Is There A Gluten Free Low Calorie Diet Plan Out There?

[Greentealady]

Hi, Does anyone know of a diet plan for gluten free eating? I really like to have a site or book I can follow in regards to how many calories I can eat. I have gained weight since going gluten-free and would love to find a site that will actually spell it all out for me,

Thanks

[chasbari]

First question: How long have you been gluten free?

Second question: What complications do you have as a result of celiac damage?

These two would give a baseline of where to start. If you had considerable complications,now would not be the time to cut back on calories. What you need are nutrient dense unprocessed foods and likely supplementation to foster the healing that needs to occur. Then, later on, be more concerned about body fat issues.

I will sound like a broken record here but the easiest way to lean out if you are sufficiently healed is to go with low carb, paleo with lots of good protein and healthy fats. I had considerable body fat before diagnosis four years ago. Now I eat exclusively paleo and anti inflammatory to keep my RA in check with no alternative grains, low carbs, plenty of meats and fats and I run below ten percent body fat.

If you would rather go with something that seems less radical I would suggest checking out the specific carbohydrate diet. Don't know where you are as far as sweets and fruits but with all the side issues we celiacs can develop there can be real issues with nutrient partitioning and blood sugar regulation that can drive insulin response thus driving fat storage. It isn't just about cutting back on calories. A calorie is not always just a calorie. I eat large satisfying meals now and no longer need to count calories. I know I will probably get taken to pieces here for this but I really recommend you look into the above to see if anything will help.

Good luck.

[cyberprof]

  On 7/24/2011 at 10:53 PM, Greentealady said:

Hi, Does anyone know of a diet plan for gluten free eating? I really like to have a site or book I can follow in regards to how many calories I can eat. I have gained weight since going gluten-free and would love to find a site that will actually spell it all out for me,

Thanks

I've found that both Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet and Paleo Diet are very well suited to gluten-free eating.

Weight Watchers has an in-person and an online version. You choose your own foods, so you can easily eat gluten-free according to their guidelines. You don't count calories instead you count "points" and most fruit and non-starchy veggies are free (count as no points).

South Beach Diet has a Phase I and Phase II. Phase I eliminates sugar, bread, rice, fruit, potatoes and alcohol and only lasts for two weeks: It is intented to help people get past sugar-addiction. Phase II adds back fruit, alcohol and whole grains: So a celiac could do that and only add back brown rice and other gluten-free whole grains.

There is also the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, which is very restrictive- eliminates all processed carbs, potatoes, corn, dairy, sugar permenently. It is very easy to eat gluten-free on Paleo and a lot of people here go on this diet or a modified version of it.

Good luck!

[Dave-KC]

I would think any low carb style diet would be fairly easy (South Beach, Atkins, etc), as they cut way back on all forms of carbs, and gluten containing foods are loaded with carbs. But any diet that allows you to choose the food should be fine.

It would seem that those that you purchase their food is where the biggest problem would lie, as then you have no control over the food content.

[domesticactivist]

We do the GAPS diet which is not focused on calories at all, but I lost 20 lbs on it (all I had to lose) and they have stayed off. It is very similar to the Paleo and Specific Carbohydrate Diets mentioned above. It is focused on nutrient dense foods, healthy fats, eliminating sugar and grains, and introducing naturally probiotic foods. It has improved the health of everyone in my family dramatically.