How Did You Lose Weight On A Ray Peat Diet?

[EIRE24]

These days if I'm active. Say I go backpacking, on a 5 mile hike, etc. I eat an extra few thousand calories. Intense mental activity can also increase demand.

If I'm sedentary, I eat less.

Gotcha

 

[James IV]

I can relate to the soft centre and skinny arms and legs with high carb low fat. Maybe increasing protein would help with this?

Also, what other differences besides composition do you notice? I'm guessing it is high fat and high protein you are running at the moment with your diet

I may have had better luck with more lean protein, but I don't like to force myself to eat food if I don't desire it.

Ive come to the realization that I just do better on high animal foods, even if it's a bit more expensive. When i lower my fat to levels low enough to spur weight loss on higher carbs, i always end up with negative health consequences. I also feel better with less starch and no fiber, which is difficult to achieve when a large portion of my calories come from carbs.

My skin, hair, optimism, mental clarity, confidence, and erection/ejaculate quality are all better when fatty animal foods make up a significant portion of my diet.

 

[theLaw]

Might try the 200+G protein per day described here:

https://raypeatforum.com/community/...increases-muscle-mass-even-w-o-training.4099/

Cheers!

 

[Deleted member 5487]

What has helped you the most and what is the best way to reach 10 %?

I have a lot of muscle mass and am probably about 14% BF. Not fat by any means.

I cracked the code of weight loss utilizing pests principles.

Essentially the keys to weight loss have nothing to do with calories as I eat to appetite all day and snack all day.

1) No starch at all. Crucial some peat reader's advocate starch. I would not consume it at all. I can tell very quickly the way it changes body comp through endotoxin,stress, and water weight. Even gelatinized pressure cooker potatoes and white rice are a now go. Trust me. But test it yourself

2) Gelatin with every protein meal.

3) Fructose. Lots of it. Really really makes you lose weight. The body thinks you have found a jackpot of fruit and it starts dumping reserves if ur in decent health and thyroid is functioning. My favorite now is frozen mango, or Apple sauce cooked with a lot of honey and cinnamon, OJ. All from Costco.

4) Lowish fat. Not low fat I eat butter and 1% milk but keep the fat down. Your liver and muscles are burning your reserved fat( belly) while at rest. You don't want them to have extra fuel to burn and ur belly stays the same.

5) Low rep High weight Lifts. Squat, Dead, Press, Bench, weighted pull ups. I've been lifting for years so this is second nature to me. If u never have I would invest in learning and getting a gym membership. Improve insulin sensitivity and builds calorie burning muscle. I have tested my self that low rep High weight(4x5) is far superior to 3x10 when it comes to weight loss and health. Do these things every other day.

6) Milk. Another key. pour some out. Add a table spoon of gelatin in hot water and decent amount of salt, mix let cool. Pour into milk gallon with honey to taste. Drink instead of water. 1% or skim if u can handle it.

These are just ideas to experiment with.

 

[ilpmusic]

By weight loss I take it you mean fat loss. A high metabolism leads to muscle gain and bone density increases, which add weight.

For a while I had more fat than ever but now I'm at typical leanness. The periods I had the most fat I was still eating lots of fat, total calories above 4000, and I was stuck in glycolysis with high cortisol and adrenaline.

Starch-free Peat-suggested diet alone was insufficient to correct these within a year, though diet allowed me to quickly improve with immediate results from:

Pregnenolone and red light lowered cortisol

B1, Diamox, Naltrexone inhibited glycolysis

Tetracycline and Penicillin lowered adrenaline. Clonidine helped diagnose.

And switching to skim milk allows me to cut fat pretty much whever I want. I still eat queso fresco, chocolate or some other fat with skim to slow absorption of its sugar and protein

Daily calorie consumption is still 4000-6000 but I've shifted to more sugar less fat as my metabolism repaired

Would one advised to use fat-free milk instead of 1% milk? Or am I losing a lot of nutrients by doing that switch? I am trying to lose 10 pounds

 

[Sonybaloney]

Great tips. Thank you!

 

[superhuman]

if loosing weight/fat on a peat diet or any other diet is a mystery i suggest you start reading some basic nutrition knowledge first and educate yourself on calories and general thermodynamics.

 

[ddjd]

You have to do very low/ no fat. Keep the carbs up. Zero fat.

