Issues Losing Weight

[cherishlife]

I have been attempting to eat a gluten free diet for the past eight months. I learn more and more and realize, it has not been 100%, but I am working on it. My questions is: Has anyone else experience problems with weight gain or extreme difficulty losing weight? Most people I read about lose weight, which at different times in my life, I did lose extreme amounts of weight. However, now that I am eating the diet, I actually gained weight and now trying to lose it!!! If any one has ever experienced this or have any information for me I would greatly appreicate it. I have a nutrition background and I am very careful about what I eat and how much. I feel like my metabolism has stopped!!! Thanks!!!!

[curlyfries]

It's hard to know if I'll be any help, since I don't know what you're eating.

I gained 10 lbs while *trying* to be gluten free. It was a long learning process. I have now lost 23 lbs. I was having reactions to sugar, so when I cut that out, I started losing weight. This included fruit...which I dearly miss....rice, and pretty much everything made with rice.( It turns to sugar rather quickly) I have been losing the weight at about 1 lb a week. This has been awesome for me as I have been overweight for a long time. I am hoping I will be able to add sugar back eventually, but will only do it in limited amounts.

[purple]

High Fructose Corn Syrup, HFCS, can make you gain weight. Its in everything. Like ketchup, syrup, BBQ sauce, other sauces, drinks, soda pop, some canned goods- tomatoes, etc. See if you are consuming any.

Diet pop can make you can weight too.

[ShayFL]

When I used to want to lose weight (when I was heavy) I would cut ALL dairy and ALL sugar (I still ate fruit) and the pounds would just melt off........

That meant no sugar, syrup, honey, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

[Sweetfudge]

  curlyfries said:

It's hard to know if I'll be any help, since I don't know what you're eating.

I gained 10 lbs while *trying* to be gluten free. It was a long learning process. I have now lost 23 lbs. I was having reactions to sugar, so when I cut that out, I started losing weight. This included fruit...which I dearly miss....rice, and pretty much everything made with rice.( It turns to sugar rather quickly) I have been losing the weight at about 1 lb a week. This has been awesome for me as I have been overweight for a long time. I am hoping I will be able to add sugar back eventually, but will only do it in limited amounts.

what flours do you bake with (what's a good rice sub)? what do you do to satisfy a sweet tooth? i've cut out sugars (temporarily, to help lose 15 lbs), but not rice or fruit.

  ShayFL said:

When I used to want to lose weight (when I was heavy) I would cut ALL dairy and ALL sugar (I still ate fruit) and the pounds would just melt off........

That meant no sugar, syrup, honey, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

i've been doing this for almost 3 weeks...have only lost 1.5 lbs. ><

[MyMississippi]

Some medications make it difficult to lose weight---- have you started any new ones?

[curlyfries]

  ShayFL said:

When I used to want to lose weight (when I was heavy) I would cut ALL dairy and ALL sugar (I still ate fruit) and the pounds would just melt off........

I forgot to mention that I also had to cut out all dairy. I am now able to tolerate cheese but only eat it occassionally.

[glutenfreewithease]

  cherishlife said:

I have been attempting to eat a gluten free diet for the past eight months. I learn more and more and realize, it has not been 100%, but I am working on it. My questions is: Has anyone else experience problems with weight gain or extreme difficulty losing weight? Most people I read about lose weight, which at different times in my life, I did lose extreme amounts of weight. However, now that I am eating the diet, I actually gained weight and now trying to lose it!!! If any one has ever experienced this or have any information for me I would greatly appreicate it. I have a nutrition background and I am very careful about what I eat and how much. I feel like my metabolism has stopped!!! Thanks!!!!

I would love to find an answer to your question! I'm in the same boat. In 3/2006 when I was at my worst and went gluten free I was weighing about 200lbs. I went on an wlim diet, eliminating just about everything, but lettuce and dropped to 156 by 2/2007. Now, I can't lose any more. I'm stuck. I eat honey in my tea, stopped eating rice and white potatos. I eat fruit because without it I get constipated. I have not tried Benefiber or anything like it. I might because both of my girls are suffering with the constipation as well and I need to adjust. I cut all fruit out at the beginning and I think when I added it back to my diet attempting to the food combining, this has thrown me off. I have this thought that because it is fruit-it should be good for me. However I think I need to try cutting it out again.............

