving about 6AM for breakfast, and not be hungry until about 1PM.

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter
  
  
• 1/4 cup MCT oil
  
  
• 2 cups water
  
  
• 4 whole large eggs plus 4 large egg yolks
  
  
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  
• 1/4 cup Swerve confectioners style sweetener or equivalent amount of liquid or powdered sweetener
  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  
  Throw it all in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate overnight to thicken. Pour over 2-4 cups ice, if desired (I don't).
  
  Yield 4 servings (about 1 cup each)
  
  Macros:
  
  664 calories
  
  70g fat
  
  8g protein
  
  1g carbs
  
  0g fiber
  
  
  Side Note If you don't want chocolate, take out the cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Use any flavor extract you'd like instead.
  

I've been purchasing keto cookbooks for my library system and have been reading through them as they come in. Here's a little list:

Sweet & Savory Fat Bombs by Martina Slajerova
https://www.amazon.ca/Sweet-Savory-Fat-Bombs-Delicious/dp/1592337287/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1480350212&sr=1-1
Haven't made anything from it yet, but I have this one checked out right now. I am going to try the recipe for their Toasted Coconut Cups today. The ingredient lists seems semi reasonable and it's great for squares, chocolate, spreads, and little treats if you're into that kind of thing.

The KetoDiet Cookbook by Martina Slajerova
https://www.amazon.ca/KetoDiet-Cookbook-Grain-Free-Sugar-Free-Starch-Free/dp/1592337015/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480350335&sr=1-1&keywords=ketodiet+cookbook
Of all the books I've looked at so far this one seems the most reasonable and helpful. It's actual recipes instead of just a "wrap bacon around asparagus, cook" kind of thing. Plus, there's pretty pictures of the food and I like pictures in my cookbooks. I have it checked out right now and was going to give their recipe for zuch lasagna a try as a first recipe.

Quick & Easy Ketogenic Cooking by Maria Emmerich
https://www.amazon.ca/Quick-Easy-Ketogenic-Cooking-Recipes/dp/1628601000/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1480350438&sr=1-2
I had high hopes for this one, but I didn't like the look of it at all, save for a few recipes on slow cooker pulled-pork / pulled-chicken kind of thing. It was lots of "wrap bacon around asparagus, cook" that I mentioned above--the sort of food that folks on keto maybe already know. I did snap a few pictures of recipes I'd like to try, but it wasn't one I am considering purchasing, like the two above.

It can be hard to wade through the crap on pinterest and two sites I've found helpful for bang-on recipes are these:
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/
http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/

Hope this is helpful. Happy shopping <3

oh suuuurreee make me get up lol

4 Cups (600g) - watermelon, deseeded and cubed or balled

2 Cups (300g) - english cucumber, sliced

3 Tbsp - fresh mint, chopped

1/4 Cup (60 mL) fresh squeezed lime juice

1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

mix stuff up, salt and pepper to taste. It is out of this book I love it. Mine actually has pages falling out because I use it a lot (and the spine wasn't the best quality ever).

edit: formatting, looked ugly a sec ago

That depends on your concept of healthy. I'll give you mine.

I use a Primal diet, because it is low-carb and gluten-free, but there's a positive focus on things I can eat instead.

Gluten has been linked to some odd symptoms. It's possible it has some tie to the mystery illness. Or she could try Whole30, which is a bit drastic, but I hear that many people have found it helpful to identify unknown food allergies. Essentially you eliminate several common allergens from your food for 30 days. After that, you add them back one at a time, and see what causes problems.


More details here:
The Primal Blueprint -- Looks like a typical diet book, with lots of unlikely sounding claims, but turned out to be well researched.


Cookbooks:

This is probably the best one for a beginner, and it does include nutrition data:

Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals -- Simplest recipes of these three.

These do not contain nutrition details, but the recipes are nearly all relatively low carb:
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook -- Good recipes, but requires some cooking skill.

Paleo Comfort Foods -- Bigger book with more recipies. Has some really good low-carb alternatives to desserts or typical comfort foods.


All of those have great pictures and reasonable instructions. Some of the ingredients are a bit odd.

