How I Lost 30 Pounds Eating Gluten-Free

I’ll never forget it. It was the summer of 2011. I had finally had it. I continued to gain weight, no matter what I ate or how much I exercised. Sure, I could exercise for 2 hours a day, every day of the week, and eat, what I thought, was a healthy diet. But it didn’t matter. I either maintained my weight, or gained more! Sound familiar?

USDA Guidelines Made Me Fat

In July of 2011, I’d finally had it and resorted to getting help. I went and saw a nutritionist. I was desperate to find out if there was something wrong with me. How can someone follow a diet that the “experts” say is healthy and still gain weight?

I was following the USDA guidelines for eating a healthy diet by eating 2-3 fruits and vegetables a day, 4-5 grains a day, and 2 servings of meat and dairy. I ate low-fat or fat free and often put vanilla soy milk in my morning cereal, instead of regular milk. I limited my sweets (although I secretly had a few dove chocolate squares a few nights a week and maybe a small bowl of ice cream?) But this was the normal way to eat, right?

The Results Are In

After doing a complete blood panel with the nutritionist, the results showed that I was gluten-intolerant. WHAT!?!? It. Was. A. Death Sentence! How was I going to avoid gluten? No burger buns, no hot dog buns, no pasta, no cereal, no bagels, no flour tortillas for my tacos! Huh? “What am I supposed to eat?” I asked.

I was instructed to try my best to avoid gluten for a month by switching to gluten-free products or just not eating grains. Then, I could add them back in for a few days and see how I felt. If I felt terrible, I had a gluten intolerance. If not, then it’s back to the drawing board. I was determined to prove the nutritionist and my test results wrong. I was in complete and utter denial. Who could live without gluten and grains? I mean, the USDA says we should eat 60% of our calories in grains, right? I just didn’t believe it. It had to be something else.

Now, I didn’t know exactly what I was doing when I started my gluten-free adventure. I sort of stumbled upon a healthier diet over many years of trial and error. But before we continue with my journey, let’s take a look at some questions that may be nagging at you.

What Is Gluten?

I’m sure you’ve heard the terms gluten and gluten-free by now, but not everyone knows what gluten is.

Humans first domesticated the wheat plant about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. Since then, wheat has become a staple in many of our diets. Of all the molecules included in wheat, gluten is by far the most important to the quality of bread because it gives baked goods their structure, texture and elasticity.

According the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council,

“Gluten comes from the Latin word for ‘glue’ which gives dough the elastic property that holds gas when it rises. Bubbles of carbon dioxide are released from fermenting yeast, which become trapped by the visco-elastic protein, ensuring a light honeycombed texture for the dough. The elastic nature of gluten also holds particles of the dough together, preventing crumbling during rolling and shaping. Hence, gluten plays a vital role in the production of leavened baked goods.”

When bakers add water to wheat flour and begin to knead it into dough, two smaller proteins—gliadin and glutenin—change shape and bind to each other, forming long, elastic loops of what we call gluten. The more gluten in the flour, the more the dough will stretch and the spongier it will be once baked.

Then & Now

Until the Middle Ages, the types of grain that people cultivated contained much less gluten than the crops we grow today. In the following centuries, people selectively bred varieties of wheat that produced bread that was lighter and chewier, inevitably increasing consumption of the protein. With the improvement of breeding and farming technology, Americans began to produce and eat more wheat overall. Today the average American eats about 132 pounds of wheat a year, often in the form of bread, cereal, crackers, pasta, cookies and cakes. This translates to about 0.8 ounces of gluten each day.

What Foods Include Gluten?

Now that you know what gluten is, what foods contain gluten and should be avoided?

Gluten is found in wheat, including wheat varieties like spelt, kamut, farro, durum, bulgar and semolina, as well as barley, rye, and triticale. Gluten is a blanket name given to the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. The actual names of the proteins found in these grains are:

Gliadin in Wheat
Hordein in Barley
Secalin in Rye
Avenin in Oats

Avenin is an essential part of oats and cannot be removed. Therefore, oats will never be gluten-free, even if the package claims the oats are gluten free. One in five people with Celiac disease react to oats. However, if you only have a gluten intolerance, oats may not affect you.

