Gluten Free, Don't Really Like Meat.... Hashi's Sufferer And Need To Lose Weight

[HashisGirl]

Hi Mine name is Kim and I am 46 year old and I have Hashimo's Thyroiditis....I have been going back and forth on trying to get healthier for 3 years now.... and I am SO FUSTRATED! I want and need to lose weight.... I know I need to be Gluten Free..... and I really don't like most meat... unless it's the occasional burger.... I do much better on Low Carb... I AM TOTALLY BEYOND FUSTRATED... I was diagnosed with a thyroid issue about 3 years ago and I have searched and searched for information... I know from talking to doctors and specialists that I really need to stay gluten free and soy free... that to lose weight I need to be lower in carbs,.... but then you throw in my dislike for meats.. and I really have an issue. Does ANYONE out there understand? Does ANYONE have any suggestions? or maybe just a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. I would LOVE to lose 5 pounds by Christmas... but being as tired as I am most days it's tough... I am starting to do just 10 minutes a day of working out...to try to get my body back on track... I would LOVE to have some menu suggestions, websites etc to help me plan my life a little better....

ARE THERE ANY LOW CARB VEGETARIANS OUT THERE THAT CAN OFFER ME A DIRECTION!!!

Thanks in advance... oh and I am new so hopefully I will get to know everyone real soon... I LOVE the idea of having a support system for health

[shadowicewolf]

I think this is one of those issues where you need to just buckle down and eat the meat.

At any rate, what is your vitamin situation? Are you difficiant in anything? Are you taking anything?

[GFinDC]

Hi Kim,

I am pretty low carb but definitely not a vegetarian. I did that game for 5 years tho but no more.

Some vegetarians tend to eat a lot of soy, which is terrible stuff for human beings. Soy is not a good sub for meat.

Are you sure your thyroid situation is under control? If you aren't getting enough thyroid hormone it can be harder to lose weight. Shoot, losing weight is hard enuff anyway. Some people with celiac do gain weight instead of losing it, about 20% do gain weight. Also, swelling (edema) can cause temporary weight gain.

If you are deficient in some vitamins/minerals due to malabsorbtion your body may signal you eat to eat more food in an attempt to get enough of those missing nutrients. But if you can't properly absorb the nutrients due to celiac damage in the gut it doesn't work. Basically you end up with a starving, overweight body.

The way to fix that issue is to heal the gut with a healthy whole foods diet. Lots of protein (from meat) can help as it provides fats and whole proteins your body needs to heal itself. Some vitamins are fat soluble so you need to have fats in your diet to absorb them. Celiacs tend to have low cholesterol in their blood from not being able to absorb fats due to gut damage (blunted villi).

Probiotics and digestive enzymes can help with digestion and you should take them every day for a while.

also avoid dairy and alcohol for a while.

If you are new to the gluten-free diet, you may find it kind of rough at first as your body adapts. You may also find yourself getting more hungry for a period of time as your body starts to heal and needs more nutrients to build tissue. Starving it during the healing process is not helpful. Sugars and carbs are not what you need to eat tho. Try to get your calories from meats and veggies instead. And only whole foods, not processed foods.

Well, lots of ideas for you to think about, I hope something in all this will help you. Celiac disease recovery is a journey, and we start with one step at a time. It may take months or years to get better, but it can happen if you stick with it.

By the way, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is one of the many autoimmune diseases associated with celiac disease. There are several members on the forum with Hasihimoto's.

Welcome to the site, we are glad to have you here!

[HashisGirl]

I think this is one of those issues where you need to just buckle down and eat the meat.

At any rate, what is your vitamin situation? Are you difficiant in anything? Are you taking anything?

I have had soooo Many blood tests done and I never come up defiecint on anything..... The even tested me for sleep apnea because they just can't figure me out... This last doctor wanted to put me on a drug that is for people that have Narcolepsy... I am so over doctors telling me random things.. I just want to get better and feel better!

[HashisGirl]

Hi Kim,

I am pretty low carb but definitely not a vegetarian. I did that game for 5 years tho but no more.

Some vegetarians tend to eat a lot of soy, which is terrible stuff for human beings. Soy is not a good sub for meat.

