Hello from Ontario - and a question! page

[andreaincolombia]

Thanks to everyone for allowing me to 'creep' this forum for a couple of months! I've loved reading the success stories and listening to all the advice you're willing to give one another.

I gave up gluten, dairy, soy and eggs at the beginning of June because we discovered that our toddler had sensitivities to these foods. I began reading 'allergy-free' websites and blogs like crazy, and eventually landed myself over here at MDA. I had done Atkins very successfully (lost about 50lbs) before, so this type of eating was not completely new to me. After lurking for a while and doing loads of reading, I started to eat primal at the end of June.

I feel pretty great! I used to be the typical "I'm hungry" all the time girl and now I can go hours without eating - WOOT! I've incorporated walking into my life (about 3-4 times a week for 40 min) and just bought myself a kettlebell to do some KB swings with! I'm getting more sleep (7-8 hours/night, even with a baby!) and am trying to just stress less about life. All in all, I'm wishing I had found this site earlier.

However, I am not losing weight! At least, it's not falling off. Since starting primal 7 weeks ago, I've only managed to lose 2.5 lbs! And I've only not eaten primal one day. About 2 weeks ago, because I was annoyed, I started tracking my food on LoseIt and I also cut way down on fruit and nuts (which I had been eating too much of).

Now I'm looking for ways to kick-start my weight loss. Let's face it, feeling great is, well, great, but I'd like to LOOK great too! I have about 75lbs to lose to get to the top of my BMI normal range (not my goal, just so you know).

A typical day in my diet looks like this:
Wake up: coffee with coconut milk and whipping cream
Breakfast: 4 eggs and butter, sometimes kale or veg as well
Lunch: huge veg salad with protein, an avocado and a lot of olive oil
Dinner: protein and green veg
Snacks: I probably eat about 1/4-1/2 cup of mixed nuts a day.

I am not eating grass fed meat or cream, or free-range eggs and chicken b/c it's not readily available near me and we don't have the funds. I am getting about 2000 calories on average a day (which is less than LoseIt tells me I need to eat to lose 1lb/week) with some days being much higher and some days lower. I just try to eat when I'm hungry.

I'm getting about 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs daily.

So, wonderful MDAers, if you're still here after the novel, what else can I be doing to get my face on the Friday success story post???

Andrea

[Louisa655]

Hi, Andrea. Congrats on going primal. I'm from ON, as well.

Your eating 2000 calories a day, but the meal plan you posted, likely wouldn't provide 2000 calories. Are you drinking alcohol?

I'd start with eliminating nuts and eliminating alcohol, if you are consuming.

I'm in week 6 so I'm still new to this and tweaking things, as I go. It seems to me that you should be dropping weight faster, particularly if you are walking daily. I look forward to reading thoughts of others.

[andreaincolombia]

Hi Louisa,

Thanks for the feedback. No alcohol. I'm fine with eliminating nuts, my issue is that I don't really know what else to grab as a quick snack, and for fat. Suggestions?


Here is a look at yesterday (from LoseIt)
Breakfast: 649

Egg, Hard Boiled, Whole, Large
4 Each
310

Butter, Salted
2 Tablespoons
204

Cream, Whipping, Heavy
1 Tablespoon
50

coconut milk arroy d
1/4 Cup
85
Lunch: 1014

Lettuce, Romaine, Shredded
3 Cups
24

Peppers, Bell, Red, Sweet, Chopped
1/3 Cup
15

Mushrooms, Medium
3 Each
12

Oil, Olive, Extra Virgin
2 Tablespoons
240

tuna
1 Can
120

mixed nuts
1/3 Cup
266

Cream, Light
1/2 Tablespoon
15

Avocado
1 Each
322
Dinner: 278

Chicken, Broiler/Fryer, Breast, w/o Skin, Rstd
3/4 Each
106

Squash, Zucchini, w/ Skin, Fresh, Med
1 1/2 Each
50

Broccoli, stmd
2/3 Cup
36

coconut milk arroy d
1/4 Cup
85
Snacks: 311

Tomatoes, Cherry
20 Each
61

natural peanut butter
2 1/2 Tablespoons
250
Exercise: 153

Walking
3 mph
35 Min
153

Yesterday I was light on fatty meats. Usually I wouldn't have tuna and chicken breast in the same day. It just worked out that way. I still had 67% fat though!

There is a primal Ontario facebook group, if you're interested. Search "Primal Blueprint Ontario".

Cheers,
Andrea

[afsjesse]

Congrats on going Primal! First of all, perhaps it'd be wise to stop counting. Just focus on eating clean and getting a lot of fat and good protein. Next, ditch the nuts and cream (if you're dairy sensitive).

What I would do if I were you would be to actually eat more (until your satisfied) and perhaps up the carbs. While it is true that most people find success with low carb dieting, some people find success with increasing their intake to a moderate level. Maybe experimenting with a couple sweet potatoes or some white rice would do the trick.

With all of that fat you're already consuming, you should be losing more. Tweak something and let us know how it goes!

[Metric]

First of all, perhaps it'd be wise to stop counting. Just focus on eating clean and getting a lot of fat and good protein. Next, ditch the nuts and cream (if you're dairy sensitive).

Agree with this 100%. Focus on eating Primal until your satisfied. Toss the nuts. If you notice digestive issues with dairy, get rid of that too. I have dairy on a daily basis since I have no issues. I generally use 18% cream (max) in my coffee (just check the ingredients to make sure no weird crap is added). I recommend that you start yourself a daily food log on here. Right down what you eat for every meal (not taking calories, etc into account). Focus on only eating when you are truly physically hungry (not psychologically hungry) and only eating until you are satisfied. I've been at this for just over 105 days and you could check out my journal (see link below). I did count calories for the first couple of weeks until I got the hang of Primal and then cut the calorie/macro counting.

[Antiochia]

How do you feel otherwise -- are you more energized than you used to be? Are you sleeping better? Are you thinking more clearly? Are you calmer? Are you off the blood sugar roller-coaster? Maybe eating primally is working on solving other issues in your body first. I'm just beginning to implement primal living. Even if I don't lose weight -- if this works for me with other issues -- including my pre-diabetes and my cholesterol count, I would be very relieved.

[andreaincolombia]

Thanks again everyone. As per Jesse,

What I would do if I were you would be to actually eat more (until your satisfied) and perhaps up the carbs. While it is true that most people find success with low carb dieting, some people find success with increasing their intake to a moderate level. Maybe experimenting with a couple sweet potatoes or some white rice would do the trick.

I added in a sweet potato the other day. It made me quite hungry later on that evening, but maybe that's a good thing? I am a bit concerned about the insulin response, but I'll keep experimenting.

Thanks Metric - I checked out your food log - drool!!! I'm still counting calories, just so I know I'm getting enough fat, but I'm not obsessing over it at all. I've also added some more walking in when I can.

Antiochia - Yes, I really do feel much better. No weird blood sugar issues. I enjoy getting up at 5:30. Last night, after going non-stop (as you do with 2 little boys) I decided it would be fun to mow the lawn!?! All of these benefits are wonderful. I'm just really hoping, as I assume most of us do, that my body starts to look as good as it feels!

[andreaincolombia]

Thanks again everyone. As I said earlier, I added in some more carbs some days (sweet potato, a spoonful or 2 of rice), I've been walking more and I'm doing some kettle bell swings 2x a week. The weight has actually started to come off, not fall off, but the scale is moving in the right direction! I appreciate the advise