Help Gain Weight

[ting]

Hi,

I have lost a ton of weight in the last 6 months and wondered

how long after I go gluten-free will I start seeing an increase again?

I'm fed up with people commenting on how ill I look and

am too ashamed to even go swimming anymore as

I get comments

P

[jessman]

I, also, lost a lot of weight when I was diagnosed 1-1/2 years ago (30 lbs). I have not really been able to gain any back and have pretty much come to accept the fact that this is what I am going to weigh. Being gluten free, I have basically been on a low carb diet. Very little pasta, bread, no fried foods or pizza. I'm concentrating on excersizing and strength training with weights in hopes of adding a couple of pounds the healthy way.

You might try to add healthy carbs and fats to your diet if you can tolerate them. If you feel self conscious about swimming, try walking or biking.

Really, as long as you are healthy, being skinny is better than being overweight.

[Guest NitaB]

I have been gluten-free for about 9 months. I have been gaining weight all along! I didn't need to, though! It is the lack of diarhhea that caused me to gain, along with a higher protein diet, and the discovery of ice cream and chocolate as gluten-free treats! Drat! I also took a medical leave from work, then an early retirement. The reduced activity also promoted the weight gain. I am truly not sick anymore! I also don't have gluten accidents, as I'm very careful!

Good luck, but I think you will gain eventually!

Nita

[pixiegirl]

I've lost weight since I've been gluten-free (which is only just over 2 months) but I've greatly simplified my diet... very few prepared foods, I eat Lundenburg farms rice chips occasionally and gluten-free ginger snaps now and then but mostly I'm eating fruits, veggies and protien. I didn't try to make exchanges for foods I was use too that contained gluten, I eat almost no bread and although I've had gluten-free pizza crusts I don't really care for them so I've sort of lost the urge for pizza. So with a very simple basic diet I've lost overall about 5 pounds on my currently 120 pound frame...

Susan

[KaitiUSA]

Hey I went through the same thing. I lost alot of weight with Celiac to. Try Ensure Plus(the butter pecan tastes the best in my opinion) over ice and it tastes great. It's an easy 350 calories for just 1 cup and it's gluten-free. Also high calorie things like cashews and snicker bars are good. When I got on the ensure plus I gained most of the weight I lost in very little time. Just keep positive thinking about it. Also probiotics you should consider taking and enzymes are essential because they help your body absorb the food. Just make sure they are gluten free if you are looking for a brand that is gluten-free....Enzymatic Therapy is a very good brand..im sure there are other good ones as well.

[jmengert]

I'm in the same boat--I've lost a lot of weight due to my symptoms (diarrhea, nausea, gas, etc.) because eating just isn't fun (and this is after going gluten-free!), so I've been thinking about giving Ensure a try...you said it was gluten-free, but does anyone know if it is lactose free, too? I also am lactose intolerant. Thanks!

[EddieJP125]

Hey I went through the same thing. I lost alot of weight with Celiac to. Try Ensure Plus(the butter pecan tastes the best in my opinion) over ice and it tastes great. It's an easy 350 calories for just 1 cup and it's gluten-free. Also high calorie things like cashews and snicker bars are good. When I got on the ensure plus I gained most of the weight I lost in very little time. Just keep positive thinking about it. Also probiotics you should consider taking and enzymes are essential because they help your body absorb the food. Just make sure they are gluten free if you are looking for a brand that is gluten-free....Enzymatic Therapy is a very good brand..im sure there are other good ones as well.

so the Ensure plus is gluten-free?...where can i find this Enzymatic Therapy?

Thankx Eddie

[celiac3270]

Ensure is gluten-free....

[lbsteenwyk]

Ensure Plus is both Gluten free and Lactose Free. The same is true for Boost Plus. A lot of my patients like Boost Plus better than Ensure Plus. They are comparable in calories, protein and nutritional values for vitamins/minerals.

My daughter has celiac disease and when our household went gluten free, my husband lost 15 lbs, even though he was not strictly gluten-free. My father has DH and lost about 10 lbs when he went gluten-free. I suspect most people lose weight on the gluten-free diet simply because it cuts out so many of the high fat, high calorie foods we Americans are used to eating. Try adding more mono and poly unsaturated fats to your diet if you can tolerate them: nuts, peanut butter or other nut butters, olive oil or canola oil. Use the oils (especially olive) to season your vegetables and to saute chicken or fish. You could also add extra oil to muffins, pancakes etc, it you make these from scratch. Oil adds 120 calories/Tbs and is the most calorically dense food there is!

Remember, it takes an additional 500 calories per day above your usual energy needs to gain weight, so weight gain can be a slow process.

Good Luck!

[jmengert]

Great--thanks so much for the advice and info!

[KaitiUSA]

Yes Ensure is gluten free. I have one every day and it really helps get the calories I need to gain weight and I'm back at a healthy weight.

Enzymatic Therapy has small capsules that are enzymes(very easy to swallow and I have a hard time swallowing pills) You can get them at the Vitamin Shoppe and I can give you that link if you don't have one around you, you can order online. You can also get them at health food stores I think but I get mine at Vitamin Shoppe. Enzymatic Therapy brands tell you right on the bottle what they are free of. The bottle for the enzymes is called "complete gest" Hope this helps if you need any more tips on gaining weight let me know I'll help anyway I can:)

[EddieJP125]

does anybody know where they sell Ensure Plus for cheap at?...i bought a 6 pack for $10 at stop and shop and hopin maybe Costco or other supermarkets may be cheaper?

[KaitiUSA]

In MD, Walmart has if 6.00 for a 6 pack....thats as cheap as I have seen them. Maybe if you contact a company they would give you a discount for a larger order.

In my opinion Butter Pecan is the best flavor. That over ice tastes very good. I can't handle stuff that doesn't taste good.

[ting]

Hey

I've been wolfing down peanut butter and ensure for the last month and

have finally started to put on some weight!

I've been doing situps and am starting swimming again and it is going on

as toned muscle, my partner has commented that I am looking in shape!

thanks y'all!

P

[KaitiUSA]

Thats great!

[Rikki Tikki]

I have had a hard time puting on weight also. I initally lost about 30 pounds and have only put on five since finding out I have celiac about 2 years ago. It seems so much of the gluten-free foods are low calorie. The last couple of weeks I have also been eating peanut butter and drinking ensure and I have put on a little over 5 pounds. I mixed the ensure with ice cream and it tasted pretty good.

I have a question if anyone can help. Since the end of December my pulse has been hitting 110-114 bpm after I eat anything. As you can imagine this has taken a lot of my energy. I am also very tired. I also have pressure in my upper back, in my chest and under my breasts, yesterday I started having kind of a burning pain in the upper part of my stomach. I also have pressure in my right ear. It's pretty bad and is not getting better.

The doctor has done several EKG's, blood work and a ct scan of my abdomen. and cannot figure out what is wrong. Initally the blood work showed high lipase, blood platlets and some other things that I can't remember now then it showed low potassium, just weird stuff.

He decided that it may be stress so last week he put me on xanax but so far there is no relief from these symptoms. I hope it is stress but I was told for so many years that celiac disease symptoms were stress and I feel the same way now, something is wrong and he's not getting it.

I am at a loss as to what to do so any information would be great.

Thanks

[KaitiUSA]

Sally-have you had your thyroid checked?