Always Hungry !

[Mamato2boys]

Looks like I'm rather chatty today!

Ok, this problem is going to be quite muddled. My feelings won't be hurt if nobody has an answer to this ! I'm breastfeeding my three month old son, and plan to continue until he's at least a year. Going DF/SF/gluten-free has made a big improvement in BOTH of us, which is WONDERFUL. The problem ? I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY !!! It's really hard for me to tell if it's because I'm nursing, if it's my body trying to adjust to being gluten-free (I've only been doing it a couple weeks), both, neither ??

Whatever the cause, it's rather irritating. Especially because I really believe one of my symptoms was weight gain, so I'd really like to lose weight - and NEED to lose weight as I'm about 50 lbs. overweight. I will admit, I've been going a bit buck wild on the gluten-free junk food lately because I'm so thrilled to be able to eat that stuff and not get sick for the first time in my life (or at least in many years)!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Now is not the time to worry about losing weight!!! Most women do when nursing--but I didn't, I gained. But I did lose it as soon as I was done breastfeeding.

Just make sure you are eating enough protein, go light on the gluten-free bread and cookies, as they have far more fat and calories than the gluteny ones, and make sure you are drinking mostly water, NOT juices!

You have the rest of your life to lose weight. You only have this one year or so to provide the best nutrition for your baby; if you try to lose weight at the same time, you will pay the price in energy loss.

Hang in there--it goes so quickly....

[Mamato2boys]

Now is not the time to worry about losing weight!!! Most women do when nursing--but I didn't, I gained. But I did lose it as soon as I was done breastfeeding.

Just make sure you are eating enough protein, go light on the gluten-free bread and cookies, as they have far more fat and calories than the gluteny ones, and make sure you are drinking mostly water, NOT juices!

You have the rest of your life to lose weight. You only have this one year or so to provide the best nutrition for your baby; if you try to lose weight at the same time, you will pay the price in energy loss.

Hang in there--it goes so quickly....

No juice here. Water, coffee, and Mother's Milk tea. I too gained weight while nursing my first son.

I'm more annoyed by the feeling of being hungry so often than I am about wanting to lose weight. I probably need to increase protein, like you said. It's better for my blood sugar anyway.

[Ursa Major]

Now that your intestines are healing, and your body is capable of absorbing nutrients again, it wants REAL food! If you keep eating gluten-free junk-food rather than good wholesome food you can't get healthy. Plus, you will lose weight on meat, veggies and fruit, but gain on gluten-free junk food.

People with celiac disease suffer from malnourishment while undiagnosed. Now, to recover from all the damage, you need to eat food that gives you the nutrients you're lacking. So, my advice is, to keep the gluten-free foods that replace the gluteny foods as a rare treat.

[Simply-V]

The problem ? I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY !!! It's really hard for me to tell if it's because I'm nursing, if it's my body trying to adjust to being gluten-free (I've only been doing it a couple weeks), both, neither ??

What you're describing sounds like food allergy addiction, and just keep avoiding the problem foods (gluten) and you'll outgrow it.

Its only been a couple weeks and your body is still healing. You probably spent many years eating things that were bad for you unknowingly and your body got used to it, and the chemicals those reactions produced. Subconsciously your body is searching for a "fix" of those chemicals through its old standby of food (and not getting it, so you're always hungry).

I agree with the others.. now is not the time to worry about your weight. Concentrate on your child, on eating right (gluten-free) and once you've really gotten a handle on being gluten-free .. give it several months (6 months at least).. Then you can start worrying about losing weight if its still a problem. My guess is that it won't be.

Hang in there.

[Nantzie]

Be careful about trying to lose weight while breastfeeding. Your body is in a mode where it knows it not only has to sustain you, but your baby. So if you try and restrict calories or diet too much, your body will think there's a starvation situation going on and will hold onto every last calorie it can, and will send out hunger signals in order to remind you to eat during the "starvation" that it's perceiving. And even in a non-dieting bf'ing mother, the body's main focus is feeding the baby. So you may be shooting yourself in the foot at this point.

I tried losing weight after I had my first baby and was still breastfeeding. My metabolism screeched to a halt. I was walking 5-6 miles a day, 3-4x a week, and not losing weight. I had my metabolism tested and I was only burning 1100 calories a day. They said I would have to go down to 900 calories a day in order to see any weight loss, which they and I thought was ridiculous and not even reasonable. So I just scrapped the weight loss attempt at the time. That was one of the things that told me that something was really not right with my body. I'm sure a lot of that was undiagnosed celiac too, but it was weird to be doing that much exercise and eating very healthy (lots of gluten I'm sure...) and be fighting to stay at even a stable weight.

I'm sure a lot of what you're going through is celiac-related. It takes a while to heal from it, and you're breast-feeding too. Just be easy on yourself and let your body heal.

It's been about 10 months since I went gluten-free, and I've lost 30 pounds. Very slowly. A pound here, two pounds there. And that was eating a lot of gluten-free junk food too.