It's actually the recipe in this book, which I saw in a Barnes & Noble and purchased on a whim. Excellent recipes in there. I can attempt to reproduce it here.

Take 1 large eggplant (or 2-3 small ones), cut it in half, rub some olive oil on it, and bake it at 400 for 45 minutes (in a foil covered pan) face up.
let it cool
peel the top skin off, scoop that shit (minus the skin) into a blender
and 2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 cloves of garlic
a dash of cumin
blend until smooth
then add 2 tbsp olive oil (slowly blend this in. I added about half a tbsp at a time)
good to go
I dipped cucumber slices into it

I used 3 huge ones and it was very potent, still good though.

I have several cookbooks that I used (and you still have time to get them from Amazon if you wish).

Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook

Well Fed <-- GET THIS ONE IT IS AMAZING

Paleo Comfort Foods

Some of the recipes needed some tweaking to remove added sugar / whole30 non-compliant foods. All the recipes in Well Fed are 100% compliant though, and they're AMAZING.

The good thing is that many of these cookbooks have a "meal plan" in their intro pages, so you can look to that for guidance.

Additionally, these resources should help you out:

http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex (She also has a whole30 guide here)

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/category/recipes/

As always, vet these recipes to make sure there aren't any added sugars or tamari or anything like that. In general, though they should be ok. I sat down beforehand and made 3 weeks of meal plans and shopping lists so I had NO EXCUSES, and then sort of winged it the last week (LOTS of leftovers).

From my experience, I was unprepared for the amount of food I was cooking. I only planned dinners, and budgeted the leftovers for lunches. Even so I was still overwhelmed with food (especially because my husband was only eating the dinners about 4 times a week).

The secret is to plan plan plan so you cant' fail :)

EDIT: They just posted this over at the Whole9 blog today! http://whole9life.com/2013/07/whole30-meal-plans/

Once again this recipe is from Great Gluten Free Vegan Eats by Allyson Kramer. The recipe is here. You can get a preview of her book and some of the recipes on google books. This recipe is from one of the book previews on google books. It is totally worth buying.

So I will probably just follow the crust recipe and make my own sauce and toppings. I'm excited to try a new pizza crust recipe, especially one like this which doesn't have a million flours!

----------
Virtual Recipe Meetup works as follows. Whomever wants to participate prepares the recipe in their home. Afterwards the participants 'meet up' in a new thread to discuss the recipe and his or her possible variations. Pictures of the final product and/or process are encouraged. This is a fun way to try new recipes and learn more about gluten free vegan cooking.

http://www.amazon.ca/No-Grain-Cookbook-Delicious-Gluten-Free-ebook/dp/B00PNAWOWY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416676666&sr=8-1&keywords=No+grain+piper

No problem!

I bought one book for my sister that's really good.

http://www.amazon.com/000-Gluten-Free-Recipes/dp/0470067802/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332967126&sr=1-7

I think diet is the most important part for that based on my whirlwind research in the past few days.

I also found this page: https://www.restartmed.com/tpo-antibodies/

I think besides eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol from your diet (and probably some other things, too), the next important step are these nutrients that repeatedly come up like Selenium, Zinc, etc. I found this supplement that has 4,000+ positive reviews on Amazon. I ran it through fakespot and review meta to make sure the reviews are not fake. It got an A grade, passed with flying colors. Searching through the reviews, I found a lot of references to "hashimoto's," "anxiety," and "hair" regrowth. If you search for these quoted terms, you will find the reviews yourself. It appears to be a very good supplement that really helps. I've just ordered it yesterday, so I haven't actually tried it yet.

As far as diet and explanation goes for auto immune diseases like Hashimoto's, this book came highly recommended along with this cookbook. I will probably only get the first book because I never use cookbooks. Just tell me what I can eat and I will make my own meal no problem.

The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook

sorry i was so vague, yea sugar is essentially in almost anything, but avoiding added sugars helped me out a lot, fructose and all that bothers me sometimes but nowhere near as bad as added.

Look into wheat as a possible source of the problem. Won't hurt to try eliminating it for a month or so and see what happens, you may have a intolerance to it without being outright allergic.

