Gaining Weight on Primal---HELP!! page 2

[serenity]

Are you journaling your food/exercise? Can you post what your last, say, three days' meals and exercise were?

I'm not keeping a journal, but I do track my macro consumption on FitDay from time to time. I usually keep my carb consumption below 100 grams/day (the supposed primal sweet spot--effortless weight loss--whatever). Every once in a while I go above 100 but usually don't get above 150.
Here's what I had Thursday through Sunday.

Thursday:
Two eggs, two strips of bacon
One hamburger patty
Caesar salad with bacon and grilled chicken (with shredded Parmesan but without any dressing or croutons)
1.5 cups of strawberries
(Although the above may appear to be three meals, I actually ate it all within a 5-hour window because I fasted most of the day.)
Sprint intervals
Weight lifting--I don't normally do sprints and weight lifting on the same day, but my schedule last week was a bit messed up so I had to squeeze both into the same day.
(I do weight-lifting workouts from Rachel Cosgrove's Female Body Breakthrough and try to lift as heavy as I can safely lift.)

Friday:
Fasted during the day, and had a few pieces of grilled lamb around 5 pm.
Went out to Thai food for dinner and had half a cup of rice with basil pork--pork, basil, green beans, bell peppers. Also had a few bites of bf's green curry chicken. They probably put sugar in the sauce. I usually ask them not to and some restaurants are accommodating, but the one we went to on Friday was not. (It wasn't the greatest restaurant, probably won't be going back.)
Handful of strawberries.
Shared a bottle of wine with bf.
No workout.

Saturday:
Three eggs, topped with grated Parmesan for breakfast.
Half a peach and 10 cherries.
One bratwurst.
Went out to dinner and had yummy lamb skewers (lamb shoulder and belly--the lamb belly cuts were primal heaven--fatty and delicious) with mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. Also had a few bites of grilled sardine. The sardines had too many tiny bones so I'm pretty sure I ended up spitting out more than I ate.
Shared bottle of wine with bf.
Ran 7 miles; bench pressed 3 sets of 10 reps and one set of 5 reps--I have no idea how heavy because I used one of those bench-press benches (not sure what they're actually called) for the first time and I only used the bar, which is pretty heavy as it is--I would guess it's probably at least 50 lbs because I normally use a lighter 40-lb barbell and don't get sore the next day. I'm sore today so it must have been heavier than 40 lbs.

Sunday:
Had two chunks of leftover lamb from last night's dinner for breakfast.
Salad with arugula, tomatoes, and chicken for lunch with two slices of grapefruit.
Made a stir-fry with kale and ground turkey for dinner, cooked in lots of coconut oil. I also ate a tablespoon of coconut oil because I was afraid that the ground turkey was too lean. I prefer the taste of ground turkey to ground beef (probably due to years of SAD conditioning) and so does bf so I often cook with ground turkey instead of ground beef. But I try to make up for it by cooking it with lots of coconut oil.
1.5 cups strawberries, half a peach.
No workout.

I realize that I may be (1) eating too much fruit and (2) drinking too much wine. I've cut out most of my weekday beer drinking--I used to enjoy relaxing with a beer or two at night. I've stopped doing that and just have vodka with club soda if I really need to drink alcohol. But I still share a bottle with bf on weekends--it's just part of dinner.

I think I'm going to try to be super strict for two weeks and have no wine, beer, or fruit and see what happens. If that doesn't work, then I'll try to add in some healthy carbs (berries and sweet potatoes) and see if that makes a difference. If that still doesn't work, then, hell, maybe I'll just eat a box of Cheez-Its.

[serenity]

I noticed you used the "D" word a lot. That's a problem. Is your mindset wrapped around weight loss first, then health?

Yeah, I am more concerned with weight loss than I am with health. The reason is that I'm pretty healthy as it is. I don't have any health issues that I know of. My blood work is excellent, my bp is on the low end of normal, and I don't have any problems with my energy level. I just want to lose some of that annoying abdominal fat. Seriously, I look like I'm four or five months pregnant! That can't be normal. Okay, fine, I've never been pregnant before and have no idea how big one's belly is when four or five months pregnant--I'm only guessing here. But my belly definitely protrudes. The sad thing is--it's been like this for as long as I remember. You know how babies have bellies, but most lose their baby fat when they get older? I never lost that baby fat, evidently.

