Diet Experiences

Jim

I wandered in here and just thought I'd write up my own experiences on the off chance it might be helpful to someone.

I'm on a diet for medical reasons, one which I have to be on for more or less the rest of my life. The alternative to being on the diet isn't too severe, its more affects my energy, mood, and general well being. The foods I have to avoid is anything which contains yeast, gluten, sugar, sweeteners, chocolate, fruit or caffine, which basically means anything which tastes good heh.

I've been on this diet for about 3 months now and have to say that the results speak for themselves. I have much more motivation about me and my life in general, more confidence, energy and feel good the majority of the time basically. The only draw back is the food of course. When I decided to go on the diet I found that instead of being down about the foods I can't eat, rather be enthusiastic about foods you can eat. I thought of all the ingredients I was able to eat and think up and own recipes and combinations and I found that having a positive mental attitude toward the whole thing was the by far the greatest help.

I originally had terrible sugar cravings for the first few weeks, almost to the point of crawling up walls, but everytime I gave in reminded me about how **** I feel after I do eat those type of foods, its all about getting through those first few weeks and after that it becomes much more manageable. A few months on and I feel great, I've even started going to the gym recently, something my friends will confirm would be unheard of from me, and this coupled with the diet is a great combination.

As well as the main foods I gave up I suddenly got very sensitive to any foods that weren't good for me, and subsequently found more food types that had a negative effect on me (eggs being an example) so I have cut them out of my diet. My advice to people is as I said to have a positive attitude toward the food you can eat (I've actually come to love ricecakes more than bread, they are so awesome), get past those first few weeks and try to identify the foods that have a negative effect on you. The only thing I struggle with myself is alcohol. I was a big beer drinker, but thats totally out now (the only thing I can drink is vodka and water ><), even though from time to time I have sneaky pint (or two...), its something I really need to work on.

I'm not quite sure why I wrote this, but just hope it offers some advice to people struggling to take up a new diet for whatever reason

g'em

That's a fantastic post!!! You're absolutely right though, it's your attitude towards food that counts for so much success. All the time I hear people practically having anxiety attacks at the thought of giving up or cutting down their precious junk food, when the reality is that as a foddstuff, it does you more harm than good both psychologically and physically. I've yet to hear of *one* person who has felt worse for cutting down on breads, pasta's and starchy foods.

Yay you \o/ !!

rubadub

Yes, you hear of people force feeding themselves food they do not like. I like all the food I eat, I am convinced anybody can find healthy foods they enjoy if they just bother looking. Some might be surprised at what is healthy, thinking "but it tastes nice, how can it be good for you":rolleyes:

The beer should not really be a problem, beer is brewed with yeast but is filtered very well, yeast is solid, if you beer is clear there is only possibly a minute trace of yeast in it, like a crumb of breads worth. Bottle conditioned "cloudy" beers are full of yeast though. The other problem is the residual unfermented sugars in the beer. Pilsners are brewed until "dry", i.e. there are trace amounts of sugar in them. You best bet is clear pilsner drinks if you really want a pint.

CathyMoran

Hi, I can relate - I can only eat small volumes on a regular basis (can not take much dairy) and high sugar is out. I have been training my stomachophagus (I had my oesophagus removed). It still is not easy and at first I got very depressed over it but at least I am still alive. I hope to train my stomach to eat at least 2 courses eventually though this Christmas will be tough! For the moment it is mayonaise with everything and fluids an hour before or after eating so booze is pretty much out but I am now able to eat a sandwitch/lasagne/Whopper (only one!) at a sitting and had 2 small courses in Paris. You can survive a diet.

Jim

rubadub wrote: »

Yes, you hear of people force feeding themselves food they do not like. I like all the food I eat, I am convinced anybody can find healthy foods they enjoy if they just bother looking. Some might be surprised at what is healthy, thinking "but it tastes nice, how can it be good for you":rolleyes:

The beer should not really be a problem, beer is brewed with yeast but is filtered very well, yeast is solid, if you beer is clear there is only possibly a minute trace of yeast in it, like a crumb of breads worth. Bottle conditioned "cloudy" beers are full of yeast though. The other problem is the residual unfermented sugars in the beer. Pilsners are brewed until "dry", i.e. there are trace amounts of sugar in them. You best bet is clear pilsner drinks if you really want a pint.