There isn't any reason I know of that would make IF not appropriate for females. Your body might also be super efficient and make really good use of the calories you give it. I'm not a huge fan of calorie restriction and it's hard when you are exercising as much as you are, but maybe try restricting calories to the low end of your range for at least one week. See if you can do it for 7 days and if there is any change (maybe start after your marathon). If that still isn't working, I would venture to guess that there is something else going on with your physiology. Have you tried a gluten free diet? Some people have extreme gluten sensitivity that can affect fat retention, especially visceral fat. A keto diet is 90% of the way to gluten free so switching over shouldn't take too much effort. Check out the book grain brain or wheat belly for more information and the science behind gluten.

Edit: Links

/r/keto

I was 246lbs in November of last year. About a month ago I was 196. Been hovering around there since then 'cause I've been traveling and unable to diet properly, but it's a great diet.

It's a more radical version of what is known as the 'Paleolithic' diet. The gist of that diet is that humans survived and indeed thrived and evolved on a diet that was high in animal protein, fat, and vegetables. The only source of sugar being fruit. For the majority of human history, that was our diet.

Then came the Industrial Revolution and new forms of processed wheat that were cheaper and easy to mass produce. The FDA recommended diet of 300g of carbohydrates a day -- a high carb/low fat diet -- coincides exactly with the rise in obesity, diabetes, and other weight-related illnesses.

There's an excellent documentary called The Perfect Human Diet that goes into great detail about the paleolithic diet. And more information on why wheat is bad for you can be found in a book called Wheat Belly.

Anyway, /r/keto is like a paleolithic diet but without fruit. So it's pretty much protein, fat, and vegetables. I don't consider it a sustainable diet or one that could be a lifestyle, but it's good for weight loss. The way it works is that, when your body runs out of carbohydrates to burn for energy, it goes into ketosis and starts burning fat for energy.

Turns out, it's much more efficient that way. Back before I ate keto/paleo, I'd have the bowl of cereal for breakfast or something high in carbohydrates, get a burst of energy, and need a nap by 11AM. Now I eat bacon, eggs, sausage for breakfast and I'm good until 1 or 2PM.

I lost a lot of weight, I never felt hungry because I could eat all the meat and cheese and fat and vegetables I wanted provided I stayed under 20-30g of carbohydrates (and stayed within a reasonable calorie limit).

It's really a dream diet, and in addition to losing weight, I just feel healthier. I lost around 50 pounds, and I'm happy where I am under 200, so I've reintroduced fruit into my diet in small forms, and some carbohydrates -- but from things like beans and potatoes and whatnot rather than processed wheat.

Honestly, it was a lifechanger. I was at a 44 waist, and now I'm at a 34. Once I start exercising to get rid of the remaining belly fat, I'll be set.

Well, aside from every book and article I've read when researching gluten intolerance after finding out I am gluten intolerant... sure, here are a few links you can read to educate yourself.

Do Heritage Grains Hold Promise for the Gluten-Sensitive?

Einkorn - Historic hulls unlock healthier diet for all

The Natural History of Wheat

Also you can pick up a copy (or download) Wheat Belly by William Davis for more information about gluten. But since you're pulling fake statistics out of your ass based on what you believe to be true, I doubt you'll actually read any of these articles, let alone a book about the subject.

Modern diet is causing persistently high blood sugar and inflammation. Eliminate sugar and processed grains, especially wheat. I strongly recommend reading Wheat Belly by a doctor who found recommended diets made him worse and now recommends the regimen he used to get healthy. His Track Your Plaque Blog is really good. My own introduction was through the Perricone Prescription and Paleo Diet books. I also recommend Archevore as a resource.

Exercise is great, but if your diet is wrong it won't work. The inflammation that leads to moobs is a major cancer risk, so there are good reasons to get control of your body. Good luck!

There is speculation that dwarf wheat is causing a host of digestive-related disorders in a significant portion of the population. These dwarf varieties of wheat that were cultivated by Norman Borlaug seem to be incompatible with many peoples' digestive systems, leading to high incidence of gluten intolerance, Celiac disease, wheat allergy and other forms of wheat sensitivity. The consequences of these wheat-related digestive problems include obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, incidence of which have reached endemic proportions in recent decades, especially in Western nations.

