Cody's Log

[javacody]

Hi all. This is probably my third attempt at "peating".

My previous attempts didn't work for me, and after a few years doing the low carb/high fat/high protein and at times just "eating the food", I'm stuck.

First, my history.

I've had a rough life (yeah, haven't we all?), struggled with my weight from the day I was born, it seems like. Not breast fed (fed soy based formula), lots of antibiotics as a kid (chronic ear infections and strep throat), and grew up very, very poor.

As a teenager, my diet would often just be a few apples per day and diet coke and nothing else. I would walk for miles every day. Usually at least 2 hours per day of walking. At my thinnest, I was 240 pounds. I was skinny fat (well, fat-fat, but not as fat-fat as I am now!)

I should add that I am male, aged 41, height is 6'4", and currently weigh ~440 pounds.

In the past 10 years, I ballooned up to 465 pounds, then got divorced and using a Protein Sparing Modified Fast, was able to claw my way down to 312 pounds at my lowest.

Then I got sole custody of my daughter who is on the autistic spectrum, and my stress levels went through the roof. Hunger and stress eating soared.

So, here I am, back at 440. I'm much more muscular that I used to be, because I've focused on getting plenty of protein in and also tended to at least do some strength training during this time.

In my previous attempts at "peating", I didn't really eat any fruit. I drank OJ, drank 1% milk, ate bologna and american cheese sandwiches on white bread, and ate lots of potatoes fried in coconut oil. Toss in the occasional pizza and lots of mexi coke, and I was in heaven. Until I stepped on the scale.

Of course I didn't lose weight. Because I took what I read Ray said about diet and made it into something that I wanted it to be. Bologna sandwiches. At least it was Oscar Meier Beef Bologna, right?

I hear you, that's a load of bologna (pun intended).

I've actually corresponded with Ray maybe a half dozen times over the years.

His recommendations?

Let's hear from the man himself:

The calcium just slows the absorption of thyroid a little, but that's good because it will have a steadier effect when it gets into the blood. Both calcium and salt help to lose weight; it's best to just salt your food for taste, so the salt is evenly mixed and doesn't irritate your stomach. Starches in general are fattening, but if they are with fiber and a little coconut oil (refined and deodorized), such as carrot salad, bamboo shoots, well cooked chard, kale, spinach, etc., they can be satisfying but not very fattening. Getting as much bright light as you can, helps to suppress the appetite, so when the weather isn't good it's important to have at least 200 watts shining directly on you, right up until bedtime. If you make your own tasty foods, you can do it with safe ingredients. Years ago there was a brand of tortilla chips that were fried in coconut oil, and when a friend, who tended to gain weight easily, started snacking on them all day, she steadily lost weight. Asian grocery stores are likely to have bamboo shoots in two quart or gallon cans, and they are very cheap; melting some cheese, or making an egg and cheese sauce to pour over them, they make a really nice big meal, that isn't fattening. 1% milk is another food that's good to have available for constant snacking; if the same amount of food is eaten in 6 or 8 meals, instead of 2 or 3, it's less fattening.

And let me just say, Ray is an amazing human being, isn't he? He has always responded to my questions and been so gracious. He deserves a sainthood.

A funny thing happened to me Sunday morning.

Here's what I did.

• 1 pot of coffee with 1% milk, collagen, 5 Tb turbinado sugar
• Beetelite powdered beet juice, 1 oz tart cherry juice, 8 oz OJ, 6 g l-glutamine, 1 g quercetin
• 3 grains Thyroid-s
• 2 asprin
• 200 mg magnesium
• 100 mg pregnenelone

That was my breakfast.

Within 30 minutes of this, I was on cloud nine. Mega blissed out. Everything in the world was as its supposed to be. I was in pure heaven. Like I'd reached nirvana.

My mind was working far better than it usually does, my intuition was dialed up to 11, and I felt like I could see all of my fallacies and follies in a clear way.

I was in this state for 6 hours, until I ate. I had 3 fried eggs and 10 ounces of steak. I still felt good, but that blissful feeling went away.

Have any of you experienced this?

At any rate, no bliss today (I forgot the sugar in my coffee and had some left over pizza and popcorn popped in coconut oil and ghee for breakfast, too), but I just took my temp after lunch (daisy 2% cottage cheese + a mix of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe), and it's at 99.1 F!

My temp hasn't been this high in years. My starting temp this morning was 96.9.

I'm really excited about my temps being this good.

I've really struggled in the past with cold hands and feet and feeling very, very sluggish.

Let's hope I can get my diet dialed in, cut out the starches, and see if I can keep my metabolism cranked and lose some weight!

 

[Dean]

well, welcome to the forum, cody. I hear you on the fleeting moments of bliss. It's exciting and disheartening at the same time. I've had this happen a few times. One time on a mix of meds I was taking for depression and ADD, I had a day and half of high cognitive function and concentration...felt like I was on my way to the life I always knew I was capable of...until it went away as quick as it came. Had a similar, longer experience where I felt I was coming into my own (neurotransmitters, hormones, whatever finally coming into line), felt like I was actually experiencing myself as the way I should have been or could be. This was after drinking ayahuasca a handful of times over the course of a month in the Amazon. Anyway,..

Good luck to you. I am on my third try at "peating" myself. I've gotten further, lasted longer this time than the other two. Feel like I'm maybe making some progress. Who knows; the third time might be the charm--for both of us.

