Can you eat too little on Primal? page

[gisbrewmaster]

Hi All,

This is a CW/Primal question.

Quick overview - I have been doing the PB for about 8 weeks and it is going well for the most part. For the first 5 weeks I lost a total of 20lb and 2 pant sizes but for the last 3 i don't seem to be noticing any change. FYI I am also following the PB fitness plan.

My question is can you eat too little?

I rarely feel hungry eat a few times a day and do IF on occasion. I am trying to figure out why have have hit (what i think is) a plateau so quickly. I still have at least 30lbs (i know it doesn't matter but i am pretty sure if i lost this i would look much fitter) and a bunch of body fat to go. The reason why i say this is a CW question is they say if you don't eat enough your metabolism slows down.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Matt

[dado]

Dear Matt,

It is always possible to eat too little. This is the level of eating that is below 'eating enough'.

Best regards,
Dado

[MudLily]

It is definitely possible to eat too little. If you do, your body may think its starving. Unfortunately, it likes to leave the body fat for last and use muscle first. Anyway, what you need is data. Write down everything you eat and when for at least a few days, and the calories, fat, carbs, and protein. You'll then be able to see what you might need to change.

[catholicchick]

Hi Matt -

I had the same question yesterday on another thread (the ratio one here in nutrition). Some of the responses kind of got out of hand - but the long and short of it is, yes you can consume to little food which will effect your metabolism. I heard what they said and I am adding more protein to my meals. The problem is, I feel full eating less than I use to, so this is going to be difficult. Keep posting on how you are doing and what works for you.

Susie

[Misabi]

I wouldn't worry about it Matt. You're only a few weeks into this way of eating, so the weight lost in the first few weeks could well have been largely water weight if you were on a high/higher carb diet previously.

What kind of exercising have you been doing over the past 8 weeks? If it involves lifting heavy things and/or sprinting you could easily have put on muscle mass which would be throwing off your 'weight loss'.

My suggestions:

1. Ditch the scales. Go by how you look naked, how your clothes are fitting now, or measure key body parts e.g. waist, chest, arms & thighs
2. Give it a few more weeks, if you still feel that your under eating (i.e. your eating a calorie deficit) and you have put on body fat, then review what you're eating again. Fat loss isn't necessarily going to be a linear progression, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you've stalled

[Fury]

Yup, it certainly is possible to stall your fat loss by reducing calories too severely, even on a diet like PB.
This is especially easy to do if you've also stepped up your activity level at the same time

[weird fish]

Are you eating low carb? If so, that's probably why you lost a lot of weight, haven't wanted to eat a lot, and then plateaued. Restricting carbs has a stimulating, appetite suppressing effect, but it wears off after a while. People who restrict calories or do a ton of exercise lose some weight and then plateau for some of the same reasons.

Just because something is conventional wisdom doesn't make it wrong. Controlled studies on calorie restriction show that when you don't eat enough, metabolic activity takes a dive. That's just the reality of what happens when you eat too little, and it makes perfect sense for survival. I'd recommend stepping off low carb, at least for a few days out of the week.

[Yvonne PHX]

It's fairly easy to eat too little on Primal, especially at first. Do you know roughly how many calories you ARE eating and what kinds of foods they are coming from?

[Yvonne PHX]

Hi Matt -

I had the same question yesterday on another thread (the ratio one here in nutrition). Some of the responses kind of got out of hand - but the long and short of it is, yes you can consume to little food which will effect your metabolism. I heard what they said and I am adding more protein to my meals. The problem is, I feel full eating less than I use to, so this is going to be difficult. Keep posting on how you are doing and what works for you.

Susie

Got out of hand? Here? Nahhh.

[Knifegill]

Everybody is different. I eat about 3500 calories a day. Mostly from fat, vegetables, meat and sometimes fruit.