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Losing Weight After Going gluten-free?

xxkristin

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xxkristin Apprentice
xxkristin
Posted

I've been gluten free since March and I actually gained weight before being diagnosed, which I find interesting seeing as I've read (and my doctor told me) that most people with celiac lose weight before going gluten-free. Now, I am a university student, so I don't know if my weight gain (which was only a few pounds) was due to gluten or just the weight gain that a lot of students have.

In the past 2-3 months, I've actually lost all the weight I gained before being diagnosed. I have been going to the gym a couple days a week for the past 2-3 months, so it could simply be due to that, but I was wondering if other people gained weight before going gluten free/lost weight after going gluten free? I find it interesting that for me, it seems to be the opposite of what I've heard, where people lose weight before being diagnosed, and then gain weight after recovering.

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Marilyn R Community Regular
Marilyn R
Posted

I think most mainstream doctors think of celiac as a gastrointestinal problem. They screen, if they're good, for patients with malabsorbtion and excessive D, or if someone mentions that they have a first degree relative with it.

I'm not surprised that you lost weight. You have significantly reduced carb and processed food intake.

As for my own experience, I was spilling out of my size 14's, went on the South Beach Diet, went down to a 10.

Then I got sick, and went to a size 8. Figured it out, dropped to a size 6. 15 months on a gluten-free diet, the size 6 don't hang on me anymore, they fit. I went from 185 to 155 lbs healthy, 140 lbs. unhealthy, 135 gluten-free, 140 now. I'm 6' tall and don't work out, but miss it and hopefully will start again.

xxkristin Apprentice
xxkristin
Posted
  • Author

I think most mainstream doctors think of celiac as a gastrointestinal problem. They screen, if they're good, for patients with malabsorbtion and excessive D, or if someone mentions that they have a first degree relative with it.

I'm not surprised that you lost weight. You have significantly reduced carb and processed food intake.

As for my own experience, I was spilling out of my size 14's, went on the South Beach Diet, went down to a 10.

Then I got sick, and went to a size 8. Figured it out, dropped to a size 6. 15 months on a gluten-free diet, the size 6 don't hang on me anymore, they fit. I went from 185 to 155 lbs healthy, 140 lbs. unhealthy, 135 gluten-free, 140 now. I'm 6' tall and don't work out, but miss it and hopefully will start again.

Good to know I'm not the only one that lost weight after going gluten-free. Although what you said about less carbs/processed food is true. Before going gluten free, i was eating a lot of bread and pasta, and since going gluten free, I rarely eat bread and pasta. That probably explains why I gained weight before and lost weight after. I'll just have to keep it up so I don't put all the weight back on lol.

Jenniferxgfx Contributor
Jenniferxgfx
Posted

I am a person of size who was told people of size can't have celiacs... Multiple times. I've lost 30% of my initial stable-forever weight starting when my intestines got real bad, and I couldn't eat. Now that I'm gluten-free, I'm eating 3x (or more) than I've ever eaten, and still losing a little bit. I'm not trying to lose weight and believe diets are likely to fail, subscribing to health at every size. I have experienced so much discrimination for my size (especially by doctors), that I have a hard time discussing this stuff. I'm now smaller than I was in high school, and I eat much more. Plus I have energy, so I'm a lot more active, but not nearly as active as I was when heavier and more able-bodied. It was the gluten all along.

Thea-Bug Newbie
Thea-Bug
Posted

I lost a ton of weight unintentionally before my diagnosis. I am continuing to lose weight unintentionally now that I'm eating gluten free. With the gluten free weight loss, I notice that I'm not particularly hungry. My theory is that my body is getting more than it's used to getting, nutrient-absorption-wise, so it doesn't need me to eat as much.

Jenniferxgfx Contributor
Jenniferxgfx
Posted

That's lucky, I'm hungry All the time! I didnt eat as much as I should have before gluten-free because I wasn't hungry or I'd get too sick after if I even tried, and no one ever believed a person of my size was capable of eating so little. People get so nasty when it comes to "eating while fat" even though most people of size aren't overeaters! but now I'm eating a big snack every 2 hours plus meals and hungry if I don't. I have more room to eat now that I'm not bloated! Haha.

color-me-confused Explorer
color-me-confused
Posted

I've dropped 25 lbs after going gluten-free. My carb and snack cravings are gone. More than that my appetite is normal, i.e. I can tell when I'm full or really hungry vs. bored/tired/etc. I'm eating a lot less but I'm eating the right amount. I think I had years of minor malabsorption which had left me in a metabolic "starvation mode" like people land in after excessive dieting.

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