Opinions Please-weight loss page

[Ahava]

Hi there,
I'm 39 and have been following a primal way of eating for almost 9 weeks. I am working with a trainer and have been 100% compliment. I would love to hear from other women because I am somewhat frustrated that my weight loss seems to be stalled. Below is how I eat, sleep and workout. I have also included my weight loss. I would love to gear from others who have experiences weight loss to help overcome the weight not coming off.

Eating:
Protein- free range eggs, grass fed beef, free range chicken, fish, seafood, pastured pork, bacon, sardines, tuna
Vegetables- all except for starchy (no potatoes, no ya s etc.)
Fat- coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, olives and fat from meat
No Dairy ( I did have liquid whipping cream on wknds with coffee but am trying to cut to see if it helps)
Nuts- I stopped nuts for almost 2 weeks now to see if it helps
Coffee- one American on Saturday and Sunday
I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack on vegetables or eggs/fish if hungry. Sometimes a tsp. of coconut oil does the trick.
I track my food using an app and see my calories average 1200 or go as high as 1500-1600

Sleep:
I try to get to bed by 10-10:30 and have my room as dark as possible.

Excercise:
TRX class - 1/week
Workout with trainer- 1/ week
Sprints with long walk- 1/ week
Sprints or rowing with weights -1/week

Weight loss
Starting weight- 231/ current 216
Weight loss:
Week 1-7.6
Week 2-2
Week 3-1.2
Week 4-2.2
Week 5-2.2
Week 6-0
Week 7-0
Week 8-2
Currently scale is showing a +2 gain

Other: I just added in Vitamin D and Magnessium daily

Would love the input of those who have experienced weight loss. The stalling is frustrating as I am eating sooooo clean. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[LauraSB]

Are you comfortable, I mean energy-wise and hunger-wise, eating the amount of food you're eating? At your weight and activity level, I would think you would still lose steadily eating 1600 calories every day. When I started out, I wasn't eating anything close to primal and weight loss was quite steady at a 1000 calorie/day deficit.

I can't really advise you on the "cleanness" of your diet because I'm much more relaxed than you. My typical day starts with 2 cups of coffee with 1T heavy cream and my breakfast/lunch today was a 12oz sweet potato. But I do see weeks where weight loss seems to stop, maybe even drift up a bit, and then start up again for no apparent reason. I have learned to just be patient.

[Ahava]

Thanks Laura. I do have pretty good energy but am admittedly a little worried about over eating. I am really trying hard to be in tune with hunger as well. I am ok being patient, just trying to figure out my body and how to be in fat burning mode.

[teach2183]

You had a pretty big loss up front, your body may be slowing weight loss right now to heal something else. You may also be exchanging fat for muscle - how do your clothes fit? I also wondering if you're eating enough. Stop worrying so much about the calories and focus on true hunger. I found in the past that if I don't eat enough I stop losing and sometimes even gain weight. Sounds weird, but I guess my body starts holding onto everything possible.

[sarahelyse]

Have you tried IF?

[Ahava]

I haven't yet but have thought about it. What is your experience with it? I've read different things about women and IF. Very open though. Thanks!

[Ahava]

Thanks Teach! Clothes are feeling good and I definitely could be gaining muscle. I am so curious to hear from other women who have had large weight losses. I am eating this way to be healthy- no more weight watchers et . I feel good ( although I miss fruit and my daily coffee).

[sarahelyse]

I'll admit, I haven't done a ton of research on IF. I did just enough to stumble upon the 16hr fast/8hr eating window and decided that was a perfect fit for me! I'm not usually super hungry when I wake up, so its easy enough to just skip breakfast. My 8hr eating window starts around noon and ends at 8 (included lunch and dinner). I pack my lunch for work which is usually still pretty light, so I get to eat a lot at dinner (which is easier for me, since I can take the time to cook fun stuff at home, as opposed to bringing something fancy to work).

I've discovered that its literally impossible for me to over eat this way because I simply can't cram that much food into my mouth during 8 hours! It's super easy for me and my schedule, and its nice because I don't have to worry about anything! I just eat as much as I want!

[Heth]

Hi Ahava,
It sounds like you are eating and training really well. You have made great losses so far so I am not surprised that you have stalled at this stage. I have lost over 30lb and I find it usually happens in spurts: I will lose barely anything for nearly a month but then I will suddenly lose several pounds. I did have one major plateau and the way I got through it is to cut calories (even though I seemed to be eating at a big enough deficit to lose) by focusing on lower calorie foods. this doesn't mean stuffing yourself full of veggies, more like just not eating too much oil/butter, nuts and such. Many awesome Primal foods are pretty low in calories, such as fish, eggs (especially if you don't use oil/fat to cook them), olives, avocado, etc, while being filling.

[yafoo22]

I am at 198 now and my weight always tends to stall when my calories drop and I'm working out too much. I'm assuming my body goes into starvation mode at that point. I always hit a plateau when I think I'm doing really well. For me it just takes me eating more food, as weird as that is, and I eat sweet potatoes after workouts. I feared the carbs for a long time, but that's when my weight loss would stall. Don't fear the carbs or a sweet potato here and there especially on workout days. Also, I don't know your nutrient breakdown, but you may want to try increasing your fat and dropping your protein a bit. Just be patient. I had a caloric deficit of over 7000 two weeks ago and the scale didn't budge. I upped my carbs the next day to about 100g, which included a sweet potato, and ended up eating around 1800 calories. I weight myself the day after that and I had dropped 2.5lbs. Weight loss is weird. Just play around with everything and don't be afraid of the calories or carbs! Good luck :-)