Are you sure your thyroid situation is under control? If you aren't getting enough thyroid hormone it can be harder to lose weight. Shoot, losing weight is hard enuff anyway. Some people with celiac do gain weight instead of losing it, about 20% do gain weight. Also, swelling (edema) can cause temporary weight gain.

If you are deficient in some vitamins/minerals due to malabsorbtion your body may signal you eat to eat more food in an attempt to get enough of those missing nutrients. But if you can't properly absorb the nutrients due to celiac damage in the gut it doesn't work. Basically you end up with a starving, overweight body.

The way to fix that issue is to heal the gut with a healthy whole foods diet. Lots of protein (from meat) can help as it provides fats and whole proteins your body needs to heal itself. Some vitamins are fat soluble so you need to have fats in your diet to absorb them. Celiacs tend to have low cholesterol in their blood from not being able to absorb fats due to gut damage (blunted villi).

Probiotics and digestive enzymes can help with digestion and you should take them every day for a while.

also avoid dairy and alcohol for a while.

If you are new to the gluten-free diet, you may find it kind of rough at first as your body adapts. You may also find yourself getting more hungry for a period of time as your body starts to heal and needs more nutrients to build tissue. Starving it during the healing process is not helpful. Sugars and carbs are not what you need to eat tho. Try to get your calories from meats and veggies instead. And only whole foods, not processed foods.

Well, lots of ideas for you to think about, I hope something in all this will help you. Celiac disease recovery is a journey, and we start with one step at a time. It may take months or years to get better, but it can happen if you stick with it.

By the way, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is one of the many autoimmune diseases associated with celiac disease. There are several members on the forum with Hasihimoto's.

Welcome to the site, we are glad to have you here!

They monitor me pretty close... I get blood work every 3 - 4 months.. They don't look at my TSH anymore now the watch my antibody level, t4 and t3 and free's. I have had doctors tell me blood work is great.. here take this anti-depressant I keep telling them I am NOT DEPRESSED. I feel like CRAP and I am alway TIRED!

Here's a perfect example.. Today I took DD Christmas Shopping... we left at 11 and here it is 2:45 and I think I need a nap but I still have so much more to do before I can rest.... Housework, ironing etc and ALL I want to do it sit on the couch and not move.. this is REALLY tough because my 12 yr old is bowl full of energy and today she is even sick but she wants to decorate the house... not going to happen...

WILL I EVER FEEL BETTER?

[GFinDC]

They monitor me pretty close... I get blood work every 3 - 4 months.. They don't look at my TSH anymore now the watch my antibody level, t4 and t3 and free's. I have had doctors tell me blood work is great.. here take this anti-depressant I keep telling them I am NOT DEPRESSED. I feel like CRAP and I am alway TIRED!

Here's a perfect example.. Today I took DD Christmas Shopping... we left at 11 and here it is 2:45 and I think I need a nap but I still have so much more to do before I can rest.... Housework, ironing etc and ALL I want to do it sit on the couch and not move.. this is REALLY tough because my 12 yr old is bowl full of energy and today she is even sick but she wants to decorate the house... not going to happen...

WILL I EVER FEEL BETTER?

Well, if you have celiac disease and you don't stop eating gluten, probably not. The only treatment for celiac disease is the gluten-free diet for life. That means 100% gluten-free or as close as you can make it, with no cheating or free days etc. It is hard to avoid cross-contamination and accidents on the gluten-free diet when you are starting out. But you can learn in time to keep free of gluten and start the healing process. It can take up to 2 years or more to heal the gut. So getting started now is a good thing. But not until all the antibody testing etc is completed. If you can stick with the gluten-free diet without a firm diagnosis you could skip the testing. But it is very hard to get testing later because you would have to resume eating gluten for a period of time or the testing won't work. Since people tend to have stronger reactions after they are off gluten it can be very unpleasant to do a gluten challenge for weeks at at time so you can get tested later. Another thing to think about is the little me's. Celiac is hereditary, so your children may develop it too. If you have celiac the odds of your children getting celiac are much higher.

[bigbird16]

To start introducing more meat into your diet, you might try fish first. Some of my vegetarian friends who have found they've needed more protein have successfully done that by first going for the not too fishy fishy -- trout, tilapia, whitefish, haddock, catfish. You can bake it, pan fry it, season with dill and olive oil, put it in salad, top it with salsa, etc. You can move on from there. Once you get more protein into you, you may find your energy increasing.

