Info Overload.. how should I eat to fuel my lifestyle? page

[ennaejay]

And shrink my butt fat at the same time?

I'm reading the mondo thread on leptin resets, I'm giving up coffee because it's bad for the adrenals, I'm trying to get into ketosis by eating less than 50gC a day.

One year ago (almost to date) I could run 15 miles with no soreness the next day, I was in the driver's seat of the carb wagon on a "healthy" SAD. My butt and thighs were 3" smaller, respectively.

Since then I've gone Primal, (SCD/GAPS/nearly Paleo and no beans) due to healing digestive problems in our family. I backed way off the "chronic cardio", although I jog 30 min a couple times weekly. I lift heavy things and put them down again. No strength gains in a year, probably due to the constant switching of macros.

I IF. I lift fasted. I'm disciplined.

So why are my thighs and butt carrying noticeable cellulite in the last 12 months since I stopped running? Why can't I get into my jeans this autumn? I can do a couple pullups but I can't button my pants, and it's starting to get frustrating.

My calories/macros are all over the place. Last time I charted for an entire month, it was July. Here are the average stats copied directly from Fat Secret:

Daily Average:
Exercise: 2090kcal
Food: 1492kcal
(Fat: 95.30g, Protein: 63.08g, Carbs: 101.45g)

Is Ketosis my answer? Can VLC sustain heavy (for me) lifting 3x a week? Or should I be eating way more carbs, every day, or a refeed once a week? Should I start running all the time and burning glucose again to shrink my pants size? It worked before.

I'm no stranger to sprints but I backed off the weekly jaunt when energy started to decline. I have two preschoolers at home and I'm tired and crabby most days. This isn't like me. When I feel good, I feel GOOD, like I have a rocket up my butt, go-go-go-go with productivity and organization and motivation. I'm getting fat and not making progress in the weight room, and have no idea why.

Help? A kick in the rear? Advice? Please?

[ennaejay]

I shouldn't complain. My digestion is smooth, seamless, quiet, and definitely healing with lots of good quality animal protein and fats and as many veggies as I can fit. I do have to exert lots of self control with 24-hr cultured whole milk yogurt, any/all fruit, and nuts (1 svg/day of raw, if that).

My tummy is healing and I no longer bloat or get gas and rumbles. But it came with a bigger pants size and I don't know WHY.

[primalrob]

stop.

these forums are great, but a lot of the info on here is contradictory, drowning in details, and things to learn about once you get your life in balance. read the book and mark's posts. this is his annual primal challenge...the front page of marksdailyapple will be flooded with all the advice you need, paricularly the primal 101 post.
get comfortable with the 10 primal laws, then start experimenting with fasting, refeeds, leptin, etc.

[Damiana]

Experiment with your food. High-fat or low carb is not for everyone. FYI: cellulite reduction doesn't happen. Once you've got it, sadly, it is there to stay.

[ennaejay]

stop.

these forums are great, but a lot of the info on here is contradictory, drowning in details, and things to learn about once you get your life in balance. read the book and mark's posts. this is his annual primal challenge...the front page of marksdailyapple will be flooded with all the advice you need, paricularly the primal 101 post.
get comfortable with the 10 primal laws, then start experimenting with fasting, refeeds, leptin, etc.

Bwaha, it's almost like you can hear me hyperventilating.

I started playing around with IF'ing over the winter, same time i started gaining. I wonder if calories all over the place really matter - and averages, not so much?

Last summer I came in 4th (in 816 age div) in my local Warrior Dash. Now I can hardly finish a 5k in under 30 minutes and my compound lifts are the SAME as last fall. No gains. Weight is up 8lbs if that's any indicator of size. Something needs to change. Something is broken. I would rejoice in 8lbs of muscle mass added to my frame with heavier plates and a tight ass. Nope.....

C'mon, I need to hear from some women I AM experimenting with the fasting, refeeds, leptin, etc.

[primalrob]

Bwaha, it's almost like you can hear me hyperventilating.

I started playing around with IF'ing over the winter, same time i started gaining. I wonder if calories all over the place really matter - and averages, not so much?

Last summer I came in 4th (in 816 age div) in my local Warrior Dash. Now I can hardly finish a 5k in under 30 minutes and my compound lifts are the SAME as last fall. No gains. Weight is up 8lbs if that's any indicator of size. Something needs to change. Something is broken. I would rejoice in 8lbs of muscle mass added to my frame with heavier plates and a tight ass. Nope.....

