3 month analysis... some help needed page

[lepidecko]

Hi,

I've been following the primal blueprint for about 3 months now.

I've cut out all the grains, starches, and misc. carbs. Basically surviving on meat and vegetables, with some occasional fruits and nuts. I work out twice a weak with very heavy weights and do some lighter cardio 3 times a week, with some intermitted fasting (max 1 day/week)

I can easily go without food for 21 hours without actually getting hungry (at the 21 hour mark I start eating out of boredom.)

Though initially I dropped from 18% body fat to 17%, that seems to be about it (I'm nowhere near the 8% body fat that mark mentions

Here are my numbers:

6 days a week:
total Cals: 1900
carbs: 105gr
protein: 123gr
fat: 112gr

And 1 day a week I just relax and eat what I feel like (I don't over eat, but I do eat some bread)

I'm 1m88, 40yo, 80-82kg (64 lean mass), 17% body fat.

Just looking at this I feel I could easily increase the amount of fat and protein in my diet without fear. What I don't understand is where the extra 10% body fat is coming from. Or why it hasn't been dropping even a little bit over 2.5 months time.

Anybody any ideas?

(8% is not my goal, but 12-14 would be cool)

[Damiana]

1900 seems a little low, actually. I could eat that much and I'm a lot smaller than you. You might not be getting enough nutrients. I would suggest you do increase fat/protein to increase overall calorie intake by ~500 a day for awhile to see how things turn out.

[lepidecko]

yeah, I was a bit surprised myself to be honest. I think the values are a little higher on days where the meat is pork rather than chicken etc, but I think I'll add another piece of fish just to be safe.

All things considered, tho, I'd expect this mistake to cost me some weight, but it didnt'.

[canuck416]

Hi,

I've been following the primal blueprint for about 3 months now.

I've cut out all the grains, starches, and misc. carbs. Basically surviving on meat and vegetables, with some occasional fruits and nuts. I work out twice a weak with very heavy weights and do some lighter cardio 3 times a week, with some intermitted fasting (max 1 day/week)

I can easily go without food for 21 hours without actually getting hungry (at the 21 hour mark I start eating out of boredom.)

Though initially I dropped from 18% body fat to 17%, that seems to be about it (I'm nowhere near the 8% body fat that mark mentions

Here are my numbers:

6 days a week:
total Cals: 1900
carbs: 105gr
protein: 123gr
fat: 112gr

And 1 day a week I just relax and eat what I feel like (I don't over eat, but I do eat some bread)

I'm 1m88, 40yo, 80-82kg (64 lean mass), 17% body fat.

Just looking at this I feel I could easily increase the amount of fat and protein in my diet without fear. What I don't understand is where the extra 10% body fat is coming from. Or why it hasn't been dropping even a little bit over 2.5 months time.

Anybody any ideas?

(8% is not my goal, but 12-14 would be cool)

I am wondering what you are using to measure body fat? Perhaps you are not getting accurate readings. Also can you be a bit more specific with your diet, please list a couple of days of your complete menus and perhaps that will give us some better insight - are you eating any dairy? Finally I would lower the carbs to around 50 grams per day and pass on the cheat days for a couple of weeks.

[lepidecko]

I am wondering what you are using to measure body fat? Perhaps you are not getting accurate readings. Also can you be a bit more specific with your diet, please list a couple of days of your complete menus and perhaps that will give us some better insight - are you eating any dairy? Finally I would lower the carbs to around 50 grams per day and pass on the cheat days for a couple of weeks.

I'm using a tanita body composition scale to measure body fat. I use it at the same time each day, just before dinner, and use it mainly to track delta's rather than absolutes. There hasn't been a delta in body fat.

Here's a typical day:

Breakfast (after some quick dumbbel training):
Protein shake (muscle milk prot. powder, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/2 spoon almond butter, cinnamon, teaspoon glutamine,water)
Creamed spinach (1.5 gr of sugar)

At work:
2 eggs (boiled)
2 tupperwear containers with piece of meat and veggies (chicken/broccoli or onion/paprika/pork etc)

After work: 4-6 macadamia nuts

Dinner: again a piece of meat or fish and veggies.

