Am I setting myself up for failure? page 2

[Bischov]

Thanks Jena! Congratulations on your 14 lbs.

[Hawkward]

Thanks for the advice guys. I may just need more patience.

Ill definitely stop being so restrictive. If I'm eating real food, that's more important, right?

My main confusion with weight loss is due to the old mantra of Calories in calories out. I still believe some kind of deficit is required, but there's a lot of other factors I don't know about.


If I don't restrict, yet still eat primally, will I still lose weight?

It always boils down to calories in, calories out. What you eat can affect how sated you feel, which in turn affects how many calories you take in, so eating a certain way may help weight loss, but you will only lose weight if you burn more than you take in.

I also think it might be possible for people who have eaten a poor diet for a long time to lose weight by changing what they eat, even while still consuming the same number of calories. However, this would be because they became better at burning calories due to no longer being malnourished, so in the end it would still come down to calories in, calories out. That's just speculation though - I don't know if there have been any studies that would bear it out.

[wolfman]

A deficit is required, but by eating primal during that deficit you will be full and have all your nutrients

[Bischov]

Bump. Would like to hear some more opinions.

[Inksplat]

Deficits are absolutely not required until you start hitting really low bf%.

Calories In, Calories Out is rubbish, as far as I'm concerned. Because I know for a fact that I got to 300 pounds eating pretty much the same diet as my 120 pound friend.

If you haven't, I'd really recommend reading Good Calories, Bad Calories, as its an excellent look at how the whole idea of Calories In, Calories Out, really makes no sense. The body doesn't work that way.

Basically, you don't get fat because you eat too much. If my metabolism is screwed, then I'm storing fat before it even gets a chance to be used. And then my body isn't letting go of anything in order to power my body.

If I eat less, it doesn't really matter. I don't magically lose weight--instead, I get lethargic and still gain weight. (Obviously, you can cut calories so far that you do lose weight, but its accompanied by ravenous hunger.)

The only solution is to repair your metabolism, and that can take longer than 3 weeks.

[Bischov]

How does one repair their metabolism?

[Inksplat]

How does one repair their metabolism?

By eating Primal, and exercise, funnily enough.

Basically, some people develop what is called metabolic syndrome. Its what I described above--they're so messed up do the processed carbs, that they store fat before using it, suffer from diabetes, stuff like that.

But eating a diet low in processed carbs will go a long way to restoring metabolic stability. Its essentially what Mark's post "Becoming a Fat-Burning Beast" is all about. And, as far as I'm concerned, that two sides of the same coin--metabolic syndrome, or fat-burning beastmode.

Because metabolic syndrome specifically stops you from utilizing stored fat to anywhere close to its full potential. Its why some people who come into this forum and talk about how they have no problem, and other people don't--its all about how jacked up their metabolic systems are. If you look at Primal as just instantly resulting in weightloss, then a lot of people end up disappointed. If you look at the 2-3 weeks it might take to repair your body, to really access the fat effectively in the first place, then it starts making sense.

Once you hit that tipping point though, your body basically goes "oh dear god, what is all of this!?" and dumps it, which is why people can lose 100+ pounds in a year with just a change in diet.

[SentWest]

I'm on about day 35 of a very low carb (20 - 40g gross carbs per day) paleo/primal way of eating, and I do crossfit at least four days a week and go on strenuous hikes and run the other days.

I've lost about 10 pounds in 30 days for a total of 20 pounds lost since February 2012. I've been consistently PR-ing my lifts and have not suffered any apparent slowdown that's not attributable to it also being really really hot here.

I did not see any significant change in the way I looked for about the first two weeks, though I was losing weight. The last three weeks however I've gone from a Large/XL to a Medium at most of my favorite stores. I literally just shrank overnight even though my weight loss didn't accelerate.

The way I look at calories is that as long as I'm controlling carbs I can eat as much as I want. "As much as I want" ends up being about 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day. I really can't stuff more food in my face than that, which is super nice, since my entire life I've suffered from being constantly ravenous. However, if I'm losing about 2 pounds of fat a week, my body is also metabolizing an additional 7,000 calories of delicious animal fat. That's about an extra 1,000 calories a day. So I'm actually "eating" 2,200 to 2,500 calories a day.

So anyway, the moral is I don't think you're setting yourself up for failure, I think you're still in the beginning phase. I do suggest writing down what you eat somewhere if you feel your food balance is off and writing it down won't make you neurotic about it (a danger for me). I discovered I was eating WAY more carbs than I thought I was, and fixing that made a big difference. Your situation may benefit from adjusting something else though, but you don't have a place to start unless you're keeping track.

I would suggest that if you're not seeing results at week 3 maybe plan to do a 60 day course rather than 30. Push out the deadline for results so you can relax and just enjoy eating good food.

[Bischov]

Possibly I've fixed my metabolism, then. I have been eating primal for a month or so now. Haven't consumed grains in that long when I had eaten them everyday of my life.

[MrsC]

I've apparently lost weight without affecting my lifts, but 7 lbs should have SOME impact on a 200 lb boy, right? I look the same and its really discouraging. I walk 5-7 hours a week on top of my 3 sessions of lifting. I dont sprint though.

As previously mentioned, weight loss is weird. Several years ago I lost 14 pounds, and not even the waistbands on my clothing were loose. I now weighed several pounds less than I had before I gained weight, and other than the numbers on the scales (because I confirmed it on several!) being lower everything was the same.

And then one morning I woke up and not a single piece of clothing fit. Overnight I had mysteriously "shrunk" - and I say mysteriously, because there was absolutely no change in the scale weight from the day prior when everything fit. It was just the weirdest thing. Still is, when I think about it, lol.

Anyway, I just want to encourage you not to get discouraged if you're not seeing immediate results. You may wake up one day and be surprised!