i am new to this so hope i'm doing it right....i have behcets disease and just got diagnosed with celiac disease 2 days ago so now i get to start eating gluten free.....i need to gain weight and don't know what i need to eat to do that. i'm 31 yrs old, 5'7 and weigh 108....i always eat fattening foods, lots of deserts blah blah and cannot gain a pound. i keep losing weight. would love some ideas on quick weight gain! thanx so much

Do you like peanut butter? It has a lot of fat in it. I'm trying to gain weight too, so I eat that right out of the jar with a spoon.

The thing is that your body is not able to properly digest and process fat right now, so it just goes right through you and you do not gain weight. I was this way before gluten-free. I have put on (as of this morning) 8 pounds since I went gluten-free. I have curves again.

Mostly be patient with yourself. Learn the diet. Make sure you are 100% gluten-free (including toothpaste, lip gloss/stick, facial creams, etc., get rid of old scratched teflon pans, old cutting boards and old wooden spoons). And let your body heal. It will then start processing fat again and you will gain.

You can also try a good digestive enzyme with Lipase which will help your body break the fat into fatty acids for better use.

You will also need adequate protein to gain the weight you need. IMO animal protein gets this done most efficiently. If you are vegetarian, eggs will help here.

Wishing you well!

I am in a similar situation. My weight gain is pretty slow. You must understand that it takes time for your intestinal villi to heal. Maybe, you should try experimenting with cooking some new things. Have you ever thought of making homemade hemp pastas??? Hemp has 33 % protein in every bite... Society may judge you upon your appearance and weight - You just can't rush the healing stages...

Don’t eat fattening foods, it’s NOT good for your body! It will make you gain fat, not muscle mass, and you don’t want that! Strength training and loads of protein is the way to go (cottage cheese is full of it!), that will make you gain muscle and look good! Fat is not good for your body, it will harm you and it won’t look good on you…. Build up muscle instead!

Actually when someone is overly thin, they DO need to gain some fat. Especially for women. Without enough fat, we lose our menstrual cycle because estrogen depends on fat. We also lose our ability to process the fat soluble vitamins like A, E and D. Fat is VERY IMPORTANT to the body. Fat insulates our organs and keeps them the right temperature for optimal metabolism. Celiacs typically lose the ability to digest fats until a gluten-free diet heals the intestines and proper digestion is restored. In this case, protein may be adequate and fat is what needs to be replaced.

Good fats = Olive oil, unprocessed coconut oil, nuts & seeds, flax, etc.

Bad fats = baked goods, fried foods, vegetable oils, excessive saturated fats.

Adding to the good fats list: Organic poultry skin (you can boil in soup), eggs, organic beef fat, avocado's, if you can find RAW milk that would be good. Try to avoid as much pasteurized dairy as possible, your poor little crushed villi need a break.

Hi, I am also having the same problems with weight.....
In one week of my glutin free diet, I have lost 4lbs , which I can't afford to loose....
I am now down to 80lbs.
I have based my diet on chicken and I eat alot of chicken skin and advocados, glutin free cakes.
but before going glutin free I was eating rubbish foods like donuts and things with cream , and I was still loosing weight due to the gastric...
Since being Gluten free, I have proper bowel movements, but the weight is dropping off me even worst. I am also looking like a bag of bones . How can we get healthy if we are loosing so much weight?... we have no fat to insulate and keep warm?
there has to be something other than the things mentioned above that will us regain some kind of weight back?...
when you are loosing large amounts so fast, and you didn't have that extra weight to start with, it does become very scary!

With my experience with Celiac disease, you will gain weight when your intestines heal. You are not absorbing the calories or nutrients in the foods until this happens. Stay gluten free 100% and you will gain weight. I want to stop gaining weight now.

I also am trying hard to gain weight but with my fast metabolism and limited carbs it's an uphill battle! You may want to track your calories and see if they are adding up to enough. I did that for a while and I learned alot. I've always been petite and could eat whatever and not gain weight, so never knew how many calories were in foods. I don't like alot of meat and eat alot of chicken. It's very filling but unfortunately relatively low in calories. A banana has 81 calories so add that to a meal and it helps if your meal is a little low in calories.
http://www.calorie-charts.net/
http://www.thedailyplate.com/ This one can be used to track weight loss or gain.

There is some very good information on this thread.

Yes, i agree with the above poster, females need fat for thier body health. i had very little fat in my youth, and a lot of muscle in my limbs, however i suffered a prolapsed kidney and when question the reason the specialist told me women need fat to hold thier organs in place.

Also thought the previouse comment about counting calories was valuable. I dropped a lot of weight and thought i was eating like a horse. Not! Counting the calories i was consuming was a discovery into way too little for my frame. Unfortunatly i also suffer from lack of appetite, i am NEVER hungry. So find myself pushing food in, literaly eating to live rather then living to eat. meals are not pleasant, they are work for me. But i continue to read here and use the pointers that seem to fit, maybe my appetite will return. In the meantime i eat dense calorie foods because of the lack of appetite i fill quickly.

