What Do You Struggle With? page

[dimples]

Just curious about the diversity here. We all got into the Primal diet for various reasons.

What was your reason and what do you struggle with?

For me, I wanted to look good, so fat loss and muscle building was the main thing. Now, after learning so much, I don't want to be old and in pain.

The two things I struggle with is time, and being consistent. I run out of time to adequately prepare my meals, which results in food fatigue and/or eating at a food court.

How about you?

[nikitakolata]

I've been trying to lose 30 to 50 pounds for my entire life. I've never been successful at losing weight for more than a couple of months, so that is how I found PB and why I'm still trying it (though if I'm being honest, it really doesn't work for me for weight loss).

Right now my biggest struggle is not having control over the environment. I'm living with my parents (just 30 days to go!) and my mom keeps a truly obnoxious amount of junk in the house. In fact, in the past 2 weeks she's decided it would be a good idea to take up making cake balls as a hobby, even though she knows I'm allergic to gluten. She's always asking me to taste various things that I cannot eat. Basically, temptation is EVERYWHERE. I cannot wait to move. I'm also commuting about 2 hours each way to work right now and that basically eliminates all of my free time during the work week. I just keep telling myself that I don't have to do this much longer...

In general though, I always struggle with planning/preparing food in advance. I enjoy cooking when I have a lot of time but I hate it during my rushed work weeks and cooking everything in advance feels like a chore so I dread doing it on weekends. That means I usually end up putting it off and not doing it at all and then we're left scrambling trying to come up with something for dinner when we're both starving and not thinking straight. It's bad. I'm very particular about the texture of the foods I eat, too, and I find most food to be gross when it is reheated, so that makes it even tougher. There are very few foods that I'm happy to eat as leftovers, most of them get tough/rubbery/soggy/whatever and gross me out.

[itchy166]

I was looking for better overall health, and some fat loss.

I was suffering from regular migraines, GI trouble, panic attacks and depression. I have also been putting on about 5lbs per year, and although I've never really been overweight, at that rate I will be.

Primal/Paleo made sense to me, and I went with it. (A very low carb version of it).

My troubles improved very quickly, so I've now moved the goalposts - to body recomposition.

[sbhikes]

I was always so hungry. I could not manage my appetite. I kinda wrecked myself hiking 3000 miles in 2 years and doing it on cookies, pasta and candy. I couldn't stop gaining, I couldn't exercise without triggering ravenous hunger, I couldn't diet otherwise I'd be so hungry I'd want to kill myself. I just wanted control over my appetite. I lost some weight but I'm not thin. I'm working on strength these days so I can work with the body I have rather than continue to try for a body I will never have.

[gopintos]

What I struggle with now, is trying to figure out what I need to do to get the weight loss moving again. I started losing weight nicely, and then messed with my macros and calories naturally lowered, and weight loss stopped.

I tried to switch macros again, and not much happened. But I also increased my activity, so my progress might be masked a bit. Sometimes I feel thinner. The arm on one shirt in particular fits much better. So I dont know.

I am trying to do about a 3 way split now and I think that is helping, per PHD for weight loss, and also trying to zig zag my calories. I have trouble eating up to the high end. I just may not be eating enough. Just when I think it is helping, the middle of the month hits when I usually gain, and then exercise increased, so I don't know. Next week might be a better indicator of how it's going. And I went for about 6 months not eating enough fish and not taking fish oil cuz I thought I read something about not taking them. And I read just the other day about maybe when 03/06 is out of whack, weight loss stops. So I don't know.

Not giving up. Nothing to give up on. I have completely changed my eating and attitude, so nothing to give up on. I just wish I could figure out what I need to fine tune in order to get the rest of the weight to come off. I do get bummed when I look at my weight loss graph and how slow it has gone after it started off so well. I weigh this morning what I weighed 5 months ago. 5 months. 20lbs ligther than when I started Primal 11 months ago. 11 months ago. So I don't know.

