Waiting for the PB Miracle... page 2

[primalrob]

For some, these lifestyle fixes are easy - the basic logistics of my work/life/finance dont seem to allow for many of them. Hey ho... I'll plod on. PB seems good, and makes sense, so I wont give up... maybe a bit more tinkering needed.

that is absolutely true for a lot of us. big, sweeping changes seem insurmountable when you've got a job that doesn't allow a lot of free time, a commute, a family, etc.
small changes or tweaks are a little easier to fit into your lifestyle, and even those can take a few weeks to really become part of your behavior/diet/exercise routine. if i were you, i would focus on your diet first. get a good idea of what you're eating on a regular basis (tracking), then experiment with some changes and see how they affect you. then experiment with something else, then something else. it can take a while to figure out what works for you, but if you're curious and patient, it can be a great journey of self-exploration.

[TigerBeard]

i think you need to change your first goal to fat loss instead of weight loss. i know it's a minor change, but it matters. in fact, get rid of your scale.

Nice sloganeering... unfortunately much of the medical & insurance establishment in the UK base everything off your BMI. The only medical I have ever had that didnt consider that heavily was my diving medical. She understood that muscle is heavier... even so the shock to me of the 44" waist she measured in April accelerated my drive to be fitter & healthier. I am now a 39-40" waist depending how much I breathe in! Pretty reasonable for 8 months ... but only lost 1" since going primal in Sept.

has anything else changed? are your clothes looser? more energy? the primal blueprint is about improving your health; losing weight is just a positive byproduct for most people.

Yup. I've always stated my goal before as being fitter... however, my reason for going primal was to lose weight in a diabetic friendly way. So many diets majored on the foods I know spike my T2 diabetes... so it had to be low carb. Atkins is too prescriptive... I dont want to be a slave to lists. So PB is to lose weight, with minimal diabetic impact.

you should try logging your food for a week or two, and log absolutely everything that goes in your mouth. get a sense of how many calories you're really eating, how many carbohydrates, how much fat, etc. i'm guess there is a shift that you can make with your diet that might help move things along.
swimming is great, but is that all your exercise? if so, maybe it's time to start lifting heavy things and getting in some sprint workouts (you can do sprints in the pool).

I've not done lifting weights. Something about the culture of the gym that totally puts me off ever crossing the threshold. And lifting heavy things anywhere else usually requires daylight Yeah, excuses. But I like the anonymity of swimming... me alone against the clock, and can shut out the outside world. Its also a sport where Im proficient, and my bulk is an advantage... added bouyancy

My swims to most people would be considered sprints... I do 1/4 mile breaststroke at a time, in around 9 mins. 4 sets for the mile.

Just picking up on AshleyL again... fruit. I forgot to add that I usually have 1 apple, 1 banana at the end of the main evening meal. I dont want to drop fruit in order to gain supplement tablets to gain back the lost vitamins. Lets face it... Grok didnt have supplement tablets.

As I said... I'm frustrated as I read all these "success stories" of people losing 2-3lbs/week for the first couple of months. If they had had my "success", there would be no PB movement at all.

[TigerBeard]

that is absolutely true for a lot of us. big, sweeping changes seem insurmountable when you've got a job that doesn't allow a lot of free time, a commute, a family, etc.
small changes or tweaks are a little easier to fit into your lifestyle, and even those can take a few weeks to really become part of your behavior/diet/exercise routine. if i were you, i would focus on your diet first. get a good idea of what you're eating on a regular basis (tracking), then experiment with some changes and see how they affect you. then experiment with something else, then something else. it can take a while to figure out what works for you, but if you're curious and patient, it can be a great journey of self-exploration.

Good advice... thanks.

[spuggygirl]

Hi - I live in Scotland, so even more miserable and cold...and I have a desk job too. Still loads of ways to do well primally.

My twopenny worth would be to ditch the baked potato for a BAS and to start lifting weights.

After months of maintaining weight, I cut my carbs back quite a bit (I don't measure, but stick to loads green leafy veggies, avocado and a few cherry tomatoes in my salad), increased my fat intake. This has been quite revelationary for me as it has had quite an impact on my hunger levels and these days I don't snack at all and am tending to eat just two meals a day for the most part.

I also started some heavy lifting about four months ago - and to my surprise I absolutely love it!!

Weight loss is still slow - but it is coming off, but the biggest thing is that I love, love, love heavy lifting and I feel absolutely fantastic.

I do, and have for quite a while now, taken a D3 supplement - I found that it really helped to even out my mood and I don't suffer from the ups and downs I used to. Now my mood is generally good and stable.

