Help me!

Ilyana 2.0

I recently got some blood tests done, which indicated that I'm anaemic, with slightly high bad cholesterol (5.2) and slightly low good cholesterol. I'm also low in alkaline phosphatase. I tested negative for coeliac disease but I am fairly certain that gluten is causing bloating, stomach cramps and other stomach issues.

I'm a 21 year old female, 5'1" and 138lbs. I'd like to get my diet in order to sort out the above issues, and lose a few pounds in the process. My diet is not good at the moment but I'm hoping that I can get it under control, especially when I get back to college and can control what I buy. Also, all of this has to be done on a low budget.

Can anyone give any advice?

Ilyana 2.0

Bump

Stheno

What is your current diet like on an average day?

Ilyana 2.0

Stheno wrote: »

What is your current diet like on an average day?

It's terrible at the moment if I'm honest, with no routine. I work odd hours and live between two houses (sometimes) so I might not get three meals a day. But I will probably develop a better routine when I go back to college next month.

I'd have some form of cereal for breakfast, if I eat it at all. Lunch might be a sandwich or a salad. If I've slept late I'll have breakfast food for lunch. Dinner could be a meat, veg and potatoes affair if I'm with my family, or I might make a tikka masala or korma (with the paste) or have the occasional takeaway. I'm a terrible snacker and I love all the wrong snacks. I'm partial to a few glasses of wine too (bad, I know).

I think the lack of routine is the main problem as I find it hard to plan meals or cook in advance, especially if I'm going to be in a different house the next day. I know the basics of weight loss and nutrition - protein and veg and good fats. But how do I get all of that, on a budget, while improving my anaemia and cholesterol and avoiding gluten?

Stheno

Lambs liver and lots of dark green leafy veg are both high in iron, I used eat it about three times a week when I was anaemic.

Also relatively inexpensive.

phormium

Switched to eggs for breakfast, scrambled if short on time, with bacon, spinach (high in iron) if you have more time. I would advise getting more organised so you can make breakfast, and avoid cereals, they're crap. Porridge is great on colder mornings, with fruit.

Ilyana 2.0

Unfortunately I dislike liver and don't often have time for eggs in the morning, but I'll definitely seek out some gluten free porridge oats, especially coming into winter. I'll try include some dark green veg in my dinners too.

How do people stay away from snacks? At work I'm surrounded by food and I'm picking at something without realising it.

octopusss

Hi there,
My own advice would be taken from my own experience, I also have stomach problems and avoid gluten, even after receiving a negative test myself, I found that if I even had a small bit of gluten (in processed cereal or bread) I would feel the effects on my body, so you’re probably a bit sensitive.
I usually start my day with a big bowl of gluten free oats, get into this habit and replace other cereals, you can have a different array of toppings and what not to mix into the oats so this will keep it from getting “boring” also you could try different milks like almond milk, rice milk, oat milk if you are adventurous. I promise the oats will help with the bloating and its a really healthy food that will boost your iron also!
If you don’t like liver I can just recommend eating different veggies, this is what fixed my anaemia when I suffered a few years back and I am not a meat eater! The other route is you could take supplements which are relatively cheap to buy. Saying that It depends how bad your anaemia is.
Avoid using the yellow of the egg and only use egg white if you have to make omelettes etc because it’s high in protein and the yolk is what will affect the cholesterol. Vegetables should increase your good cholesterol and guess what else, OATS!
I know it’s difficult to afford every kind of vegetable there is just to get a bit of everything but try your best, try go for reduced sections and alternate between different veggies each week so you are giving your body what it needs. Also eat some fruit if you aren’t already ;P hehe.
And you know I’m going to say it, junk / processed foods will just make your stomach worse and not contribute anything good to your body apart from empty calories and no nutrition... snacking is really hard to deal with, especially if everyone around is doing the same thing, everyone does it!! My go to snack food is rice cakes, popcorn, fruit.....
Google things like “eat healthy on a student budget” and the like and you may get some ideas how to make your money go further..
GOOD LUCK!!!!

Ilyana 2.0

That's great advice, thanks octopuss! We're like body doubles!

Yeah my coeliac bloods were negative but I know that gluten affects me badly. Sure half my family is coeliac :pac:

My biggest problems are organisation and willpower, so I gotta work on that. Today I had porridge for breakfast, chowder for lunch (bad choice but better than some lunches) and homemade chilli con carne for dinner. A bold bit of snacking but on the whole, better than before. Just need to cut out the snacks and gluten altogether now.

octopusss

Haha! we totally are. I know it's really hard, seriously, I even go through periods where I fall back into eating naughty things but boy I really suffer, you'd think that if you have a bad reaction you would learn from your mistake but :P We are only human!

Ilyana 2.0

The problem is that eating gluten does irritate my stomach, but not quite enough to stop me eating it But the longer I stay off it, the worse the reactions will become until it's not worth being bold anymore!

phormium

Ilyana 2.0 wrote: »

Unfortunately I dislike liver and don't often have time for eggs in the morning, but I'll definitely seek out some gluten free porridge oats, especially coming into winter. I'll try include some dark green veg in my dinners too.

How do people stay away from snacks? At work I'm surrounded by food and I'm picking at something without realising it.

Scrambled eggs take 3 minutes, ish. You have to make time, you can surely spare 5-10 minutes to get your diet and body back on track and be healthy.

Ilyana 2.0

phormium wrote: »

Scrambled eggs take 3 minutes, ish. You have to make time, you can surely spare 5-10 minutes to get your diet and body back on track and be healthy.

If I'm honest, I really dislike scrambled eggs :pac:

Like I get your point and I know that I need to put more time into things. Getting back to college will help that. But working until 11pm one night then being at work for 10am the next day usually means I tend to prioritise sleeping over a healthy breakfast. But yes, organising myself and establishing a routine is key here.

--Kaiser--

Dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood serum cholesterol so don't shy away from eggs for that reason

Ilyana 2.0

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood serum cholesterol so don't shy away from eggs for that reason

That's good

How would one then go about improving blood serum cholesterol? My bad cholesterol was at 5.2 so it's not terrible but it does need reducing.

Stench Blossoms

I'd work on getting into a better routine first before you start worrying about lowering your cholesterol.

Ilyana 2.0

Oh yeah that's the first priority. I'd just like to know how to go about helping the cholesterol situation once I have a routine in place.