C'mon, I need to hear from some women I AM experimenting with the fasting, refeeds, leptin, etc.

4th place....niiiiice.

there is some pretty good evidence that fasting may not be the best for women. mark had a guest post up about it a couple of months ago.

i also have a question about your calorie totals: are you doing over 2000 calories worth of exercise, or is that the total along with what your body uses just to stay alive? if it's an extra 2000, you need to back waaaaayyyy off, or eat a lot more. calories do make a difference, but you don't want to be in too much of a deficit.

your body is clearly holding on to the extra fat for a reason. maybe it needs the extra energy (preggers, or too much exercise, cortisol, etc.), or maybe going primal is just correcting you to your own homeostasis...which might mean a jiggly part or two. i don't think it's the second thing just because of you lack of progression in fitness. my vote would be the cortisol. maybe take a week or two off and come back strong and see what happens.

[ennaejay]

No no, I'm not doing 2000kcal worth of workouts. I'm on my feet mostly all day, often running errands, but I only train about 3hrs/week. I lift 2-3x and run 2-3x. I'm not underfed! Fatsecret calculates the calories burnt for sleeping, resting, etc etc based on age/height/weight. Pretty basic..

Not pregnant, we made that permanent.

Cortisol - yes. I have a high stress personality for sure. OCD tendencies. I was hoping primal would fix all this, like once the leaky gut issues were gone, some of the leaky personality problems would go too! Does fasted training increase cortisol? You men seem to get ripped from it - that, and the carb refeed after a heavy session. I can only go a few weeks before I seem to hit a wall. I fit Mark's description as "fat adapted" without a doubt, I pull 40-hr fasts and can eat like a viking. The size gain really discourages me. I really do think it's hormonal.

I'm heavily considering a leptin reset. It's frightening to me to stop IF'ing and stop counting calories, and eat a huge breakfast and go off intuition, and no snacking. My "full sensor" is broken and my past relationship with food isn't bragworthy.

The Primal lifestyle is NOT for wimps, that's fo' shizzle !!

Thanks for the suggestions bo

[sbhikes]

Why not go back to running? I think the whole chronic cardio thing is a total misunderstanding for most people. It's chronic cardio when you do it at a high intensity. It's healthy slow movement when you do it at a lower intensity. At a high intensity it causes stress. At a low intensity it can help with stress. Dial it back from 11 down to 3 and you will probably enjoy it more and it might help.

[paleo-bunny]

Why not go back to running? I think the whole chronic cardio thing is a total misunderstanding for most people. It's chronic cardio when you do it at a high intensity. It's healthy slow movement when you do it at a lower intensity. At a high intensity it causes stress. At a low intensity it can help with stress. Dial it back from 11 down to 3 and you will probably enjoy it more and it might help.

I agree with this wholeheartedly and all I can say is that low level cardio works for me. That's averaging 115 bpm heart rate burning around 500 cals per hour. It does help with stress.

[relaygirl]

I am very similar to you--I cannot burn my belly and thighs off and I was thinner before-less muscle I am sure. I eat great fat adapted-have tackled leptin. I cross fit 3 days, run 3 days--but I can't run fast anymore. I have had to reaccess my priorities.

Just this year, I was top 25 in my age group in a rock n roll half marathon--that is a huge race.

4 weeks ago I could not finish a 15K trail run.

I shifted to fat adaptation and it sucked my ability to run fast. I can finish my races at least now in an acceptable time--went from a 1:37 half to a 1:55-2:05--it feels like I am not even running but I can't push it anymore.

I cross fit fine. I feel like I am putting on muscle like crazy-but not burning these pockets of fat. I can't get in my hot jeans from last fall

Do I want to run fast anymore? No, not really. But I want to feel good finishing-not like the life is sucked out of me. I want this belly gone--it was there last year too but I guess I did not have muscle packed behind it as much-so I am bigger all over with new muscle but the same residual fat.

I really don't want to go back to cravings-they ruled my thought processes but I need to burn fat. I am so tired of tweaking this and tweaking that. I hate complaining--I know what it is like to be seriously overweight and this is more the difference between a 6 and an 8.