Looking for some guidance page

[danmerk23]

Hello all. I am writing because I am having a hard time with the new evolution in my diet and lifestye. I just completed the PB book and I am pretty excited to say that there should be very little change in my nutrition. Thank goodness.


I have always tried to eat fresh ingredients whenever possible. I don't do fast food and I hate eating out because of poorly prepared meals by pseudo chefs.


I workout more than suggested in PB, but its P90X so I believe its in alignment with some of Grok's type of fitness. I am also beginning some more primal workouts like Movnat and other body weight exercises.


My big problem is that for 6 months now I have changed my diet to be much more CW healthy. I eat 6 small meals a day, mostly plants and lean meats. I used only olive oils for cooking and really watched how much I was using. I stayed away from excessive grain carbs and sugars, but they were in my diet at least for 200-400 calories a day.(currently eating 2200 cals a day; 20% fat/40/40 carb proteins)


So far I've lost 50 lbs on this regimen but after reading the book (and during) I began to add in lots of the more nasty cuts of meat (i buy organic grass beef and local pork, wild fish). I am no longer eating egg substitutes but buying organic local eggs and using organic butter to cook with. I am not eating any grains (been over a week now) and I gave up sauces unless I made them homemade. (made my own ketchup + vinegar bbq sauces)


Here is my problem. I am always cranky now. My cravings are massive more than ever. I feel more energetic, but I feel less energy throughout my hour long work outs. I am eating less meals and eating less quantity. I am now always hungry. My sleep is pretty good and I breathe much more freely than ever (20+ year sinus sufferer). I noticed I actually put on 5 lbs since I started, and I "feel" like I am gaining because of all the extra fats.


Is this normal? Should I keep going?

[SassaFrass88]

Are you now at 3 meals a day? I used to eat 6X/ day and now, I find that on a true 40 prot/ 50 fat/ 10 carb day I don't need to eat 6x/ day.


For me, more fat and dialing down the cardio and limiting my workouts to no more than 30 min for cardio and 45 min for weights did the trick.


With excessive (read: Strenuous) workouts, you may be releasing more cortisol, which will promote greater fat storage.

[danmerk23]

Sassa: Thanks for the response. I am eating when I am hungry. 3 weeks ago it was "Eat every few hours up to 6 times a day." Now its, about 4ish. Right now I have raw broccoli and some radishes at my desk. Just trying to keep the stomach full because I feel so lightheaded. grr.


What exactly is "more fat?" I am only asking because I wanted to make sure I am following correctly. Here is what I ate today so far:


B: 2 organic eggs fried in a thin pat of organic butter, 1 greenshakeythingy (think BeachBody)


S: 10 almonds, 1 can tuna


L: 6oz grilled chicken breast, 2c mixed greens, balsamic vinegar + olive oil, 1/2 tomato


S: 1c watermelon, 1 piece of raw broccoli, 1" carrot stick, 2 radishes


Dinner: will be making some rainbow trout (whole fish) on the grill, asparagus in olive oil, maybe some mixed greens?


I think I am void of fats, but where should they be from? I can't see myself spooning some coconut butter in my mouth "just because."


Lastly, I did do a full week of P90X Doubles last week until Sunday. Sunday was last day for that week, so I took the day off but worked my behind off shoveling dirt and moving rock all day in the garden about 4 hours. Today a bit sore so I did some yoga to stretch out and feel a bit more limber. Could that work yesterday be considered strenuous.


Thanks again fro listening!

dan

[SassaFrass88]

I have been working on incorporating more fats too.


From what I've been reading around here, more fats (exclusive of dairy) may be the trick. I recently bought Organic "Ghee", which is clarified butter. It basically has the water and milk solids taken out of the butter, which makes it 'non-dairy', full of wonderful fat and really does well in higher heat cooking.


What about more avocados? I try to eat 1 - 2/ day if I find that I am not getting enough fat in.


Also, try frying up some bacon a couple days a week and save that fat for frying or cooking your meats in.


I know that my weight-loss kicked up a notch or two when my fats were at 60% (I had to turn to FitDay when starting PB because I was clueless as to how many carbs are in things. I even found a significant amount of them in my Almond 'gorge-fests' ;-)

[Nick]

Change that thin pat to a couple tablespoons, or cook up a few slices of bacon and use the grease to cook your eggs. I had a couple tablespoons of lard + bison breakfast sausage (needs the extra fat) + scrambled eggs the other day and it was fantastic.

Almonds are kinda high carb, maybe trade them in for a higher fat nut (walnuts are great, macadamia and pecan are good).

Eggs are a great source. Just eating more eggs is great (I think I could eat a dozen pastured eggs every day and not complain).

