SW on a gluten free diet....any tips please?

[girdlestone1]

Two hip replacements later, and my knees hurt. So I have to do something about it>
I've done SW before and it worked for me. I'm not keen on Extra Easy, possibly because I'm not sure I understanding it properly, and if I do, then it isn't structured enough for me.....too many opportunities to cheat. But the jury is still out. In the mean time, it's good old red and green for me

I may have questions about the food values I've forgotten, but above all, is anyone else on here doing Slimming World and needing a gluten free diet?? How is it working for you, and do you have any tips for me please? When I did SW before I was not on a gluten free diet. I would be very grateful for any

 

[Grunka Lunka]

Hiya! I'm kind of doing a gluten free version of Slimming World, though I'm trying not to 'count' as I find that doesn't work for me (I'm following the principals though). I did SW properly a few years ago, before I went gluten free so I've also had to do it from both angles.

I'm not finding too many problems in keeping gluten free as there are some great alternatives available now. I found the following example weekly menu from SW online, which is designed for gluten free diets, it may be of help:-

http://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/downloads/glutenfree_group.pdf

It is for the extra easy plan though but I'm sure you could tweak it to fit whichever day you're doing.

It says on there that gluten free bread can be used as a healthy extra, which is great. I'm not sure if gluten free pasta is free or not but I find that rice noodles are a great alternative to egg noodles and the dried ones are free on SW green days and are gluten free. I've found that moving to a gluten free diet has also forced me to make a lot of things from scratch as gluten finds its way into so many foods that I never realised before. Even some stock cubes are off limits for me now so I'm constantly checking packaging in the supermarkets as it sneaks in everywhere!

I've adapted various recipes to fit in with the green / red days (as I'm not a fan of EE either). Some favourites are un-cottage pie (make from scratch and leave out the potato so it's free on a red day) and I have that with either roasted vegetables or a salad (or both!), Old El Paso Fajita mix (I buy the spice mix on its own (4 syns per pack so about 1 syn per serving) as I love the flavour and make it with loads veg and chicken (red day) or with veg and rice without chicken (green day) and have it with home-made free tomato and chilli salsa, a healthy extra sprinkling of cheese and a dollop of quark - delicious!) and all-day breakfasts have quickly become a favourite in my house (for red days - eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, mushrooms, low-fat sausages (synned but not too bad - check the ingredients as a lot of sausages are gluten free anyway, just not advertised as such) and toast as a healthy extra.

I've found that my cravings for sweet things have diminished a lot since going gluten free so cakes, chocolate, biscuits etc. aren't really a problem for me, though that may not be the case for everyone. Gluten free is my way of life now as eating wheat makes me quite ill so if you've got any specific questions then please feel free to ask