Don't lose heart, but do try to stay positive. Don't take this badly, but there's more than a hint of feeling sorry for yourself in your post - which won't help you in the long run. You're asking for feedback and help which is a great step forward...remember that primal works differently for everyone and you need to find the right balance that works for you. Tweaking is the way forward.

[FlyingPig]

I've not done lifting weights. Something about the culture of the gym that totally puts me off ever crossing the threshold. And lifting heavy things anywhere else usually requires daylight Yeah, excuses. But I like the anonymity of swimming... me alone against the clock, and can shut out the outside world. Its also a sport where Im proficient, and my bulk is an advantage... added bouyancy

I had exactly the same attitude towards the gym, but there is a solution: consider kettlebell work-outs from home. I never lifted a weight in my life, I was exactly your weight and had a waist of 42.75", and now I'm down to 189lbs and 33" waist thanks to Primal eating (and yes, keep an eye on those calories) and moderate weight-lifting.
IF and two big meals a day works for me, and if you swing a kettlebell just 10 minutes a day you'll melt that fat in no time.

[sarasue624]

Oh my goodness you lost 4 inches in your waist in 8 months! Geez. I would love that kind of progress. It's a sign to keep doing what you're doing as you're obviously losing fat and replacing it with muscle. Eventually the muscle building will slow down and you'll just be losing fat.

Good work!

[AshleyL]

One medium potato is 33 carbohydrates, one large potato is 57 (!!!) carbs. 1/4 cup of raisins is is 31 carbs. One large banana has 28 carbs, a medium has 24, one large apple has 25 grams...

Whereas half a fried eggplant is like 2 carbs. A huge pile of turnip greens is about 2 as well. An egg has "none" as does a huge slab of meat. A cup of cubed cheese has less than two grams. So on and so forth, so you can see how those foods really pack a carbohydrate punch. What your body does with those carbs because your sugar metabolism is broken and the insulin that comes with carbs, is it bypasses your lean tissues and shuttles it right into your fat cells. Then your muscles say, hey, we are starving here, eat some carbs!" (because carbs are what your body is used to running on, not so much fat). And you give it more and it just keeps going to the fat and little going to the muscle. It's kind of like foreign aid, you give a bunch of money to a government where people are starving, but somehow the people just can't get the food. You have to fix the government! You have to fix your sugar metabolism. And to start that, you have to stop eating sugar and things that turn into sugar (carbs) to turn its world upside down and put it in boot camp. Force it to change it's ways. Be sure to eat your greens and veggies for electrolytes too. And they will provide your vitamins and minerals. Another thing is, your body will soon not need so much vitamins and minerals because it's not constantly putting out inflammatory fires around your body.

And when I really want something sweet, I eat some "chocoperfection" bar. They are sweetened with inulin and are so good. I have a couple blocks and my desire for something sweet goes away.

If you cut out that fruit and potato, you will very likely see how much carbs it was giving you in how hungry you become. Your body is using it to keep the status quo going. Of course, this starving will pass in as little as a couple days to as much as a couple weeks or so. For me it was a couple weeks.

[primalrob]

Whereas half a fried eggplant is about 10-11 carbs. A huge pile of turnip greens is about 10 as well. An egg has "none" as does a huge slab of meat. A cup of cubed cheese has less than two grams. So on and so forth, so you can see how those foods really pack a carbohydrate punch. What your body does with those carbs because your sugar metabolism is broken and the insulin that comes with carbs, is it bypasses your lean tissues and shuttles it right into your fat cells. Then your muscles say, hey, we are starving here, eat some carbs!" (because carbs are what your body is used to running on, not so much fat). And you give it more and it just keeps going to the fat and little going to the muscle. It's kind of like foreign aid, you give a bunch of money to a government where people are starving, but somehow the people just can't get the food. You have to fix the government! You have to fix your sugar metabolism. And to start that, you have to stop eating sugar and things that turn into sugar (carbs) to turn its world upside down and put it in boot camp. Force it to change it's ways. Be sure to eat your greens and veggies for electrolytes too.

that is such a good explanation. nice job.

[AshleyL]

When I first posted that I forgot to minus the fiber carbs (oops!), went back and edited for anyone wondering why the numbers in the quote and my original message don't match!

[sbhikes]

I know that Kurt Harris has since scoffed at his own recommendations, but I remember he used to tell people that if eating this way didn't result in any weight loss that perhaps they were so metabolically broken they needed to try an all-meat diet. If all meat couldn't do it, there was no hope. It might be worth a try as sort of a low carb induction for you since your diet really hasn't been all that low carb.

Meanwhile, if you have your own office, you can shut the door and do some squats or lunges or pushups or whatever every hour. I do that. Like just 30 squats, then back to my chair.