Glad to hear you haven’t given up the things you like :) I thought her “no gluten” thing just seems like jumping on the anti gluten bandwagon that everyone is on these days.
My appendix surgery was emergency too with antibiotics, I had gluten intolerance for a year after that, and despite what diet gurus say, I didn’t lose weight on a gluten free diet, I gained, I generally had a stressful year then too which I think was another factor. Doing RRARF for a month or so followed by eating to appetite (and for heat) fixed my gluten intolerance very quickly :).
I have a couple of quick tricks if I start feeling cold (maybe from some days of under-eating, too much exercise etc.) I make a big batch of cookies and/or cake using coconut oil and eat as much of those as I want. I also snack on handfuls of dates with little pieces of dark chocolate and make sure to get a good solid meal with salty carbs. Rice with various curries is good, or a savory pie with mashed potato :)
I like weight training, but I find it quite stressful on the body so don’t do it as often as I used to. I had good results just doing a weights or kettlebell DVD once a week. I’m breastfeeding at the moment and have found that I don’t recover from exercise so easily right now. I go walking with my baby most days (we have a jogging stroller) and I find that is enough exercise for the moment :)