Can You Trust Your Body?

kiran

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I do trust the signals i get from my body to a large extent. But I asked a couple of people (non-Peat) and they said no. This must be a very unusual and Peatian thing to do, trust your body.

My body certainly gives me hints that im short of sugar, protein etc.

Do you feel you can trust your body? Do you guys trust your bodies to tell you what to eat, what to avoid etc.

I suppose this is one of narouz's topics rephrased.
 

juanitacarlos

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Jenn said:
I believe my body is always communicating.

*I* may not always know what it's saying or have the resources to give it what it wants.

+1. I can't read my body sometimes, although getting better. I found that particularly hard at first because I felt crap all the time so it was hard to establish what made me feel worse or better.
 
J

j.

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Sure.

I eat sugar, salt, eggs, liver, whether to eat more of the yolk or the egg white, dose pregnenolone, vitamin k, determine sunbathing duration, depending on how I feel.
 

4peatssake

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Yes, I trust my body. It doesn't tell lies. ;)

But as Jenn and ttramone have said, I'm not always very good - and I am sometimes am an absolute fail - at understanding what it is communicating to me. :(

That's an area that still needs vast improvement!

The body has tremendous intelligence but it doesn't speak English - or any other human language. I think what has eroded in this culture is not the body's ability to communicate but our ability to understand, listen and address its needs.
 

Rolan

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Yeah, I'm getting better at understanding what my body is communicating, BUT that doesn't mean I can always give itwhat it needs whether that be because of a lack of knowledge or available resource. I'M far better at intuiting what type of exercise I want to do.
 

RayOfHope

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Oh, absolutely. When I was a kid I devoured turkey hearts and entire heads of iceburg lettuce because that's what my little body wanted (I would choose these "weird" sorts of things over bribes of fast food, candy bars, or a pantry full of "kid friendly" convenience foods). The greatest thing about finding Peat has been the MILK. I always wondered why I had a compulsion to consume massive quantities of leafy greens -- it went beyond logic! Now that I am receiving a steady stream of delicious milk (which I generally found unpalatable in the past), I don't even stop for the produce section (or fresh markets). I'm more inclined to seek out a tasty, fresh leberwurst or Gruyere. Oysters? Hellz, yeah, I always loved 'em -- I made the grown-ups freak out with my immediate affinity for oysters when I was much too young to have a palate for such a thing! 

Yes. A +1 for me. I definitely trust my body to tell me what it needs. Even when what it needs is purely emotional (comfort food). There IS a difference, and when you are in tune with your body you know this.
 
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kiran

kiran

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RayOfHope said:
Now that I am receiving a steady stream of delicious milk (which I generally found unpalatable in the past), I don't even stop for the produce section (or fresh markets).

That reminds me of the time when I tried going very low carb. I couldn't go to the grocery store without spending some 15 minutes getting candy from the candy section. This despite my strongest intentions.
 

chris

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kiran said:
That reminds me of the time when I tried going very low carb. I couldn't go to the grocery store without spending some 15 minutes getting candy from the candy section. This despite my strongest intentions.

This is my experience as well, I bought many chocolate bars when attempting low carb. Thank god I don't torture myself like that anymore.
 

Birdie

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I'm beginning to be able to.

When I started peating, I was gaining weight and pretty out of control with following my impulses. That was a couple of years ago. By now, I no longer have body screams. Unfortunately, my body was not giving good signals ever since I had a surgery. My poor body was screaming for nourishment and my interpretations were all wrong. I'd eat something for energy but it didn't work. So, perhaps the body was giving good signals but my mind couldn't read them.

I'd gained about 10 pounds (un-needed) after the surgery, so was desperately looking around for help. First I found the PHD which with the starches, added 10 more. Then finally found Ray Peat which was better for me. However, taking all the ice cream advice from his followers, gained 10 more. That gain ended in March of 2012.

Now, with slow cut backs in food and some decreases in fat and minimal starches, I'm able to trust my body's signals. It's a relief. As a side benefit, I've lost 22 of those extra 30 pounds. (I did need to change my supplements with Ray's info.) Now, I'm actually not eating a lot differently than before my surgery. I could follow my body before that darn surgery and it took me a long time to get back to that.
 

RayOfHope

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I am seriously beginning to think that the "last 10 pounds" are so hard to get off simply because we NEED them soooooo much!
 

Birdie

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I found the first 10 incredibly hard to lose. It took 15 months to lose 20. The last 10 are easy in comparison. I'm eating just right for me and expect to be back to a more healthy weight... sometime! I am feeling much better, but not as good as I did 8 pounds lighter. The joints and all just love less weight. The body loves moving more easily. But, certainly to each her own as far as these decisions go.
 

Peata

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I'm trusting it more now, 5 months on Peat. Before Peat, when I was doing some other type of diet, such as low carb, I was taught to look at a craving, say, for sugar, as a bad thing - an addiction to a bad substance that had to be broken. On other diets, it was always something I craved that was "bad" and had to be avoided, when my body was just wanting sugar or salt, fat, etc.

