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Hi Lilli and thin list friends,
 
The following is some of my experience with a GF-LF diet and efforts to
gain weight.
 
I've been extremely lactose intolerant for more than 12 years. I've had
better success gaining weight than in years past by taking my GF diet very
seriously so that my absorption improves. I am no longer hungry all the
time and I've stayed at 135 pounds for almost a year now (at 5'8") up from
something closer to 110 ten years ago. Thank you listmembers for all your
tips and moral support during the past year+.
 
I've put food and sleep higher on my priority list than I did in my
pre-symptom youth. I should also give some credit to my working at home for
the past five years where I experience less stress and am closer to the
fridge!  Even so, I'm still a long drink of water, as they say.
 
I've mentioned before on the list my blender high-protein drinks which help
me add an extra mini-meal.  (OJ and EggBeaters; or GF soy milk, carob
powder, sugar, and EggBeaters. Bananas optional). (You know to not use raw
eggs because of Salmonella risk.) Listmember Karen Davis makes drinks using
brown rice and other ingredients (I think peanut butter was one of them) in
the blender. Experiment!
 
I eat more meat than I did before getting sick, mostly because legumes
don't always agree with my gut. That is improving: I recently used ground
cooked navy beans for the lentils in one of Betty Hagman's bread recipes
and found it satisfying and easy to digest.
 
I've slowly gotten out of the cultural habit of having three large meals,
and now decide to add a meal here and there instead of having seconds.
 
Despite the loss of milkfat, there are nice fattening things we can still
eat, if the fat, etc. agrees with us. There's peanut butter, other nut
butters such as cashew butter, almond butter, and tahini (sesame). Coconut
milk tends to be high in fat, but lowfat versions are starting to appear on
the shelf. Mocha Mix dessert is high in fat, and so is tofu. (Lowfat tofu
also available.) Your gut should tell you what you can handle.
 
In a nice conversation with Steve Rice of Authentic Foods (the bean flour
man) I mentioned to Steve how I felt better after a protein rich meal or
snack, rather than after a high carbohydrate or sugar meal/snack. He asked
me if I was sensitive to sugar. I told him how I've only in the past year
added table sugar back into my diet (to gain weight and avoid feeling
deprived), because back before my gut was healed, sugar, corn syrup and
other very sweet things gave me a sugar high followed by a terrible sugar
low.
 
I mention this because you asked about Ensure (current GF status unknown to
me):
 
When I wasn't healed yet and had an Ensure each day, my doctor found that
my blood sugar was 140. After a month off of Ensure, sugar and juices, my
blood sugar returned to normal (70). (not diabetes) So, I'm just saying:
Take good care, especially if you are newly diagnosed.
 
Back to what Steve Rice was suggesting (not medical advice, of course). He
advised me to be conscientious about including some protein (eggs, bean
flour, nuts, soy milk, etc.) into my baked goods and other carbohydrate
staples so that I continue to get some calories that digest more slowly.
 
It's easy to amend my baking ingredients, but my former habit of having
high-carbohydrate snacks (popcorn, GF toast, rice flour pancakes) needs
some adjustment. Already, when I think about having some rice as a snack, I
throw some almond slivers or toasted sesame seeds in. If I'm having
popcorn, then I should have one of my shakes with it. I used to have the
good habit of carrying the little Westsoy soy milks in the car for a
protein jolt, but unfortunately, I let the price get the better of that
practice.
 
Here's another concept I need to retune. Before I got sick, my idea of
exercise was very vigorous. Now, I get sick the day after anything one
might call a work-out. I need to see a thrice-weekly walk to the nearby
Trader Joe's as a regime, so that I'll actually get some moderate exercise.
I need to make more time for light yoga and walking. Especially since the
Celiac Disease Foundation is participating in a 5K/10K on May 11. (More on
that soon.)
 
Your question has fueled my incentive. Without the Net, I wouldn't know
many persons with CD who want to gain weight. Please let me know if you get
some tips worth sharing with other lactose-free and thin celiacs.
 
Best wishes,
Mary
 
Mary Courtney
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Los AngelesMary Courtney
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Los Angeles