[noodletoy]

if weight loss is your primary objective you need to be eating clean, not just for one or two days in a row. for realz. no wine, no beer, no booze, no sketchy sauces from thai restaurants. asian food is a landmine of sugar and starch in the sauces. no injera. what was in the bratwurst?

i think your food choices look good and that it's the off-plan stuff that is derailing your progress. if i have wine, i blip up. even though i order carefully at our viet-thai place, the sodium makes me blip up. same with having soy with sashimi. but i know that's just water weight, just like when i am expecting and in tom.

commit. it works.

[noodletoy]

oh, and an olympic-weight bar is 44 pounds. you're sore because it works different muscle groups than a dumbbell.

[teach2183]

The fasting might not be helping as much as you think. For some women it can cause metabolic problems. How long have you been doing that for?

I agree with your comment about the fruit, 1.5c of strawberries may be too much sugar for you in a small time period. Wine can also cause weight loss stalls because your body will burn the alcohol first, before anything else. It sounds like you know what you need to do. So once you're willing to do it, you'll see the results you want. You just have to decide if it's worth it.

[NZ primal Gwamma]

Hi Serenity, It sounds like you are figuring things out. Experiment and jot down your findings. Alcohol is a biggie for me, and once I start I have to have two....three....
Sometimes I juice a lemon into a wine glass with ice and water. It feels like I am one of the crowd, sipping away on my "fake wine", but its not doing any harm to my weight loss efforts.
Just a thought
keep at it !

[JackieKessler]

if weight loss is your primary objective you need to be eating clean, not just for one or two days in a row. for realz. no wine, no beer, no booze, no sketchy sauces from thai restaurants. asian food is a landmine of sugar and starch in the sauces. no injera. what was in the bratwurst?

i think your food choices look good and that it's the off-plan stuff that is derailing your progress. if i have wine, i blip up. even though i order carefully at our viet-thai place, the sodium makes me blip up. same with having soy with sashimi. but i know that's just water weight, just like when i am expecting and in tom.

commit. it works.

^
This. Between eating out and the wine, you're probably getting a lot more sugar (and wheat - soy's got wheat) than you think.

[SophieScreams]

^
This. Between eating out and the wine, you're probably getting a lot more sugar (and wheat - soy's got wheat) than you think.

Double agree.

And the IFing probably isn't doing you any favors. There's a difference between skipping meals because you're simply not hungry, and forcing yourself to fast. Many people find themselves naturally fasting, on occasion, because their energy requirements are fulfilled even without food. It seems that IF just isn't for everyone.

[Ripped]

1. No matter what diet you're on, calories always count. So the only way you will lose weight is by finding a way to get the calories down. Reducing carbs is one way to drop the calories. But another way is with fat. Just remember, low carbs shouldn't be a free pass to eat all the fat you want. There should be plenty of fat in the meat that you eat, so there should be no need to add fat in your diet from extra sources. So eat leaner cuts if possible when aiming to reduce calories. And eliminate extra oils such as coconut oil and cheese.

2. Fasting works wonders. I don't think there should ever be a need for someone who isn't obese to go on a long fast. Instead I prefer to extend the fast throughout the morning every day. So eat lunch and dinner, but not breakfast.

3. Most importantly, you have to keep track of where you're at. Weigh yourself regularly. And control your binges and cuts accordingly. Sometimes you will have days where you feel you can get away with eating what ever you want. When its time, splurge and eat what you want. But again, keep track of where you are. If you see the numbers on the scale moving up, cut the calories for a few days BEFORE its too late.

4. Concerning the long term, you probably won't be able to continue to cut straight until you reach your ultimate goal. At least that has been my experience. Instead just maintain weight most of the time. And then occasionally if you feel the motivation, go strict for several weeks until you drop several lbs. Do that until you get to your ideal weight. Then continue to maintain. Again, just like before, if you see yourself slipping and gaining again, fix it.

[lardomuncher]

eat less