Initial Weight Gain on Primal/Paleo?

debski9949

Hi everyone,
Just looking for some support and advice here. Did anyone else have some initial weight gain when they first went primal/paleo? I have been eating primal for about 2 weeks and have gained 4 lbs. Not the result I was expecting. I have been getting to the gym 3-4x per week. Eating 2 eggs cups for breakfast: 1 egg cut with veggies and bacon, 1 egg cup with turkey bacon and veggies. I usually have that with 5 strawberries. Lunch is usually grilled or fresh veggies with turkey or chicken breast (both grilled). I have an apple around 3:00. Dinner is beef or chicken with veggies and a salad (no commercial dressing. Homemade w/ only 1T olive oil). In the evening I may be 1 oz natural almonds with fresh blueberries, or (If I did not have my apple earlier in the day) and apple with 1T almond butter. I don't snack much; if I do it is homemade paleo granola. I have been eating clean (no processed foods) for a few years now, so there is none of that to take out of my diet.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong and what I need to tweak? Did anyone else go thru an initial weight gain?
Thanks! I just am frustrated. I changed to this eating style because (1) it makes sense to me and (2) I wanted to lose 6 lbs. Now I have way more to lose.

dyannajoy

Hi everyone,
Just looking for some support and advice here. Did anyone else have some initial weight gain when they first went primal/paleo? I have been eating primal for about 2 weeks and have gained 4 lbs. Not the result I was expecting. I have been getting to the gym 3-4x per week. Eating 2 eggs cups for breakfast: 1 egg cut with veggies and bacon, 1 egg cup with turkey bacon and veggies. I usually have that with 5 strawberries. Lunch is usually grilled or fresh veggies with turkey or chicken breast (both grilled). I have an apple around 3:00. Dinner is beef or chicken with veggies and a salad (no commercial dressing. Homemade w/ only 1T olive oil). In the evening I may be 1 oz natural almonds with fresh blueberries, or (If I did not have my apple earlier in the day) and apple with 1T almond butter. I don't snack much; if I do it is homemade paleo granola. I have been eating clean (no processed foods) for a few years now, so there is none of that to take out of my diet.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong and what I need to tweak? Did anyone else go thru an initial weight gain?
Thanks! I just am frustrated. I changed to this eating style because (1) it makes sense to me and (2) I wanted to lose 6 lbs. Now I have way more to lose.

more calories? more fat? I am sorry I am not alot of help as I have not been doing this long enough...........but looks to me like you need more food.....especially fat? Hope you get some answers. Also are you working out alot more? Could your muscles be swelling? so you are retaining water. You are certainly not eating enough to gain........ Also is it that time of month? Just trying to help you find the right questions......:flowerforyou: good luck sweetie!

Frankenbarbie01

I did also...initially. In my case I've had to be very mindful of the amount of carbs I was eating from fruit. As a result I found FOR ME that 1-2 servings of fruit a week, not a day, is helping me.
I am now doing the Whole 30 challenge and am trying to keep my carbs around 50 per day. This may seem low but I function very well on it.
Also when I first started is was 'GAME ON.......MEAT!!!' now I try to have way more veg than I was.
It's all very personal and I think you could maybe do the calorie math (just for info to see where your at) and try to increase cals and healthy fats??? Dont give up..keep tweaking till you find the result that you want...your bdy will tell you

jsam163

I would try cutting down on the meat intake (bacon, beef) and go for the leaner proteins until you're at your goal weight. Once you're at your goal weight it's easier to just go free paleo (from what I've read - not at goal weight yet myself) and stay trim. But just eating paleo isn't always enough to lose weight right away. Gotta be a little more selective about which paleo foods you're eating. I'd amp up the veg and trim down the meat a little I think.

Cerebrus189

What do your macronutrient ratios look like? Are you eating enough fat? Your diary isn't open so I can't see precisely what you're eating. However, from what you describe as a typical day, i would ease off the nuts, nut butters and fruit from what you've described. I typically will have only a single serving of fruit a day, or a serving of nuts. I don't have a problem with eating red meat and losing but typically I lose more when I eat more fish, cook with coconut oil, and eat a lot of veggies.

overfences

I suggest that you record everything you're eating to see how many calories you're actually taking in. That looks like a lot of fruit to me -- but YMMV.

jackalope37

I started out non-Paleo, lost 8 lbs, gained back 6 and then held out.... for 60 days and my weight did not MOVE. I was working out 5-6 times a week, weight lifting, cardio, yoga (alternating, not all in one day!) and the scale.did.not.move. 30 days in I took measurements. 30 more days, STILL no movement on the scale - but! I weighed in 2 lbs less this week AND I lost 5 inches in measurements over the last month - 1.5 off my waist, -1 from my hips, the rest from legs/arms.

So I didn't have the big miraculous drop that a lot of people do - I already didn't eat processed food, drink soda, desserts, salty foods, etc., and it was really discouraging to watch people around me just drop weight (totally happy and excited for them, but tough for me as my weight just stalled out).

Thankfully some great people on this board encouraged me to keep going, keep doing the right things and eventually the weight would drop... and it is now. Whew. Take pics, take measurements, and check in on those every 2-4 weeks. Honestly, it's the only thing that kept me kind of sane when the scale wouldn't budge.

Also, I cut back on the nuts, and didn't eat a lot of fruit in the first place.

Hang in there!!!