That being said, gluten is in a lot of stuff! All of your favorite foods probably fall into the category that include those ingredients. There are your obvious foods and drinks, including bread, pasta, pizza, crackers, beer, and most baked goods. And then there are you’re not so obvious foods, including salad dressings, soups and soy sauce.

These proteins may affect each person with a gluten intolerance differently. Some may affect you a lot and some may have very little or no effect on your body. I have found that wheat, barley and rye have an effect on me, but oats do not.

What Grains Are Gluten-Free?

Grains that do not include gluten include sorghum, millet, brown rice, buckwheat, wild rice, amaranth, quinoa, corn (polenta) and teff. Over the years, I have found that a combination of gluten-free grains work best when making gluten-free substitutions for my usual gluten baked recipes. Each grain has different properties. Depending on what consistency you are trying to accomplish, a different mix may accomplish different results. You can make your own mix. But there are also many gluten-free mixes pre-made and available for purchase. Some of the brands I’ve used and had success with are:

Cup4Cup Gluten-free flour (includes xanthan gum)
Namaste Foods Gluten-Free Organic Flour (includes xanthan gum)
King Arthur Gluten-Free flour

When using a substitute, you may need to add xanthan gum, which adds elasticity to your grains. However, some of these multipurpose blends already include this, so check the ingredients and note whether you need to add xanthan gum or not.

Grain-Free Options

In many cases, you can also substitute almond or coconut flour, or a combination of the two, in your recipes for a completely grain-free option. If you use almond flour for baking, you can replace regular flour in a 1:1 ratio, but you may need to add a binding ingredient, such as eggs.

If using coconut flour for baking, you generally only want to substitute 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of regular flour. Similarly, you may need to add a binding ingredient, such as eggs, to improve the food’s texture.

Note that xanthan gum is not needed if you use either of these alternatives for baking. If using these alternatives for frying or sautéing, you can use either of these substitutes in a 1:1 ratio for wheat flour.

Alcohol

One of my challenges when going gluten-free was a beer replacement. Now, I would not call myself an alcoholic, by any means. But I did enjoy a wheat beer (or two) from time to time. And finding out that I couldn’t have it without having stomach pains really took the excitement away from having a few beers for me.

The alternatives that I found were cider beers and red wine. Hard alcohol is also gluten-free! So, there are plenty of other options, if that is a hang up for you.

Celiac Disease vs. Wheat Allergy vs. Gluten Intolerance

Many people confuse gluten intolerance with a wheat allergy and celiac disease. But there is a difference.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, whereby if a person consumes gluten, it triggers an immune response that damages their intestines, preventing them from absorbing vital nutrients. It is estimated that 1 in 100 people may suffer from celiac disease, but only 1 in 4,700 people have actually received an official diagnosis. Symptoms of celiac disease include:

Abdominal bloating and pain
Iron-deficiency anemia
Fatigue
Bone and joint pain
Arthritis
Osteoporosis or osteopenia (bone loss)
Constipation
Depression or anxiety
Peripheral neuropathy (tingling, numbness or pain in hands or feet)
Seizures
Migraines or headaches
Infertility or recurrent miscarriages
Canker sores in the mouth
Dermatitis herpetiformis (itchy skin rash)

Wheat Allergy

A wheat allergy, on the other hand, is a rare type of allergy that develops when the body’s immune system overreacts to wheat. Symptoms of a wheat allergy include:

Hives or skin rash
Nausea, stomach cramps, indigestion, vomiting or diarrhea
Stuffy or runny nose
Sneezing
Headaches
Asthma
Anaphylaxis

These symptoms, however, are not necessarily caused by gluten. Wheat allergies are most common in children. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, 65 percent of children with a wheat allergy outgrow it by the age of 12.

Gluten Allergy

Although some people are allergic to wheat, this is not the same as a gluten allergy. Gluten allergy is a misleading term commonly used to describe a wheat allergy or celiac disease. There is actually no such thing as a gluten allergy.

Gluten Intolerance

Someone has a gluten intolerance, also known as a non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), if after consuming gluten, the person experiences celiac disease symptoms, but does not appear to have damaged intestines. These symptoms may be due to poor digestion. Although those with a gluten sensitivity may share many symptoms with those that have celiac disease, people with a gluten sensitivity have a prevalence of extraintestinal or non-GI symptoms, such as headache, brain fog, joint pain, and numbness in the legs, arms or fingers.