Much of this is conjecture at this point, and I'm sure that I will be downvoted for not citing peer-reviewed sources. At this point, I will suggest that anybody curious on the subject read a book titled Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. At this stage, this idea is considered highly controversial, and is outright rejected by the medical community. I can only say that there does seem to be a correlation between the introduction of dwarf wheat into the Western diet and the onset of high rates of obesity and diabetes in these same nations.

If you suspect you may have a sensitivity to wheat products, I suggest reading the book and having yourself tested for Celiac disease or the like.

The flip side of that is that insulin tells your body to refuse to remove energy from fat cells, and eating a carbohydrate-heavy diet dramatically increases your insulin levels. Thus, people can run a caloric deficit and not lose significant weight, but simultaneously experience starvation at the cellular level if their diet is too carb-heavy.

EDIT: Not sure why I'm being downvoted, because it's factually accurate. Sources: Good Calories, Bad Calories; Why We Get Fat; Wheat Belly. There are more, but these are some of the best, fully-sourced books about the subject.

I won't get into it because this is something I had to learn on my own, but if you feel like researching it I recommend giving this book a read.

Edit: Also since you're noticing your energy levels have been going down, maybe try cutting out the grains for two weeks or so to see if you feel better. Your call though.

my girlfriend's sister married an indian guy (tech support indian not woo wooo woo indian).

many in his family are vegetarians. a lot of them are sickly, fat fucks. i'm eating mostly paleo. i'm 5'10", 175lbs and have under 10% body fat. and the only health problems i've had in 40+ years are broken bones or pulled muscles from sports.

i'll stick with paleo.

a cardiologist put out a book called "The Wheat Belly" which talks about how much grains, breads, pasta, etc. are killing this country. are you going to discount him too.

here's robb wolf's book. trying reading it some time. you'll learn quite a lot.

and as i said to the other poster, i couldn't care less what you do/eat. i'll continue to eat mostly paleo and i'll enjoy great health & longevity. and seeing that my relatives of the last 3-4 generations have mostly lived till their 80s & 90s on crappy diets, i should be able to enjoy a long, active, healthy life.

I cut out wheat and wheat products entirely. Not just gluten, but everything bread related. (This book actually changed my entire outlook on food) I've lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks, mostly from my belly and hips. I'm also less hungry all the time, have way more energy, and I'm not chronically constipated for the first time in as long as I can remember.

A couple of great books to read:

Why We Get Fat: and what to do about it

Wheat Belly

I've been reading a book lately called Wheat Belly. The title sounds like a lot of hoopla, but there is some really interesting information in it about how the wheat that we are eating today is a genetically modified version of the wheat that was being grown in the US up until about 40 years ago. Apparently there's evidence to suggest that these genetic modifications have made wheat much worse for us than it used to be. It might be anecdotal evidence, but I, too, feel much better when I don't eat a lot of wheat-based foods.

If you are more serious about going gluten-free, I suggest reading "Wheat Belly" :) I was never tested for celiac's but after I went gluten-free, it alleviated A LOT of issues I was having before.

There are plenty of sources. "Wheat Belly", "Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It", simple carbs can increase bad cholesterol, "Cut down on carbs to reduce body fat"and literally thousands of other articles and books. Wheat is the worst simple carb for your health, so I eliminated wheat from my diet. But OP was asking for a diet that helped me lose weight, and I don't care if there weren't any science at all to back it up - through a whole month of me not eating wheat, I lost 15 pounds effortlessly.

Dr. William Davis is the author of Wheat Belly, which this article doesn't even mention strangely enough. It sounds like the blogger read the book and then wrote this article which is mostly based on it. Wheat Belly is an excellent book which I highly recommend. Davis presents a lot of evidence against the idea of modern wheat being healthy for the general population.

I'm not sure if you're arguing against the idea of modern wheat being a different breed, or if you're critical of the idea that wheat-free diet would be beneficial. If it is the second argument, I would address you:

There is indeed supportive evidence. On the blog, it references a book called Wheat Belly, and it well reviewed on Amazon.

