Introduction/rant about myself/frustration/plea for help page

[Paleo Butterfly Boy]

Okay, here's the low down.
I just cant seem to commit to the PB despite it being the route to all I have ever wanted to acheive regarding body composition and quality of life. Sure I have eliminated non PB foods and eat extremely clean, however problems that I have had in the past with food continue to haunt me.
I'm falling even more dangerously underweight (not helped by my 'fear' of fats and fear of gaining fat), training too many hours in the pursuit of my dreams to be a great endurance runner (which is in fact screwing me over because in an overtrained state i'm not making any real progress anyway).
I look at the example of Mark and just see how life could be if I could just embrace this. I guess he's the living proof that the 'conversion' from cardio addict to happy, healthy guy with the kind of body I have tried to acheive in all the wrong ways, can be done... so why cant I do it?
I guess this isnt so much a question as a rant, but i'd just really appreciate some help or support if anybody has a moment to give.

[TimActor]

Hey mate,

Welcome!

I understand your point of view - I didn't have to endure what you've described entirely, but I have been to drama school where we're challenged enough! And I did have to get used to the idea of pieces of fat being swallowed and in my stomach...all ok now, haha.

It may or may not help you my friend, but one thing that drama school taught me was that nothing can ever be forced. Acting techniques, singing techniques, great dancing...happens when it happens. I now apply this to everything in life - I know when is the right time to fight for something, someone or when is the right time to let it go.

I believe that something will "click" for you and it will feel right. Don't lose sleep over this.

Slowly but surely.

Tim

[MikeEnRegalia]

I'm looking at it from another perspective - I'm trying to lose weight, and there the idea of eating more fat might seem counter-intuitive, too. I suggest to you though that you make a leap of faith and try the Primal Blueprint for at least a month and then see whether your fear of gaining fat is warranted. Make sure you stick to the eating and workout concepts without exceptions during that month, and I'm sure you'll be doing fine.

Edit: since your problem seems to be that you don't eat enough - maybe you can beef up (pun intended) your caloric intake. Maybe snacks are the solution - eat some nuts occasionally, maybe some olives with almonds, some cheese, or beef jerky. Maybe you should also greatly reduce your hours of endurance training - or get yourself a heart rate monitor and determine whether you are indeed doing chronic cardio. In that case, lower the intensity like Mark recommends and give your body a chance to enter "build mode".

[Paleo Butterfly Boy]

Thank you for the replies. You see, the thing is that a lot of the time, because I enjoy training I like it to last and so the idea of a programme that wants to minimise the time training worries me a bit purely in terms of not having anything else to fill my time with (although I understand the reason that the PB plan advocates this short, intense approach)

The idea that at some point it will 'click' for me is something i'm not certain of either. In the past i've drawn a line in the sand and said from this moment things will change, but then never stick to what I should be doing and fall back into my old ways. As I mentioned, this isnt getting me where I want to be and is destroying me (literally) so it shouldnt be a hard cycle to break surely?

The reason for my low calories is mainly because my meals consist mainly of salad or vegetables alongside my lean meats. I do snack, thank you for the suggestions there, but the only one out of that list I feel 'comfortable' with is the beef jerky. It's the fats, as I already mentioned. So long of avoiding them and now I cant get myself around to eating them

Oh, and I actually am losing sleep over this. Watching my body deteriorate in front of my very eyes and barely having any energy. Not stuck in a rut so much as a massive great hole...

[jo]

Maybe give yourself time to get used to a new regime. If eating fat is a problem for eat build it up gradually in ways that are easy for you. E.g. nuts, full fat dairy, and cooking in fats such as butter. It takes a while to change the habits of a lifetime. It took me a whole year to be able to drink coffee without sugar!

Make sure when you eat your meat and veg that you have extra meat to make up for the calories lost in avoiding starch.

I don't know how old you are, but young men tend to use up a huge amount of energy and so feeling tired and being thin is probably quite normal. Most teenagers I know (I know a lot as I used to teach in a 6th form college) eat huge amounts of food to compensate, so perhaps some effort in this area to increase your calories is worth it. You have absorbed the idea that calories and fat are bad, but youngsters like you need the extra energy.

[Paleo Butterfly Boy]

Well even those 'easy' ways of introducing fat fill me with fear if i'm honest.
I have definately increased meat/egg consumption but clearly not to the levels needed as I continue to lose weight. Plus the exercising less is really hard for me to get my head around as I love it so much.

[jo]

I wonder if it is worth seeing a doc to eliminate any other reasons for weight loss. They might even suggest some counselling to deal with your fear. Sadly you live in a fat-phobic culture so the doc may agree with your avoidance of fat. Worth a try though.

[MikeEnRegalia]

Well even those 'easy' ways of introducing fat fill me with fear if i'm honest.
I have definately increased meat/egg consumption but clearly not to the levels needed as I continue to lose weight. Plus the exercising less is really hard for me to get my head around as I love it so much.

Let's recap: You're underweight, you want to increase weight, but you're afraid of fat. I'm sure you see the logical flaw here. You might try a therapy to deal with this unwarranted fear of fat - or maybe you can give the theory a chance for a month and see what happens when you eat more fat. If you should gain weight in the form of adipose tissue (which, if you work out by primal principles, is IMO totally unlikely), you can still switch back to your current strategy. On the other hand, if you see that you're not getting fatter, but gaining lean tissue, you'll have the proof that it works. And of course if you decide to try, you also have to think positive and assume that it will work - your psyche can greatly affect your body.

[Paleo Butterfly Boy]

Mike, you're right, I should give it chance for a period of time and then reassess. Deep down I know that i'd see the results that I want, just by the experiences of everybody else on the forum and others following the plan on other forums.
Quick question though, i asked a question to a sports and exercise science lecturer about insulin: whether eating low carbohydrate over time improved insulin sensitivity (i.e if you consumed little carbohydrate over a long period and then suddenly consumed a large amount in one go) or whether it would 'confuse' the body because it hadnt experienced the large influx of carbohydrate in a long time.
She said that consuming low carbohydrate consistently would lead to insulin resistance, which is very bad, right? Is she correct?

[jo]

She said that consuming low carbohydrate consistently would lead to insulin resistance, which is very bad, right? Is she correct?

That's the opposite of what I have heard, so I would ask her to point you in the direction of the studies that demonstrate that (nicely of course). As a Sports and Science lecturer she should have the data to hand.