help! please.... page

[Zalola]

Just to give you some background….I am 43 years old and have been a diet junkie since I can remember. I have tried them all and have still struggled with my weight. Right now I am not really overweight – just trying to get off the last 10 pounds with no success.

After reading the Primal Blue Print and Marksdailyapple I decided that Primal was the way to go for me. I was so hopeful and excited to not be ruled by my food and hunger anymore. To just get lean and eat – to live my life – not be counting the hours/minutes and calories to my next meal. It has consumed me for so long I obsess over it.

I knew the first few weeks would be an adjustment so I kept going and waited for the day when I would wake up energized, and not be starving all day long. I am 8 weeks in now and I struggle every day with it. I eat mostly only Primal foods – once in a while on the weekends I have strayed with the food but not much – and I do enjoy cocktails on the weekends – but I really try to stay true with the food and during the week I don’t cheat at all. I have experimented with a ton of recipes – and have really enjoyed the cooking. But…..I am just starving all the time 24/7 no matter how low my carbs are or how high my fat is….and right after I eat no matter how full I am I craving sugar to distraction.

For years I have gone by the eat every 2-3 hours rule, I am “hypoglycemic” so I do get shaky, irritable, and dizzy sometimes when I don’t have any food – I was hoping this would take care of that too. I hate feeling weak!

I work out 5 days a week. I do CrossFit and Krav Maga which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I am just at a loss of what to do…I am gaining weight at this point – I know I know don’t get on the scale – but it’s not just the scale it’s my clothes which are getting tighter – and it just SUCKS!

If anyone has any suggestions for me I would GREATLY appreciate it!!! I just don’t know where to go from here. I read through posts every day about how people are changing their lives and feeling fit and energized etc etc….I want to be one of those people……

[jfreaksho]

First, Primal/paleo are not focused on weightloss, but on health. Losing weight is something that most Americans need to do, but this is about getting healthy. If you treat this as a diet that you intend to break after you meet your goal, it isn't going to work.

If you want help, you'll have to post more specific information. Part of the need for this specific information is to make sure you have realistic expectations of PB and yourself:

How tall are you?
How much do you weigh? What is your bodyfat percentage?
What is your goal for body composition (weight/bodyfat/appearance)?
What are you eating, honestly, and specifically? How much of it?
How much are you sleeping?
How are your stress levels?


While I love krav, and many people here swear by crossfit, I'm not convinced that intense workouts 5 days a week are going to help you lose weight. You need recovery time, or your body will be stressed, shedding muscle in exchange for storing fat. Maybe you can handle that workload.

If you want it to be easy, you could follow the blueprint more closely for a while, or go with a more strict paleo way of eating. (Cocktails tend to have lots of sugar, in addition to the alcohol. People who drink alcohol tend to eat junk food.)

If you want it to work for you, you need to think about cutting back or cutting out certain items that are holding you back. This requires thought and discipline to give up alcohol or dairy or nuts for a month. You need to identify and be consistently aware of the things that your body doesn't like.



Finally, the blueprint is a guideline. If you take the no-though-required, no-nonsense PB path for a while and it's still not working for you when you are following it strictly, then you need to intelligently change things, one at a time, until you figure out what your body needs. Some people need more recovery time. Some people need more carbs, more VitaminD, more/less sleep, more walking. Some people can tolerate more sugar, alcohol, fruit, dairy, rice, nuts, etc., than others.

[Zalola]

Thanks for your reply! I do realize it’s not about weight loss and that it’s not a diet…I just want to feel good and not be tired and hungry all the time. That is my goal – the weight will be a benefit – but I did not expect my clothes to get tighter that is what is frustrating. When I read the Mark’s book I was super excited to change my life not just my eating habits. I will gladly stay off the scale – that is a goal – just want to fit into my clothes – so I am trying to figure out what I am doing wrong.

I am 5’4”
135 pounds
not sure of my bodyfat %– using online calculators I am guessing around 25%
My goal is to drop my body fat to 18-20% - to be fit - to feel GREAT - and maintain that

Here was my eating yesterday - which is pretty typical:
bkfst 7am– 3 eggs / 2 slices bacon
protein shake w/almond milk – Life’s Basic

Lunch 12– salad: baby spinach, hb egg, avacado, tomato w/olive oil/balsamic vinegar
leftover Steak 5 oz w/romesco sauce

3:00 - Handful of almonds & a primal energy bar (from daily apple) in the afternoon – can’t seem to make it to dinner

Dinner 5:30 – chicken strips w/almond dipping sauce (from primal cookbook)
Spinach

I don’t eat anything after 6pm.
I have really bad sugar cravings after meals which is driving me crazy.
I don’t do any dairy.
I cut out the fruit the past 2 weeks.
I do eat nuts – probably too many – maybe I should try cutting those out too.

