Hey guys,

Many of you know that I have been gluten free for two years. No problem with that, got it down.

I have recently developed something called Pressure Palsey. In simple terms.. carpel tunnel of the bottom. I have NO butt and as I sit, even for a short time, my legs go to sleep and toes go numb. My legs and arms are very slim. And I have no padding on my butt and on the pads of my feet. (which is one of the symptoms of celiac). End of back ground.

My question is how can I put on weight and remain dairy light and soy light? Every high caloric foods that I can think of is high in lactose. I would love to have a McD's milkshake once a day, but the result don't work out well. (or rather, they work out too well).

Any thoughts?

I had a few ideas until I read no dairy. What about going to your public health office or dietician and asking for an sheet on how to gain weight in a healthy manner. We got one when Ty was diagnosed, but I do believe most of it was adding skim milk powder to milk and stuff like that. Here are I couple of things I found while surfing. Of course they'll need to be adapted to gluten-free and any other dietary restrictions you have.
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From U. Michigan website:
What can I do to gain weight?
The average person wanting to gain weight should try to eat foods with high calorie content and larger portions of food. Mild exercise can help to increase your appetite and help you add muscle rather than fat.

The following recommendations can be used by anyone wanting to gain or regain weight. It may be necessary, however, to change them to meet your specific needs. Check with your health care provider or dietitian about this.

To start, eat about 500 calories more a day than you have been eating. Some people will need to add up to a 1,000 extra calories. Look at the top section of the Nutrition Facts label of packaged foods to see how many calories are in a serving.
Eat snacks throughout the day.
Choose higher calorie foods often.
Try to always eat larger-than-normal portions at meals. If you have a poor appetite, it may work better to eat smaller, very high calorie meals and to eat more often.
Fat contains more calories than any other food group: 45 calories in just 1 teaspoon. Adding healthy fats, such as plant oils (canola, olive, or peanut oil), soft margarines (look for those with no trans fats), old-fashioned peanut butter (the kind that needs stirring before you eat it), and avocado, is an easy way to add a lot of calories without having to eat a lot more food.
Avoid saturated fats. Although all fats contain the same amount of calories, saturated fats can increase your cholesterol and other harmful blood fats. Foods high in saturated fat include: whole-milk dairy products, chicken skin, bacon, sausage, sour cream, butter, high-fat cuts of meat, and many processed snack foods.

