need your encouragement! page

[Tom Dunphy]

went primal last year around march and lost 30 pounds. felt really great. i started to slip around the summer, but held strong until late this past fall. the holiday season did me in. fully off the wagon and huge weight gain (put 20 pounds back on). eating gross food and drinking diet soda and energy drinks. it was really bad.

after the holidays i slowly started clawing my way back but i was sidetracked a few times.

i'm doing a month of serious elimination. including absolutely no grains, sugar or sweeteners and alcohol (no 80/20 for me0. also severely limited fructose and starch.

i am in a serious daze right now. i'm at work, i'm starving and i'm miserable.

talk me through it!

[ELCO14]

Dude- right there with ya! Primal for over a year and I knew the Holidays were going to be a biotch especially with a 1 year old and stalkings. I gave myself permission to enjoy myself and start it back up again middle of this month.

1 month will not throw out what you did the previous 11, so keep your head up and get back to business. No harm no foul!

[otzi]

Back in my 20's, when I was in the Air Force, I used to have to watch my weight. When I'd get close to my max, I'd do "Atkins". Not really following Atkins, but what we all called Atkins--low carb. I'd always lose the weight, but as soon as the weigh-in was over, I'd go back to eating pizza, cookies, and beer. The weight would come back and then some.

After I retired from AF at age 40, I said, "woo-hoo! No more weigh-ins!" I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. Within 2 years, I was fullblown Metabolic Syndrome. Gout, high BP, high chol, high trigs, pre-diabetic, fatty liver disease, and hypothyroid. I struggled for years as the docs said "eat healthy grains, give up the red meat" I couldn't exercise cause of the gout, and was eating total health-SAD (high carb, low fat).

I started looking at Atkins, wanting to try that again, but instead found Mark's Daily Apple. That was in Jan 2011. Since then I've lost 50+ lbs, and am off ALL medicine. I weigh less and am stronger than I ever was in the Air Force.

Anyway, back to you -- there has to be a tipping point. Apparently you haven't reached it. You don't know what it's like to go to a doctors appointment with a shopping bag full of medicine and sit there with diabetics twice you age thinking, 'that's me'. My tipping point was when they wanted me to take diabetes meds. There is no way in hell I will go back to that! It's been 12 months since a cookie, cake, ice cream or a slice of bread has passed my lips. I've had a few weak moments, but quickly corrected myself, I'll admit. I feel so damn good now, when I see those guys in the waiting room I think, 'why can't doctors figure this out?'

[Go Tribe]

Buy some beef jerky and some almonds to snack on! The almonds aren't the best, but a handful will curb your appetite. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I have, and I was a carb and coke-aholic! The past is done, your slim future awaits!!!

[Tom Dunphy]

thanks everyone!

this all seems vaguely familar. haha...

spent most of yesterday in a serious mental fog. relied on black coffee in the afternoon to break the haze. i ate a massive pile of chicken and asparagus for dinner last night and slept like a rock.

woke up this morning feeling better pretty good. three pounds lighter on the scale as well! ate three XL organic eggs and three strips of uncured bacon for breakfast. had a cup of black coffee when i got the office but i'm still kind of hazy. not as bad as yesterday, but my vision is still a little blurry and i've had gnawing hunger all morning.

i had a mid-morning "paleo kit" consisting of some beef jerky and 1/3 cup of dried fruit and nut mix. i don't waste money on those pre-made paleo kits. i buy my ingredients at costco and then mix them myself. roughly 15g of carbs in there.

i think this is going to be a crappy week, but by friday i should be ok.

[sbhikes]

Pre-made paleo kits? Are you kidding me? That really exists?

[tim_1522]

I think that "backsliding" during the holidays is a pretty frequent occurrence. I know I did in a big way.

It's funny from just before Thanksgiving until just after New Years, my resolve steadily wore away and while I was still primarily eating good animals and plants -- I was also indulging in other stuff: chocolate that was not good dark chocolate, candies, cookies, holiday specific type foods that are oh so bad for you, pizza, etc.

In just a short period of time (about 40 days) I put on about 25 pounds and my BF %-age (as measured by the bathroom scale, which I know isn't terribly accurate, but still...) shot up over 30%. When I had been being very good about primal it was hovering around the 23-24% range.

But, I didn't even really need to step onto the scale to know. My belt went from going into the 4th hole (and almost the 5th) to the 1st hole by the time the first of the year rolled around. Besides, I felt like crap overall. If I needed convincing that primal eating is the way to go, I don't anymore. No guarantee that I won't backslide next holiday season, BUT I no longer need to be convinced this way is the right way to go.

So, once the holidays were over, I started out eating like I had been, skipping all the bad trappings and through the 8th I was better, but still slipped up from time to time (mostly because there was bad stuff in the house, that's all gone) On the morning of the 9th, I took my weight and made a mental mark in the sand. After that I've been (IMO -- just a WAG on my part) about 98% compliant. To ease the transition, I allowed myself to eat as much primal food as I wanted. Also, coffee with coconut milk was my friend that first week. And, I didn't do much of anything besides work and sleep.

After the first week (the 16th) my weight was down 4.6 lbs and my BF %-age was down 1.5%. Not only that, I was back to hole 3 in my belt. That's some nice motivation and now I'm to the point where I get into the routine of eating my basic set of primal meals and I really don't feel the pang of hunger -- I just stay full with them.

[elainevdw]

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.

The good news is that if you dropped 3 pounds overnight, then you've started the process of losing all that carb water weight. Usually things start to turn around for me shortly after that. Just stick with it, pretend you're coming down with a cold and nourish yourself with some good chicken broth instead of caving and having wheat and sugar.

I tend to get desserts cravings after two weeks... I just discovered that berries (which are low fructose) tossed with a little melted coconut butter (one brand calls it coconut mana) makes a delicious compromise.

[Tom Dunphy]

it's going better! i've lost a total of 8 pounds since tuesday. pretty awesome. i'm much less foggy than i have been all week, plus i've got the weekend coming up to recharge my batteries. i woke up this morning with an inexplicable sore throat, but some hot green tea seems to sooth it. i've been using nuts, dried fruit and beef jerky as a crutch, but i'm ready to transition off them next week. i'm also no longer groggy in the afternoons to the point where i want a cup of coffee.