9 replies to this topic

[vbug8]

Hi,

I have recently been diagnosed with Celiacs and I really want to loose weight. I live in the UK so not sure if manu people on here can help?
Weight watchers seems impossible as the Gluten Free bread is so high in points. I'm feeling a little lost on how I can control diet to loose weight, stay gluten free and not be miserable in the process - is this possible?

Does anyone know of a diet i can follow that would be suitable?

[IrishHeart]

My Mom is gluten free and succesfully follows the Weight Watcher plan. She is on maintenance now and they even gave her a handout that says gluten-free on WW is simple. I think she just counts the bread item as you would the whole wheat bread.

[BrookeCaz]

Hi,

I have recently been diagnosed with Celiacs and I really want to loose weight. I live in the UK so not sure if manu people on here can help?
Weight watchers seems impossible as the Gluten Free bread is so high in points. I'm feeling a little lost on how I can control diet to loose weight, stay gluten free and not be miserable in the process - is this possible?

Does anyone know of a diet i can follow that would be suitable?

I do not have Celiac - but I am interested in losing a few pounds. I have done a little research regarding Paleo Diet/Lifestyle and Eating for your blood type - both which recommend and suggest to go gluten free.

So I too am feeling lost on how to get started on the gluten free process....

[LauraB0927]

I've been seeing a nutritionist since my diagnosis (May 2012) and it has helped A LOT. She's experienced with Celiac patients and has been teaching me not only how to eat healthier, but how to eat foods that will ease and heal my GI tract. My biggest suggestion is not to eat a lot of the gluten free breads and pastas and stick more to the naturally gluten free items such as meats, poultry, fruits, veggies, nuts, and some dairy, as long as your body can tolerate it. Gluten free replacement foods are usually higher in carbs and calories than the regular pastas and breads so its best to be careful especially if you're trying to lose weight. Combined with exercising 5 days a week, I've lost 10 pounds in the last 2 months; I have NEVER been successful at losing weight before, mainly due to the Celiac. I drink at least 10-12 cups of water per day and dont eat 2 hours prior to going to sleep. I'm lucky that my health insurance covers seeing a nutritionist given that this is the only form of medical treatment that I can get - I'm not sure if that's available to you in the UK.

My mother was very successful with Weight Watchers but she does not have Celiac disease. The only concern that I would have about WW is that I dont believe that it teaches you how to combine foods (GOOD fats with proteins and carbs) so that you are able to absorb and metabolize them better. (I could be wrong though) Eating a bowl of pasta for dinner may not be high on the point scale, but if you purely eat carbs for one meal its going straight to your tummy! We have to remember that our digestive systems are different from most people so we want to make sure that we maximize everything we eat so that we are getting the nutrients that we need.

I hope some of this was helpful! Good luck to you!

[NJceliac]

Hi,

I have recently been diagnosed with Celiacs and I really want to loose weight. I live in the UK so not sure if manu people on here can help?
Weight watchers seems impossible as the Gluten Free bread is so high in points. I'm feeling a little lost on how I can control diet to loose weight, stay gluten free and not be miserable in the process - is this possible?

Does anyone know of a diet i can follow that would be suitable?

I have Celiac and follow Weight Watchers. It is a very flexible diet and so it fits in well with the gluten free diet. I was diagnosed with celiac 3 years after maintaining my 50 pound weight loss. It took a little adjusting but I still think this is one of the best methods to try to learn to eat right. I do a agree seeing a nutritionist who can help you individually and really teach you on multiple occasions may be better but a lot of us can't do that. Gluten free pasta, breads etc are higher in point plus value then there counterparts therefore I eat a lot less of them and a lot more zero point fruits and vegetables. If anything being gluten free while trying to follow weight watchers has made me make healthier choices for snacks. Good luck! Weight loss is difficult and keeping it off even harder, celiac just adds a level of complexity but certainly should not stop you. Remember, "Weight loss is a journey not a destination (favorite expression from my weight watcher's leader)".

[Ghosty]

Well...its been mentioned, but I gotta second the Peleo Diet which, if done traditional, does not allow gluten. In fact, I follow this diet, and am not Celiac, but still avoid gluten as much as a can. Yes, I realize it is a luxury that as a non celiac I can "avoid" gluten...though gluten does tend to make me sick. So I eat meat, veggies and fruit. I have a high fat / protein diet, and a lot carb diet....though it doesn't need to be that way, and one can mix those up as needed while still avoiding gluten.

Or...If you can afford to do WW, and find good gluten free foods, a lotta people do see success losing fat on that program.

I'd be happy to share some Paleo recipes I came up with, and give information to find other ones. It has taken me two years, but I am finally comfortable with Paleo cooking / eating.

Good luck!

[nvsmom]

Before I was diagnosed, I successfully, and fairly quickly(4-5 months), lost 30 lbs following Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean Diet. She is a 50 year old figure competitor who lays out how she lost weight in her late 30's and became a fitness model.

The diet focuses on eating whole foods, avoiding processed foods, eating a fair amount of protein, at a frequency of about 5 small meals a day so you never get too hungry. A few of her recipes call for foods with flour but we could easily substitute gluten-free products or whole foods instead. For example, use lettuce or rice wrap instead of whole wheat tortillas, and eat more eggs or use quinoa for breakfast instead of the recommended oatmeal.

I really like her books.

[JNBunnie1]

If it helps anyone, I have found the simplest, easiest way to reduce the load of grain in my diet is to replace pasta with spaghetti squash. Or zucchini. Either is a 1:1 replacement for almost any pasta dish you could be making, barring lasagna, in which case you would just do everything else you do for lasanga and have a layer of squash on the bottom and the top. Not as pretty but just as tasty!

[mbrookes]

I have been gluten free for almost six years and Weight Watchers works perfectly for me. I have lost 28 pounds and have about 10 more to go. The diet is totally flexible and easy to substitute on. I don't get the part about no bread. My husband's regular bread is 1.5 pts per slice and Udi's whole grain is 2 pts per slice. That's not enough difference to keep me from a sandwhich now and then or a slice of toast with breakfast.

The gluten-free desserts are really bad, but desserts would be bad with gluten. I make sugar free Jello with all kinds of fruit in it and all flavors fat free/sugar free puddings also by Jello.

[luvs2eat]

Hello... my names is luvs2eat... and I'm a carb-aholic. The only thing that's worked for me is cutting out the obvious carbs in my diet... bread, pasta, etc. I did allow myself 1/2 cup of brown rice w/ lunch and supper but ate lean proteins, tons of veggies, and fruit.

My all-time fave lunch is a big sandwich and some sort of chips. I could happily eat it every single day. Instead I'd nuke a bowl of veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc) and mix it up w/ the 1/2 cup of brown rice and put a little salad dressing on top. I lost 20 lbs. in several months and completely resolved my acid reflux and heartburn for which I'd taken Prilosec for more than a year.

We love spaghetti squash too! What an awesome veggie!