[ButterflyChaser]

Hi, I have Hashimoto's, too, though I also have Grave's, and I have to lose about 25 lbs, 20 of which I gained in the space of one single week when was on anti-biotics, and which have never gone away. I had also tried being vegan for a while, before that, and I teach a class on animal rights and vegetarianism, so if you ever want to talk about the health-ethics connection, I am here. If you need a buddy, feel free to add me. I totally know what you are feeling. It is traumatic for me: I had been super lean and trim all my life, and was often taken for a pro dancer, but thyroid disorders first ate all my muscles, and then made me fat.

I am mostly pescatarian, though I do eat grass-fed organic meat and poultry every now and again (usually twice a week, sometimes more, depending on the week). Fish, as other suggested, is a good place to start. Highly digestible. Tasty. I limit tuna and mahi mahi or swordfish to one a month, or once every two months, because of mercury levels. I love monkfish - good protein for very little calories. Shrimp is awesome, too, if you are not allergic. Octopus is a-ma-zing. Oyster have good iron levels, if you don't want to eat meat just yet. Same goes for swiss chard - the Hashimoto's patient spinach (high in iron, not goitrogenic). Cod is very versatile, and red snapper is good protein and very lean meat. Shellfish is also a dieter's friend, because you have to shell it, prior to showing it into your mouth. And that's good.

I would totally avoid tilapia. It is usually farmed in an unsustainable way, and toxic for both mankind and the environment. Open Original Shared Link Usually, I just do not eat farmed fish at all.

I would stay away from soy, as well.

[cahill]

Hi Mine name is Kim and I am 46 year old and I have Hashimo's Thyroiditis....I have been going back and forth on trying to get healthier for 3 years now.... and I am SO FUSTRATED! I want and need to lose weight.... I know I need to be Gluten Free..... and I really don't like most meat... unless it's the occasional burger.... I do much better on Low Carb... I AM TOTALLY BEYOND FUSTRATED... I was diagnosed with a thyroid issue about 3 years ago and I have searched and searched for information... I know from talking to doctors and specialists that I really need to stay gluten free and soy free... that to lose weight I need to be lower in carbs,.... but then you throw in my dislike for meats.. and I really have an issue. Does ANYONE out there understand? Does ANYONE have any suggestions? or maybe just a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. I would LOVE to lose 5 pounds by Christmas... but being as tired as I am most days it's tough... I am starting to do just 10 minutes a day of working out...to try to get my body back on track... I would LOVE to have some menu suggestions, websites etc to help me plan my life a little better....

ARE THERE ANY LOW CARB VEGETARIANS OUT THERE THAT CAN OFFER ME A DIRECTION!!!

Thanks in advance... oh and I am new so hopefully I will get to know everyone real soon... I LOVE the idea of having a support system for health

Before going gluten free I was vegan. After going gluten free I had no idea how to eat ( and was still sooooo very ill) I went mostly paleo .Even then the meat I could tolerate was limited and had to be ground up.

Now that I have healed ( mostly anyway) I am vegetarian. I do eat eggs, cheese and on rare occasion fish.

I will (probably ) not be vegan again because with my intolerances it would make it EXTREMELY difficult to get all my nutritional requirements.

My suggestion would be to give your self some healing time before you concern your self ( to much) about your weight.

It was not until after I had identified ALL my intolerances, had some healing time , eliminated grains ( execpt rice ) and eliminated sugar/ artificial sweeteners from my diet that my weight began to drop.. .

Being vegetarian and low carb is difficult at best. Choosing good, healthy carbs in important .

Take a good look at your diet.

What do you consider low carb?

Can you tolerate legumes?

I FULLY agree with staying away from soy ( SOY IS EVIL )

[Rachelcooks]

Hi Hashisgirl,

I never realized how much gluten took out of me until I finally eliminated it completely. I've been gluten-free for almost 2 years now and the rewards FAR outweigh the difficulties.

