weight loss on Primal

samida

Hi Everyone - I have been reading everyone's success with weight loss following the Primal principles. I cut out sugar last May, and all grains more than a month ago. I stay within the "sweet spot" daily and the scale has not budged downward. I have started logging in my foods (which I had sincerely hoped I would not have to do in order to achieve weight loss) and find that my carb intake does not go over 100, and my calories rarely go over 1400 (calculated for a weight loss of 1 pound a week). Let me just say that I am over 200 pounds so it is not an issue of my body needing to be where it is! LOL (God forbid!)

I bought Mark Sisson's "21 Days to Total Body Transformation" hoping that someone else's structure would be better than my own. Have only been with that a few days so too early to tell.

But my question is, how many of you who are successful at weight loss with primal (understanding that there are dozens of ways to measure success with this!) also track your foods?

Thanks in advance for your answer!
Miriam
p.s. I have to take the exercise part of this slowly as I am dealing with a knee replacement in one knee, no cartilage in the other, and bursitis in a shoulder. I have, however, been using a recumbent bike and three days ago I took on 4 flights of stairs up and down, once a day. So although I am not giving 100% to the exercise recommendations I am giving 100% to the food guidelines.

Dragonwolf

Do you have any personal or family history of endocrine or reproductive issues of any sort? Women are, unfortunately, prone to a number of things that make weight loss neigh impossible. If you're prone to it, especially combined with the hormonal changes that come with menopause and being post-menopause, it can make things more difficult.

Barring that, it might be something as simple as needing to reduce carbs more. The "sweet spot" is a generic recommendation, but some people find that they need to actually get into the ketogenic state in order to reduce insulin levels enough to lose weight.

That said, I know some people track mainly to keep track of carbs (as opposed to tracking calories), and some will do it to make sure they're eating enough food (since it's easy to undereat).

Regardless, I sympathize with the frustrations of not being able to lose weight, and hope you find your weight loss sweet spot.

Akimajuktuq

Sometimes for severe metabolic issues, reducing carbs, and increasing fat, even further is beneficial. For the first year, I had my carbs set at 5% (20-25 grams per day) and fat at 75-80% then changed to 10% carbs (40 grams, but I was usually well under) and 70% fat. Don't go by my current settings-I'm eating closer to maintenance and allowing a few extra carbs during my vacation. I have mostly been Primal, but on months where I quit dairy I lose fat much faster. I do track my food, even during my modified Whole30, because I still need to. Feel free to look; it's open. Eliminating dairy will be something I do increasingly more. I like how I feel without it and I can't get decent cheese at home anyway. I do practice intuitive eating at lunch and on vacations. I will be doing an intuitive eating Whole30 likely sometime next fall, or when I feel my metabolism has fully healed.

Also, if you are over 200 pounds 1400 calories is not enough. There's no need to eat that little and the metabolism can get very efficient on running on less fuel and conserving fat stores. When I started out I was 241 and MFP set my calories at 1600 which was too low. Because of that, after the initial fast loss, I hit a plateau early this year. So, I am still eating 1600, plus some of my exercise calories and losing at a fairly steady pace, not always linear (my calories are now set higher for vacation). As mentioned, I lose better when I follow a stricter Paleo diet (Whole30) which I still do with high fat, low carb. I just ended a W30 and lost 5 pounds in 5 weeks. When I eat Primal I only lose maybe 2 pounds per month (which is still awesome). My slowing weight loss reflects that i am nearing where my body wants to settle.

PS. As Dragonwolf mentioned I track mainly to keep an eye on the carbs and fat. It's vital for me that the carbs stay low and the fat high. The calories are far less important. For me.

samida

Thank you both for your replies. I have Hashimoto's disease and am post-menopausal so maybe I am coming into this with weight loss resistance built in... But not impossible. I will just stay the course and be more patient with myself.

I am very excited to be changing my primary doctor to someone who practices functional medicine and actually sees food and not medicine as a primary course of action so I am sure I will get the support I need from her. Unfortunately she isn't taking new patients until April but I am on her cancellation list so hopefully it will be sooner than that.

Thank you again four your reply.
Miriam

leighn62

When I'm trying to lose weight I keep my carbs under 50 gm and count calories and protein to make sure I don't overeat protein. It is my understanding that eating more protein than your body needs is counter productive. I aim for .5 gm per lb of body weight.

Shazoo00oo

Also, how's your water intake?
That's something that I struggle with a lot and find when I don't drink about 10 cups of water a day, I don't lose

superjean1

do you have access to a pool? With your joint problems, swimming or water aerobics are great workouts, but are so gentle on the joints! Good luck with the functional medicine doctor and primal living. With the endocrine stuff, it may take your body a bit longer to respond, but stick with it!

Nutmeg76

Intervals are super helpful for metabolic issues. Walk/fast walk will work. Swimming as mentioned is useful too. You also need to incorporate weight training of some sort. Find something you can do within your limitations.

mike00t

Hi - I can tell you what works for me:

Eating 3 meals a day, no snacking. I have a big breakfast and I'm fine until lunch. Lately I have been snacking in the afternoon and, not surprisingly, I put on 4 pounds over the holidays.

Moving 'primaly' throughout the day. I think exercise is important, but it also important to keep active at much as possible. I have a desk job but I get up and walk around at least once per hour, I don't use elevators or escalators, and I usually park 10 minutes walk away from work.

FitToLead

Good luck miriam,
I have just come across paleo- though have for years had to limit dairy, oats, gluten, sugar and legumes to reduce bloating, inflammation and asthma.. I am also in your age group, have had a number of signficiant illnesses, quite a few injuries (I'm a bit of an adventure junkie) , have had signficiant hormone chalenges over 2 decades, and last week an appendectomy.

In between, I have been remarkably healthy and fit - though never thin. I do not lose weight easily- so I sympathise.

My naturopath said that grain often causes the inflamation and problems with the lymphatic system that (in sensitive people) lead to appendicitis, so he discussed with me having no grain of any kind, not even rice.

So I've been completey diligent since the surgery.. and only in the last few days have sought out info on people who eat like this - and they are the paleo /primal eaters.

So, I wish you well.. I am glad to have found a community of people trying to eat well. And am finding other oon meetup up here in Australia. I aim to be a gourmet paleo cook, so my freinds don;t even notice what they are missing when they dine with me.. Luckily they think of me as the salad queen cos I always bring salad when I eat with them so I know I can eat something when I visit people:) .. any way, a bit of a rant.. but yes, in my expereince, a few more calories - ie reset your metabolism might help you, as would more water, dropping carbs really low for a few days, then upping again.. as all the others have said.

Good luck