Gluten free weight loss (or weight gain?)

However, this is not a diet designed for weight loss.

It is, in fact, the only treatment for those of us who suffer from gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Cutting out all sources of gluten in our diets is not a choice, it is essential! You could even say that gluten is a form of poison to celiac sufferers.

If you cut out refined flour products from your diet you may well lose weight. But by substituting gluten-free products, for their equivalent wheat versions, your chances of weight loss may diminish.

What happens when you go gluten free?

If you are diagnosed with celiac and you start to eat a gluten free diet then your body can heal itself.

You might then have to watch out to make sure you don't gain weight too quickly!

Having undergone a period of starvation, your body will tend to hold on to any excess calories that it is given, in case the same thing happens again. This is stored as body fat.

Do you feel as though you are missing out?

Now you are aware of the dangers, you might placate yourself with something that you ARE allowed to eat as a substitute, but which is often higher in calories!

I have been guilty of this.

When colleagues were eating cakes with their morning coffee, I would treat myself with chocolate bars. Did I need those calories? Of course not, but it helped to alleviate the feeling of loss. It is hard to go without entirely!

What if I had a slice of gluten free cake instead? Generally, these have MORE calories than wheat based cakes so this solution would not help my gluten free weight loss cause.

For example, I did a quick comparison last time I was in the store.

• Normal cake - 360 calories per slice
• Gluten free variety - 369 calories per slice

Baking your own gf substitutes

Let's look at different types of gluten free flour. Remember, normal all-purpose wheat flour has 364 calories per 100g.

The basic flour used on a gluten free diet is brown rice flour, which has 357 calories for the same amount. Sounds a little better, so far!

But it is rare to cook with rice flour alone, as baked products tend to be gritty. You would normally mix in at least one or two other flours. How about potato flour, another common ingredient in my kitchen?

Oops, now the calorie count goes up to 394 per 100g.

What about soya flour instead? That is even higher with 400 calories.

If we substitute ground almonds, the chances of gluten free weight loss go out the window! It has a massive 540 calories per 100g!

Maybe baking our own cake isn't the solution to gluten free weight loss?

Of course the other temptation if you bake your own cakes and breads is to eat the whole thing, before it goes stale. When you have paid extra for the ingredients and taken the time to cook it, wasting any leftovers is difficult to come to terms with.

And where you may be satisfied with one slice of shop bought bread, when you take your own out of the oven and enjoy that delicious smell, it can be almost impossible to resist eating a warm slice spread with butter straight away. Uh oh! Extra calories.

How can you achieve gluten free weight loss?

What! No pizza, bread or pasta!

If you are overweight to start with, or find yourself continuing to gain weight on this diet, then changing your eating habits to a lower carbohydrate or low GI plan can work wonders.

Eating naturally gluten free products, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains such as millet or quinoa, meat, fish and minimal dairy can help tremendously with your gluten free weight loss plan.

Of course not everyone will be prepared to do this!

You may, like me, have gained much too much weight and visited the doctor for a magic solution, only to be told that you are also teetering on the edge of Type 2 diabetes, before you even consider it!

That first week may be very difficult!

But as your body gets used to the new foods you are eating, your taste buds will change and you will begin to feel better.

The weight will drop, your energy levels will rise, your pocket book will benefit and you may wonder why you have never done it before.

At the time of writing this, I have been following this new eating plan for three months and I have already lost 52 pounds. I still have a long way to go, but I feel better than I have in years!

I found an e-book online that helped me. It is written by Debbie Johnson (who also wrote Think Yourself Thin) and it gives recipes that are gluten free, low GI, organic and delicious!.

Many of them were offered in her own restaurant The Golden Chalice.

You can Click Here! to find out more, or even buy your own copy.

If you have experienced issues with gluten free weight loss, or gain, why not tell your story by using the form below? You may be able to help others in the process.

Tell us what worked for you, or just ask for advice or support.

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