 

[kreeese]

great stuff!! I switched from a very low fat diet like 10 percent of cals. to raising fat and at first gained a few pounds but now its steadying I feel way better and am losing again
I do not believe an unatural low fat diet is the way to go...JUST DONT GO KETO 70 PERCENT FAT KRAZY lol Like I once attempted....jeeeeez

 

[Hans]

For me; Very low fat drops weight fast, but I am very catablolic, and the weight seems to come off in the wrong places. I get lean but skinny arms, shoulders, and legs but stay soft in the middle. Plus I need to eat constantly.

Low carb with enough to stay out of ketosis, and limit gluconeogenesis, drops fat from my middle and face, and makes my chest/arms/shoulders/legs more heavily muscled. Plus it's easier to run in a caloric deficit without feeling like I am.

I do think my protein intake is fairly constant with both approaches. But I do enjoy my protein more when it comes with fat. I can't do skim milk or lean meats for very long.

How many grams of fat made you catabolic? I did a cut once with 200g protein, 200g carbs (as starch) and 45g of fat and I got fairly lean (prob around 10% bf. Could have gotten leaner if I continued longer). I think I retained my muscle pretty well (indicated by not losing strength in the gym).
And how much carbs do you mean as low, but not low enough for ketosis?
I'm wondering why you were more catabolic on low fat, could it be too little cholesterol and thus too little steroid production leading to more muscle loss?
And last question, did you eat starches during that (catabolic) cut?

 

[lvysaur]

1) No starch at all. Crucial some peat reader's advocate starch. I would not consume it at all. I can tell very quickly the way it changes body comp through endotoxin,stress, and water weight. Even gelatinized pressure cooker potatoes and white rice are a now go. Trust me. But test it yourself

What are your thoughts on meat? Specifically, the amount of meat to eat, and when not to eat it?

I've definitely noticed the sugar correlation, high sugar low starch is a fat loser.

 

[TeaRex14]

Switching from whole milk to 1% milk helped. As well as reducing my overall dietary fat intake, and/or replacing dietary fats with coconut oil. It's real hard to gain weight on nothing but coconut oil.

 

[tankasnowgod]

if loosing weight/fat on a peat diet or any other diet is a mystery i suggest you start reading some basic nutrition knowledge first and educate yourself on calories and general thermodynamics.

Thanks, Captain Obvious! I'm sure no one ever, ever, ever thought that calories mattered!

One very important point that very few of the CICO crowd ever bring up, is that "Calories In" and "Calories Out" are interdependent variables. That "Thermic Effect of Food" will bite ya straight out if you just go straight slashing calories.

 

[Waremu]

My experience is very similar to @Amarsh213 with regards to weight loss and starch and fat as well, if not exact. Absolutely no starch whatsoever works best for me when it comes to weight loss, and general health, actually. I keep carbs high and only from fruits, fruit juices, and, to a lesser degree, sucrose/honey, and keep fat low and protein moderate or higher and it works very well for me. In fact, weight drops without having to do much or be too restricted on calories. It seems starch is what causes endotoxin problems and other digestive issues and that spills over to other things. My digestion, sleep, mental clarity, mood is perfect when not eating starch and being pretty strict Peat. Carrot salads are also essential for me. That and plenty of freshly squeezed OJ every day are essentials for me at keeping stress and estrogen at bay. Prolactin seems to only be kept low with plenty of raw milk/dairy. My regular blood tests have shown consistently that when I slack off on that, TSH and prolactin are the first things to shoot up and sleep suffers. Poor sleep is usually the first sign. Low fat raw skimmed milk I think helps keeping slim as well. Once I am doing good the only starch I can handle is white rice and even then thats only in moderation. No matter what I do, I just do not respond well to starch. It seems to always cause a cascade of issues for me. Lots of coffee is also a great help for me. I think the only fat in my diet is from the 1% skimmed raw milk and one raw egg yolk in my shakes each day when I am keeping it low fat. Also sometimes a small piece of dark chocolate as cacoa butter has powerful anti-stress effects. I don't think my fat ever gets higher than 15-20%. And when I am very serious at cutting I try to keep fat at or under 10%.

 

[Luann]

I have found that eating very low PUFA seems to keep the weight off in my case.
Good luck Lee Simeon! Let me know if I can help!

 

[sebastian_r]

Down 30 pounds this year, six pack lean.

Most of it with simple caloric deficit.

Low fat or low carb both can accelerate results.

Got better results with high carbs / low fat.

In terms of carbs: starch vs. fructose vs. lactose did not make any difference for me.

