Did I blow it? page

[Sauer]

I am 6’2”, weigh about 185 and want to get to 175. I’m in fairly decent shape and am completely behind the philosophy of eating this way- today is day 3. That said, I am in the Army and serving in Kuwait- I do not have many options regarding organic/grass fed/non-GMO foods. I’m fairly certain our diet consists of whatever is cheapest and will last longest. Regardless, I can avoid sweets/sugars/grains and can eat plenty of animal and leafy green vegetables. As it’s the holidays however, there are care packages of sweets everywhere. To curb those cravings this evening I ate, in one sitting, what I estimate to be 30-40 ounces of a mix of chicken breast (boneless skinless), pork roast, and turkey wings (I’m guessing c. 2000-2500+ calories; net carbs is likely less than 6 (I had 3-5 cups of raw spinach as well) but the number of calories has me concerned. I ate just over 4000 calories for the day, cumulative net carbs are around 40; I intend to stay below 50 for at least 10 days and will endeavor for 21. Has anyone else gone through this bingeing with any sort of frequency? Is this bingeing? I look forward to reading any reply.

[EagleRiverDee]

I think particularly in the beginning that cravings kick in hard. It takes a week or two to get the body adjusted to not having sugar and simple carbs. Fight it for that long, and it gets easier. In any case, you didn't blow it. This is a lifestyle- one bad day doesn't make it or break it.

I firmly believe that 3 changes alone will make a difference in anyone's health: cut processed foods, cut sugar (all types), cut wheat. I believe in paleo/primal but I think those are the 3 biggest take-aways and I think that if people only did that we would still see major results in people's overall health and weight. If you can't do the full deal, consider just doing what you can.

[Tribal Rob]

nah you've not blown it, as said above, changing your way of eating is long term, one day should not cause you to chuck in the towel.

More importantly, big respect for gettibg through that much meat

Slightly less importantly, try to find some fat to go with that meat next as excess protien can be turned to sugar (some clever get will give the proper word for it, I've got a mental block other than thinking it ends with oisis atm).

[AmyP]

Whenever I jump off the wagon and then have to drag myself back on I tend to have a primal binge. It's not a big deal. So you may have eaten too much, so what!

The main thing that I have learned over the past few years eating this way is that this is not a "diet". This is how I eat. This is how I will eat for the rest of my life. So if I screw up and stuff my face with cookies every once in a while, I just move on. There is always a next meal to do better. If this is how you eat, then you can't really blow it unless you give up.

Thank you for your service, btw. I appreciate and admire people that join the armed forces. My six year old son wants to be a Veteran when he grows up If you need a care package of nuts, dark chocolate, and larabars you just let me know!

[Whitefox]

Nah you're good. Honestly, while calories "matter" if you're eating healthy things and working out I believe it's very unlikely you will gain weight. Peter Attia, who is on a ketogenic diet (what you're doing right now if carbs are 50g or less - though you won't be in ketosis if you are eating tons of protein), has eaten 3-4K calories at times and is quite lean. The calories aren't what matter, because if you eat a certain way you will partition your calories into muscle and lean tissue as opposed to fat. Obviously, that certain way is something along the lines of paleo. You don't seem really overweight or anything, so don't worry about being highly insulin resistant; i.e. you can eat potatoes/sweet potatoes/white rice (less ideal b/c can impact LDL, but better than grains) and still lose weight -> carbohydrates don't make you gain weight any more than fat does as long as you are eating the right kinds. I would say for energy purposes if you're doing high-intensity running or endurance stuff that you will need more carbohydrates - preferably after a workout (for insulin sensitivity and reduced hunger from insulin) and then keep the fat high all other times like you're doing.

Last thing to note - if you're 6'2" and an active member of the army, you may only reach 180 or something if you're gaining muscle, so just use pictures as a proxy for your body fat % Body Fat Percentage Pictures of Men & Women (the 10-12% guy is definitely like 9-10% body fat, btw, and can reasonably be attained without supplements or perfect foods). Good luck!

[Sauer]

Thanks, everyone, for responding- I sincerely appreciate the sense of community here and the tips / motivation.

[cheffy]

nah you've not blown it, as said above, changing your way of eating is long term, one day should not cause you to chuck in the towel.

More importantly, big respect for gettibg through that much meat

Slightly less importantly, try to find some fat to go with that meat next as excess protien can be turned to sugar (some clever get will give the proper word for it, I've got a mental block other than thinking it ends with oisis atm).

Gluconeogenisis

[Drumroll]

Better to binge on meats and veggies than candies, cookies, and brownies!

[Huntress]

Even if you blew it, don't worry about it. Looks at strategies to avoid it in the future, as it will likely happen again.

I've been in a similar situation to you and I found the best way is to take extra bacon (like 4-6 slices) at breakfast to munch on cold through the day (although, this will depend on whether you have the capacity to store it through the day) Because it was nice and fatty it totally shut down any cravings for sweets. Any time I thought about / was offered sweets, I'd have 1-2 pieces of bacon. Worked better than nuts and other things I tried.

[merryish]

I honestly don't stress out about my adherence to the blueprint as a "diet." I stick to primal foods as much as I can, and if I overeat on calories on one day, I figure I'll probably even it out the next with an IF or something. I have days where I eat everything in sight; on those days, I just try really hard to make sure I only see whole foods (and no grains!)

For my money, eating a giant bag of peppermint bark is blowing it (*kof* - not that I would ever!); eating a giant bag of meat is not, so don't beat yourself up about it. Instead, congratulate yourself on making the best of your situation - it's hard to find ways to eat healthy with a limited range of choices, and it sounds like you're doing a great job.