Evening: another cocnut/protein shake (see above) (these are amazingly delicious by the way!)

Late evening: (some 85% chocolate with almonds) or (some raspberries and blueberries - a handful in total)

On training days I'll take some creatine powder like cellmass or no explode.

In total this gives me around total 1900 cals, with 105gr carbs, 123 gr of protein, and 112gr of fat.
I'll be adding a piece of fish and some MCT oil to increase protein and fat.

[teach2183]

Scales are inaccurate. Try using bdoy measurements. To give you an idea of how inaccurate scale body fat numbers are...
Starting Weight 194.4lbs, 43.5% = 109.8lb lean body mass
Current Weight 175.0lbs, 39.5% = 105.9lb lean body mass
So according to this scale, I've lost 3.9lbs of muscle. I find this hard to believe as I've made significant strength gains during this weight loss, and it's been over an 8 month period.

[canuck416]

I'm using a tanita body composition scale to measure body fat. I use it at the same time each day, just before dinner, and use it mainly to track delta's rather than absolutes. There hasn't been a delta in body fat.

Here's a typical day:

Breakfast (after some quick dumbbel training):
Protein shake (muscle milk prot. powder, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/2 spoon almond butter, cinnamon, teaspoon glutamine,water)
Creamed spinach (1.5 gr of sugar)

At work:
2 eggs (boiled)
2 tupperwear containers with piece of meat and veggies (chicken/broccoli or onion/paprika/pork etc)

After work: 4-6 macadamia nuts

Dinner: again a piece of meat or fish and veggies.

Evening: another cocnut/protein shake (see above) (these are amazingly delicious by the way!)

Late evening: (some 85% chocolate with almonds) or (some raspberries and blueberries - a handful in total)

On training days I'll take some creatine powder like cellmass or no explode.

In total this gives me around total 1900 cals, with 105gr carbs, 123 gr of protein, and 112gr of fat.
I'll be adding a piece of fish and some MCT oil to increase protein and fat.

Interesting diet, I tend to stay away from the protein powders and supplements and stick with natural foods. On March the 4th of this year I started at 213 lbs at 22% body fat and went 90% strict Paleo and currently weight 168 lbs at 12% body fat. I have a visible 6 pack and feel absolutely amazing. My typical diet is as follows - Breakfast - 3 to 4 scrambled eggs with a stir fry of brussel sprouts, bacon, onion, kale and red bell peppers sauteed in coconut oil (late breakfast because I IF most days until 11 am) - Afternoon Snack - Can of Sardines with an Avocado. Dinner - organic pastured, free range, local (if possible) meat, poultry or wild fish with a large vegetable salad and 1 cooked vegetable (rotate brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, yams, beets for variety). Treats are a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate a couple of times per week.

The Tanita scale uses bio-electric impedance and is inconsistent at best. Make sure you are using the athletic setting. I would suggest finding yourself a good exercise physiologist and have him or her use calipers to compare with your Tanita scores to make sure you are getting accurate readings.

[lepidecko]

Very interesting. What does your activity schedule look like?

[canuck416]

Very interesting. What does your activity schedule look like?

I do strength training 3 days per week (Legs on Tuesday, Upper Body Thursday and both on Saturday), High Performance Yoga on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, Sprint intervals on Wednesday and Sunday and 3 to 5 mile runs on Monday and Friday. I have built up to this over the last 7 months. In the beginning I was not using weights just body weight exercises in a circuit format - I would run one mile over to a local park and do 4 circuits of Chin-ups (15,12,10,10), Push-ups (70,30,20,20) Crunch Sit-ups (30,20,20,20) and Squats (30,30,30,30) and then run the one mile home - I didn't start at this level but built up to it over a couple of months, the chin-ups got much as easier as I lost weight. I also ran hill repeats and a couple of 3 mile runs during the week.

I am 60 years old - you can follow my Paleo Journey on my Facebook page (below) or at Primal Success at 60 here in the forum section - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread60996.html

[Karma]

Do you clothes fit better? Do you sleep better at night? Are your energy levels more stable? Sex drive better? The scale is not always the best way to measure success.