New...what I am doing wrong? page

[Mamaof4]

I started over a month ago on the candida free diet because I have a yeast overgrowth. I stumbled on Primal while looking for recipes. I plan to keep it up. I lost 11 pounds in the first month, but now have come to a halt and actually put back on 2 lbs.

I am a nursing mama so I can't cut calories too much, but I am not eating much for carbs. I was eating more fruit (green smoothies), but I have even cut that out now. I am using coconut oil to cook and butter sometimes as well. I don't do dairy, grains, legumes or sugar. I calculated my calories yesterday on Fitday and ended up around 2000. I was just reading on another post that that is probably too much for weight loss. How in the world do you cut calories a great deal when eating fat and lots of protein?

My typical diet is:
If I eat breakfast: 2 egg omlete with 2-3 sauteed veggies in it (favs are zucchini, red onion, bell peppers, spinach) and usually diced tomato on top. I occasionally will also add a couple strips of bacon, but not everyday. I drink herbal coffee (Teeccino) with xylitol or stevia and sugar free liquid coffee creamer (just found the coconut creamer alternative recipe, planning to try this instead).

For lunch: Large salad with lots of low carb veggies and leftover grilled chicken. I will sometimes add a boiled egg or avocado and sunflower seeds. I use homemade oil (olive) and vinegar (raw apple cider) dressings seasoned with herbs.

For dinner: The lunch salad if I didn't eat one at lunch or a piece of meat (steak, pork, chicken, fish, etc) and a couple of veggies or a smaller salad on the side.

If I snack I grab an apple and/or celery sticks and homemade almond butter.

I only drink water after my couple cups of herbal coffee in the morning. I do not take coconut oil raw by the spoonfuls, because it makes me gag, but I try to use it whenever cooking something.

How in the world can I cut this any shorter??? I am not hungry most of the time, but I feel like I am very limited in what I can eat and can't have any indulgences (other than my morning coffee). I also should mention that I have been battling candida since my 4 month old was only 3 weeks old. I had gotten it under control and now it has come back again.

I am just so discouraged!

I am 33 years old, 5'7", currently weigh 160 lbs. My typical comfortable weight is around 130-135 lbs. I was at this weight for years until after my last 3 children were born and I have struggled getting it under 160 since. I am definately fluffy in all the wrong areas! I managed to lose down to 138 after my second child was born, but it was on a raw food diet and since that was only a temporary thing, I gained it all right back to 160 and then got pregnant again.

[EvansMom]

First off, I have only been doing primal for a month and a half, and I dont' know anything about candidia. I am a newbie. However, I had a similar problem with weight recently too, big loss then slight gain. I did mangage to push past the gain, from using the primal 101 guides AND re-reading portions of the primal blueprint book, and I found that *maybe* I was eating too much protein. And in truth I was eating a lot more than what I should have been for my activity level (per Mark/MDA)

That having been said, in my opinion the most important thing I think you can do for yourself is to be as stress free as possible. Enjoy your baby and your kids, and your time nursing. I know I sure did love those semi-quiet moments nursing my baby. And maybe just focus on simply maintaining your weight-loss of 11 lbs. You sure dont' want to get stressed about eating, too! Life raising kids is stressful enough. And don't forget, the stress hormone cortisol can sabotage all good weight loss efforts!

It sure sounds like you are doing everything right to me! But like I said, I am new at this. Maybe this is just a plateau?

Good luck!

[croí]

How do you know how much protein you shoudl be eating?

[Minxxa]

Just to toss this out there... when I had my kids I NEVER lost the last 15-20 until I stopped nursing. I kept hearing stories about nursing moms dropping weight like mad, but I was not one of those. My body held on to the fat it needed to nourish the kiddos. When I stopped, the last bit dropped off by itself without any changes.

I would definitely just focus on eating right... not weight loss. It takes time to get hormone levels back to normal (especially after pregnancy/childbirth), not to mention any other hormonal issues we are having from before. If you're eating good, nourishing foods and keeping the sugar to an absolute minimum, getting good fats and good veggies, then I'd leave it at that for now and give your body some stress free time to heal.

The only other things I might consider to look at are nutritional issues (low iron/ferritin, low vitamin D, low magnesium, low potassium, etc.) which I found I had to fix before healing could begin, and that's something you can add here and there to your regimen.

[tradawg]

Definitley don't cut calories-if you're nursing you need those calories! And besides, nursing burns a ton of calories so I wouldn't worry about that. Your body could just be catching up to the initial 11 pound loss. Just keep it up and things will start changing-definitely don't stress over it because that will only make things worse.

[PrincessGrok]

I was just going to say that since your nursing, there is your answer...... don't expect weight loss till you are done with that..... your diet looks good.

[Mamaof4]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! It helps! Sometimes I just am so anxious to get this weight off that I forget that it happens slower when nursing a little one. Good healthy milk supply for building a healthy baby is my priority! However, I do look forward to getting back into a body that suits me better with less fluff! :-) I will be nursing for a good while, so waiting to do anything until the end of our nursing relationship is not really what I had hoped for. I am not expecting to get incredibly lean and mean while nursing, but I would like to thin out a good deal and then work on the lean and mean more afterwards. :-)

I was reading in some other posts that cutting carbs too much can hinder milk supply. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience in this? I was thinking if that is the case I will just add back my green smoothie and just not use super sweet fruits. I always feel good when I eat my green smoothies everyday...green power to go with the healthy fats (using coconut milk) and protein (small doses in the green smoothies from spirulina and raw spinach and I occasionally will use greek yogart).

Also, I am going to take a break from eggs for a few days. My baby has a little rash around his mouth. I am not sure what it is from, I don't think it's the eggs, but eliminating one thing at a time for a few days will help me rule it out. What are some alternatives for breakfast? I could just use this meal for my green smoothies as I used to, but would love some other ideas as well. I tend to be a huge fan of breakfast foods, I have the extra weight to prove it. I was one that loved the waffles and pancakes for breakfast! I always justified them by making them homemade with whole wheat rather than white wheat (which actually tasted better). Go figure! I do find that not eating the mass amounts of sugar that I was eating and the large quantities of grains has really helped me feel better.

I was told that I should be eating 5-6 small meals a day to speed up my metabolism. Is this true? I have read on here that it's not. Mark and others have written that they may only eat 2-3 times a day.

I appreicate all the input that everyone has offered and, of course, the encouragement is so helpful in boosting my confidence in my change of lifestyle!

[DianeThePurple]

Are you doing any kind of exercise? Diet is only part of the picture.

Welcome, and best of luck!

[Mamaof4]

Thanks, Diane! I have just started exercising. I had trouble after I gave birth with my pelvic bone separating. Some exercises still hurt, but I am trying to start small. I was unable to do much at all the last month of my pregnancy and the first two months after the birth. The last two months I have just been getting to gain strength for normal activities again. Today I walked up and down my stairs for 5 minutes and felt like I had run a mile or two. So, one step at a time and I will get stronger and be able to do more!

[DianeThePurple]

Wow. Don't knock yourself out! It sounds like you have the "sprint occasionally" part covered, just by going up those stairs!