New Here - Celiac Support Please!

I am new here and was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I have tried to lose weight my whole adult life and never realized there was a reason why I couldn't.  Every diet I tried would be successful momentarily only to return to weight gain and increased digestive problems. 

It took a long time for me to be diagnosed as my dr. informed me that celiac creates malnurisment in the body and I cleary was not malnurished.  Come to find out my body went into starvation mode and started storing the fat as a survival mechanism. 

I have been gluten free for 2 weeks now and would just like some company in the efforts to stay that way.  It take alot of patience to keep GF.  I bought some organic Oats only to be "internally sick" for 3 days.  So, any suggestions, advice and support would be welcome!

Hi!

I have never been officially diagnosed, but I have a niece who has (and it is a genetic thing).  I have been GF for about 4 years now, and have to stay that way.  I can tell pretty quickly if I have eaten something that had gluten in it - as you said, that internally sick stuff.

I have learned a lot over the years, but here are a few of the most valuable:

The biggest one is that when it comes to counting calories to lose weight it is kind of a cinch because EVERYTHING in the produce section of the store, and frozen veggies too, as long as they are without sauces, are both low in calories, high in nutrients, and 100% GF.  And if you are eating lots of veggies you shouldn't have to worry about trying to supplement your fiber.

Corn and Rice are both safe.  You can buy GF oats in most health food stores, but they have to be marked GF.  This is because in most of the US oats and wheat are rotated in the same fields, so most oats are tainted, even organic ones.  And they are also processed on the same machinery as a lot of other grain products.  GF oats are grown in dedicated fields and processed Completely on dedicated equipment.

Once you get used to it, it is really not as hard and as limiting as it may seem at first.  Just focus on all you CAN have :  all veggies, fruit, meat, dairy, seeds, nuts - that's a lot of food!

If you just have to have a pizza, or brownie, or pancakes, Bob's Red Mill makes excellent GF mixes, and they are available in a lot of grocery stores as well as health food stores.

Rice Chex is safe (store brands aren't).  One of my new favorites for a quick b-fast.  But almost no fiber, so be careful there.  There are a ton of GF products out there, but most that are specified GF are made with corn or rice or both, so you get little fiber and lots of sugar.  So, especially if you are concerned about shedding some pounds, be careful!  Just because it says GF doesn't mean it is healthy.  That is a mind set I fell into for a while, and am now trying to undo.

I hope this info is helpful, and would be glad to answer any questions I can, and be a friend on this journey to better health.  I've got about 55 pounds to go, but have lost about 6 in the last week, so this calorie counting really does work!

Good Luck!

Darla