Per David Perlmutter, in his book Grain Brain, “as many as 40% of us can’t properly process gluten, and the remaining 60% could be in harm’s way.” According to Dr. Perlmutter, we may all be sensitive to gluten from the perspective of the brain.

Researchers are finding that gluten and a high-carbohydrate diet are among the most prominent stimulators of inflammatory pathways that reach the brain. So, from a healthy brain perspective, it might benefit us all to be on a gluten-free diet, even if you don’t currently show symptoms.

Problems with Eating Gluten-Free

When people start eating gluten-free, the natural thing for many people to do is to replace all of their gluten grains with gluten-free grains. This was the case for me. But this style of eating can create problems for some people over the long-term.

Beware Of Sugar & Additives

Many gluten-free products contain sugar and other additional ingredients to make them taste better. But the addition of sugar and additives can be very unhealthy. Additionally, many gluten grains contain vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin B and D, iron and fiber. Eating gluten-free grains that may be lacking in these nutrients may cause nutrient deficiencies.

It may be alright to start eating this way (i.e. switching out your gluten grains for gluten-free grains). But you should check the ingredients and look for low sugar options with few ingredients that are recognizable. A slow transition to replacing your gluten-free grains with more vegetables may be a step in the healthier direction, since vegetables contain lots of vitamins and minerals. In order to eat gluten-free and remain healthy, you need to find a balance and be sure to continue to get your vitamins and minerals from real food.

Increased Costs

And let’s not forget the cost of eating gluten-free. Studies show that, on average, gluten-free products cost 242% more than regular products. That’s reason enough to switch to eating more vegetables! They are often cheaper.

My Story

So, back to my story, I set out to eat gluten-free for a whole month after my diagnosis. As I stated earlier, I naturally tried to replace all of my gluten grains with gluten-free grains. I switched my regular buns out for gluten-free buns. Corn tortillas replaced flour tortillas. I even ate rice pasta and gluten-free bagels. It was tough.

Some of the gluten-free products were alright. But many of them tasted terrible, to be honest. They just weren’t the same. And baking with gluten-free flour! Ugh! If you’ve ever baked with gluten-free flour, you know it doesn’t bake the same. It crumbles during rolling and shaping and just doesn’t hold water while baking like gluten grains do. But that’s for another post. In any case, I did it, for a whole month. And my pocket noticed.

When the month was up, I was ready to get back to my old diet and eat my usual grain products. There was no doubt in my mind there would be no change. I probably over did it a little. My mom and I went to the Taste of Colorado and I proceeded to eat whatever I wanted. And. I. Paid. For It.

I. Thought. I. Was. Going. To. Die. I don’t remember feeling so awful in all my life. Really. I had stomach cramps like you wouldn’t believe. I wanted to vomit, but I couldn’t. I’m unsure exactly what I ate that day, but I’m certain it included some greasy fried foods. You know, the kind they sell at fairs? I just remember the pain I felt that night. And I didn’t feel better until the next morning. I cried and cried and cried. It was true. I could not tolerate gluten. And I NEVER wanted to feel that way again.

5 Stages Of Grief

I think I went through all five stages of grief. I clearly went through the denial stage. After this incident, I quickly entered the anger and bargaining stages. For many months, I would eat gluten-free, but then fall back on my old eating habits over the weekend or at parties. I would experience similar stomach pains. I tried to tell myself the pain was not so bad for just a little taste. And then I realized I sounded like a drug addict. All I needed was a small fix to make myself happy. What was this?

Since the late 1970s, scientists at the National Institute of Health have known that when gluten breaks down in the stomach, it becomes a mix of polypeptides that cross the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, they bind to the brains morphine receptors and produce a sensorial high. This is the same receptor that opiate drugs bind to, creating a pleasurable and addicting effect. So, I was in effect a drug addict. Only my drug of choice was gluten.

I then entered into depression. I had to give it up. Really! It just wasn’t worth it. Every time I cheated I felt terrible. I felt the stomach pains all over again. I also felt bloated and tired. Not to mention that I felt guilty. But it tasted so good!

