Primal is making me FAT! page 2

[JoS]

Hello Beachrat, thank you for your comments. I did for two weeks count my calories in fitday and I never exceeded 1500. I do eat a lot, especially meat and vegetables. It is in the last 6 months that I have really noticed the excess body fat around hips and stomach. I am not comparing myself to body building days, that was really unhealthy, and yes your right you can't maintain it, or do you want to. but what I am comparing myself to is when I wear jeans and look into the mirror it is hanging over my jeans!

My current routine is crossfit 4 x workouts a week, I will walk 4-5 days a week. I lift pretty heavy, well to me I am buggered by the time I finish. I sleep really well, I meditate before bed and in the morning, I roughly have 8-9 hours a night and I don't wake up to an alarm clock. Its not a body image thing, I promise you that. Thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated.

[JoS]

Hi Grizz again,

I wanted to point out a few things to you and I am open for you to tell me where I am going wrong.

To regain Leptin Sensitivity (LS) follow a strict Paleolithic diet as outlined in The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf or The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. ( I have been following Primal/Paleo for 4 years strict. I would not dream of going near grains/wheat and for diary my body does not tolerate diary but I thought because cream dosen't contain the lactose I could get away with it)

Try to eat as soon as possible upon rising in the AM, ideally within 30 minutes of waking. ( I do this now, actually I have been doing it for quite some time, I wake up at 7am go to bed at 9.30-10pm and I normally have breakfast around 7.20am-7.30am)

Make sure that breakfast has little to no carbs (less than 50 grams), and has a lot of protein and fat. ( my breakfast is normally eggs x 3-4 cooked omleete, scrambled or boiled way with steamed silverbeet or spinach or grilled zucchini.)

Try to limit carb intake to 25 grams if you are overweight by more than 30 lbs. If you are fit and have a small amount of weight to lose, (less than 30 lbs.) you can titrate up your carb loads. ( I am the second one of course and I eat roughly 50-70g carbs a day.) Just to mention here I never ever eat junk food, I am very strict paleo/primal eater! The only treat I would allow myself was 2 squares of dark lindt 85% dark chocolate 1-2 x week. and I did not think that was bad.

My personal favorite is coconut oil because of the great metabolic effects of MCT, and how it helps heal the guts of LR folks. ( I cook in coconut oil and was cooking in grass fed butter).

I think the link you sent me is great, and I am really open to trying out anything new that will help me, but I am doing everything that is mentioned on the Leptin diet. I only eat 3 meals a day again lean meat and vegetables. Stress is not the problem, because I am not, life is to short to stress! I would not be on here posting if I did not think it was a concern, you always here of success stories which is so fantastic to read, but what about the people who arn't like me, its not about attacking those people and saying your doing it all wrong, I am confident I am following paleo/primal 100% I could not be any stricter!!!

[Daemonized]

Sausages are generally pretty fatty as well. Sounds to me like you might need to cut back on your overall intake as well. I agree that fat is really easy to see when you're used to being super lean.

[Grizz]

Hi Grizz again,

I wanted to point out a few things to you and I am open for you to tell me where I am going wrong.

To regain Leptin Sensitivity (LS) follow a strict Paleolithic diet as outlined in The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf or The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. ( I have been following Primal/Paleo for 4 years strict. I would not dream of going near grains/wheat and for diary my body does not tolerate diary but I thought because cream dosen't contain the lactose I could get away with it)

Try to eat as soon as possible upon rising in the AM, ideally within 30 minutes of waking. ( I do this now, actually I have been doing it for quite some time, I wake up at 7am go to bed at 9.30-10pm and I normally have breakfast around 7.20am-7.30am)

Make sure that breakfast has little to no carbs (less than 50 grams), and has a lot of protein and fat. ( my breakfast is normally eggs x 3-4 cooked omleete, scrambled or boiled way with steamed silverbeet or spinach or grilled zucchini.)

Try to limit carb intake to 25 grams if you are overweight by more than 30 lbs. If you are fit and have a small amount of weight to lose, (less than 30 lbs.) you can titrate up your carb loads. ( I am the second one of course and I eat roughly 50-70g carbs a day.) Just to mention here I never ever eat junk food, I am very strict paleo/primal eater! The only treat I would allow myself was 2 squares of dark lindt 85% dark chocolate 1-2 x week. and I did not think that was bad.