The reward for being really diligent has been finding that I don't have to WORK to enjoy an entire day of doing things. I used to find that the things that were supposed to be "fun" like going out dancing or decorating the house or just going out with friends felt like a burden because I just wanted to lie down. I still have my couch days but now they are more recreational. I had no idea that the gluten could be the cause. I assumed that taking the gluten out would just make my stomach feel better and that my energy level was just who I was.

Anyway...the weight...so much fun. Well I feel a little like a crazy convert but if you don't like meat and want to stay gluten free I think you HAVE to read Dr. Fuhrman's book "Eat for Health". He gives lots of very healthy suggestions on ways to eat that will have you losing weight and at your optimal health as well as feeling energetic. I have been incorporating more and more of his suggestions into my life and in the last couple of weeks lost 6 pounds even though I sort of let it slide over Thanksgiving dinner and am not extremely strict about getting rid of added oils. He encourages a very plant based diet (LOTS of fruits and veg) with beans, seeds, nuts and some grains. If you eat this way you won't have to think about carbs to find a healthy weight.

When I go out (since I think it would be very difficult to order something vegan, gluten free and without oil I do eat meat or fish with some veg but at home I try to stay closer to vegan). I thought it was extreme at first but I don't really do well eating so much meat on low carb diets and as I am back in school I haven't been finding enough time to do as much exercise as necessary. I had gained 6 pounds in a couple of weeks and could see I was on my way to not fitting into my clothes. Fuhrman's thoughts on food have really made my life easier and I can still sit down in my clothes which is a win! Plus I find that I feel better overall. His diet tends to reduce inflammation. I don't know if you have inflammation problems but this is a real added bonus for me.

Dr. Fuhrman does encourage exercise but I can tell you that if you want to put all of your energy into figuring out the food for a couple of weeks you will be much more energized to begin working out after eating this way.

His website is Open Original Shared Link

but I think reading one of his books first is the best step to really understand what he thinks (or at least watch one of his TV spots you can find many on youtube)

Let me know if you try it and if it helps you!! Good luck! Things do get better with time!!!!!

[dprice81]

I know why you have a hard time with meat! Protein is important because of amino acids that do sooooo many functions in your body. Your main problem is most likely that your digestive tract does not make enough stomach acid to digest the meat. I know because I had the same exact problem. All you need to do to increase your digestive acid is to take Betaine HCL with pepsin with every meal. A non pill form would be to drink water with apple cider vinegar or drink water with lemon juice. these will help with the digestion of meat. posters above are right. stick to anti inflammatory fish and grass fed beef if you can find it (cows eating grass=more omega 3's).

Also, very low carb makes me very fatigued. I would include starches in your diet. I got alot of fatigue problems but I've been making dairy free gluten free tapioca pancakes and they seem to give me a higher boost of energy.

[dilettantesteph]

I'm not sure why so many people said that you need to add meat to your diet. Is that a Hashi recommendation? I don't know much about Hashi, but I am low carb and vegetarian. I eat mainly yogurt, olive oil, eggs honey, fruits and vegetables. I am at the low end of a healthy BMI. When I eliminated processed sugar I lost most of my fat. I am about 15 pounds lighter than upon diagnosis.

I had been vegan for years when I got my celiac diagnosis. I added meat at first since I thought I needed it. I really don't like meat either, and I had a hard time eating it for very long. It wasn't that it made me feel bad physically, I just didn't like eating it or preparing it. I just find it off putting. I don't like the idea of eating flesh. I'm not eating it anymore, and don't seem to be suffering any lack.

It helps to make dishes with a good variety of vegetables as they taste better.

I work out for about 45 minutes a day and on top of that I do stretches and abs for another 45 minutes or so. When I was diagnosed, I was very fatigued and often could barely get out of bed. There were many days when my kids made me dinner and brought it to me in bed, rather than me making them dinner. The youngest was 10 when I was diagnosed, and the older one 13. That is too young to be taking care of your mother instead of the reverse. Thank goodness for that diagnosis. If you are celiac, the best way that you can improve your energy will be to eliminate gluten.

Try to increase your physical activity gradually and make it something that you like to do. What is your weather like? Can you try walking? That is an easy work out to start and burns calories nicely. Also, yard work and housework actually burn quite a few calories. I like doing work outs that actually get things done. I think that you might be able to trick yourself into exercising more if you do something that you enjoy. Maybe you can get a friend or neighbor to go for walks together? Could you start a neighborhood garden? Get some garden beds ready for spring? Mall walk? Hang up a bunch of Christmas lights. Moving a ladder around and going up and down the thing is a good amount of exercise and then you can enjoy the display.