As an anecdote, as a former medical professional who still keeps tabs on the industry, the notion of going wheat-free (or a variation like paleo, keto or carb/grain free) is an idea that's catching on like wild fire. A doctor recently recommended a grain-free diet in order to lower my dad's cholesterol. I went grain-free for two months, and saw my cholesterol drop from 220 to 160 in two months, with elevated HDL and moderate LDL. (Not that it matters, its been proven that cholesterol levels don't necessarily correlate to heart disease. Plus, I can think and feel better too!

So yes, there's plenty of references and supportive evidence on the more broad discussion of going wheat free.

I kindly direct you to r/Keto or r/Paleo to show a robust community around taking wheat, and more broadly, carbohydrates, out of their diets.

The book Wheat Belly argues that accumulation of fat around the belly specifically is more common when excess calories come from wheat sources - unfortunately that includes beer and cookies!

SSRIs are tricky stuff and it is outside of our scope of practice make suggestions on what is appropriate for you in concern to your medications.

That said, a healthy diet does have data to suggest it can help with mental health issues and potentially reduce your need for medications and thus the sleep preventing side effect.

Coelicac Disease and Schizophrenia have been documented to have quicker dischargement rate when cereal was removed from the diet this suggests that wheat products have potential triggering effect on mental symptoms. Consider reading Wheat Belly or Grain Brain for more on this subject.

Keto can alleviates depression via reduction of inflammation

cite 1

cite 2


Inversely high sugar diets have higher increased risk with rates of depression and mood disorders A keto diet removes sugar from the diet.

credit to /u/dem0n0cracy for posting sources

Give it a try. Read the ketoscience guide for a simple introduction on how to start:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/wiki/guide

https://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609614798

You should read ‘wheat belly’ it was interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609614798/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_AL-NAbMMMRNGA

It's wheat belly. Cut out (or at least reduce) your consumption of refined grains and other sugars and it'll melt away.

Its my understanding that even whole wheat breads and grains are not great for you when eaten to the degree recommended by the US Government. I found http://www.amazon.com/dp/1609614798 to be an enlightening read on why this is.

The recipe tastes great. It is from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking. After a couple batches, I decided to bake it in a cast iron skillet that I preheated in the oven. That gave it a better edge.

I have reduced my gluten to once or twice a month because of stomach issues. It's really not as difficult as I imagined - things like rice pasta and tortillas really help. I've recently requested this book from my library but it hasn't been returned yet so I have yet to read it. I bet it's very helpful (Julieanna Hever has some good recipes on her blog).

This is awesome! I'm not sure what sort of eater you are, if you can get away with eating the same foods for months on end, but if you start getting bored with the standard fare, I'd head on over to /r/ketorecipes, or pick up a copy of The Ketogenic Cookbook, if you're more experienced cooking, and try out some things you see there.

Personally, I try two new recipes per grocery shopping trip (~1 per week). If I like them, they tend to become part of my new standard, and if I don't, I don't sweat it. Even before keto, this is how I kept myself from eating out when I got bored with what was around the house.

I'm actually a "re-committer" as well, and I can understand that. This time around, I made sure to buy some cookbooks and keep creating. I have made some flops, but have really come a LONG way in creating more variety for myself. I got this cookbook for Christmas this year (thank you, awesome brother) and have been working on recipes through there.

To Dad, as I am Dad of 2 with a currently breastfeeding wife, LEARN TO COOK. It makes everything much easier. I have really increased my cooking skill and have made some awesome food. I have had people ask for recipes after eating at our house.

My wife is dairy free while breastfeeding, so this makes getting fat a little more difficult, but there are plenty of resources here to find options. She also really watches her hydration. Keto dropping the water weight and the breastfeeding.

I started with Gordon Ramsey videos he and have found some more resources. You have to tweak recipes to fit your macros, but it can be done!