My personal favorite is coconut oil because of the great metabolic effects of MCT, and how it helps heal the guts of LR folks. ( I cook in coconut oil and was cooking in grass fed butter).

I think the link you sent me is great, and I am really open to trying out anything new that will help me, but I am doing everything that is mentioned on the Leptin diet. I only eat 3 meals a day again lean meat and vegetables. Stress is not the problem, because I am not, life is to short to stress! I would not be on here posting if I did not think it was a concern, you always here of success stories which is so fantastic to read, but what about the people who arn't like me, its not about attacking those people and saying your doing it all wrong, I am confident I am following paleo/primal 100% I could not be any stricter!!!

I just have one question. Are you Leptin Resistant or not per Dr. Kruse "Mirror Test." If you answer yes, then I suggest you follow the good doctors diet to the letter for 8 weeks. It has done miracles for those of us following his program.
MY LEPTIN PRESCRIPTION | Jack Kruse
His program is not a simple "Paleo Diet."

I would go for less than 25 carbs if I were you, and that will put you into mild ketosis = fat burn 24/7.

Also read all of his comments following the diet, and read introduction to Leptin, and comments:
http://tinyurl.com/Dr-Kruse-References

EDIT:
If you don't like the Dr. Kruse Leptin Reset Diet, there are several other to choose from.
Search Amazon.Com for Leptin, and you will find several different Leptin Reset Diets.

PS) I think you should post a photo of your troublesome belly fat.

Best to you,
Grizz

[Daemonized]

Nobody seems to have brought up leangains in this thread yet so, I'll do the honors. Have you considered the leangains approach? Daily IF works great for those of use with office jobs that still want to workout some and look great.

[Hilary]

JoS... how do you feel? Do you feel unhealthy? Suffer from joint pain? Get out of breath too fast? Find you're unable to do the things you want to because of excess weight?

If not, could it be you've just reached your own natural healthy weight and shape?

[IcarianVX]

This might be a hormonal issue, but as a bodybuilder you would probably know that already. As others have said, thyroid might be the issue (I didn't read the whole thread) but you could also look into your estrogen levels. You might be over producing estradiol along with cortisol and that will pack on fat pretty quick.

[beachrat]

Nobody seems to have brought up leangains in this thread yet so, I'll do the honors. Have you considered the leangains approach? Daily IF works great for those of use with office jobs that still want to workout some and look great.

Great point! Here is the link, JoS - Martin Berkhan's guide, at leangains.com.

I am not one of the über-workout people so I forgot about his site. He is excellent, very scientifically-based but also keen on personal experimentation. Might be some great ideas for you there.

Enjoy!

[wendy-gal]

Hello,

My husband and I are both 54 years old and have been in the best shape of our lives over the last three years. WE just began Primal eating and have both noticed that we are appearing to be getting fat around our abdomens and I around my thighs. We do all things Primal and our exercise is strength training using our own body weight as well as lifting heavy things. I teach an aerobics class with light cardio and weights two times a week. The only thing we changed was adding in butter, coconut oil and eating whole fat yogurt. We also have been eating more nuts than we would usually eat.

I read the information on leptin and don't feel that it applies to us, as we were in great shape doing the same exercises, but only changed our eating to all things Primal. Mainly we have added in fat that we didn't previously eat.

I would like to know if anyone else has solved this problem.

thank you in advance,
Wendy-gal

[yodiewan]

I'm going to go out on a limb and posit that you might actually do better with MORE carbs. For active lean people, a lower fat, higher carb diet can actually be beneficial. This was my experience, especially when trying to build some muscle. The low-carb diet as outlined by Mark can be beneficial for those who are overweight and/or sedentary and have metabolic issues to fix, but it's not ideal for everyone. I probably get 200+g of carb on workout days and I'm leaner than ever. If you're crossfitting 4x/week, I think you would benefit greatly from some starch intake, most of it in your post-workout meal.