On Peat, I find I can have the things I crave. And now that I'm into Peat'g as far as I am, I don't seem to crave the foods that aren't Peat, or at least can't be made Peaty (there is one exception). For example, I just don't crave restaurant french fries. I used to have to have some now and again. None of them taste as good to me as the ones I make at home. Not even close.

I guess an example of trusting my body was a couple months ago, I was having bad menstrual cramps. I got home and saw a bar of dark chocolate, and immediately something in me HAD to have it. It wasn't that I was starving when I got home or having an normal craving -because I am take-it-or-leave-it with chocolate most of the time. But in that instance, my body saw the chocolate, must have registered something in it I needed (sugar? magnesium for cramps?), and compelled me to eat some.
 

Birdie

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Peata said:
I'm trusting it more now, 5 months on Peat. Before Peat, when I was doing some other type of diet, such as low carb, I was taught to look at a craving, say, for sugar, as a bad thing - an addiction to a bad substance that had to be broken. On other diets, it was always something I craved that was "bad" and had to be avoided, when my body was just wanting sugar or salt, fat, etc.

On Peat, I find I can have the things I crave. And now that I'm into Peat'g as far as I am, I don't seem to crave the foods that aren't Peat, or at least can't be made Peaty (there is one exception). For example, I just don't crave restaurant french fries. I used to have to have some now and again. None of them taste as good to me as the ones I make at home. Not even close.

I guess an example of trusting my body was a couple months ago, I was having bad menstrual cramps. I got home and saw a bar of dark chocolate, and immediately something in me HAD to have it. It wasn't that I was starving when I got home or having an normal craving -because I am take-it-or-leave-it with chocolate most of the time. But in that instance, my body saw the chocolate, must have registered something in it I needed (sugar? magnesium for cramps?), and compelled me to eat some.
I remember that chocolate bar thing, Peata. At least I think it was you that I remember reporting it! That's so great.

And you know that I can't have much chocolate at all. I used to want it so much. And now it's okay.
I have an isolated chocolate coffee bean or a 1/4 tsp in my bedtime milk sometimes and it no longer sends me to craving land.
It's really wonderful on this journey. :)
 

RayOfHope

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Birdie said:
I found the first 10 incredibly hard to lose. It took 15 months to lose 20. The last 10 are easy in comparison. I'm eating just right for me and expect to be back to a more healthy weight... sometime! I am feeling much better, but not as good as I did 8 pounds lighter. The joints and all just love less weight. The body loves moving more easily. But, certainly to each her own as far as these decisions go.

I guess I didn't put my thoughts into proper context. :) I meant "the last 10" to get to an unusually low bodyfat/lean-ness (i.e. "model thin"/"Hollywood thin"). Everyone's concept of "ideal bodyweight" is variable. I personally think it is highly stressful to the body to try to achieve (and maintain), a level of thinness for a body that is not naturally/genetically programmed to be super lean.

I definitely agree, Birdie, the body loves moving more easily! I can tell a difference in ease of movement (or lack thereof) with just a few pounds. But I have never been seriously overweight and I feel most comfortable when I am extremely lean because, as you pointed out, it is so much more condusive to being physically active.
 

Rolan

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+1 Peata. It's so sad going through forums such as Mark's Daily Apple and seeing people bingeing on ''sugar'' and then crying about it, as if they're a child who has done something wrong. Of course, sugar always get's the blame - thanks Dr.Lustig! Folks conveniently forget that cookies are comprised of more ingredients than sugar, because it's not as if people are addicted to plain sugar cubes is it? But no, sugar is bad. Salt gives you heart attacks. Carbs will do something or other.

The neuroticism that pervades the Paleo community would be hilarious if it weren't so tragic! No wonder I craved junk food on Paleo dieting so consistently - I was depleted. Now I never or rarely have the urge to eat chocolate bars(the commercial kind I'm talking about), cakes and so on. Not even if it's sitting infront of me. I wonder why that could be? Maybe because I'm becoming nutrient replete and my body isn't asking for such things. People look at cravings the WRONG way. They think they're insidious and then they become neurotic, and that leads to compulsive disorders. Instead, IMO, they should be looking at craving's closely because your body WANTS something. It isn't the cake per se, it's something IN the cake. I always felt more complete once I had a ''cheat'' meal or snack when on Paleo. Not that I'm advocating cakes, but there's something to it.
 

slayers

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I focus on blood test and make changes in my diet/supplements due to blood test reults
 

gretchen

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Yes, definitely. The great thing about this diet is it's restored my trust. Now I really know what's working for me and what's not whereas before, it was hard to tell.

I wonder why some people feel they can't trust their body. :?:
 

Dutchie

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gretchen said:
Yes, definitely. The great thing about this diet is it's restored my trust. Now I really know what's working for me and what's not whereas before, it was hard to tell.

I wonder why some people feel they can't trust their body. :?:

You wonder why?
Because its very hard to trust your cravings when youre dealing with the wrong kind of (gut)critters,feeding hormones/hormonal imbalances,deficiencies etc.
And for every guru,researcher and whatnot out there who claims that 'A' is bad,theres another one who claims its good.
 

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