Start with scrambled eggs this way and you will not go back hahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0

HEADBANGERS KITCHEN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G63FPzpERzs

THE KETOGENIC COOKBOOK - a friend gave this to me and it has much more "fancy" keto meals. I make them when we have dinner guests and I stay keto but the meals are good enough for others to eat and not even realize it is keto.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1628600780/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628600942/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_apa_TWuszbS8H4ZKW

My husband and I wanted one guide to stick to and we used this one.

We ended up buying it, but our local library had it. I checked out lots of aip books/cookbooks and chose the one that seemed the most straightforward and simplest to follow.

The Autoimmune Protocol Made Simple Cookbook: Start Healing Your Body and Reversing Chronic Illness Today with 100 Delicious Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592338178/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_KEGRDbW6WZESG

This is my other go to Cookbook:
The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You Thrive https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628600942/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YFGRDb4FCRERD

I meal prep breakfast and work-snack items. I get up really early to go to work and I'm not a morning person so I'll never cook in the mornings. On Sunday (I work m-f) I cook a quiche, and then eat a slice for breakfast on the way to work. I also pick a snack to have at work for the week so I'm not tempted by the vending machine on my break. Last week I made keto egg muffins; this week it's hard boiled eggs. I'm getting tired of eggs haha.

For the other meals, I cook. Lunch is fish because it's fast, and then dinner is usually a protein plus veggies. But I only work part time; if I were still working full time I'd have to figure out something different for lunch.

I also make sure I have some stuff in the fridge that I can grab and eat quick if need be. Cheese, hot dogs (I love Nathan's hot dogs, only 1g of carbs a piece I think), lunch meat, stuff like that, because there are definitely times I don't feel like cooking. So I think for me, I cook when I can because fresh stuff always tastes better but I do meal prep for the meals I know I'm not going to have time for. I think it works pretty well :)

There is a keto recipe subreddit /r/ketorecipes and tons of blogs/sites/etc online for more resources. This is the book I bought and so far it seems really nice. Most of the meals are pretty easy and she has a lot of great information about keto in there as well. There is also a section at the beginning where she makes a 7 day meal plan with a corresponding shopping list which is nice, though too expensive looking for me haha.

edit: I also really like pickles for snacks. Mostly because of the salt and crunchiness

This one is great for beginners, both recipes and explanations

I got this one - https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Ketogenic-Cooking-Recipes/dp/1628601000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482943942&sr=8-1&keywords=keto+cookbook

It's really great as the first twenty pages or so talk about the keto lifestyle and all sorts of different things from sweetners, to proteins. And fantastic recipes!

You might want to get Fasano's book: "Gluten Freedom." Lot of good stuff for you to know in there. She'd be really impressed that you took the time to learn all about it.

Paleo is no wheat and no dairy. I would check there. They will have eggs in some recipes of course, but you could use egg substitute. There are lots of paleo cookbooks out there. http://www.amazon.com/Well-Fed-Paleo-Recipes-People/dp/061557226X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450478162&sr=1-5&keywords=paleo

http://www.amazon.com/Against-All-Grain-Delectable-Recipes/dp/1936608367/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450478162&sr=1-3&keywords=paleo

I eat a combo of vegan/paleo. Why?
Paleo ppl know how to cook their meat in decently low calorie dishes
Vegan - man do they know how to make veggies! You don't really know how to cook veggies until you dig into these recipes.

• 1 Oh She Glows - Food genius! Best I've ever owned!
  

• 2 Against All Grain - Very solid, I love everything including the desserts
  

• 3 Thug Kitchen - Amazing flavor combinations and loved most everything I made, some things were more effort than they were worth. I found myself going to the grocery store a lot when I was cooking through this book. Avoided the desserts because of the use of all purpose flour, sugar etc. The baking seems more traditional.
  

• 4 Everyday Detox - Love the shakes and desserts, the cookie recipes are the best I've made, but the food falls flat. The combos don't knock my socks off.
  

• 5 Paleo Comfort Food - Found a few good things in here but lots of misses. Resorted to writing X's and check marks on the pages of things that were successful and not so successful.
  

  
  

I bought this book (The Healthy Gluten-Free Life: 200 Delicious Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free and Egg-Free Recipes! by Tammy Credicott http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936608715/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_teZvtb1SXDN3A) and it has been SO useful. Definitely check it out.

