[DebM]

I have just gone gluten free since 1/4/07 and I have lost 12 pounds to date. I am 5"3' and weigh 122 which I know isn't super low but I have been in the low 130's for years. I'm not complaining but I don't understand why this is happening. Shouldn't I be gaining weight since my body is absorbing food now? I feel great, my stomach is finally doing well and I can go out in public and not worry about running for a potty. But I have nothing that fits so I am worried that I am doing something wrong with the diet. Should I be worried?

[ksymonds84]

DebM, on Mar 4 2008, 09:00 AM, said:

I have just gone gluten free since 1/4/07 and I have lost 12 pounds to date. I am 5"3' and weigh 122 which I know isn't super low but I have been in the low 130's for years. I'm not complaining but I don't understand why this is happening. Shouldn't I be gaining weight since my body is absorbing food now? I feel great, my stomach is finally doing well and I can go out in public and not worry about running for a potty. But I have nothing that fits so I am worried that I am doing something wrong with the diet. Should I be worried?

Deb,
I would'nt worry so much since you say you feel great. You are now eating healthier for your body. Before I went gluten free back in December I had lost 8 pounds from all the "D". Now almost 3 months later I have only gained 4 lbs back but feel great. I am 5''4 and weigh 134 lbs which as you said is not super low but I feel great. I wouldn't worry unless you continue to lose more than 2 lbs a week consistently.

[Yenni]

I am slowly losing weight too. I am also 5'3" and I now weight 115 lbs. I weighed about 125 last summer. I actually gained weight when I was real sick and I started out weighing 115 before that...so so far I am not worried. But I wonder how to stop this if it keeps on..

[num1habsfan]

Some people with Celiac just do lose without trying to..I'm one of those, even being strictly gluten-free. I have gained weight thanks to thyroid problems (which the idiot doctors still aren't properly treating) but have always had to rely on high fats to maintain or gain. Thanks to gallbladder problems I've had to cut those out and what do you know, I've been slowly losing again. Its been I'm sure about a year since I actually stepped on a scale because until the health problems get fixed, there's no point. Buttt I do know that now the majority of my jeans, which I just bought last summer/fall, I can take off/on WITHOUT unbuttoning or unzippering them!! I'm 5'7" so I'm guessing I'm still around 145 lbs, but it's clear Celiac is still enough on its own to make me drop, unfortunately.

~ Lisa ~

[Yenni]

digmom1014, on Mar 4 2008, 04:27 PM, said:

Does anyone think that is why celiac is so hard to diagnose? The symptoms are not the same for everyone. Some gain, some lose, some have skin disorders, others don't, etc. It seems the variances are endless!

Very true.

[itchygirl]

Ok, this is the way my doc explained it to me-now this is a doc talking to an idiot so bear with me. He said that when you are seriously malnourised, your body hangs onto everything. That is why you can see obese people with serious malnutrition. They are obese and anemic and their serium protein is through the floor. When your body starts getting better nourished, it can let go and not hang on to every calorie in "starvation mode". I lost seven lbs my first month of being gluten free and I was eating like a horse. A gluten free horse. I use coconut and coconut oil now to help keep my weight from getting too low for my comfort. Coconut oil is really good in gluten-free brownies.

[mftnchn]

This has certainly been my experience. I was overweight, struggled to take it off and it would always come back unless I follow a strict low carb regimen. After going gluten free (also milk free and later soy free), the weight came off even when eating gluten-free replacements foods. Not really fast, but in significant amounts--about 30 lbs over the last 10 months. I still have some to lose, and my weight has stablized for now. So we'll see what happens over time.

I think that my body thought it was starving, essentially it was though I didn't look like it. My mineral, vitamin and amino acid levels are still low.

Others on this board suggested that the body uses inflammation and fluid to protect tissues and organs from the onslaught of the celiac disease process.