It is hard to make changes. Something that makes it easier is to break it down into small pieces and concentrate on one small part at a time.

[Kamma]

Yes, the key would be to identify one or two things that you like to do for exercise and then start off slow with them and set goals. At my worst, I was also confined to my bed with ataxia and fatigue. I went from doing yoga every morning and bike riding 16 km a day (I was a commuter cyclist, in both summer and winter) to barely forcing myself to roll out of bed to use the bathroom. Life looked bleak and I felt pretty hopeless.

As tired as I was and as wobbly as I could walk, I realized that I needed to force myself to do something after awhile. I started with walking down my back lane (and I'm sure neighbours thought I was drunk as I staggered along) and doing some yoga. After a week I promised myself I would walk around the block for awhile and that graduated to walking a half mile and then a mile and so on until I was able to walk up to four miles a day.

Of course, the exercise is in conjunction with eating correctly at the same time. I didn't have a lot of brain power to figure a really complicated eating plan out at first so I went on the paleo diet which is basically lean meats and fish, lots of fresh vegetables and some fruit. No grains or rice whatsoever. However, I also ate potatoes and beans which is not part of the paleo diet. I stayed away from anything that was in a package, jar or can. Within weeks I was feeling better. The key is the vegetables and some fruit and eating it raw. I felt so good eating this way that I started to play around with gluten free grains but I seem to be extremely sensitive to cross contamination so I think I'm going to have to stop eating these as well.

If you don't like meat you can get amounts of protein from beans and legumes. They are an incomplete source of protein meaning they don't have all the amino acids like meat does. You have to combine them with another protein source like rice, nuts and seeds. If you can eat it, quinoa has a complete source of protein, one of the few vegetable sources that do. Lentils, dried peas, kidney beans, pinto beans, navy beans and chick peas have the highest amounts of protein. Pumpkin seeds also have high amounts. Chick peas also help with weight loss because of their high fibre content and high satiety levels (you feel full for longer resulting in eating less).

[Chaff]

Losing weight seems to be mostly about intake for a lot of people -- recent studies on exercise are saying that it is good for your body, but not necessarily for weight loss. It seems that people respond very differently to exercise, even hard-core exercise, and some people will lose weight on it and some won't.

I can't eat meat because of an intolerance to animal fat. For a long time I was eating primarily nut butters and beans for my protein source. Can you tolerate these? If so, they very filling and are low-carb. If you are lacto-ovo, then yogurt (homemade and fermented 24 hours is basically lactose-free) and eggs are really good protein sources.

Then the only reason to eat meat is for the B vitamins...but there are supplements/shots for that.

PM me if you're interested in the yogurt recipe; I also buy the most delicious heirloom beans ever online, and they taste nothing like the grocery store stuff.

[ButterflyChaser]

I'm not sure why so many people said that you need to add meat to your diet. Is that a Hashi recommendation? I don't know much about Hashi, but I am low carb and vegetarian. I eat mainly yogurt, olive oil, eggs honey, fruits and vegetables. I am at the low end of a healthy BMI. When I eliminated processed sugar I lost most of my fat. I am about 15 pounds lighter than upon diagnosis.

Being vegetarian, while possible, would not be recommended for us; many vegetarians rely heavily on soy, which is known to mess up with thyroid hormones. There is also a bunch of other things that thyroid patients should avoid. In my case, I did the elimination diet for all of those, and I found out that in my case they do affect me a lot (confirmed by symptoms and labs as well). So if you are a Hashi patient, you can go the bean way and be vegetarian, so long as you have dairy and eggs. I would not recommend it by using soy. Also, thyroid patients tend to have B12 and ferritin deficiency.

I am working on eliminating all refines sugar, hoping it helps. I have to lose over 25 lbs (mostly related to my erratic thyroid function), also because sugar is affecting my heart. How did you go about it? I haven't kept any sugar in the house for about 2 months now, and I don't drink sugary things... But if you have other tips, that would be great.