Three weeks into Primal - Update and Questions

tolygal

I am three weeks into the Primal lifestyle and I wanted to share my experiences so far.

First of all, I've only strayed once. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I had a corn tortilla and a few tortilla chips. I felt like total CRAP that evening and the next day. It was really weird. Other than that, I haven't even licked the spoon when making something non-Primal for my kids/husband.

The first week, I was THRILLED because I quickly lost almost 5 pounds (three of which I had been yo-yoing around for several weeks prior, so I figured about 2 real pounds). Well, the day after I posted my exciting new weight of 158.something, I jumped back up to 162. And that's where I was stuck for several days and then it started to creep back down to 159 with excruciating slowness. I was getting super discouraged, but then today I was down to 157.6. So that was super nice to see.

But that's only the story of the scale. What I find wayyyyy more exciting and promising is that even though I was super frustrated with the scale, I think his whole Primal lifestyle is really helping - I seriously do NOT have the cravings I used to have. Even when I miss a meal, I do not feel at all tempted to grab a poor choice for a snack just for something to fill me up and take away the hunger pangs. If I’m really hungry and don’t have time to make something, I grab a handful of my homemade trail mix and a glass of water and I’m filled right up. I used to feel light headed and sick when I didn't eat "on time." I used to be nervous about going someplace and not having food available to eat when I got hungry. I would often make sure to pack a snack, which was usually something that was mostly grain based, since that's what was so portable....and that never really filled me up or satisfied my hunger anyway - I just wanted more and more. But now I just feel a little grumble but no other physical affects. We even went out to eat on Sat night to a restaurant, and I was NOT tempted to eat any of the things I would have been unable to resist in the past. I got my salad and passed my bread to my son. NEVER EVER EVER have I been able to do that before!! I've always made an excuse to go ahead and indulge in it. So I always avoided going places like that when I was trying to “be good.” What a great feeling!!! :-)

I am tracking my foods intermittently because I want to have an idea where my carbs are with the different fruits and veggies and snacks I'm eating, and I am just not good at being consistent at tracking. I sometimes miss meals because I'm just not hungry and it seems ridiculous to eat when I'm not hungry and don't feel any urge to eat - especially when I'm trying to choose foods that provide me with the most nutrition. I'm about half-way through reading the Primal Blueprint and I just got the Primal Blueprint Cookbook - there are some yummy looking easy recipes in there!! I still haven't started really cooking a lot (it's not something I'm fond of or good at), but I think I'm feeling ready to start experimenting a little. I do feel like I'm spending a lot more money on food.....especially now that I'm buying organic for some things. I can't afford to do that for meat yet, but I'll get there. Our plan is to find one or two other people/families who want to purchase a whole animal together. I think it will save us a lot of money that way.

Anyway, I have two problems, and if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. First, I seem to be retaining water or something because I cannot fit my wedding ring on my finger. Second, I seem to be having a problem with a bit of constipation (really sorry for the TMI). I don't usually have that problem, but now I am, and I'm not sure how to fix it - more veggies/fruits???

Aside from health (obviously), I really want to lose some fat. Did you guys experience consistent fat loss by simply following the Primal lifestyle or did you have to do something specific (like count calories or carbs)? I hated that my weight jumped back up those three or so pounds and that it took so long to start going down again. I am absolutely more interested in my body fat loss and how my clothes are fitting than the scale, but I wasn't seeing any change there either. I haven't really been watching sodium, perhaps I need to??

Christie0428

Hi Tonya,

It is great that you are enjoying this choice! I have experience similar things.

RE constipation - I would drink more water and eat more fruits and veggies - particularly high water content ones... also dried prunes are a shure fire way to improve that situation... as you may remember - that is a common symptom of pregnancy and I ate 3-4 prunes a day to keep that in check.

RE weight loss - i may get flamed for this, but I would track your calories and keep them to a range that is appropriate for you for weight loss ... I am guessing 1400-1600. While I don't think it is quite as simple as calories in-calories out (your food choices DO matter), but there is something to that equasion, so for me I am following the whole30... and they say don't track calories, just go by how you feel, I to track calories and somewhat limit myself. I have higher calorie days and lower calorie days and I do try to eat according to how I am feeling, but my interal gauge on portion size is broken, I am working on fixing it, but while overall health is my goal, so is weight loss. I am extremely overweight so weight loss is extremely important to my overall health - you are a very reasonable weight already so this may not apply to you... so I track and limit cals... others in this "lifestyle" will very likely disagree. I've read lots of people on MFP saying that you must eat more to lose... I haven't been brave enough to try that, but what I am doing is working.

Good luck - you are doing great!

justaspoonfulofsugar

I had a quick look at some of the foods you have logged and from what I could see,you may need to adjust your macros a bit and perhaps up your calories..they seem really low but that could be b/c you are not logging everything.
Higher fat(lots of people sit around 60-65%)moderate protein and low carbs..carbs coming from a no starchy perspective are better for weight loss(green,leafy etc)..as you are working out quite a bit I would really look at calories.
There seem to be a number of people who follow the tdee method -20%.
This seems to be a popular site for working out calories and body fat percentages http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/
I would think lots of people will say it's a matter of finding out a plan that works best for you.
Hope that's a bit of something to go by.
I know I have heard Mark Sisson say that it can take months to really adjust to this way of eating(depending on how you were eating before)and see results.There is healing that needs to be done in order to reap the rewards.

