Want to drop the last 3-5 lbs and I have an idea... page

[PHaselow]

Should I do this?

I just can't seem to drop a pound. I started this PB journey at 118 in July 2012 and now weigh 120 as of yesterday morning. I am 5'3" with a BMI of 20.9 and BF ranging from 14.6-24% depending on which silly little impedance scale I step upon. Let's say 19% BF to split the difference. 47 years young and fighting to stay out of menopause. Stressful life (special needs child, troubled marriage) whacked out my cortisol. Years of sugar addiction still being valiantly battled. Things are getting better.

I was physically active/fit until January 2012 when I took a 5 month break to heal a hot spot on my femur (pre-stress fracture, they say) and to recover from what they tell me was likely Pertussis/Whooping Cough. I then weighed about 118 with roughly the same BMI/BF. So, when I restarted my exercise routine I'll admit I likely a little flabby. I do 8-12 min cardio with 40 min heavier lifting/strength training 4-5 days a week with 1-2 days of tabata on the treadmill.

I just can't break this plateau. I only want to get down to 115. That is where my clothes fit the best and I feel the best. Right now I have just a 'thickness', if that makes any sense.

So, should I fast and/or restrict to get down to that 115 and then work to maintain? I've been keeping a food journal and I don't see glaring reasons why I should be going up and not down (or the same) aside from an occasional binge. I have actually been good these past 4 days, only to watch the scale tick up another .5 lb.

My thought is to fast for 24 hours and then get serious. NO chocolate, no matter how dark. No nuts, no matter how raw. Only animal protein and vegetables with an emphasis on lowering carbs.

I've never found it worth my while to fast or restrict my way down to a weight. It always seemed to come back. BUT, this is the first time I'll be trying it while eating Primal. I want to get to that comfortable weight and STAY THERE!! Staying there is the hard part for me, especially when we are talking 3-5 lbs and not 20-30.

Any suggestions? Encouragement? I've posted before about my frustrations with not seeing any noticeable difference after 3 months Primal. I just want to knock off these 5 lbs that bug me. I'll focus on the ripped abs later. I need this for my sanity. I want to reset my set point.

This is my sample menu from yesterday. Pretty typical:

IF between 7PM-11AM with only BP coffee (1T ghee/1T heavy cream max)

Lunch:

Large crunchy broccoli slaw salad (4c) with probably 1/2 c nuts/raisins, 1/2 avocado and a warm bacon grease vinaigrette.

2 slices bacon

Few handfuls of dark (I mean 99% and 80%) chocolate chips. Maybe 4oz?

Snack:

Small bowl of cabbage/lamb/bacon stir fry I was making for dinner

Dinner:

Humongous bowl (3c?)of baked Ambercup squash (orange squash) with maybe 1/4 c ghee

bite of my daughter's frozen custard. Too sweet.

[sbhikes]

Doing anything that gives me rapid weight loss and then fighting to maintain has never worked for me. But I'm same age, same height and nowhere near as thin as you, so perhaps we are very different. How come you don't eat very much meat? Doesn't such a small amount of protein make you very hungry?

[BennettC]

It's prolly a lot more carbs than you think. Stay with your IF though and watch your calories as well. Doesn't matter how much you restrict carbs if your calories aren't right

[primalrob]

i wouldn't try fasting. days of some calorie restriction might help you, but only on the scale, not necessarily on the body fat percentage.

have you tried refeeds yet. try changing your diet to very low carb...less than 50g a day. way less if you can. and a couple of days a week eat high carb...2-300g (but go low fat those days). the high carb days will, ideally, get your leptin pumping and really get your body to use body fat as a fuel source on the low carb days.

[BennettC]

fasting is the best way to dip into your stored body fat. I mean that's why you store body fat, so you have energy when you aren't getting through diet. carb refeeds are only going to slow your weight loss, its not like your a marathon runner or something

[PHaselow]

Doing anything that gives me rapid weight loss and then fighting to maintain has never worked for me. But I'm same age, same height and nowhere near as thin as you, so perhaps we are very different. How come you don't eat very much meat? Doesn't such a small amount of protein make you very hungry?

Normally I would eat meat at dinner. I didn't feel like eating it. I do not eat enough protein. You are correct. I've never been a big meat eater and I struggle to keep that part of Primal in balance. I try to make up for it with nuts but that isn't great, is it?

I eat a lot of fat, I think. Tablespoons of heavy cream, ghee, coconut oil and bacon grease a day. Maybe go for the fat actually IN a meat and not on the spoon? Not sure.

More meat. Less chocolate.

[PHaselow]

i wouldn't try fasting. days of some calorie restriction might help you, but only on the scale, not necessarily on the body fat percentage.

have you tried refeeds yet. try changing your diet to very low carb...less than 50g a day. way less if you can. and a couple of days a week eat high carb...2-300g (but go low fat those days). the high carb days will, ideally, get your leptin pumping and really get your body to use body fat as a fuel source on the low carb days.

I will look into refeeds. Thanks. Finding what works for me is the challenge. I'm not that far off my happy place, and for that I should be grateful.

[Leida]

I dunno. I have never been able to hold the weight down after fasting. I just get too hungry. Vegetables and meat only will likely help you. It won't be very comfy though. You will likely be hungry. That's what I am going to do if the super high fat doesn't work out in a week or two. After that the only thing that would be left for me to go to what actually works, but is a killer, UD2.0. Yeah, I want to see those extra pounds gone too. Holding it down is a problem.

[PHaselow]

Decided not to fast. Based on my eating disorder history, I don't believe this is a smart choice for me. I'm going to increase my protein intake and watch the vegetable carbs. No nuts. No chocolate.

If that doesn't drop me, I'll do the refeed.

[sbhikes]

I wasn't suggesting that eating more meat would help you lose weight. I just was wondering how you manage on so little. I tried Paleobird's eat moar fat thing and I just couldn't keep up with it. I like fish, I like meat, I like veggies and eating a lot of dollops of creamy fatty things while trying not to overdo it on calories wasn't sustainable for me in the long run. But then look at how amazing she looks and how mediocre I look. She's probably right and I'm wrong, but I just get too hungry if I don't eat some actual food you can chew and swallow, you know?