When it comes to lifestyle decisions- whether it be diet, religion, political affiliations- I consistently feel the same... everything doesn't work for everyone. Life is a series of trials and errors, and hopefully we gain knowledge along the way and use it to our advantage. With this said, the vegan lifestyle definitely was not the best for my body. At least the way I was doing it wasn't. I got kind of fat. People politely avoided telling me how surprised they were when they learned I was a vegan, because I was pretty thick. How could someone with so much willpower be so large? Admittedly, I drank a lot of beer in those days, but I'm a wine drinker now and certainly not overweight.

As I've mentioned in other forums, when my son (Andrew) was diagnosed with autism, I had to completely revisit how I fed my family and myself. I had been a vegan for over 10 years... my husband at the time was a vegan simply due to the fact that he didn't know how to cook. Then, I took a very serious look into going gluten-free and casein-free to benefit my son. At first, I was a vegan, and Andrew was gf/cf. A few months into the diet I noticed he was making improvements for sure, but I had that motherly instinct that told me he was still eating something that bothered him. Some of the other moms in the local gf/cf support group I attended suggested looking into other possible culprits. It was soy. My tofu-loving, soymilk drinking son, couldn't tolerate soy. It's actually pretty common to have issues tolerating soy when you can't tolerate dairy I've learned. So that was that. I couldn't possibly continue eating and drinking soy, while eating gluten, while my son had to have a complete dietary overhaul. I gave it up too.

On the specific topic of weight, my son and me had very different reactions. When Andrew was 3 he was sick all the time, pale, his ribs were visible... so different from the hearty boy he is today. Andrew had a very difficult time keeping meals down if they bothered him, and he frequently had loose stools. This all normalized when he went GF/CF/SF (gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free). Me, I get bloated when I consume gluten. I get belly aches, and my abdomen sticks out. I get constipated. If I make the decision/mistake to consume gluten (like on St. Patty's Day of this year when I HAD to have 2 pints of Guinness), I put on a few pounds and feel like garbage.

So there you have it. There's no magic thing that works for everybody, just strive to better yourself and consider what works for you. For the first time in my life (I'm now 36, soon to be 37), I can manage my weight. I guess you could say my son and me kind of met in the middle. Not coming from "skinny" families, we both have to put effort into being a healthy size.

I LOVE food. I always have. Luckily I have always been able to eat (pretty much) what I've wanted to and stayed thin. However, when I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I definitely lost some weight. I had to get used to the gluten free diet and buying this food for myself. Finding the food took some time. What do you do when you don't have food to eat, or don't know exactly what to eat? Lose weight!!

I knew that I could have fruits, vegetables, rice and potatoes. I don't know why those four foods stuck out in my mind so much, but they did. I ate those for a while until I got myself on track. It took some time to figure out the lay of the land. What stores have my kind of food? What regular brand named foods can I eat? What do I need to get from the health food stores? Do I need to purchase my food online?

Gluten free food is expensive (add peanut/tree nut and coconut free food on top of that). When I was first diagnosed and bought all of my food at health food stores and online, I saw what my grocery bills were like. I do have to admit, I didn't eat as much food as I used to or wanted to. Did I really need those few extra specialty rice cakes, or that fancy granola? Nah, I'll just have a glass of milk. Sad, but true.

I smartened up though and learned how to save money, learned what I could buy at the grocery stores and just learned about gluten free food in general. Hate to say it... a few pounds came back on. They'll keep coming too, even with a gluten free diet if I don't manage my food intake. Some of the food really isn't bad to eat, and when you're hungry, you're going to eat those rice cakes (with sunbutter on top) and that fancy granola (with greek yogurt).

There are people out there who gain weight when going gluten free, and should. My father was one of them for a time. His disease caused complete villous atrophy of his small intestine and his body wasn't getting any nutrients at all. He lost weight rapidly. Although a different case altogether, when certain medications worked, the gluten free diet caused him to gain the weight he needed.

I lost weight when I began the gluten-free diet, but I am not sure if it's due to the gluten-free lifestyle or not. Let me explain:

When I began my gluten-free diet, it occurred almost simultaneously with my move to South Korea to teach English. Being in a totally different country with a cuisine that was foreign to me, I wasn't sure what I could eat and what I could not eat. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. With that being said, I was not sure whether it was the gluten-free diet itself that caused me to lose weight, or if it was due to the fact that I did not eat as much due to my fear of consuming a dish that contained gluten.

Nevertheless, being in a foreign country made me come to several realizations. First, if you do not know the language of the country you are visiting, you will probably have a difficult time just communicating in general, let alone trying to communicate the definition of "gluten". Second, your choices are likely much more limited than in the United States (at least compared to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, the areas that I resided in prior to moving to South Korea).

All in all, I lost about 20 lbs while living in South Korea. Some of you might cheer for me, but this was actually the opposite of my goal, which was to gain 20 lbs. Well, that is how life goes sometimes. :)

At first it was a big loss of about 20 pounds for me as I tried figuring out what I could eat. Friends and family were concerned. My stomach was in such bad shape that I feared eating anything if there was a remote possibility of me getting sick. Kayo and I didn't know what gluten was and we scrambled to figure out this new way of eating.

There was much less information about it back then than there is today, so it took us awhile. I was in panic mode and starving for about 2 months, but my lovely wife set out to master gluten free cuisine and over the next few months, with lots of research and experimentation, she was able to figure it out. Thank goodness! I'm afraid if she was not around, I would have lost considerably more weight before I started to figure anything out. You can tell that she is the chef in the house!

Over time, however, we (she) figured out all of the substitutions, including the ones that are not so good for you. We once again had a full pantry and fridge and I started packing back on the weight. I love to snack! I actually gained all 20 pounds back within the next 6 months.

Then, over the next year or two I realized how many carbs I was eating with this new lifestyle, and how that was contributing to regaining all my weight (and more), and of course it wasn't in all the right places.

I then decided to start exercising more and easing up on so many carb substitutions. Now I am down 10 pounds — close to a perfect weight for my build.

So the short answer is that my weight has been on a roller-coaster for several years, but I think I've (we've) finally figured out, not only the proper diet and lifestyle to prevent reactions, but also a way to do it and stay healthy and fit.

Of course we're still learning and with the help of everyone on the forums and visitors to the site, we can all learn from each other. I love to read all of your tips, reviews, suggestions!