meal planning...help please!

lynsayjane

hi guys,

im sitting writing up my meal planner for the week, problem is i usually live on pasta, rice, toast for brekkie etc and not only is it getting somewhat boring i have decided (on advice from doc re. weight loss) to try a wheat free diet for a couple of weeks, so i'm hoping to cut out pasta, rice, bread, cereal and minimum amounts of potato.

so far i'm making chickpea curry, carrot and sweet potato soup and pea soup. but really stumped for much else...especially as regards breakfast, if i can't have toast or cereal what else is there???

most dinners (soups etc) get taken for lunch at work the next day, the plan is also to freeze portions from this week to have next week, and hopefully i can get out of the weight loss rut i'm in!

thanks for any help you can give me!

homersimpson_3

breakfast- yoghart, fruit, smoothies, the usual grilled items, poached/scrambled/boiled eggs, waffles, pancakes. croissants etc.
did you want suggestions for other meals aswell (not sure)

lynsayjane

thanks, never thought about the smoothies, do they fill you up enough? normally i have two slices of toast with a banana on it, find that keeps me full enough till lunch, which at my job is important cause we are damn near encouraged to eat sweets all day (to make manager feel better when she does this! :eek: ) so it's easier if i'm not hungry...i do have a smoothy maker so that would be a good possibility.

other meals would be good cause otherwise i may live on pea soup for the next two weeks and turn an odd shade of green!

homersimpson_3

suggest you have something plus smoothie- say fruit & smoothie. this diet is going to be hard to plan let alone live on! other meals- tonnes of combination of salads, cauliflower cheese, roasted vegetables, are you allowed soya stuff? mushroom burgers, take nuts and raisins and dried fruit to snack on, are you allowed pastry?, corn on the cob?

lynsayjane

it's not really a case of what i'm allowed, i'm not finding an alergy or anything. basically i used to be four stone or so overweight, through going to the gym i've managed to shift three stone, but have hit a rut, i've stuck within a few pounds of my weight for a couple of months now, i went to the docs about some dietetic help, but unfortunatly i'm now too skinny to get an appointment :mad: tho that did make me feel good when i heard it! while i was there we were discussing my diet and she suggested taking out wheats for a couple of weeks to see if that helps with the weight loss, aparently when some people cut out bread they shift half a stone. so i decided to give it a shot, right now if she told me doing cartwheels down union street would shift this stone i'd probably try! :rotfl:

Cat72

If you are wanting a wheat free diet I would recommend buying Lose weight lose wheat book -http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007106459/026-4111319-4899622?v=glance&n=266239&s=books&v=glance. You can usually pick it up cheap on ebay.It gives you a good place to start and it gives you lots of advice in what to keep in your cupboards and guides you through giving up wheat.
I find smoothies are very filing especailly if you put banannas in them.
If you are trying to shift the last few pounds, or stone I highily recommended dr joshis holistic detox book ( i believe it is only £3.99 at the book people or try to borrow a copy from your library) however it is very tough but if you can bear with it you skin looks great & it helps your metabolisim.
I have mostly a wheat free and dairy & meat free lifestyle and find it hard. However there are a lot of alternatives and you can view it as a challenge ,so you start to think about what you eat.My favourite book is vegetarian without as its full of yummy reciepes and worth every penny.
Also remember potatoes are very fattening,bloating and I would definately recommend avoid them and see if you lose a bit of weight- plus feel healthier. They tend to make me feel very sluggish and my pal gets terrible wind when she eats them !
Good luck its tough the first few weeks but you kind of get used to it.

Mermaid

Hi Lynsay,

You don't have to skip breakfast on a wheat free diet - it's easy! Just eat wheat free breakfast cereals: e.g. cornflakes, rice krispies, porridge, readybrek or even some of the specialist wheat free ones. Be careful, as some of the instant hot oat cereals contain wheat, so check ingredients carefully.

You can also buy wheat free breads, or even try baking your own with spelt flour etc. Spelt bread is nice toasted too, my wheat-intolerant friend told me. There are always oatcakes too - yummy spread with a tiny bit of marmalade.

My best tip for loosing weight is to do the 'Fruit Bowl Challenge' - get a large bowl and fill it with apples, pears, oranges etc. Make sure you eat at least one piece with every meal. The aim is to make sure you empty the bowl at least once during the week.

Salads are always a good idea, try different stuff like apples, grapes, sultananas, fresh beetroot and sweetcorn in them for some interesting tastes to stop them getting boring. You can still eat stuff like rice and potatoes - just be careful with portion control.

You can use Quorn instead of meat to cut down the fat further, then a veggie chicken chilli becomes possible (yum!). Be careful if you use a lot of Quorn (e.g. most meals) - I checked with the manufacturer last year and found that it is very low in iron (which isn't mentioned on the packaging). Ensure you have adequate intake of iron from other food in your diet or take supplements, otherwise you'll become anaemic. Don't know why they don't fortify it with iron like breakfast cereals.

Blended veg soup (e.g. carrot & coriander etc) before a meal fills you up so you don't overeat during the rest of the meal and also help contribute to your 5 portions of fruit & veg a day. Also try leek & potato, french onion soup or mushroom.

Stir-fry's with as little oil as needed to stop it sticking are one of my favourite meals. Make some sweet and sour sauce with tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, water and cornflour to go over the top. Recipe - Put in about two or three tablespoons of water per person into a small saucepan and add the other ingredients (except cornflour) in small quantities until it tastes OK - then mix about 1 teaspoon of cornflour per person with a little water and add to pan. Heat gently stirring all the time until thickened. As you mix it to taste you get a slightly different tast each time. Nice variation is to leave out the tomatoe puree and use pineapple juice instead of water.

Puddings aren't a no-no either: try fresh fruit with a low fat yoghurt or ice cream. I like the zero-fat Total yoghurt with strawberries and a tiny drizzle of honey or maple syrup over the top. Stewed fruit with a bit of icecream or custard is nice in colder weather.

If possible, try to up the amount of exercise you get - this won't make you loose weight, as your appetite will go up (allow for this and eat a little bit more to balance out the extra calories you burn otherwise you'll feel awful), but it will help to improve your muscle tone which will make you look and feel better. Start off with Pilates if you're new to exercising - it will help to correct your posture and that can make you look pounds lighter too.

I managed to shift two and a half stone last year after having the sprogs, and all this stuff worked for me. I'm sure you'll soon shift that last bit of weight too.

Have to go now - I'm too hungry to write any more!

Mermaid

Cat72

Here Is some resipes from the wheat free website if you google wheat free recieps you could find others.

lynsayjane

thanks for all the advice.

mermaid, i go to the gym four or five times a week so i really think upping my exercise is a bad idea :rotfl: but thanks for the thoughts.

i'm only hoping to try it for a couple of weeks, i wouldnt want to cut out a whole food group long term. to me a healthy diet is well rounded and a good mix of all food groups within reason.

i have crunchy nut cornflakes in the cupboard so i'm off for a bowl now after finding out they are wheat free!