I really enjoy the gluten free goddess website http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ and this book would be great for you to have since her family is gluten free, dairy free and egg free.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Healthy-Gluten-Free-Life-Dairy-Free/dp/1936608715 It is a good book.

Paleo seems like a natural choice, but I've found most of the cookbooks lacking. However, both Paleo Comfort Foods and Make it Paleo are pretty good and full of flavorful and completely grain/gluten-free recipes.

I really like Paleo Comfort Foods

This right here: Paleo Comfort Foods

I'm from the south and these recipes are bomb.

Non-mobile:

• Paleo Comfort Foods
  
• Paleo Happy Hour
  
• Paleo by Season
  
  ^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

not dairy free, but easy to make substitutions and it is gluten free. recipes have tasted great.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1941536883/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_DwVqDbSN83K1C

I don't have Celiacs, but I assure you that I suffer all the same when I consume gluten (I'm intolerant). It destroys the micro-villi in my intestines, which results in absorption issues; causes nearly immobilizing joint pain when consumed in large quantities, hair loss when consumed even the tiniest amounts (this is how I know the corn tortilla I was served wasn't 100% corn), intense bloating, decreased immunity, morbid anxiety and depression, extreme mental fog and symptoms of severe ADHD, etc. For years I was worried I suffered from Lupus, or some other sort of chronic illness, not to mention pretty severe mental illness. I would not be surprised if many who suffer similarly and have such diagnoses were simply misdiagnosed.

Also, the gluten of today is not the gluten of yesteryear, and that people without very apparent issues avoid is probably isn't a bad thing. That being said, some people are a bit dense, and think that GF processed foods are somehow healthy, and that is a mistake. Most of them are not; some are healthier, perhaps, but nonetheless are not legitimate health-promoting food items.

Good article: http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/gluten-intolerance-is-it-just-a-fad-or-is-wheat-really-a-toxin-02202014

out of ALL the several paged article, the only word it says about starches:

>while glucose (found in starchy food like bread and potatoes) is metabolised by all cells. This means consuming excessive fructose puts extra strain on the liver, which then converts fructose to fat.

This entire crusade youve been going on has been about fructose and sugar, all your sources are about fructose and refined sugar; this is NOT saying that eating pasta, potatos and rice are your fat ass free ticket. They didnt even touch on glycemic index! White rice has a higher glycemic index than table sugar itself. If you think that ONE sentence gives you free range to eat carbohydrates without fear of becoming fat, you are dead wrong my friend.

Heres one for you: Wheat Belly

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Phinney and Volek is a good starting point. It is written for both doctors and laypeople, so while "normals" can follow it, it also has much more technical descriptions of metabolic interactions and is very well referenced to journal publications.

Wheat Belly by William Davis is also worth taking a look at. William Davis is a cardiologist who has used wheat restriction (which leads to much lower carbohydrates) very successfully in his clinic. It also includes many references to journal publications.

A /r/paleo diet may be more tolerable since it allows most fruit, though there is evidence of very low carb keto diets (20-25g/day) may have additional health benefits for people who are insulin resistant. I would bet the odds are pretty high that if your dad hit the point of needing a bypass, that he is also insulin resistant.

I left a box when my contract ended. They were REALLY big on paleo and I was vegetarian at the time. They even wrote a cookbook. I was also going 5 days a week and I should have been going maybe 3 and doing something "easier" on my not-crossfit days. And then this girl I COULD NOT STAND who always critiqued me (like, another member) was about to become a coach ... Anyways, I was like eff this. And I left.

I took a year long break from CrossFit. But I had a hard time really going back to a regular gym tho. So I finally re-signed up with a new box. And I visited ... talked to the coaches. Liked their programming. So I signed up.

Anyways, I ran into Charles (the owner of my first CrossFit box) at a 5k (He was GREAT!). And we chatted and they had moved locations. So he was like "yeah, you should drop by and do a workout!" It was really nice.

I am really glad I did the Intro classes at the first box. They were one of the first crossfit locations around so they had a great format. And my new box lacks some things my first box had. Like equipment (rowers, we hardly do rowing wods at my current box bc they only have two of them and GHDs ...).

