So which is it? page 5

[Ayla2010]

No food scale, but not eating huge portions. Last nights dinner was 2 chicken thighs

[magicmerl]

I am seeing a lot "eat less and you will lose weight" I know its not as simple as that.

But then you have the others around here saying eat too little and your body will go into starvation mode, and hold on to the fat.

If I search I know ill find science for and against both ideas.

What is YOUR experience?

In my experience, eating less will make you lose weight. It will also make you depressed, give you cold hands and slow down your metabolism (making further weight loss harder).

The real trick to weight loss for me was to have a 'feast' day every week where you eat lots and your body realises that there's plenty of food around, so no need to go into starvation mode.

Then the other 6 days of the week, eat only when hungry, which for me means eating only twice a day with no snacks. You could even IF once or twice if you wanted to.

You lose weight on the 6 days normal days, more than enough to offset any gains from your 'feast' day.

[j3nn]

I'd see what the tests say and then I would eat all foods that are nourishing and that you like (within reason) to satiety for at least 6 weeks and track the exact calories and your activity level and your weight's behavior to find your true metabolic rate. Then you will know more about what is going on and how to correct it.

[gopintos]

I think there is hope for everyone.

<sigh> I hope so.

I thought I knew how to lose weight. Now I am not so sure. Sure is aggravating. <sigh>

[j3nn]

The real trick to weight loss for me was to have a 'feast' day every week where you eat lots and your body realises that there's plenty of food around, so no need to go into starvation mode.

Ha! Yes. Since starting to lose weight several years ago, I always incorporated "cheat" days to eat at or above maintenance! Many, many cheat days, lol. But you have to be on track the other days for it to balance out. I'm a HUGE fan of calorie cycling. I think it's the most natural way to eat; less some days, more others; none some days, LOTS others, etc.

[Wulf]

I frankly don't believe starvation mode can be entered by a person who do not have anorexic disorder, as your mind will not over-ride the body impulse to eat when it needs nourishment.

Yes the mind can easily override the impulse to eat, it's called willpower. I do not have anorexia, but in high school I lost a lot of weight the CW way by greatly restricting calories, and experienced signs of extreme metabolic slow down: I was constantly cold, especially my extremities, and had low alertness. I did get darn skinny tho. This was accomplished by eating nothing until I came home after school and having one bowl of shredded wheat with nonfat milk, then eating a very reasonable portion of whatever mom made for dinner (nothing particularly unhealthy, CW-wise). I did not have a disorder but I did have a strong will to lose weight; it's high school, where there is ton of social pressure to be skinny. I had always been a slightly heavier kid, and never paid attention much to what I ate till my friend asked me what my double chin was in middle school, and all of a sudden I noticed I was overweight. So in 9th grade I slimmed down by that starvation-mode diet. Was probably a size 4 then.

The other time I noticed losing a lot of weight pretty easy was when I was in the habit of making a huge shake for first meal, like, an entire blender full of psyllium fiber, raw eggs, protein powder, frozen fruit, and maybe yogurt or something, and drink the whole thing at once. Got down to a size 6 then.

Currently I am somewhat overweight, size 11, but I notice I will not lose weight if I do not consciously deprive myself somewhat of calories. Diet is not ideally primal but doing more and better at it over time. I've only been really interested in primal since late last year. I'm really good at maintaining my weight, and not gaining any, but losing it is hard, and haven't been able to get below the current weight for probably 6+ years now. I do NOT calorie count at all, I hate that; I just keep in mind in general how much I have eaten for the day. And if I eat normally, without any deprivation, I maintain weight. But it seems I do need to deprive myself at least somewhat to lose any weight; as in, don't go for another meal late in the day, and just in general restrict myself from eating a bit more than I would prefer. I'm still in the process of getting grains out of my diet, and most days fail at not eating grains, but I do make an effort to eat less, and am currently eating a lot less than before. Unfortunately, I still have a good stock of various "healthy" grains in the house that I bought before I got with PB, and I really hate to waste things, so there they sit.

In short, while my diet is not totally primal, it's better than before, but losing weight is definitely not effortless.
A conscious, moderate amount of calorie restriction is still necessary to lose weight.

[j3nn]

<sigh> I hope so.

I thought I knew how to lose weight. Now I am not so sure. Sure is aggravating. <sigh>

Weight loss is never linear. Hang in there! Change things up, and often!

[Neckhammer]

I am going to ask for blood tests today.

I'd find a doctor practicing functional medicine if you are really wanting to dive down the rabbit hole and figure out some answers.

[Neckhammer]

In my experience, eating less will make you lose weight. It will also make you depressed, give you cold hands and slow down your metabolism (making further weight loss harder).

The real trick to weight loss for me was to have a 'feast' day every week where you eat lots and your body realises that there's plenty of food around, so no need to go into starvation mode.

Then the other 6 days of the week, eat only when hungry, which for me means eating only twice a day with no snacks. You could even IF once or twice if you wanted to.

You lose weight on the 6 days normal days, more than enough to offset any gains from your 'feast' day.

This also works well. I did the 4hr slow carb thing for a while with the feast day.....well i ditched the beans, but I kept the feast day principle

[Ayla2010]

So those doing the "cheat" day is that even non primal foods?