Acceptance

I finally learned to accept my fate and realized that eating gluten-free wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, there were some things I really liked about it. Although I didn’t care for corn tortillas, I discovered that I LOVED eating tacos on Romaine lettuce. Who knew that there was so much more flavor without the tortilla shell? If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out! In fact, I loved eating tacos on Romaine lettuce so much, that I wondered what else tasted better on Romaine lettuce. Cheeseburgers, hot dogs, brats, Italian sausage, fajitas…the possibilities! And it was all better. Really!

I also found some gluten-free products I really liked. Following is a list of my top 12 favorites.

The Healthy Result

After a year and a half of eating this way, I lost 30 pounds. I didn’t do anything different. I simply took out the gluten. I either replaced my normal gluten products with gluten-free products or I just didn’t eat the grains and ate more vegetables, instead. It was truly amazing. I went from being 155 pounds to 125 pounds. The more amazing part of this is that I had a baby during that time. I was 155 pounds when I got pregnant. I was 155 pounds when I left the hospital. And I was 125 pounds 9 months after my daughter’s birth. Truly. Amazing!

Fast forward to today, I still eat gluten-free, although I probably don‘t have to. I went and had another test done in the fall of 2017 and found I was no longer gluten intolerant. Somehow, after not eating it for so long, I cured myself of my intolerance. Perhaps, by eating a healthier diet, I improved my digestion, thereby ridding myself of a gluten sensitivity. In any case, it doesn’t matter anymore. Because I don’t like the way I feel when I eat it. And I actually enjoy eating gluten-free. I didn’t realize how much more flavor there was to my food until I took out the bread and just tasted!

I have also managed to keep off all of the weight I had lost. I accomplished this, even though I had 4 children in five years.

It Gets Easier With Time

Let’s face it. When there is a party or your family is on vacation, it’s difficult to stay on any diet. It is no different for me. I splurge every now and then and have plateful of mostacchioli and bread and a slice of birthday cake at a party or eat the homemade pierogies my Aunt made. I still get bloated and tired when I do. But I no longer feel like I’m going to die, which is a good thing. And I no longer eat these things on a regular basis at home. It’s just an occasional thing.

When I tell people that I’m on a gluten-free diet, I often get a response like, “Oh, I couldn’t do that!” It’s funny, because I used to be that person a decade ago. That was a person I barely recognize now. It’s hard to believe that I thought I couldn’t go a day without eating all of that bread and pasta. But many people think this way. For breakfast, I’d have a bowl of cereal or a bagel. For lunch, I’d have a sandwich. Every night of the week, I had either a bun or a roll or a plate of pasta. Not eating this way was inconceivable.

But that’s how change works. I was so unhappy being overweight and feeling subpar, that something had to change. My desire to be healthier was stronger than my desire to continue eating something that was making me unhealthy.

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”
-Tony Robbins

Baby Steps

If you start to make small changes here and there, over time those small changes will really add up. You’ll find what you like and toss what you don’t. You might start by having your “sandwich” on a lettuce wrap. You could try having brown rice spaghetti instead of wheat. Or better yet, try zucchini, carrot or sweet potato noodles! It’s different, but sometimes different is good. You might really surprise yourself with what you like and discover taste buds you didn’t know you had. Before you know it, your diet will have changed drastically. But the slow lifestyle changes will have made it manageable.

The Future Is Bright!

So, whether you are thinking about going gluten-free because you have to for health reasons, or if it’s just a choice to be healthier; yes, you can do it and you will come out of it on the other end alive. And you will be much healthier for it. During my gluten-free journey, I have become so much healthier. This was just a stepping stone for me. It opened the door and let me see other possibilities and eventually led me to a low-carb diet. I am so thankful that my husband has been supportive and has taken this journey with me. We have both come a long way and are happy continuing our gluten-free lifestyle.

Have you gone gluten-free? Do you have questions or concerns about going gluten-free? Please share below.

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Jillian

Hi, I'm Jillian! Jillian's World is about natural living, having fun with your kids and eating well. It's packed with ways to be healthier in mind, body and spirit. I'm so glad you're here!