I think that the first six months or so on a gluten-free diet, there is so much going on with your body healing that you just kind of have to not worry too much about it. Add to that the breast-feeding mode your body is in, and it may just be too much to deal with and may be throwing it off-kilter and sending more hunger signals than usual.

Nancy

[Mamato2boys]

Thanks for all the replies and wonderful support (as usual!).

All of you are right - I do need to slow down and quit being in a hurry. I've been eating the wrong way for over 35 years, I guess expecting the weight to just drop off after only a couple weeks is a little silly.

Like I said, the bigger annoyance was always being hungry, and the food addiction theory mentioned totally makes sense. I know all too well that intestines take a long time to heal - so why that didn't dawn on me is beyond me - gluten brain fog, perhaps ?

[Michi8]

You're only at the 3 months mark at this point. Regardless of celiac, your body will want extra calories for producing milk, and will demand more as your baby grows bigger. As others have said, this is not the time to be worrying about weight loss.

Remember that it took 9 months to put weight on, and it will probably take that long, if not longer, to lose it all. Of course, each body is different -- some, like myself, lose weight while breastfeeding (and then start putting it on again after weaning! ) And others hang on to some weight while breastfeeding, and have it melt away after weaning. Be gentle on yourself, eat high quality foods, and enjoy breastfeeding...it happens for such a short time.

Michelle

[Mamato2boys]

You're only at the 3 months mark at this point. Regardless of celiac, your body will want extra calories for producing milk, and will demand more as your baby grows bigger. As others have said, this is not the time to be worrying about weight loss.

Remember that it took 9 months to put weight on, and it will probably take that long, if not longer, to lose it all. Of course, each body is different -- some, like myself, lose weight while breastfeeding (and then start putting it on again after weaning! ) And others hang on to some weight while breastfeeding, and have it melt away after weaning. Be gentle on yourself, eat high quality foods, and enjoy breastfeeding...it happens for such a short time.

Michelle

Oh I know how it speeds by. I can't believe he's 3 months old now already ! I nursed my first for a year (who's now three, much to my dismay, lol).

Here's the real kicker - I've already dropped all the baby weight. It literally fell right off within two weeks of giving birth. I'm not saying that to brag - I think it's really odd that the baby weight would come right off like that and the remainder of my weight stubbornly stays put, lol. Same thing happened with my first - baby weight fell right off, but then I gained it (and a little more) back while nursing. So far I haven't gained any back even though I'm not restricting myself - I'm thinking that weight gain was due to all the glutens I was eating. So hey - at least I'm not gaining again, right ?

[Michi8]

Oh I know how it speeds by. I can't believe he's 3 months old now already ! I nursed my first for a year (who's now three, much to my dismay, lol).

Here's the real kicker - I've already dropped all the baby weight. It literally fell right off within two weeks of giving birth. I'm not saying that to brag - I think it's really odd that the baby weight would come right off like that and the remainder of my weight stubbornly stays put, lol. Same thing happened with my first - baby weight fell right off, but then I gained it (and a little more) back while nursing. So far I haven't gained any back even though I'm not restricting myself - I'm thinking that weight gain was due to all the glutens I was eating. So hey - at least I'm not gaining again, right ?

I know it's frustrating to get to that plateau. With each pregnancy I gained more weight...it seemed my body just wanted to get to a specific (high!) weight during pregnancy.

I lost all my baby weight plus extra weight with my first by about 4 months. With my second it took a bit longer, but I was down to my lowest weight since high school. With my daughter, I never did get completely back down to that lower weight, and now have been gaining ever since she weaned at two. Right now, I'm blaming it on probable thyroid issues...of course, it can't have anything to do with the chocolate I eat too often. LOL!

Michelle

[Mamato2boys]

I know it's frustrating to get to that plateau. With each pregnancy I gained more weight...it seemed my body just wanted to get to a specific (high!) weight during pregnancy.

I lost all my baby weight plus extra weight with my first by about 4 months. With my second it took a bit longer, but I was down to my lowest weight since high school. With my daughter, I never did get completely back down to that lower weight, and now have been gaining ever since she weaned at two. Right now, I'm blaming it on probable thyroid issues...of course, it can't have anything to do with the chocolate I eat too often. LOL!

Michelle

Ahhhhhhhh chocolate......yummy.

[elligal]

I understand being hungry all the time and eating the gluten-free treats---they are made with rice flour, which leaves you hungry an hour later. Try eating foods with more fiber, like bananas, apples, wild rice. Also have more protein. Nuts, legumes, and low fat meat. These will help you feel fuller for longer.

[abc]

It's really hard for me to tell if it's because I'm nursing, if it's my body trying to adjust to being gluten-free (I've only been doing it a couple weeks), both, neither ??

Whatever the cause, it's rather irritating. Especially because I really believe one of my symptoms was weight gain, so I'd really like to lose weight - and NEED to lose weight as I'm about 50 lbs. overweight. I will admit, I've been going a bit buck wild on the gluten-free junk food lately because I'm so thrilled to be able to eat that stuff and not get sick for the first time in my life (or at least in many years)!