Weight Gain Vs. Weight Loss – The Gluten Intolerance Struggle

I want to share a painful time I had after I was diagnosed with Celiac disease.  I’d been sick for a while before finding out what my problem was with food.  In the meantime, I got really thin and stayed that way.

Well, when I was able to start eating normally again, I also began to put on weight.  The problem was I had gotten used to being thin and didn’t want to be the chunky woman again I was before getting sick on gluten.

I never developed real bulimia or anorexia, but I did try to diet.  We live in a society that values thin women, and I guess I bought into it for a while.  I’m being brutally honest at this point.

My weight began to yo-yo.  I put weight on as my body healed after eliminating gluten.  Then I dieted to get it off.  I would go off the diet, put on weight and decide I needed to diet to lose weight.

The bottom line is that this is not healthy behavior.   It is not good to let your weight go up and down, up and down.  It’s very hard on the whole body and can actually cause your entire system to get out of whack.

When you first start eating gluten free foods, you’ll probably be tempted to eat a lot of junk food like cookies and muffins.  Most people who are gluten intolerant go for a long while without being able to eat any “fun” food.  Then when they find out what the problem is many go hog wild.

If you put on a lot of weight from eating too many gluten free goodies, follow the same sound nutritional advice non-gluten intolerant people get.  You put on weight when you eat more calories then you burn throughout the day.  I lost my weight the right way finally through exercise and eating a healthy diet.

I quit eating gluten free cookies.  I let my husband eat my gluten free desserts.  I started walking.  Oh yeah, I also started eating high quality protein foods and cut out most of the fat in my diet.  Eating no sugar and little fat, and lots of fresh vegetables, turned quickly into weight loss.

By the way, for those who stay unnaturally thin even after eating gluten free foods, you have to ask yourself if that’s your natural weight.  That’s what I had to find out first – how much I should weigh according to normal weight charts.

It was really tough when I went from very thin to being overweight.  I was having enough self-esteem issues without that problem.  But all’s well that ends well.  I am at my ideal weight now.

Of course, my husband had to lose 5 pounds after eating all my gluten free desserts!

[hr]

Here are a few delicious gluten-free snacking ideas, once you get your weight back on track!