A few people told me that before and I experimented a bit but believe me all beer has a huge effect on me. I've been a bit **** the last few days, some friends are over visiting me so I've been drinking beer and its safe to say I'm not well now heh.

Suaimhneach

Well done Barry, thats really cool to hear.

I've had allergies since I was small (dairy & wheat), so I get that diet (in terms of changing what you're eating not not eating at all) can be a challenge. A positive mental attitude can go a long way to keeping you healthy.

Jim

Jesjes wrote: »

Well done Barry, thats really cool to hear.

I've had allergies since I was small (dairy & wheat), so I get that diet (in terms of changing what you're eating not not eating at all) can be a challenge. A positive mental attitude can go a long way to keeping you healthy.

Cheers Jes.

My mates left today and after several days of heavy beer drinking I'm in a pretty bad state now, will take a few days before I begin to feel normal again. I'm going to be strict from now on though, its not worth feeling this bad.

Worst thing about it is that they left two crates of beer here which now I can't drink ><

emeraldstar

Jimeatsmenu wrote: »

I wandered in here and just thought I'd write up my own experiences on the off chance it might be helpful to someone.

I'm on a diet for medical reasons, one which I have to be on for more or less the rest of my life. The alternative to being on the diet isn't too severe, its more affects my energy, mood, and general well being. The foods I have to avoid is anything which contains yeast, gluten, sugar, sweeteners, chocolate, fruit or caffine, which basically means anything which tastes good heh.

I've been on this diet for about 3 months now and have to say that the results speak for themselves. I have much more motivation about me and my life in general, more confidence, energy and feel good the majority of the time basically. The only draw back is the food of course. When I decided to go on the diet I found that instead of being down about the foods I can't eat, rather be enthusiastic about foods you can eat. I thought of all the ingredients I was able to eat and think up and own recipes and combinations and I found that having a positive mental attitude toward the whole thing was the by far the greatest help.

I originally had terrible sugar cravings for the first few weeks, almost to the point of crawling up walls, but everytime I gave in reminded me about how **** I feel after I do eat those type of foods, its all about getting through those first few weeks and after that it becomes much more manageable. A few months on and I feel great, I've even started going to the gym recently, something my friends will confirm would be unheard of from me, and this coupled with the diet is a great combination.

As well as the main foods I gave up I suddenly got very sensitive to any foods that weren't good for me, and subsequently found more food types that had a negative effect on me (eggs being an example) so I have cut them out of my diet. My advice to people is as I said to have a positive attitude toward the food you can eat (I've actually come to love ricecakes more than bread, they are so awesome), get past those first few weeks and try to identify the foods that have a negative effect on you. The only thing I struggle with myself is alcohol. I was a big beer drinker, but thats totally out now (the only thing I can drink is vodka and water ><), even though from time to time I have sneaky pint (or two...), its something I really need to work on.

I'm not quite sure why I wrote this, but just hope it offers some advice to people struggling to take up a new diet for whatever reason

so what do you typically eat in a day? just out of curiosity

Jim

I rarely have breakfast, but if I do I usually just have a natural yogurt (its awesome for countering the yeast infection). Then for lunch I usually have rice cakes / Ryvita with some sort of spread / topping (hommous, creme cheese, ham, cheese, lettuce, onion etc...). Then for dinner I got several recipe books specific to my diet which I try to vary (I make an awesome Strogganoff!) usually with rice or rice pasta. I've been getting very lazy though and just making stirfry's with tamari sauce (which is still nice, just a little boring to keep eating). For snacks I stock up on ready salted crisps and popcorn and pretty much all I drink is water. I tried certain herbal teas for awhile but they made me feel **** so I cut them out again.

moved away for college just after I started my diet and the best thing about is that I was forced to cook proper meals for myself which means I'm now pretty handy at cooking instead of just buy frozen meals like all my other house mates.