Living on caloric deficit was not pleasant and not good for thyroid / metabolism.

I got better results on straight water fasting. Cravings go away on day 2, had good body temperature and good muscle preservation. If I ever have to loose weight again, I rather fast 48-72 hours per week instead of torturing myself with caloric deficit every day and messing up my metabolism.

 

[Hans]

Lots of anecdotal results and studies out there that fasting is better for muscle preservation and thyroid / metabolism than caloric deficit

That's not true. The bigger the deficit, the more muscle you lose and the less fat you lose plus the faster your metabolism slows down. Multiple studies confirm this.

 

[revenant]

How many calories are people eating?

I sure hope this idea of "eat more & ramp up metabolism" works, would be nice to eat more than 2,000 kcal for a change (let alone 4,000 kcal like some). I'm a 5'9" male, about normal weight and ate 1,500 kcal per day for months, which is doable but not pleasant. Steady weight loss for sure, but then it all came back very quickly when going back to 2,000 kcal.

 

[Forsythia]

I'm a 5'11" female, now at a normal weight (I've lost about 50 pounds in the last 2 years). I eat an average of 2,200 calories a day. At this level of calories, I'm losing about 2 pounds a month.

 

[danielbb]

There are outstanding responses in this thread and I have appreciated everyone's input.

I've posted this in other places but I hope it helps someone out there. It seems an important principle here is protein. Ray recommends 80-100 g per day and that fits well with just about everyone else's recommendation regarding how much protein one ought to be getting per day. If say at least 100 g protein per day is a reasonable goal, then there are only two other maco-nutrient variables that can be controlled - carbs and fat (sorry for captain obvious). I believe calories matter but have discovered in my own case that the mixture of carbs and fat can influence how much weight we retain over a given period of time. I also agree that starch can have negative effects as far as weight gain so I try and limit that as much as possible. Mashed potatoes do not seem to carry the same weight-gaining consequences for me as flour-based foods.

I found two types of diet work well for losing body fat and have had great success - low carb/high fat (keto/Atkins/Paleo) - these work well at first but over time it seems your stress hormones and thyroid function will go against you. High carb/low fat (what I am on now) - the trick here is to keep fat somewhat low and it took me several months and some luck to figure this out. I've found that if you mix the two systems at the same time (higher carbs and higher fat at a given meal e.g., pizza being a prime example of such food), even at reasonable calories the body will get into a weird/confused metabolic state where it will retain water for days at a time. When I first went hard core with the Ray Peat stuff (mid last summer), I was drinking lots more milk along with things like OJ and I quickly gained 24 lbs in a couple of months yet my calories and exercise were entirely reasonable for what should have been a prescription for losing body fat (e.g., lots of calcium, lower calories, good protein intake).

I made one small shift by accident, and I saw an immediate and dramatic change. I went from 8 glasses of 1% milk and 1 glass of OJ per day to 4 glasses of milk and 4 glasses of OJ per day (the accident was I wanted to naturally increase vitamin C so I was forced to back off the milk). Both of these diets 8 milk/1Oj and 4 milk/4 OJ were EXACTLY the same calorically but one of them caused me to retain water. I lost 14 lbs in about 10 days after going 4 milk/4OJ. (Note: I used gelatin to replace the protein I was getting from the milk). There were days on the higher milk regimen were I ate 1500 calories or less but still gained on the scale the next day. Since I usually eat a burger each day that has 20 g of fat, the two systems I am describing here only differ by about 10 g of fat per day. In the 8 milk system, I was getting about 20 g of fat from milk for a total of 40 per day to the 4 milk system which was about 10 g of fat from milk for a total of 30 per day. I don't think reducing the fat by 10 g per day was the biggest issue but it seems mixing it all day long with the associated carbohydrates caused me to gain weight.

There are people posting in this thread that low carb and high fat works for losing weight and I agree with that because my anecdotal experience supports that. There are others posting in this thread that high carb and low fat works for losing weight and I agree with that as my anecdotal experience also supports that. It seems combining those two systems within too close of proximity of each other (e.g., mixing carbs and fat all day long), causes weight-gain problems for me. I believe it may be possible to alternate systems - perhaps go one meal at higher fat while limiting carbs and eating another meal at higher carbs while limiting fat. Another strategy might be to alternate days or weeks at high carb low fat, and high fat low carb.

My current diet and workout routine is similar to what @Amarsh213 posted above and I am getting similar results.