[elye]

While it is possible to take weight off without exercising at all, it remains difficult. This could be all you need...... . . ...a pound of body weight equals roughly 3,500 calories. Therefore, eliminating 500 calories per day from your diet, whatever way you can, will result in a pound loss per week. If you've eliminated as much food as you comfortably can, then exercise is the other way to eliminate calories. Not to mention what it does for you emotionally and cardiovascularly! It's no lose. .. .. ...

Low thyroid can also make people hang onto excess weight - - it did me. Low thyroid levels seem common with celiac disease. Have you had your levels checked?

[glutenfreewithease]

  elye said:

While it is possible to take weight off without exercising at all, it remains difficult. This could be all you need...... . . ...a pound of body weight equals roughly 3,500 calories. Therefore, eliminating 500 calories per day from your diet, whatever way you can, will result in a pound loss per week. If you've eliminated as much food as you comfortably can, then exercise is the other way to eliminate calories. Not to mention what it does for you emotionally and cardiovascularly! It's no lose. .. .. ...

Low thyroid can also make people hang onto excess weight - - it did me. Low thyroid levels seem common with celiac disease. Have you had your levels checked?

Well, you had to mention the one thing that is realllllllllllllly hard! Exercise! LOL Yea a bit more of that wouldn't hurt huh!

[ShayFL]

I do exercise everyday (almost) and have for over 20 years. It does REALLY help.

[Rya]

You're metabolism may well have slowed down. The idea behind that is...if you've been consistently or at least frequently getting gluten, you're intestines are compromised, no two ways around it. That means you're probably not absorbing the nutrients you need. This can cause you're body to think it's starving, or going into a long period with very little food. It will slow down metabolism to conserve energy. If this is the case, severely cutting calories can worsen the problem.

To increase your metabolism - or lose weight in general - building lean body mass is the way to do it. (i.e. exercise.)

Another idea is a food scale. It takes a lot of the guesswork out. I recently found out I underestimated my bananas by 100 calories! Ooops

Also, just a side note, fruit sugar is metabolized a little differently than table sugar. I wouldn't cut it out unless you're reacting adversely to it just because it's so nutritious.

[anemonegirl]

I'm no doctor and I don't even play one on TV, but I've read that as your intestines heal, they begin to absorb nutrients (calories) and you can gain a little weight or simply maintain. Now don't quote me on that because I can't even remember where I saw it.

The other thing that often happens is that newly diagnosed Celiacs discover all of the gluten-free goodies (high carb, high calorie cookies, etc.) out there and go on a free for all in the beginning. I'm guilty of that one.

I'd vote for the first theory though. Your villi are just sucking up all of that good nutrient rich food now that they can.

~Anemonegirl

[mftnchn]

I've struggled with weight too and I don't think I have all the answers but...I am one who lost weight after going gluten-free and SF. What I have learned is that the malabsorption I had from the celiac put my body in starvation mode, and it just would soak up everything I ate and turn it to fat. I have still been losing but slowed down a lot, and still at 20-30 pounds overweight. Then started SCD in mid July and it is melting off. 10 pounds or more so far.

The SCD addresses carbohydrate maldigestion and the resulting problems. I knew I was carb sensitive but just found it so hard to maintain a totally low carb diet for the long haul.

So I was shocked to find I would lose weight so quickly on the SCD while eating pretty good amounts of honey and also some fruits as well as more fat in nuts, yogurt, butter, eggs, meat, etc.

You might check into having stool testing to look at the sugar content; the carbs should break down to simple sugars in the upper GI and then all be absorbed so little or none is excreted. If it is excreted then there is a problem. It could be keeping your intestine from healing well enough even if your symptoms are improving on gluten-free.

[glutenfreewithease]

  mftnchn said:

I've struggled with weight too and I don't think I have all the answers but...I am one who lost weight after going gluten-free and SF. What I have learned is that the malabsorption I had from the celiac put my body in starvation mode, and it just would soak up everything I ate and turn it to fat. I have still been losing but slowed down a lot, and still at 20-30 pounds overweight. Then started SCD in mid July and it is melting off. 10 pounds or more so far.

