Looking for some diary feedback - re plateau
ColwellCat
Posts: 84 Member
So just over 6 months ago I changed to a primal eating style in response to a high level of inflammation presenting as rheumatoid arthritis. One of those wonderful stories, within a few weeks, the intense pain symptoms went away - awesome! My CRP scores went from 200+ to 8.
But I also needed to lose some weight, and the first 13kg have fallen off over that 6 months. I would like to lose another 3. And the last couple of months have been a complete plateau, and I'm struggling to know how to shake it up!
Currently I aim to keep calories at 1600. On heavy exercise days, that creeps up to 1700-1750. I do an hour of strength work 4 times a week, and walk 5-7km daily. I focus pretty hard on my macros - pretty key to the lack of arthritic pain - and keep carbs under 75g a day, as part of ~20/30/50% C/P/F.
I do eat dairy - I find without it I get sad. I have tried excluding it, and reintroducing it didn't cause any symptoms. But I focus on grass fed, high fat, high quality dairy, and try not to go overboard. I have the occasional small amount of honey, or *very* occasional coconut sugar, but always within 75g of carbs for the day, and never more than 25g of carbs in a sitting. (That way leads to pain!) Other than that, no added sugar.
But I'd love some help/suggestions/feedback. My diary is open, and if I haven't answered any questions, I'm happy to!
Eta - oh, I am female, 26, 165cm and 61kg. That is 5'5" and 133lb in American.
But I also needed to lose some weight, and the first 13kg have fallen off over that 6 months. I would like to lose another 3. And the last couple of months have been a complete plateau, and I'm struggling to know how to shake it up!
Currently I aim to keep calories at 1600. On heavy exercise days, that creeps up to 1700-1750. I do an hour of strength work 4 times a week, and walk 5-7km daily. I focus pretty hard on my macros - pretty key to the lack of arthritic pain - and keep carbs under 75g a day, as part of ~20/30/50% C/P/F.
I do eat dairy - I find without it I get sad. I have tried excluding it, and reintroducing it didn't cause any symptoms. But I focus on grass fed, high fat, high quality dairy, and try not to go overboard. I have the occasional small amount of honey, or *very* occasional coconut sugar, but always within 75g of carbs for the day, and never more than 25g of carbs in a sitting. (That way leads to pain!) Other than that, no added sugar.
But I'd love some help/suggestions/feedback. My diary is open, and if I haven't answered any questions, I'm happy to!
Eta - oh, I am female, 26, 165cm and 61kg. That is 5'5" and 133lb in American.
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Thanks for the translation to American! Sometimes it's easy to get into a rut. Doing the same exercise, eating the same food, etc. When I get to a plateau I try to completely mix things up, and it usually helps.
Have a pig-out day! Do a completely different exercise routine. Do a full on fast for 1-2 days. Do intermittent fasting. Change my sleep schedule. Change the time of day I do stuff. Often doing one or two of those things for a week or two helps. If not, add another change. Maybe even *gasp* don't workout at all for a week or two. Our bodies sometimes need time to repair and rejuvenate.0 -
Here's some inspiration and ideas. Personally, she looks way better at 140LBS than 117.
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
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Thank you to you both.
You've absolutely hit it with the number not being the end all answer, Punchgut. I'm not afraid of the scale moving up once I've got my bf% to a healthy place - currently it's ~28%, a significant drop from a previous 37% - but still a bunch higher than I want it to be. I admit that getting to 58kg is a psychological milestone more than anything else... but it's been my goal, and getting back there is important to me.
Johjeff, you've given me some interesting ideas to mix things up. Thanks.0 -
And yes, at 140lb a vast improvement on the lower weight!0
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If you focus on health, your body will settle at it's best weight eventually, assuming that you eat appropriate foods most of the time and have an overall healthy and active lifestyle. So that means you could forget the number on the scale because compared to other health indicators (how you FEEL, body size, energy level etc) it's basically useless. Trying to force your body to fit what you think the number on the scale should be is a fail imo.
Yes, 133 is a very healthy weight for 5'5". VERY. If you decide to get more muscly your weight might even increase and that's a good thing too.
If your athritis does continue to trouble you look at nightshades and consider going a little lower in carbs/higher in fat. Even the dairy likely is not beneficial (inflammation) and unless it's raw, unpasteurized there really is no health benefit - but I do totally understand the difficulty with dairy; I find it hard to give up as well.0 -
Here's some inspiration and ideas. Personally, she looks way better at 140LBS than 117.
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
I second this. Also, don't try to diet down to a certain weight before you start lifting. Start lifting yesterday! The added lean mass will help you drop the body fat percentage.0 -
Such useful information (and seems so inline with what I am discovering) about arthritis! Thanks so much!
Colwellcat I am 5'5" and at my goal weight I am 132 and bmi is perfect. I know we are all built different but that seems like a good weight for your height? I heard mark sisson say that this way of eating gets you down to your ideal weight even though it might not be what we consider ideal.0 -
I am trying to break years of unhealthy body image issues, so thank you all for the gentle reminder to look less at the kg. My bf% is still above the healthy range, so perhaps that's what I need to focus on more. I have a naturally quite slight build, so I don't carry extra fat well.
I love what primal (and lifting) has done to my body. It's just that frustration when after 6 months of really clear measurable progress it seems to grind to a halt.
Thanks guys.0 -
ColwellCat wrote: »I am trying to break years of unhealthy body image issues, so thank you all for the gentle reminder to look less at the kg. My bf% is still above the healthy range, so perhaps that's what I need to focus on more. I have a naturally quite slight build, so I don't carry extra fat well.
I love what primal (and lifting) has done to my body. It's just that frustration when after 6 months of really clear measurable progress it seems to grind to a halt.
Thanks guys.
I do not know what kind of lifting you're doing, but if you're lifting heavy you are definitely in a protein deficit. This could easily cause a plateau. If you're not lifting heavy and doing a dumbbell routine or machines, you should switch your program over to a full body program using compound lifts. It's way, way more effective. You really should look into Strong Lifts 5X5 or Starting Strength. But, I'm not sure what your program is so take this with a grain of salt.
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