Senior Member
I have been on some sort of diet since I was ten (now 33) and at this point I have to think that my difficulty losing must be due to a seriously messed up metabolism. I have never been over-weight, but I have been trying to get rid of 5 pounds my whole life, which has now grown to more like 10 pounds.
I have addressed all 17 things of Marks "Reasons I'm not losing weight" post. If I follow the rules 100% I can maintain my weight and sometimes lose a bit, to the tune of about 2 cm off my waist per month. However, 1 single meal slip-up and I will undo 2 months of progress. I feel like I'm never going to get anywhere! It is discouraging to be so strict everyday, yet know that the slightest fumble will eat up all my progress and often make me gain even more.
I'd love to hear from any habitual dieters that have gotten down to low bodyfat (like 18-20% for a female) and kept it off. What I have already read plenty of is how people who have never dieted or rarely dieted lost weight without trying by eating primal, or how dieters lost tons of weight and have met their goal weight fast and easy, but it turns out their goal was to break into the upper end of the "normal" bmi category.
details:
I've been primal for several years, I lift very heavy things every 10 days (body by science style), I sprint 1 time per week unless super tired and my body seems like it can't do it. I try to walk 30 min a day. I do IF and at the moment I'm not eating fruit or other high carb paleo foods. I get about 70% fat, all animal. I've tried low cal, higher cal, no carb, low carb, higher carb, fruit, no fruit, raw dairy, no dairy, no nuts.
Senior Member
Senior Member
Senior Member
I second increasing iodine. I picked up a bunch of dried seaweed snacks from my asian grocery store specifically to get my iodine intake up. Gotta support the thyroid!Originally Posted by Kilian
There aren't many problems in life that can't be solved by sleeping it off, or adding more butter.
Senior Member
1st off - Women tend to need more body fat then men and that's perfectly healthy.
I know chronic low cal and chronic low carb do not work for me. But can't say that I've had success at losing that last 15-20lbs either. Try Lean Gains or carb cycling. I'm going to start a new cycle this March. 2 - 1 meal 500 calorie days. Walking >1hr day, lifting heavy twice a week with high carb/low fat/calorie surplus. The other days normal PB/normal calories with one day of kickboxing. I've had some success with this in the past but honeymoon put me right back and havent budged since. I'll let you know how it goes.. good luck to you!
Primal since March 2011
Female/29 years old/5' 1"/130ish lbs
Senior Member
I supp. Iodine. I used to use the Nascent Iodine drops and now I'm on to Kelp tablets. I also take 1 T. cod liver oil daily, and natural calm. I have also had all my hormones checked multiple times with both N.D. and M.D.'s.
Senior Member
I have always had very low fasting glucose and no diabetes in my family (except more distant relatives).
Senior Member
My first reaction is that you need to be measuring more than your waist and your weight. You need to have enough measurements that you can reasonably calculate your bodyfat percentage. How will you know if you've reached your goal, if you don't know where you are?
Second, losing the last 10 pounds may take more focused efforts. Most men are at homeostasis at about 10-12% bodyfat. Healthy women tend to sit at 20-25%. Body Fat Percentage Charts for Men and Women
Third, it sounds like your attitude towards this is a little desperate. Orthorexia is an eating disorder just like anorexia, just less dangerous. You are trying to get to a bodyfat percentage that is considered "underfat" by at least a couple of medical websites I've found in the past couple of minutes. You are trying to get to a point that is considered exceptional, and you've been doing this for a significant part of your life. You freak out when you slip up, and claim that you've undone weeks of progress. This means that you are weighing and/or measuring yourself just about daily, and probably mentally beating yourself up for enjoying a treat. I don't see you being in a healthy spot right now, regardless of your physical shape.
PB/paleo is a way to get healthy. If you only have 10 pounds that you are trying to lose, then you are probably already healthy, and you need more focused efforts to move beyond that. I would start with LeanGains, by Martin Berkhan. He has a program based on refeeding your muscles with carbohydrates on the days you lift.
Finally, you are trying to enter into "exceptional" territory. You may want to find a professional who can get you there, even if it means paying for it.
Senior Member
jfreaksho,
You are very spot on an several points. I'll openly admit that I do think I have Orthorexia, however, I think that it is the result of my inability to get where I want to be. I no longer weigh myself but instead just use measurements. I do a daily measurement around the waist, which makes it so that I understand the fluctuations. A weekly measurment could easily make it look like I'd gained/lost more than I had in reality depending on my fluctuations on those particular days. On a monthly basis I will do a 7 point measurment. I used to do calipers too, but they broke.
I had a bod-pod done awhile back and was 24%. Yes, I know I'm not obese, or even overweight and certainly not unhealthy. That doesn't mean though that a person should settle for extra fat. My waist is almost 30". There isn't anyone in the world who could convince me that it would be unhealthy or "underfat" for me to want to be down to 27-28". I'm not asking for a 22" waist here.
People may see this as "exceptional" territory today, but 100 years ago and beyond it was just the norm.
I've done some of the leangains ideas before, but have never followed it completely. Thanks for the reminder of his program. I might give that a good shot.
Junior Member
I used to use the Nascent Iodine drops and now I'm on to Kelp tablets
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