Weight Gain

[nswavely]

Hi,

About 3 months ago I was diagnosed with Celiac. After I went gluten free all the bloating and puffiness in my face and lower stomach went away along with the 5 lbs water weight. Now for the past month and half I have been slowly gaining weight. I watch what I eat and exercise 6 days a week. Running at least 5 miles 3 days a week and going to the gym for weights and elliptical the other 3. I am starting to feel quite self conscious about the gain and was wondering if anyone could offer any help. I have read that since the body is absorbing nutrients finally this can cause weight gain. Guess thats good for my iron deficient anemia, but not the figure. Thanks for any advice!

-Natalie

[unaBella]

I am having the exact same issues. The first few weeks I lost a little weight. Now I am up almost 20 pounds. Being that I was over weight to begin with this is not good.

[Salax]

Same here. However; it has been mentioned that gluten-free processed foods tend to be really high in calories and can cause weight gain. So, I am getting rid of those and immediately I see a difference.

[OptimisticMom42]

Watch your carb intake and portion sizes. More greens, less rice.

[ang1e0251]

I agree that the processed foods can really put on the pounds. Also some of those altenate flours have a higher glycemic value so if weight gain is a problem, you may need to stick with the lower glycenic ones. I believe the nut flours are good in that respect.

I am eating very few grains and have substituted stevia for most of my sugar. I also increased my dietary fat. I'm slowly losing weight without really dieting. I started with a diet but now I just follow those guidelines.

[CMCM]

The fact that your body can now absorb more nutrients is not what would cause weight gain. I found that I gain when I'm eating pretty much ANY grains or flours. After a spree of eating all the possible gluten free goodies, I realized I had to cut them out in the same way you would cut out regular foods made with wheat flour. If I really limit carbs.....and that includes being very careful with fruit, and stick to meats, eggs, limited cheese and very little dairy, and none of the gluten-free baked things, then I can lose weight.

[jkt]

I thought I was alone - now I see I'm not! I've steadily gained weight since going gluten-free about 4 months ago. As a family half gluten-free and half not, we try to make meals at home as close to their natural states as possible. Sitting at my desk, however, is a completely different story. Snacks that are healthy, make me feel full (so I don't go back for more), and gluten-free...so much to ask?

[AliB]

I hoped that the weight would fall off after going gluten-free, but it didn't happen. What has made a huge difference now is eating low-carb and higher fat.

As a gluten-intolerant diabetic I am very aware of the foods that affect my blood sugar. Carbs drive blood sugar. Blood sugar drives insulin. Insulin is the fat-laying hormone. It turns carbs into fat (in case of famine!). When you eat carbs and fat, it uses the fat for fuel and turns the carbs into body fat. Without the carbs the body is forced to use the body fat as fuel. You don't have to be diabetic to be affected by blood sugar issues. I used to get loads of hypos long before I was diabetic. They were driven by carbs too.

Contrary to popular opinion, fats do not make you fat - unless they are eaten in conjunction with lots of carbohydrate. Trans-fats and hydrogenated, such as those in some margarines are best avoided, and also heated vegetable oils (ever tried to get the cemented oil off a fryer?? Just imagine what that is doing to your insides!).

Good fats - yes even some animal fat, lard, butter, coconut oil, ghee, olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oils are beneficial and provide the body with trace elements, minerals, vitamins D and A amongst others and many essential fatty acids.

Although I have been eating fairly low-carb for some time, I have really reigned it in this last week. I have been eating very low-carb but higher fat for the last 10 days. I have lost 7lbs, and more importantly, I have not needed to take any insulin. Whilst I am still taking Metformin, the less insulin I need, the easier it will be to lose weight too. My blood sugars have been virtually normal. I am watching and monitoring this very closely.

I post on a Diabetic forum and many others have lost weight following the same regime.

The Western Diet is fuelled by a very high carbohydrate intake, much of which is processed and refined. We do not need anything like the quantity of carbs that are generally consumed. There are very healthy indigenous cultures around the earth that eat little or no carbs at all (The Inuit consume as much as 60% or more of their diet as fat). Fortunately for them they have never seen a Twinkie or a Mars Bar.

Do you know what else is amazing? I no longer crave chocolate. Makes me think that perhaps all these years what I actually was craving was not the actual chocolate, but the fat content in it!

[HiDee]

I agree that the processed foods can really put on the pounds. Also some of those altenate flours have a higher glycemic value so if weight gain is a problem, you may need to stick with the lower glycenic ones. I believe the nut flours are good in that respect.

I am eating very few grains and have substituted stevia for most of my sugar. I also increased my dietary fat. I'm slowly losing weight without really dieting. I started with a diet but now I just follow those guidelines.

Same here, my husband lost 15 pounds pretty quickly when we cut out sugar and grains and upped the good fats. We love almond flour and stevia these days.