The SCD addresses carbohydrate maldigestion and the resulting problems. I knew I was carb sensitive but just found it so hard to maintain a totally low carb diet for the long haul.

So I was shocked to find I would lose weight so quickly on the SCD while eating pretty good amounts of honey and also some fruits as well as more fat in nuts, yogurt, butter, eggs, meat, etc.

You might check into having stool testing to look at the sugar content; the carbs should break down to simple sugars in the upper GI and then all be absorbed so little or none is excreted. If it is excreted then there is a problem. It could be keeping your intestine from healing well enough even if your symptoms are improving on gluten-free.

What does SCD stnd for?

[Maryruth1035]

  Sweetfudge said:

what flours do you bake with (what's a good rice sub)? what do you do to satisfy a sweet tooth? i've cut out sugars (temporarily, to help lose 15 lbs), but not rice or fruit.

i've been doing this for almost 3 weeks...have only lost 1.5 lbs. ><

I've been on a gluten free and low carb diet now for about 4 years. The only time I gain weight is when I reintroduce LARGE amounts of carbs. I've found some good gluten-free low carb cookbooks that use stevia as a sweetner and coconut flour, almond flour and other flours that are made from lower carb sources instead of the more carbohydraqte rich grains. There are also an increasing number of recipes made with splenda liquid (not the crystaline form which is 1/2 table sugar and 1/4 maltodextrin). You can get the DiVinci sugar Free sweetner now where the DiVinci syrups are sold--I buy mine at Sams Club. Also there are recipe books for cooking with coconut flour and for lowcarb gluten free 'comfort foods.' You can find many sources for these books online (like at Amazon if you trade with them).

Wheras whole fruit in moderation is not as threatening to weight loss, Rice is basically the same to your body as table sugar. Your body qiockly converts the starch in rice directly to glucose in your blood--thus you have a rapid insulin response and store the sugar--eventually as fat. Other starchy components of many recipes--potatoe flour, sorghum flour, etc. should be avoided if you're trying to loose weight (and for that matter white potatoes and corn should also be avoided.)

On the other hand, the sugars in whole fruit--especially fruits that are relatively high in fiber, such as apples, apricots, plums, berries of most kinds, etc. are actually not absorbed as quickly (the higher the fiber content in the fruit, the more slowly it cause a blood sugar rise) and will not stall weight loss as quickly as starches and sugars will.

As regards to sweet tooth--small amounts of bittersweet chocolate, if you like it, are usually OK. I do not know whether or not you eat eggs, but a flan (mexican custard) made with artifical sweetner (stevia or splends liquid) is one of my favorites--you can make it in the microwave even. Just combine 4 eggs with 1/2 C of milk or soy milk, blend with nutmeg or pumpkin pie spices, then sweeten to taste with an artificial sweetner that withstands high heat, place in a microwavable large bowl (the custard will double in size before it is done) and microwave on 40% (watching carefully) until just before it boils. If it boils it is not ruined--but will not have as creamy a texture. Sometimes I'll even have flan for breakfast! Yum!

Other sweet tooth choices--artificially sweetened Jello, Pop-sickles, a spoonful of peanut butter with a dab of low sugar jelly...there are lots more ideas out there, hopefully you'll get some other good postings.

[CurveSpaz]

"I've found some good gluten-free low carb cookbooks that use stevia as a sweetner and coconut flour, almond flour and other flours that are made from lower carb sources instead of the more carbohydraqte rich grains. "

Could you mention what cookbooks you are referring to? After 3.5years low-carbing, I was maintaining an 80lb weight loss. Pregnancy, followed by a celiac diagnosis put 30 of those back on, and I am having a hard time finding recipes to satisfy both needs; low-carb and gluten-free. Thanks.

[ShayFL]

I didnt read the whole thread....but have you had your Thyroid checked?

And for me....dairy makes me gain weight like crazy. But it is edema (water weight), so as soon as I stop the dairy it melts away. Usually very quickly too. I need a few pounds as I am a thin gluten intolerant, but I dont want puffy water.

Just some thoughts.....