Even though you are eating a high-calorie diet, you should try to keep it healthy by including a lot of unprocessed (unrefined) carbohydrates, such as whole grains and fruits, as well as vegetables and lean protein foods such as skim milk products, skinless poultry, fish, egg whites, beans, and low-fat cuts of pork and beef.
What are some ways to add calories and protein to foods?
Sauté meats and vegetables in canola or olive oil or wine sauces, or add breadcrumb toppings. If you are an athlete or are recovering from surgery, you need more protein, so add extra portions from the protein group.
To mashed potatoes add extra powdered milk and margarine.
To soups, add skim milk instead of water. Top with croutons and Parmesan cheese. Bean and minestrone soups have more calories than broth types of soups.
To cold cereals, add dried or fresh fruits, nuts, and seeds. Try to choose the higher calorie cereals such as muesli and granola.
Prepare hot cereals with milk instead of water, and add powdered milk, margarine, honey, syrup, or dried fruits to the cereal.
When you drink juice, you can add the most calories by drinking grape, cranberry, pineapple, or apple juice.
To salads, include different types of lettuce and add tomatoes, avocado, garbanzo beans, raisins, and sunflower seeds. Chopped nuts and lean meats will add extra protein as well as calories. Generously use dressings made with heart-healthy oils, such as canola or olive oil.
To 1% milk add a quarter cup of powdered milk to add both calories and protein. Carnation instant breakfast, commercial milk flavorings, and Ovaltine can also boost the calories in milk.
Dietary supplements such as Boost and Ensure are good between-meal snacks. There are specialty liquid supplements available for people recovering from illness or with a chronic health condition. Products for diabetics include Glucerna and Glytrol. If you have an intestinal problem, Enlive may be a good choice. Ask your health care provider about these products.
Beans and legumes, such as kidney, navy, pinto, and garbanzo beans; peas; lentils; and peanuts are a great source of protein and fiber.
Eat dessert after dinner. Look for desserts made with healthy oils or low-fat milk.
Snacking is a big part of successful weight gain. Try yogurt with crunchy cereal added, fruit wafers, graham crackers, crackers with lean cheese, mini sandwiches and burritos, milkshakes made with frozen yogurt or low-fat ice cream, dried fruits, trail mix, vegetables dipped in salad dressing, and nuts.
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http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedi.../GainWeight.htm
Tools to Help You Gain Weight
Use these tips and tools to help gain weight:
Start with this Calorie and Nutrition Guide to find out how many calories you will need to reach the weight you desire.
Use a food diary to track your calorie intake to be sure you are getting all of the calories and foods that you need.
You can also use an online program such as Calorie-Count to track your calorie intake, your exercise and your changes in weight. Calorie-Count has a large data base of nutrition information for almost any food you like to eat.
Add healthy calories to breakfast with an extra slice of whole-grain toast and peanut butter.
Mid morning and afternoon snacks should be nutritious, not junk. Trail mixes contain healthy nuts, dried fruits and can add healthy calories to your diet.
Don't add calories to your meals by choosing unhealthy fried foods such as french fries, chicken nuggets and fish sticks. Choose healthy foods such as baked potatoes, baked chicken and fish, just make your portions a bit bigger.
Keep your meals balanced. One meal should have a healthy protein source such as fish, low fat meat, chicken or legumes plus two or three servings of vegetables. Green vegetables add lots of vitamins and phytonutrients while starchy potatoes and corn add extra calories.
Drink healthy beverages such as milk and fruit juices to add calories. Don't choose sugary sodas, which only add calories and no nutrition.
Choose a weekly weight lifting exercise program to gain muscle mass.

Linda, thanks for you time to find that information. I really appreciate your efforts, but yes, I agree, it's a little heavy on the dairy.

I don’t know if this will help or not because it’s kind of weird but I find that when my food is in small bits, I will eat more. For example, ground turkey instead of turkey breast, peas instead of broccoli, rice instead of mashed potatoes, etc., etc. Especially when my stomach isn’t feeling great, I’m more inclined to eat “little” foods. That and always having something with me to snack on (almonds are my favourite) has helped me to gain some much needed weight.

This may just be a personal quirk of mine so it may not be much help to you. Thought I would suggest it just in case.

Alex

I would say avocado. Add it to as much as you can. Guacamole, slices in salads, anywhere that is appetizing to you. I don't need to gain weight, but I know someone who did and she did it by eating a lot of avocado. It is really reasonably priced at Trader Joe's if that is a concern because sometimes they are really expensive. Also, do you cook with olive oil? If you don't that will help you gain weight. Nuts such as almonds will also help. Sesame seeds also.

Hope this helps!

Kassandra

well today i was looking for something for my son since he cant gain weight, well he could ig he would follow his gfcf diet but that is another story. The only stuff i could find is a carb powder and an egg powder to mix with stuff. the brand was NOW. Im not sure how safe it is or anything but that is the only stuff that i could find that was gfcf, besides lara bars. If you find anything safe please let me know.

paula

Nut butters are amazing. (pre-celiac I cut out my spoonful of peanut butter a day and lost a few lbs in a month)

I really like almond butter. Its really good on gluten-free toast drizzled with honey/maple syrup. My favorite is on sliced apples or bananas, even celery.

Olive oil might also help. Drizzle a little atop steamed veggies, salt and pepper. It might only be an extra 50 calories, but its something.
Oven roasted potatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt and fresh herbs.

