Losing Weight on a Gluten-Free Diet: Can it Be Done?

Though the gluten-free diet has become a trend in the last couple of years that many try to follow, for some people, it’s a necessity. And, even though it was primarily designed to help with certain health issues, such as celiac disease, today many people use it is a way to boost their health and achieve their fitness goals. If you belong to this group, you probably know just how hard it can be to create a gluten-free meal plan that is feasible to stick to and can boost your weight loss.

Source: hellomagazine.com

Gluten-Free Diet vs. Weight Loss Diet

Being talked about so often, there are many misconceptions about gluten-free diet. There are people who believe it’s a weight loss diet, but that’s not why it is created. It’s true that people sticking to this diet can lose weight, but that doesn’t mean that anyone will lose weight by simply eating gluten-free foods. The truth of the matter is, if you give up gluten, you will welcome other foods in your diet, possibly more fruits and vegetables, which might eventually result in weight loss.

However, not only has it never been proven that a gluten-free diet in itself can help you lose weight, but there are even instances where, on the contrary, it leads to weight gain. People who consume only gluten-free foods, due to a medical condition, can gain weight from the food they are eating if it is very high in calories.

Today, there are gluten-free versions of almost anything, but keep in mind, that many products will add ingredients to compensate for the loss of flavour, often resulting in a product that contains more calories than its gluten-containing counterpart. Furthermore, those ingredients can be unhealthy, and they can disbalance your diet. All of this refutes the belief that everything that’s gluten-free is healthy.

If you are thinking about starting a gluten-free diet only to lose weight there are a couple of things to consider. You can start eating more fruits and vegetable, avoiding sugar and limiting junk food, or follow a gluten free diet plan for weight loss.

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How to Lose Weight Loss With a Gluten-Free Diet

With all this in mind, we can say that creating a gluten free diet plan for weight loss is as far from an easy task, as is creating any weight loss diet plan, only with the added “gluten-free” label. And getting used to it will be just as hard. Like any other food, gluten free foods can have a lot, little or no nutritional benefits, meaning they can be good or bad for your body’s physical and mental health, as well as your weight. As a rule of thumb, everything you know about a healthy weight loss diet applies here as well.

Whole foods are the healthiest food option, providing vital nutrients for your body. Fruits, vegetables, tubers and legumes don’t contain gluten, and they are not only healthy, but they also have the least calories.

Highly processed foods, whether they’re gluten free or not, contain a lot of calories. Gluten-free processed products use coconut, rice or almond flour. However, this doesn’t mean that they offer any nutritional value, like fibre, proteins, vitamins and minerals. Once again, the fact that they are gluten-free doesn’t make them healthier, and even less good for losing weight.

However, keep in mind that no diet plan can make you lose weight on its own. Nor will exercising while eating an unhealthy diet. A balanced combination of exercising and a good meal plan is what will ultimately help you achieve your goal. A gluten-free weight loss meal should be healthy, balanced, and contain the right amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, etc. in order to help you stay healthy and lose weight.

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Ways to Stick to a Gluten-Free Meal Plan

Transitioning to a healthy gluten free meal plan can be as challenging, as creating it. Routinely preparing healthy gluten-free meals that will include all the ingredients your body needs may prove impossible to incorporate in your busy everyday life. While you can easily find countless guides, recipes, meal plans online, the difficult part is knowing which ones would really work.

If you don’t have the skills, time, or patience to prepare meals on a daily basis and to make a good gluten free diet plan for weight loss yourself, the best way to begin is to look for help. There are professionals who can understand your particular needs and goals. Find someone to help you create a meal plan that will work for you and will help get you closer to achieving your goal.

Another great option is to have gluten free meals delivered to your home. This will also help with the hardest part of your weight loss journey – getting used to following a diet and sticking to it. Since it will take out all the thinking and preparing, while letting you enjoy all the benefits of a good gluten-free meal plan, getting weekly, fortnightly or monthly healthy meals deliveries, will help you stick to a healthier diet, get used to it, and develop new, healthy eating habits.