Successful weight loss for women? page 2

[Analog6]

I have lost 14kgs (30.9lbs) in 6 months (only 36kgs to go LOL!). It works. I swim 9-11 kms (6-7 miles) p/wk. I think some type of slow and steady exercise is essential - either as part of your working day or an extra. My only supplement is 2 Omega fish oil tab daily

[Owly]

I was successful with low carb at first but then stalled out. My more recent losses have come since I quit worrying about carbs (and gave up counting in general) and more recently when I cut out dairy except for butter. I don't think everyone needs to drop dairy; however, I gave it up for six weeks for a paleo challenge at my gym, and since I was already primal, I decided to do a more strict paleo thing and give up dairy to see what happened. I dropped another 11 pounds and now fit back into all my size 6 clothes and some size 4s. Needless to say, I'm keeping on with what works for me, so I still minimize my dairy intake.

In total over my primal journey, I've gone from a size 14 to a size 4/6 and lost about 35 pounds.

How I do primal:

• I paleo bake, but only with coconut flour, or I make things like custards or fruit crumbles (shredded coconut topping) that don't require any sort of flour.
• I use honey and maple syrup as sweeteners in small quantities, but consume a little almost daily (teaspoon of honey in coconut milk chai, for example).
• I don't count calories (although I do keep a simple food log so that I can track how I feel/perform with dietary changes).
• I don't count carbs.
• I eat when I'm hungry. No forced IF, no eating windows except what I tend toward naturally, which means unplanned IF happens reasonably frequently.
• I don't worry about eating carbs and fats together.
• I probably consume less fat than many around here, but that still has me eating far more fat than a non-primal person.
• I eat root vegetables, including potatoes, as well as greens, brassicas, peppers and tomatoes, and pretty much any other veggies I can get my hands on--I love them all.
• I eat fruit when I feel like it, generally at least one portion a day (a banana, for example) but often two. I don't avoid sweeter fruits and love things like pineapple and melons.
• I eat small amounts of dairy (mainly cheese) as a treat now, but I do not make it a regular part of my diet.
• I do CrossFit.
• I walk my dog.
• I am pretty strict about getting enough sleep.
• I try to keep up with the less talked about PB rules like getting enough play, using my brain, and so on. I don't know if they make me thin, but they make me happy and healthy.

[kathytnt]

I am kind of the new kid on the block but is it possible that you a improving your body composition and it is not showing on the scale? If you are losing fat while gaining lean mass and repairing your metabolism it is possible that the scale is not the ultimate measure here.

Other things to ask 1) How do you feel mentally and physically? 2) Are my jeans fitting better??

[marcadav]

55 year old perimenopausal woman with cerebral palsy, hypothyroidism, bone on bone arthritis, who has lost 50+ pounds and kept if off for 2+years-
From this thread:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...tml#post738368
1. Making the focus health and healthy daily choices and NOT weight/weight loss
2. Setting non-weight goals.. Blood sugar control/avoiding diabetes, arthritis pain relief, improving insomnia, good health markers..
3. Deciding what I could/would do and understanding/accepting what I couldn't/wouldn't do. Still love pizza.
4. Setting a plan to exercise. A daily time 5 days a week and sticking to it. Accept the fact that starting low and slow was my only option and finding success in little improvements.
5. Realizing there will be bumps in the road but they don't have to derail me.
6. Realizing I could find success even if I couldn't/didn't do primal "perfectly"-- can't afford grassfed, physical limitations in regards to exercise..
7. Being willing to try something new but realizing that while it might work for others it might not for me-I learned to listen to myself and my body.

Eating VLC (<50)on an ongoing basis messes with my thyroid function so, while I dont track often, I try to stay above that level. I have also been on BHRT for many years, after finding I had undetectable estradiol levels. Making sure I had good ferritin, vitamin D, and thyroid numbers helped a great deal.

Finally, I made a deal with myself-- I could remain obese and still be successful IF I got and stayed healthy as determined by medical markers, physical abilities, daily choices, overall wellbeing,etc.

[jammies]

I lost weight cutting carbs and increasing protein (while keeping my calories at maintenance level on Fitday). This was before I started MDA. Paleo has lead to no weight loss at all. I agree that women seem to be struggling with weight achievement more than men. Remember too, that those who do not achieve what they want will just move on. I suspect there are quite a few of those we never hear from.

One thing that concerns me is when people post here complaining that they are not losing weight they get told that they are not doing it good enough. Cut nuts, cut dairy, cut calories..... Is this really how PB is supposed to be? Restrictive? I think many people gain weight because they are missing nutrients and minerals from their diet and this advice to cut food intake further can make the situation worse. You shouldn't have to cut nutritional food from your diet to be healthy.

My advice is to read the book, follow Mark's advice, and if you still don't lose weight dig deeper into the issue of stress, sleep and mineral deficiencies.

I don't really view nuts and dairy as that healthy. There is nothing in those foods that you can't get from a more primal choice. I think the real issue is that nuts and dairy are very, very easy to overeat.