Cut up that chicken breast, cook the pieces in lard or coconut oil, and then toss your greens in the hot fat before serving. Grilling is fine, but it's hard to add or retain fat.

Use more olive oil when you use it.

For dessert, a bowl of berries and cream, or a glass of heavy cream with a little vanilla in it is good (just pretend it's eggnog ..or you could even whip in a few yolks, and it's Christmas any time of year!).


One thing to keep in mind is that you've only been doing it a week. I was doing pretty good cravings, headaches, and energy-wise a week into it, but sometimes it takes another week or two to really adapt and stop feeling like that.


For the snacks, eating fibrous veggies and fruit is only going to convince your stomach that you ate something. Your duodenum and small intestine are not so easily fooled, and they can chemically sense what you ate. If you instead eat something fatty as a snack (nuts, pemmican, boiled egg, spoonful of lard, what have you), your gut will figure that out and it'll let your stomach know to quiet down and stop gastric emptying, slow down peristalsis, and sit quietly digesting and absorbing the meal. This will help with the feelings of hunger.

[PrimalJewishAmericanPrincess]

So when you said that you were doing P90X, I thought no problem. I am a P90X-er and do P90X+, AND I clock in about 30 minutes on the elliptical and/or a run. I overdo it, and I know it, but I don't feel "right" unless I get it all in. But then I saw that you did a full week of doubles. Dude, you are overtraining. Look it up, you have all of the classic symptoms. This has nothing to do with your primal eating and everything to do with your body telling you to cool it. Take a few days off from training and give your body a break. When you come back to it, focus more on intensity for shorter periods of time.

[Conan]

Double the amount of nuts in your morning snack. 10 almonds is only a half ounce - make it a full ounce or more. Add a half or whole avocado a day. I eat mine w/ breakfast and find it keeps me full until lunch. I would sub out the watermelon for strawberries, blueberries or an apple. Watermelon is a pretty high GI fruit with a lot of sugar.


The canned tuna probably has a lot of sodium in it. I would consider subbing that out for grilled chicken, salmon, etc. left over from dinner the night before.


Also, you might try adding fish oil, Vitamin D, and Calcium supplements to your daily regimen as you are probably deficient based on the diet you listed.


Otherwise you are doing great, congrats on the weight loss.

[SerialSinner]

You can crank up the fat easily by adding lot's of (good) bacon to your breakfast and salads. Be extra generous with the EVOO as well.


You can even add bacon to your fruit. Ever had cantaloupe + bacon rolls?

[dalvarez]

I have to ask: What are your goals? this should be the driving factor to what you do daily.


I too am I P90X junkie, at it for over a year now, although now I mix it up with one-on-one workouts and cycling.


P90X is extreme, period. I believe that depending on your intensity you can modify the workouts so you don't over train, keeping your workouts under an hour. I know, I know but the P90X workouts exceed that on most days, so drop 2 exercises to shorten it just a bit and see how you feel.


Also, since going primal I have dropped to a 4/5 day workout---and this has made a huge difference in how I recover for the following week.

[danmerk23]

Man, you people are so nice! Thanks for the support.


Reporting in since my last post. Here is my food for today. Again, looking for criticism. What I have a hard time doing ~IS~ adding in fat. I am noticing a bit of sour stomach from all this excess fats. Sunday I made 3 strips of organic uncured bacon strips and then tossed 3 eggs right in the fat. The breakfast was awesome because I had fresh organic greek yogurt and strawberries and was pretty full all morning. But then at lunch time, my lower side was a bit, ahem, well you know. Unsettling.


I also know that this is a LIFESTYLE book and I keep getting hung up on just the nutrition. I guess I need to embrace that less intense working out leads to success. I rode my fixed gear bike today and its a 40 min ride. Grok would have to do that to hunt for food so perhaps I should keep that up and quit the doubles in P90X but on strength days I should just dump about 4 or 6 moves. I love Plyo though.


Last question before you read my intake today. When you say "Add some more fat." Does anyone count calories or do they just assume its just "more fat?"


Breakfast:

8oz WHOLE organic un homogonized milk

3 organic local eggs cooked in 1 tsp olive oil

1 nectarine


Snack 1: 2oz cheeze, 10 almonds


Lunch:

3 cups of greens from my garden, 1/2 avacado, 1 tomato, 1/2c red

cabbage, 1/2 carrot, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic

8oz grass fed beef burger patty

1oz gouda slice


Snack: My favorite

Merk bar (almond flour, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dates, coconut

oil mashed into a log)

1c blueberries


Dinner: (on deck)

8oz grilled chicken + home made hotsauce(omfg is this amazing)

1c asparagus

2c mixed greens + oil + balsamic


Snack: 1 tbsp almond butter