I was wondering if I am working out too much – but I’m afraid if I stop it will just get worse.

My stress level is not super high….I do have trouble sleeping but am trying different things for that like not watching tv right before I go to bed which seems to be helping.

I have been scouring the blogs looking for things to try. I guess I just didn’t think it would be so hard when I feel like I’m doing the right things for my body at least 80% of the time. I’m not going to stop or give up I am just feeling discouraged. I do appreciate you taking the time to reply - I'm really not looking for a quick fix - I know it takes time - I just want to know if i'm doing the right things or where I can make changes.

[Grizz]

Zalola,

Here is why you are hungry all the time:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...tml#post595567

Do THIS:
MY LEPTIN PRESCRIPTION | Jack Kruse

IMO, this will put a complete stop to your hunger problems. Working for many on this board including me.

Grizz

[anjelevil]

Most things I have read on here and in my own experience..in the first weeks make the fat intake really high.I find the higher protein and fat I eat the more I lose and the less cravings I have.I am just back after a week off and my day started with a sirloin for breakfast and an egg..lunch was a couple of sausages and dinner was eggs,spinach and goat cheese.I am fine today and have been on a sugar binge for a week.first days back can be awful but high protein and fat helps.
Good luck with the cravings and primal

[kennelmom]

weight loss isn't just about what goes in your mouth...and neither is Primal/paleo. Perhaps you have some cortisol issues (that wouldn't be helped by intense exercise). If you are hungry all the time, perhaps you're actually undereating most days. Seems like it based on what you posted. Eat more meat/veggies instead of protein drinks and energy bars. Also cut back on the nuts. Way too easy to overeat them.

Why not eat anything after 6pm? Seems arbitrary.

Also, how's your sleep? Do you get enough quality sleep? How's your overall stress level (in addition to the workouts you do...all that stress adds up and elevated cortisol is the enemy of weight loss).

Robb Wolf has often said that if you are trying to lose weight, you have no business drinking liquid calories (ditch the protein shake and eat REAL food instead).

[bwhit]

What jumps out at me is the lack of starch. if you're doing all that exercise, you're constantly depleting your glucose stores and not replenishing them. I tried low carb plus Crossfit and it did not work out. Some people start losing weight after they add in more carbs. I would add in some sweet potato and other starchy carbs post work out.

You could also try cutting out the nuts and/or snacking in general. Don't neglect the sleep either. I've heard Robb Wolf say that if you're sleep isn't locked in, the other stuff doesn't matter. Darken your room and shut down the electronics devices an hour before bed.

[Zalola]

@Grizz – THANK YOU! That is some great information! I am going to do it! The only problem I see is not exercising after bkfst….I will have to see how that goes. But THANK YOU for the link!!! – I’ve been reading through the blogs and I have hope ☺ Day one of my 8 week reset starts tomorrow!

@anjelevil – it’s so hard to eat more fat – all my life I have shied away from it – when I eat it now I feel so guilty - I guess it’s all about reprogramming! ☺ I will try to play around with that as well.

@kennelmom – I know I need to back off on the nuts – they are way too convenient. And I am addicted to my protein shake – it’s like a treat – and it’s such an easy source of protein. I am having trouble eating all this meat! I have eaten more steak in the past 8 weeks than I have in the past 8 years!

@bwhit – I wondered about the Crossfit and low carb – I am going to have to experiment with that one…. I do know how important sleep is – I have been trying to decompress without the tv right before bed and that seems to be helping. So many bad habits to break!

I hesitated posting out here for a long time and I am so glad I finally did it! It really helps to have some outside input! Thanks so much to you all!!!

[bwhit]

I'd be curious to hear more about Krav Maga.

[Grizz]

Zalola,

It really works ! I can even skip lunches now because I am just not hungry. Also no more snacking, and I'm STILL not hungry.


There are a LOT of people on this board following Jack's Leptin Program.

Best of luck to you,
Grizz