Does anyone else feel frustrated/annoyed when reading success stories? page 5

[Silvergirl]

I will blink away one egg and one egg white... (Sigh). Today that was my breakfast at 9:30 am, and I barely managed to survive till 1:30 pm when I had a huge bowl of green and broccoli slaw with 1 cup of chopped liver, 1/2 avocado and 3 radishes. And 6 Brazil Nuts in between. All I did was 45 min of heavy/failure lifting and KBs (to pouring sweat) - shorter session than normal for me, then stood in the bus and in the office (will total 9 to 10 hours standing) and a 45 min brisk walk. I will still do 20 min as HIT as can do cardio and steam room after work while my baby is in her badminotn class, bake & cook supper and have supper (soup with roast pork,kale and pumpkin, maybe onions and turnips if we still have any, maybe 2 cups...), and probably apple and yogurt (mmgh). At least it's been an hour since lunch and I am not hungry yet. 'Tis a blessing! I dunno, I am hungry, and I hate to call myself a 'big appetite gal' since according to Susan Albers it is a self-fulfilling prophecy... And, YES, I did the VLC for a month, stuffing myself choke-ful of coconut oil and meat and no veggies or fruit whatsoever, for a glorious failure. No miracles for me.

One thought Leida... have you tried "shrinking your stomach" both my daughter and myself find that eating a big volume of food which stretches the stomach makes us hungry and want to eat much earlier. I eat very dense high calorie food and the quantity looks very very small on a plate. You may have to have the occasions spoon of fat to adapt to that WOE but I wonder if that would work for you. I have a reasonable, palm sized protein, but my veg. are smaller to the same size as that, even for just florets.

[Leida]

I do much better on smaller portions more often, than on a dense tiny portion of food. My experience with 70+% fat VLC was super-poor for satiation. I really would rather eat a high volume of vegetables & fruit. I really love soups and stews, and would rather have a big bowl of that than 3 riblets of pork of the same caloric content. If I do not spend a lot of time savoring my food, I don't seem to get satisfied. I really love veggies and fruit much more than meat and fats. I am not vegetarian-inlined, and some meat is great, and I can eat huge amounts of salmon, but I want copious veggies and fruit too.

[serenity]

I've never read any of your other posts, but what is your goal in Primal? Is it only just to lose weight? Because if it is, I think you're going about it all wrong...

It is just to lose weight. I'm very healthy, have always been healthy, am not overweight, but would like to lose 15 or so vanity pounds. People who have health problems may strive to become healthy, but I have nothing else to strive for. I'd like to have a flat (or at least flatter) stomach and smaller waist. That is all. (Well, I guess I'd also like to be able to improve my lifts--do a bunch more pull-ups, better squats, improve my race times, etc., but those things will happen. The weight-loss is harder.)

Why shouldn't it be a goal? I understand that it's not the most noble of goals, but aesthetics matter, and weight loss is as good of a goal as any. It's a shallow world, and I bet most of the people here join to lose weight, improved health is a side effect.

I agree. I'm not ashamed that weightloss is my goal. There's nothing wrong with it.

Also I am a big believer in Intermittent Fasting, if you haven't done this yet give it a try, it jumped started my fat loss after a sticking point.

I think it was the 24-hour fasts that made me heavier than I was before I started primal. They messed up my metabolism somehow. Now I only do 14- to 17-hour fasts. These shorter fasts feel more natural to me.

[AMonkey]

Every time I read one of these success stories, where going primal worked like magic for someone else, I just want to shoot myself. How come it's not working like magic for me? Why can't I just cut the carbs and magically shed all that excess body fat? I'm fit, I work out, I'm healthy, I never eat wheat, rarely eat other grains, except rice occasionally. WHY can't I lose the freaking muffin top? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, sorry for the whining. This is my Friday afternoon self-pity session. Back to work, back to work...

Because you're eating a calorie surplus.

Anyway I do find the success stories problematic. They present an unreal expectation of what primal may do for you. "Wow, this guy lost 50 pounds in a year, with no effort. I guess that means I will to!".

[kenn]

I was sorta in the same boat as you, I had just started looking for a relationship, was growing somewhat tired of the one night stand...I wanted the companionship and to have someone there, especially since the vast, vast majority of my friends had left town after graduation. So I started looking, but all of a sudden I couldn't hook up with girls for the life of me - that idea of girls being able to smell that stuff almost seemed true. Eventually, I found a girl - no prior history except for being friends. So I ask her out to lunch, get the ball rolling to "catch up," have some drinks with some of her friends and mine, we even went to a few hockey and baseball games. All very informal, all very casual, but it forced the one on one time that laid the foundation of our soon-to-be relationship. We didn't talk every day or anything like that and I made sure to keep my distance a little just so I wouldn't get trapped in the horrid friend zone - I let her initiate the contact for the most part. Eventually, we just fell into it, and we've been together for just over 9 months now.

[Opie]

The problem I see is not necessarily success stories being the issue, but the comparative nature of people reading them. I am not one to discount frustration, I have felt it many times. However, a success story is not some standard we all need to achieve with primal. Someone who lost weight quickly is lucky, but our path is not worth less based on that success. Primal has aspects of inner and outer health, both of which are necessary for overall mental happiness. Be happy with what you have, but always strive for better.

[Wildrose]

I find them inspirational. I would like to ask, what point are you starting at? I started at 350, so shedding 70 pounds wasn't that hard. I have a long way to go yet. If you're starting at 150, your weight loss can't be quite as impressive as some people. It's nothing to worry about.

[counterpuncher]

I can't really identify with them because I was already at a good weight when I went Primal.
I did it to feel better, and for better health.
But I'm happy for them.

[Comma]

I like the stories, but it throws me off track when I find that what works for xyz doesn't work for me.