Coconut is really a great source of fat and calories. Coconut sorbet is one of my all time favorites!
I also love its savory in curries. Mmmmm.
You can also use coconut milk in place of cow's milk in rice pudding.
(I have recipes for both somewhere...)

You can also use coconut oil like you would butter to pan-fry.

I have been loosing weight and started carrying around dry roast nuts in my bag and found adding a handful or two as a snack along with coconut has been helpful.

Sweet potatoes are another calorie-dense food.

Flax seed or fish oil might help. I know some people who add a tablespoon or two to morning smoothies.
The key is the banana, it helps with texture and masking some of the oil's taste.
You can use sorbet instead of ice cream or yogurt, but you don't need to. Just add extra juice or fruit. I think berries, especially blue berries also help with the flavor. (Trader Joe's has relatively inexpensive frozen fruits or you can clean, cut and freeze your own.)

High-fat fish, like salmon, blue fish, tuna are good sources of calories.

I had a friend who made a vegan chili and added crushed up cashews to it to thicken it. (similar to using corn chips to thicken a chili)
You can chop up a handful and add them to sauces, or even whole into stir fries.

Non-dairy, non-soy calorie dense foods I have to limit (since I have the opposite problem) are avocado, nut butters, shellfish, oily fish, breaded foods fried in healthy fats, black olive tapenade (like pesto with black olives), gluten-free baked goods like cupcakes, muffins, homemade waffles, gluten-free breads with nuts added.

Do you have a Jamba Juice near you? They have an "all fruit" variety of smoothie that has no dairy and a whole lot of calories. (Watch out for the free boosts that they put in them, though, as most of them contain oat bran. I always get the protein boost because I know it's safe, but that might be made of soy.)

hi, this is just a thought but i lift heavier weights now than i used to as it helps keep some weight on me and muscle is good to have, maybe you want to talk with some one about an excersise program that will add some mucsle for you, just a thought, not to mention just making your meals bigger and eating more frequently. good luck!

Healthy oils - Udo's, fish, olive and flax, peanut butter, nut butters, avacado are all excellent non-dairy suggestions for your diet. I would also recommend a protein supplement and/or meal replacement powder mixed with water or juice. A whey protein isolate, soy or egg white protein are lactose-free.

I would also highly encourage you to start a regular weight training program, if you're not already doing so. A good strength training program, coupled with good sources of protein and healthy fats, will help you gain lean muscle mass and is key to healthy weight gain.

I went from around 90 pounds at my sickest to a personal best of 119. No one asks me if I'm anorexic any more. Squats and lunges will build up your glutes and reduce your discomfort while sitting.

All wonderful suggestions. Okay, I have to get motivated to build up the muscles. I am 5'8" and weigh 130, so not abnormal. But the bulk of my weight is around my middle. At 52, with a family history of heart disease, not good.

Eat more, almonds and avacados and get my butt out of the house and excercize.

Thank you, all that have responded. I have to get busy and get to work. Thanks for the push...

JUICE! All day long, drink tons of juice! I am studying to be a dietician and I was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease last week, so I saw a dietician Monday, and she said for weight gain and a sensitive stomach drink juice as much as I tolerate all day long. The body runs on glucose which can be found in juice, and I have been drinking it all day for about 3 days and feel very much more energy and stopped losing weight, still trying to gain it. Best of luck. White grape, apple, and white cranberry are recommended. I started with "White Grape Peach"

I'd be careful with juice - particularly if you have any blood sugar issues. That's a concentrated load of sugar with no fiber, like you get when eating a whole piece of fruit, to slow down the digestion and avoid insulin spikes.

Concentrated sugars and in particular high fructose can cause diarrhea; too much juice is a common cause of "toddler diarrhea".

I'm working to gain weight (5' 9 and 115 pounds), but I have colitis so it's hard to keep the weight on.
I too find that eating lots of healthy fats - nut butters, avocados and olive oil help.