How do you know when to stop losing? page 2

[paleo-bunny]

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[trekfan]

What you've done is incredible and amazing! Congratulations. The recommendations for you to sensibly increase your nutrition by slowly increasing some good food and focusing on strength training also sounds spot on. But give it a while before you start analyzing your blood work, hormone levels, etc. Like Mark alluded to in today's blog post, we should all wait for our body to adjust to the new set point before we can get accurate results from our tests and I do feel it's our hormones and other levels besides cholesterol that need to settle down before we analyze them. Wow, I am so impressed with you. Luckily your skin will definitely tighten over time. If you can maintain and add some muscle, once you've settled into your new body and built some strength then plan on getting some comprehensive blood work done in 6-9 months and then figure out your next step. Some people still are growing at 23 so you might be surprised at further changes. My nieces are 1/2 Japanese so I hear you when you think that part of your genetic make up might affect your youthful appearance, but it does make one wonder if more is at play here. Perhaps your previous diet was filled with soy and other estrogen sources? Now that you've come so far and eat so cleanly, hopefully your body will keep mending itself.

Again, what fabulous progress. I sure hope you keep posting your progress 'cause it's pretty inspiring (and I'm not even a young man HA!)

Thanks Kerryk! Yes, Mark's post today was actually well timed (it's creepy how well timed they are, aren't they? lol) as I was wondering on a few levels what things I should do test wise in the near future. I had a physical back in early January (when I was 194) and my doc said everything looked pretty good, minus a bit of a Vitamin D deficiency (been supplementing since then so I should be okay). I don't plan on getting another physical anytime soon, maybe a few months down the line-can't stand doctors.

I sincerely hope that I'm still growing (or have the potential too) at my age; I was told some years ago that I can grow till 25 as a guy so... there's that. As to my previous diet, it was Southern fried all the way through so I don't know where soy or estrogen would come from (but god knows what's in all those processed, breaded foods anyway). I can definitely say there's a noticeable increase in aggressiveness on my part-I used to be quite passive so perhaps I'm transitioning thanks to the lack of fat holding me back... or maybe it's just a mental thing.

Anyways, thanks for the thoughts.

Congrats on the weight loss dude. I would say switch over to strength training and start busting some ass. A constant calorie deficit gets old and is stressful on the body. The thing that keeps ringing in my head is the fact that you were 266. That being said, it might be easy to pack on some weight (muscle) as long as you don't go crazy. Maybe take up barbell training (if you haven't already).

I'VE GOT IT, A Trekfan/Gadsie THROW DOWN!!!!!!!

Yeah man, I was 266; that wasn't even my highest point though. I lost about 7 pounds during the first part of the summer cutting out sodas and then I committed to Primal as a last-ditch-this-can't-possibly-work-anyway-fuck-it effort. Low and behold, it worked... and kept working. And kept working. To be honest, I don't know HOW much I really weighed at my highest point. I just know that it was at least 273 and probably heavier than that, but I refused to step on a scale for much of last spring-it was quite depressing.

I'm currently doing body weight training at the moment (the idea of bulking up scares me a bit and is so far out of left field... me, the former fat guy, bulk up? It just doesn't compute at the moment) to get my functional strength up. I can't do a gym membership but I'll look into some home remedies in the near future as far as expanding my options.

As to who would win a fight between me and Gadsie... I'll leave that up to Primal gods to determine a winner, lol. If it was a Chinese buffet I'd put him to shame though, I can knock down Asian cuisine like no other (Though i generally stay away from buffets for that exact reason).

[Uncephalized]

I'm with Daydreamer on this. It's not just that you look young, though you do. Your body and face both look very feminine--I am also not trying to offend but I had to check your post again to find out if I was looking at a man or a flat-chested woman. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you have extremely low testosterone. Hitting the weights will help with this somewhat, but if you have a serious hormonal problem you may not be able to address it fully through diet and exercise and would need to see a doctor for some blood tests, to see if you qualify for hormone replacement therapy or something.

That said, congratulations on such a massive weight loss and (presumably) health improvement! It's a huge accomplishment. And I'm sure you'll see the loose skin tighten up over time as you keep eating healthy and exercising--the skin is a live organ and it will adapt to a new body shape but sometimes it takes a while to catch up.

[trekfan]

I'm with Daydreamer on this. It's not just that you look young, though you do. Your body and face both look very feminine--I am also not trying to offend but I had to check your post again to find out if I was looking at a man or a flat-chested woman. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you have extremely low testosterone. Hitting the weights will help with this somewhat, but if you have a serious hormonal problem you may not be able to address it fully through diet and exercise and would need to see a doctor for some blood tests, to see if you qualify for hormone replacement therapy or something.


That said, congratulations on such a massive weight loss and (presumably) health improvement! It's a huge accomplishment. And I'm sure you'll see the loose skin tighten up over time as you keep eating healthy and exercising--the skin is a live organ and it will adapt to a new body shape but sometimes it takes a while to catch up.

Again, no offense taken man. I have wondered for a while if my hormones were out of whack or what. Back at 266 and above, I had some legit man boobs. Of course now they no longer exist (thank God) but still, I've been concerned for a while that the man boobs was a sign of something wrong.

My health has def improved thanks to Primal in a lot of ways, so the weight loss hasn't harmed me there, only helped. Thanks for the congrats

[mikebike]

If I were you, I'd consider seeing a Endocrinologist or a Osteopath and have your hormone levels checked. I have much experience with this. I'd want my testosterone and growth hormone levels checked. Make damn sure you're seeing someone that is "new" school and does a saliva testosterone test, not blood serum. You seem like a take charge kind of dude or you wouldn't have taken the step to lose weight and go primal. Do the same when pursuing a solution for your other concerns.

[trekfan]

If I were you, I'd consider seeing a Endocrinologist or a Osteopath and have your hormone levels checked. I have much experience with this. I'd want my testosterone and growth hormone levels checked. Make damn sure you're seeing someone that is "new" school and does a saliva testosterone test, not blood serum. You seem like a take charge kind of dude or you wouldn't have taken the step to lose weight and go primal. Do the same when pursuing a solution for your other concerns.

I don't know if I'd call myself a "take charge kind of dude" but I'll take the title anyway

As to seeing a Endocrinologist or a Osteopath, I don't know if there's one in my area but I'll research it. Hell, I don't even know if my insurance covers it but I do have some concerns-I just didn't think they were justifiable. I'm taken aback that a few of you seem to think like I do about my hormone levels and such.

Much thanks for the advice.

[mikebike]

Good luck with it bud. Remember, you deserve to live the life you truly want, don't settle for less. Passivity and compliance when it comes to your health (and other areas of your life) will leave you frustrated and discouraged. You're young and you've got your whole life in front of you, make it what you want it to be.

[JoeyA]

I'd definitely say start to focus on building muscle rather than continuing to lose fat. Maybe once you put on some more muscle mass you could cut down to a lower body fat percentage.

Congratulations on your awesome fat loss.

[trekfan]

I'd definitely say start to focus on building muscle rather than continuing to lose fat. Maybe once you put on some more muscle mass you could cut down to a lower body fat percentage.

Congratulations on your awesome fat loss.

Thanks man, appreciate it! I don't see myself putting on a large amount of muscle mass but we'll see I guess.

[Figlio di Moros]

Current Stats: Weight 138 lbs, Body Fat 15.1% (20.8 lbs), BMI 21.2

If he adds five pounts of muscle, that ups his bodyweight to 143 w/ 20.8 lbs of fat, or 14.5%; ofc, the extra five pounds of muscle should help burn off some fat, too.