Gluten Free Bread or Not on Refeed - Advice wanted

[mcbell]

Well I know I am officially ages away from refeed (self imposed, want to wait until I am back from my trip to the North Island, so shouldn't start refeed before the 23rd of July) but of course I am obsessed with reading the awesome refeed and maintenance diaries to prepare myself.

About 4 or 5 years ago, I did the "ketoslim" diet, which is a high protein super low carb diet - like no fruit at all. Anyway, I did it for a few months, had good results (ha! Good results compared to any diet except awesome Cohens), got down to about 62kg - but had quite good muscle tone, as was at the gym 5 days a week. Anyway, for my birthday that year, I teamed up with a workmate who had the same birthday and we had a "kids" birthday celebration at work - I am talking cheerio sausages, savouries, potato chips, my favourite biscuits (stripes and squiggletops) and my workmate even made fairy bread and ice cream cones with mallowpuffs stuck on them. Anyway, it is the first and only time I had ever actually experienced a sugar rush (and then the crash). After not having gluten for so many months, I overdid it on the fairy bread, and had some quite bad reactions.

At that time I was tentatively diagnosed (not properly as I went back to avoiding carbs and therefore gluten) with a gluten intolerance (I also have two coeliac nephews), and have for the last few years spent a lot of time avoiding wheat and gluten while failing to lose weight on diets (thank goodness for Cohens).

Anyway, I was thinking that bread and myself might not get along too well. In the few years since I decided I might be gluten intolerant (and dairy too - through airy fairy muscle testing) I have mainly avoided gluten. I would usually find that I would be ok in terms of reactions to gluten if I only had a little bit, and not every day. Trouble with me was my love of carbs so instead of having one piece of bread, and then not having any for a day or so, I would be the one standing there at the toaster putting the next two slices (of real gluten full bread) in. So before Cohens I was mostly only eating Gluten free bread (either Vogels white since they started making it, or the gluten and dairy free "bread company" loaves that they sell at Raeward Fresh). Still avoiding other gluten and wheat where I could also.

While I have been on "The Plan" I began with only eating rice wafers for my crackers, but have since branched out into saladas (my fave), vitawheats (ok, travel well) and recently ryvita (seriously, does anyone know how to make these taste good? I feel ripped off about the $4.67 I paid for them, and they look unappetising), and probably eat rice wafers maybe half the time. I don't think I have had any of my usual "gluten reactions" since I have been on the plan, but if it my intolerance is more about the amount I eat, maybe the cracker servings are small enough that I can handle that much gluten every day.

I was thinking I should probably just stick to gluten free white bread from Vogels, as "the bread company" bread is multigrain, when I get to refeeding time, and wait until maintenance to try out regular bread. The gluten free bread is quite small in size, but I don't know what kind of carb grammage it has.

What are everyone else's opinions on the matter? I think I am worried that I will have huge instant gain the moment I touch regular bread during my refeed, and therefore not get to try everything during the refeeding period (by having to go back two days, and/or then finish), or that having real gluten full bread will spin me out of control in terms of falling off the wagon/cravings/deviating etc.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have tentatively discussed this with my consultant, but she seems to think as long as it is not "health bread", I should just choose whatever I like.

Sorry about the novel , hope you enjoyed reading, and I welcome any thoughts you might have.