[MissJecka]

For me, I just want to have a better relationship with food. Calorie-counting turned into obsession from 2008-2011 and really screwed up how I viewed food; going to the basics and keeping things simple (real ingredients, real food, real easy!) is helping me overcome my demons. Getting fit and lean is just a perk I hope to get to.

My boyfriend, who is a pasta-loving, cereal-eating, veggie-hating man... he is very very supportive, especially after my blood work results came back great and he can see the positive changes in me. My parents, who used to do Atkins in the late 90s and early 00s, are... okay with it... but think it's just a fad and are concerned that this isn't as great as I make it seem.

My boyfriend's parents have no idea and this is my main struggle. I don't want to seem like a pain in the ass when I'm around them; they love pasta, pizza, breads, etc. Luckily they also love seafood and good-quality meats. But, for the most part, they very much eat a SAD diet of oatmeal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and pasta with nearly every dinner. I hate having people I love cater to me, because I feel like I'm being the "difficult one".

[EagleRiverDee]

I started reading about it, and it just made sense, and answered a lot of questions about why I can lose weight when I cut out carbs and why I can't when I don't, even when I cut calories.

[Leida]

I am not Primal, but I like the wholesome approach to food - everything cooked at home, grow as much as you can of your own, source local meats.... I love the fitness concept with challenging your body with heavy weights and playing a lot. I like thinking that I do the best I can for my husband and daughter guarding them against unnecessary weight gain and food challenges.

I struggle the most with food quantity, I have problem limiting it and end up gaining weight. I can't eliminate sweet flavors (fruit, gum and honey) and I don't satiate on fat & feel ill on very low carb. I also have serious time crunch. And, finally, I hate the climate I live in, and would have much preferred to live by the warm seashore!

[CiKi90]

I had completely lost any type of healthy relation to food. Basically, I felt that food was evil, trying to kill me, make me fat, make me stupid, make me ill, and slow me down. Before I knew anything of Primal or Paleo, I didn't know where to begin, so I started eliminating foods that I felt were bad... Until I was subsisting solely on stevia in hot tea, coffee, 0-cal energy drinks, and steamed vegetables. Everything else filled me with fear until I was at my breaking point, physically and mentally. The final days of my phobia for a basic human need ended when I had daily panic attacks on vacation (restaurants were a high anxiety place for years.) I also successfully made my own father cry when I visited him for Christmas break, and he saw my weak condition.
But finally, after ages and ages of trying ridiculous diets, I found this. It made sense. It was scary to add all the fats back into my diet, but damn, I am so much happier. My life began to have meaning again. I once thought of people who enjoyed food to be "indulgent, greedy, and emotionally weak," but in all honesty, I was the emotionally weak one. Through Primal I've learned how food is NOT the enemy (just pharmaceutical companies, Monsanto, and big business food industries.)
I learned how to quell the part of me that says that foods should be avoided at all costs. With primal, I am strong, passionate, loving, and stable.

However, I still struggle with my trust in food, and my body's trust in the abundance of food. I still have "reactive eating" episodes, with "bottomless pit" syndrome, and killer cravings. I am being patient though, since my body has gone through so much. I struggle with being content with imperfection, and never striving for absolute perfection, but improvement. As long as I am trying, I am improving every day! (Sorry this was so long.)

[JoanieL]

Why I came here: pink slime in ground burger. Pissed me off and by the time I was done researching all the other garbage in the food supply, Primal (and to some extent Paleo) simply made sense.

What I struggle with: stonedness. Whether pot or alcohol, it doesn't necessarily make me eat non primal foods, but it can definitely make me a shitton of them. Because really, a 5'5" small boned woman shouldn't eat 2 lbs of beef smothered in mushrooms, lemon, and butter. And then an a half dozen hard boiled eggs with homemade mayo as a midnight snack. All primal, but more like Primal Gone Wild.