Akimajuktuq

I know this will sound crazy, but on the rare occasion that I have any digestive problems, I REDUCE my fiber and increase fats. It works for me, but perhaps not everyone. I seem to have better digestive health with keeping my veggies (I don't eat much fruit) moderate, not high. I'm not sure about the retaining water because as long as I eat normally, I don't seem to have issues. I eat a ton of sea salt too without any side effects. However, I'm bloated now after being away from home for a few days. Yuck.

For my own best health and weight loss, I follow a ketogenic form of Primal. I eat a very high fat (70% calories and more when possible) and very low carb. I try to keep my carbs to 5% of my calories, but fiber puts me over sometimes. Also, doing strength training exercises help immensely with fat loss. Chronic cardio meh; strength training WIN. Currently, I'm just doing simple exercises such as squats and push ups, but I'll be increasing intensity as I go.

tolygal

Thanks guys!

I know my calories have been a little low recently....I usually aim for 1500 on rest days (or non lifting days if I do a workout) and 1800 on lifting days. But the problem is that I just haven't been all that hungry. My meals have been keeping me satisfied for a long time, so it seems wrong (and feels uncomfortable) to eat when I'm not hungry. There are times when I don't eat when I'm hungry because I'm busy, and then the hunger passes. Then the next opportunity to eat I'm no longer hungry and feel fairly "full" so I just wait longer and pretty soon I've missed a whole meal. But eating more later just fills me up too much and I feel uncomfortable. But I hear what you're saying - I'll keep an eye on that for sure - I usually do not have a problem with getting too few calories lol!! And I don't want to get stalled because of it!

On the days I'm tracking food, I'm mostly tracking to check for calorie count and carb count. My protein never seems to be a problem, and I've been choosing higher fat foods (which is probaly much of the reason my meals stick with me longer because I tried to keep protein higher even before switcing toPrimal). I'd like to keep my carbs between the 50-100 range because that's where the best fat loss is supposed to happen. So I'm trying to limit squash and other more starchy veggies (which I love, but do add to a dinner sometimes). And instead, I'm trying to get my veggies included in my salads. But they get so big and then I get so full that I can't eat later, and then I'm skipping meals and going low. I'll figure it out!! I guess it takes time to get it all right.

But - you can see in my diary (when I'm tracking) that I still don't eat enough probably because of all this. So adding some fruit/veggies to each meal may do the trick for the const. issue - I'll give that a shot. Hopefully it won't up my carbs too much. In The Primal Blueprint, I got to the part where he talks of the best fruits/veggies with the best nutrition for insulin result, so I guess I'll hold off on the oranges until I get my body fat down to a better level. I bought some grapefruit because I wanted something with a lot of vitamin c in it that wouldn't have a big insulin response (I think grapefruit was on the list), so I'm going to go try one now. I hope I like them lol - I haven't tried them since I was a kid. I don't even know how to eat them - my mom used to use a spoon. I think I'll try eating it like an orange.

I hope it doesn't take "months" to adjust lol!! I want to be at my goal in a few months!! But if it does, then I'll deal with it...

tolygal

I know this will sound crazy, but on the rare occasion that I have any digestive problems, I REDUCE my fiber and increase fats. It works for me, but perhaps not everyone. I seem to have better digestive health with keeping my veggies (I don't eat much fruit) moderate, not high. I'm not sure about the retaining water because as long as I eat normally, I don't seem to have issues. I eat a ton of sea salt too without any side effects. However, I'm bloated now after being away from home for a few days. Yuck.

For my own best health and weight loss, I follow a ketogenic form of Primal. I eat a very high fat (70% calories and more when possible) and very low carb. I try to keep my carbs to 5% of my calories, but fiber puts me over sometimes. Also, doing strength training exercises help immensely with fat loss. Chronic cardio meh; strength training WIN. Currently, I'm just doing simple exercises such as squats and push ups, but I'll be increasing intensity as I go.

Interesting about reducing fiber and increasing fat. I'll have to change my diary settings to see where my fiber has been.

So with keeping your carbs so low, what veggies and fruits are you eating?. I do very little cardo but I do lots of strength training. Are you seeing strength improvements with 5%?

LauraDotts

One of the issues with a low carb diet is that your gut flora (good bacteria) doesn't get enough sugars to stay alive and healthy. Lack of gut flora can cause constipation and other digestive issues. Get a good probiotic and/or add foods that have probiotics to your diet - good yogurt with live cultures, raw sauerkraut, etc.

SnicciFit

I know this will sound crazy, but on the rare occasion that I have any digestive problems, I REDUCE my fiber and increase fats.

I was actually going to suggest this as well

jenfitz

A daily magnesium capsule helps with constipation- I think Mark suggests this as well. Good luck!