Have you ever watched videos of primates eating nuts in the wild? They have special little smashing stones and they will sit for a very long time smashing them open. I would guess in an hour they maybe eat ten nuts - and it is still worth it for them calorically! So having a giant bag a pre-shelled nuts of a jar of nut butter allows a lot of calories to be eating. Plus they are high in O6 fats and have tons of lectins.

[jo]

I don't really view nuts and dairy as that healthy. There is nothing in those foods that you can't get from a more primal choice. I think the real issue is that nuts and dairy are very, very easy to overeat.

Have you ever watched videos of primates eating nuts in the wild? They have special little smashing stones and they will sit for a very long time smashing them open. I would guess in an hour they maybe eat ten nuts - and it is still worth it for them calorically! So having a giant bag a pre-shelled nuts of a jar of nut butter allows a lot of calories to be eating. Plus they are high in O6 fats and have tons of lectins.

How do you know it's not the minerals and protein in the nuts that are worth having?

Unless people are eating the entire animal including liver, brains, heart, stomach lining etc, they are quite possibly missing many valuable nutrients by restricting their diet. I don't really understand why people get stressed about the O6 content of a handful of nuts.

[Sunnivara]

I don't really view nuts and dairy as that healthy. There is nothing in those foods that you can't get from a more primal choice.

I disagree. Just 3 Brazil nuts provide you with almost 400% of your daily allowance of selenium. No other food even comes close. Many nuts are rich in magnesium, copper, and other minerals. You'd have to eat a lot more of other foods to get the same amount you get from just a few nuts. They are pretty nutrient-dense. Considering that, though, there's not reason to eat handful after handful. Yes, it's easy to get carried away munching on a big bin of mixed nuts from Costco but, because of their nutritional density, there's not reason to eat tons. A small amount of nuts each day will do. But, because they are packed with good stuff, I wouldn't eliminate them completely.

[paleo-bunny]

I get the impression that on average men do better than women on PB and low carb . However, this is true of a lot of diets, as our bodies are more resistant to losing fat.

Recurring themes for women are:
(1) a greater incidence of food intolerances that need to be addressed (these can include primal foods e.g. eggs, deadly nightshade, fruits)
(2) they find low carb (<50 g a day) of limited success - they initially lose weight and then weight loss stalls and they can find their thyroid suppressed. They then experiment with raising carbs a little and often weight loss resumes.
(3) increasing low level cardio can be more successful than it is for men, as women need fewer calories, so it can be the most effective means of increasing calorie deficit without having to go hungry very often.

Generally, women need to experiment a lot with what works for them as there is so much individual variation.

I've lost about 31 lbs of fat and gained about 10 lbs of muscle in about 8 months on paleo/primal, moderate carbs. Eating approx 2500 calories a day, 150-170 g carbs a day, in line with exercise, according to PB guidelines.

I'd previously lost about 14 lbs during 15 months eating gluten-free, moderate carb using a self-styled programme.

For me, eating clean is essential for weight loss and maintenance. The most effective means I have of accelerating weight loss is increasing duration of low-intensity cardio workouts. It doesn't matter what this is - walking, swimming, exercise bikes, cross trainers. If I do 6-8 hours a week spread over 4 workouts plus a long walk at the weekend I get into the zone of losing 2 lbs a week, and my appetite doesn't increase, so this burns a lot of body fat through creating a bigger calorific deficit. For the workouts, the first 30-60 minutes are interval training incorporating short sprints. I've got into this zone a couple of times and lost about 14 lbs over 2 months.

Strength training is important too. Don't be put off doing strength training if you find some the recommended exercises too difficult. I can't do some of the full body stuff due to hypermobile joints, but I am doing a range of strength building exercises, including squats and lunges. I've built a lot of muscle and strength in my arms, shoulders, abdomen and quads.

[sbhikes]

I have lost about 30lbs in 6 months. The key is to eat less. I started very low carb and got well-adapted to it. This also made my insatiable hunger stop. Now I can eat less without a struggle. I keep around 50-60 carbs a day. A typical day:
B
steak and eggs or liver and onions, 1-3 cups coffee with butter or half-and-half
L
nothing, or bone broth, or can of salmon with bones and mustard
D
meat (air, land or sea), veggies, root or tuber, copius butter, 1-3 glasses wine
Dessert
a little dark chocolate

Supplements
25mg potassium iodide, 200mcg selenium, 400mg magnesium, 200mg potassium, vitamin D (forget how much)

Exercise
Take a walk, 2 core fitness classes per week, one big strenuous day hike a week.

I have a recent progress pic in my journal 2nd somewhere. Not ready to put it in the monster success thread.

[Jodis]

I've lost about 31 lbs of fat and gained about 10 lbs of muscle in about 8 months on paleo/primal, moderate carbs. Eating approx 2500 calories a day, 150-170 g carbs a day, in line with exercise, according to PB guidelines.

Pardon the newbie question, I still haven't figured this out (or found the definitive explanation, something like that): How do you know how much muscle you've gained? Is there a formula, or is it something else?