But I'm glad I made the switch. And I can see how some of the fault lies within myself. Like ... bc I am such a huge whiner. And I make a lot of excuses. I will still not go to CrossFit sometimes when I see certain movements on the blog (that's why I just cant look at the WOD sometimes bc I wont go!). But if I feel like I need guidance, I just ask the coach to look at me while I lift. And they always do! But because I've "been around" CrossFit for awhile, the coaches always seem to have someone else who needs their help more!

Hopefully you have a lot of boxes to choose from! With a year under your belt, you'll be able to see what you like and what you dont like a lot easier.

edit: You're paying decent money for a gym. Get what you want from it! At the end of the day, you're paying for a service. You should get some enjoyment out of it?

I recently picked up this brilliant book: Gluten free vegan world eats

and the other one in the series is great too. Some good tips in there.

Gluten free pasta is pretty cheap now, you can get rice noodles too. Vegan gluten free bread can be tricky, in the UK there's a few I've found but they are a bit expensive so I buy corn crackers and potato waffles and stuff like that a lot and have them instead of bread.

edit: ugh messed the links up, don't know why I keep doing that, hold on.

edit: fixed links.

If you read this book, you may think he made one of the biggest oops! of all time.

Yes.

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343328904&sr=8-1&keywords=wheat+belly

The name of their book / blog is "wheat belly". Dude is a dr and basically says putting hit patients on wheat free diets had all kinds of bananas good results. Their main thing I see so far is modern wheat isn't like old school wheat. It's been mixed w/other shit to make it high yield, which also changed other things some of which have bad effects.

What gets me is the 4.5 star rating on amazon (295 reviews) with person after person saying dropping wheat changed their life. Symptoms they suffered from for years and years, gone. And not just "I was fat her der".

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/product-reviews/1609611543/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

These aren't small "cool book dude" reviews either. These people are telling their fucking life stories. Shit obvious really impacted them.

I found this while goolging some other stuff and after some reading am pretty sure I too have a "wheat belly".

The book Wheat Belly is a good start. I constantly struggle with my weight. I cut out wheat two months ago and have dropped 20# from 220#. You have to eat lots of meat (shucks) and its doable. Its worth reading the preview at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Weight-Health-ebook/dp/B00571F26Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370196075&sr=1-1&keywords=wheat+belly

Links:

Paleo Comfort Foods

Well Fed

start removing wheat/gluten as it is very bad for immune system.

I am a vegan with arthritis and getting better since I dropped wheat based food.

read this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1609614798

I cannot caution you enough, just from my personal experience (anecdotal ) that foods from companies that do their best to be fast and profitable, are almost NEVER good for you.

I HIGHLY recommend looking into r/Keto and r/Paleo. And maybe reading Wheatbelly

You'd be amazed at the recipe books they have nowadays.

A ten second search on amazon revealed:

Healthy gluten free life. This book has 200 recipes that are soy, dairy, and egg free.

That's just the first result I found when I did a search for "soy free cookbooks".

You should check out your local library for recipe books! You'd be amazed at what they have- and if they don't have what you're looking for, you can always request that they purchase a book to add to their collection. And if they do, they notify you when it's in stock!

Also, you should talk to your doctor. I'm sure they have a pamphlet or something or something somewhere- doing this sort of diet to eliminate/determine food allergies is not unheard of.

So you want real evidence? You want to know more right? You just can't comprehend that changing your diet would benefit your skin, right? Well, here is your "real" evidence. This is a booklist that gave me insight on why there is a current diabetes health crisis in the world and what highly processed carbs can do to one's body. You asked for it, you shall receive:

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health-ebook/dp/B00571F26Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395103560&sr=8-1&keywords=wheat+belly

http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Brains-Killers-ebook/dp/B00BAXFCPO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1395103560&sr=8-7&keywords=wheat+belly

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About-ebook/dp/B003WUYOQ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395103576&sr=8-1&keywords=why+we+get+fat

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes-ebook/dp/B000UZNSC2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395103576&sr=8-3&keywords=why+we+get+fat