Am wishing you well.

Thanks for the info. I have lost 16# since Dec. I am down to 119# and am 5'5". I haven't weighed that since I was 19 years old. I am concerned about my weight. I am going to try some f the info I read here. Thanks

Thank you everyone for the helpful information....
I know I have only been gluten-free for approx 6 weeks now, but I am still loosing major amounts of weight..
I am eating lots of banana's, avocado's and calcium filled , gluten-free deserts . I am finding I am trying to force myself to eat, when I am not even hungry.
I know that I am not eating a lot though... but due to no hunger at all, sometimes it seems like I am eating a lot. maybe two small meals a day. And then I litrally have to force that down.
I was told by the doctor not to eat dairy products.
just this week alone I have lost a further kilo and a half...


I always like the fact I was thin and looked good for my age in the past, and had anyone told me, I would get so upset about loosing weight each week, I would have laughed.
I don't seem to be having any difficulty with being gluten-free , as I do like the way I now feel inside...and no more headaches.

But the weight issue is the thing I am having a real hard time coming to terms with...
yesterday I wanted to buy a dress, and found a kids size to fit me, but when I went into the fitting room to try it on, my emotions got the better of me, and I burst into tears...
I saw how I really looked in the mirror.........
this mirror was better illuminated than mine at home... and I was totally horrified at what I saw....
I saw all my ribs through my chest , no boobs... I was a 36c , now I am completely flat chested, hip bones protruding, skin hanging loosly off my boney arms , but the fact I could see all the bones in my chest protruding was the things that broke me... I looked like a starving african refugee.

To top matters off.... someone even commented and questioned if I was a transvestite due to flat chest and the way I am now built....
you can imagine what this does to your self esteam...

My real fear though is if I continue to loose weight like this... I will end up in hospital
And maybe even die?.......
Can they fix malnutrician in hospital? and how do they do that?

I am scared

Tho you are eating calorie rich foods you may still not be eating enough to replace what you use in 24 hours, especialy if your appetite is bad. Here is an online site for you to check how many calories you are ingesting http://www.acaloriecounter.com/ To mainain weight you need to eat a number of calories equal to what you use, to gain weight you have to eat an excess number of calories to what you use. When there is no appetite it is easy to feel you are eating enough when you are NOT.

Talk to your doctor about recommending a supplement to your diet. Here in the U.S. there are drinks like Equate, Boost, and Ensure, calorie rich and they go down easily, often given to chemo patients who have appetite loss.

Also, if you haven't already, have your level of vitamin B12 checked. And take a good multi vitamin supplement daily.

Oh, and demand your doctor pay attention to this weight issue.

Good luck friend.

Wow.... that Calorie counter is so good....
At first I wasn't sure how many calories I needed to eat..... I worked out 1615 to gain weight...

and I would have been lucky to have been eating a quarter of that!

tonight I made some sang chow boy .. rice noodles, ground pork, chestnuts and that alone was 929 calories...
yet the day before I only had 146 calories when I counted that up, so this calorie counter could well be a life saver for me....now at least I am getting an idea of what I need, to survive and stop loosing weight...

I definately wasn't eating enough of the foods that would help me....
thank you so much... for this...

What would I do without this board?... everyone is so helpful and have wonderful idea's that I wouldn't have thought to do....
and so many have so much knowledge and experience...

Thank you!

I just want to reach out and give you a hug! I really understand. I bought a pair of kids/teens pajamas the other day because I was tired of the adult smalls literally falling off of me. I told myself, Hello Kitty is hip but part of me was sad. Getting those calories up and keeping them up helps. I've been eating more protein so lift some handweights to help strengthen my arms. They are still thin but the shape is nice now! and you can see the muscles. It makes me feel better.

teemaree..

you are welcome. I had the same problem and still do to an extent, that calorie counter may well have saved my life too

Am now putting on a little weight tho it's a slow process every pound is a victory. And ocassionaly now i feel hungry or food tastes good.


missy's Mom....

my stratgy may not be a real healthy one but i do it anyway, two of my kids have told me not to worry about cholestrol at this time so i eat a lot of meat. Also eat a lot of omega 3 fats to raise the HDL ( the good cholesterol) Avacodos are almost a staple in my house.

Just think, down the road a bit you will not only have more weight but muscle too!

Thanks for your support.

Sometimes I tell myself that I'm basically starting from scratch again as far as my body goes so I have a chance to reshape my body! What an opportunity!

it really is as you say missy'smom, starting from the beginning. And that can be an opportunity if we look at it the right way

I found that I lost 10kg since going gluten free last year -so, 22 pounds?-
now making me 44k (96.8 lbs) at about 165cm (5'5)

i'm just trying to keep up with vitamins, water (something i need to practice more..), and rice protein powder with lots of fruit and veggies. Though I do have a sweet tooth, so gluten-free muffins and lots of honey with ricecakes find their way in too!

waiting for the *weight* to kick in! any day now..