Will have to try to find an Asian market and try the bamboo shoots. I've thought of it, but was turned off by the whole can thing. If Peat recommends buying them in a can, any concerns about the can must pale in comparison to the importance he puts in the bamboo shoots. The carrot salad didn't work for me and I haven't been eating it during these 4+ months of this 3rd go at it. Will definitely give the shoots a shot.

I exchanged a few e-mails with Peat back when I first started too. He's a genuine article and a true human, as we should be. A genius who appears completely incapable of even an oz. of condescension. A few people around here, could take a page...anyway...LOL...I digress.

Once again, good luck to you.

 

[javacody]

Hi Dean. Thanks for taking time to read my super long post and for commenting.

I'm really focusing on temperature and how I feel.

If I can get that blissful feeling daily, then that would be pretty wonderful.

I've had it in the past, but never really from food.

The first time was after listening to a Neale Donald Walsch talk. Something about Neale and his message just woke me up. I was blissed out for days afterwards.

The second time happened when I was meditating on my couch at 4:40 in the morning. I heard a voice on the left side of my brain that said "you can leave now". Strange thing. It wasn't my voice. And I thought "I'm not ready to go. There are so many things I want to do". And I was again, on cloud nine the whole rest of the day. Life seemed much more vivid, sharper, and more in focus. During this time, I'd been eating basically nothing but meat and butter, fasting completely on Sundays using bentonite clay and psyllium, and meditating daily.

And then Sunday morning. That was the first time I'd associated that state with diet.

Ray has said something along the lines that it is our gut bacteria that make us afraid, anxious, and depressed. The things I did Sunday morning were mostly aimed at gut health and lowering inflammation (as well as raising metabolism with the sugar and caffeine).

l-glutamine is associated with helping to heal the gut lining, and reversing the ratio of bateroides to firmicutes to a healthy one (it is deranged in obesity).

Beet juice is associated with lowered inflammation and improved endothelial function.

Tart cherry is associated with lowered inflammation, as is OJ.

Quercetin is supposed to turn off mast cell production of histamine in the colon.

Our friendly gut bugs seem to love coffee and dark chocolate flavanoids.

And finally, gelatin/collagen seem to also lower inflammation.

For me, I think it's the gut driving most of my issues.

You're dead on about the condescension thing, I think that many people feel themselves to be experts (usually when they are the furthest thing from it) and to bolster that needy ego, they tend to be condescending. I don't think Ray has much ego.

I think it helps to remember that we are all just learning. We all need to become experts on our own functioning. And just because it works for you, doesn't mean it will work for me. We have different bodies, different histories. And there are an infinite number of combinations between our physiology, our microbiome, the food we eat, and the thoughts we think. And they all work together, right?

 

[javacody]

For supper tonight, I had 6 oz lean steak, 3 eggs, a small can of bamboo shoots, a few ounces of cheddar cheese, and a glass of 1% milk.

My temp right now (6:30 PM) is 98.6 F.

Looking forward to see what my waking temps are in the morning!

 

[tara]

javacody

Thanks for posting Peat's advice, too.
Hope this works for you.:)

My initial thoughts, from reading not from experience:
I don't think you mentioned whether you had been supplementing thyroid before your recent good day?
Going straight to 3 grains seems pretty quick to me.
The T3 component of that could what made you feel to good in the short term, but the T4 has a long half life, and will stick around for a while. Apparently it takes 2-4 weeks on a steady dose fo the blood levels of T4 to stabilise.
It may be that you need that much, but it seems safer to me to start small (eg 1/4 - 1/2 grain) and increase it gradually, with small increments every 2-4weeks, monitoring temps, pulse and symptoms to see when you've got to a good level.

 

[tara]

For supper tonight, I had 6 oz lean steak, 3 eggs, a small can of bamboo shoots, a few ounces of cheddar cheese, and a glass of 1% milk.

My temp right now (6:30 PM) is 98.6 F.

Looking forward to see what my waking temps are in the morning!

This looks like a very protein-heavy meal - not much carbs to balance it - could promote night time stress?

 

[charlie]

javacody,

You got this, one day at a time. Yes, I get the fleeting moments of bliss. They will come more and more.

See you around.

 

[Blossom]

Welcome javacody.

 

[javacody]

tara, thanks for posting!

I also had a jar of canned pears.

I'm planning on having some juice and milk before bed with some collagen mixed in.

It likely sounds like a lot of protein, but at 6'4" and 440 pounds, trust, it isn't.

As far as the Thyroid, I've only recently started taking it again. But it's the same dose I was taking before. I went off of it for a while.

I think the good temps may be attributed more to the sugar, which I was pretty much afraid of before, and the magnesium. I've avoided sugar and fruit like the plague for the past two years.

Hopefully, I won't need the amount of thyroid I was using before. We'll see.

Ray shared with me a story of a woman who was taking 8 grains per day before she saw her metabolism stabilize and I've also read about the 12 grain woman, and I'm a big dude, so I don't feel too bad about my 5 grains per day (based on past experience). But if I eventually don't need it, or can get down to a grain or two, then Hallelujah!

I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. Sleepy in a good way.

 

[javacody]

Thanks Charlie and Blossom!

 

[charlie]

Oh, I will add. I wish I would have started on the synthetic thyroid earlier. Something in my head kept me on the NDT which I completely regret now. But hey, live and learn. Thyroid-S works for a lot of people. Ray uses synthetics. Ray has been right on so many things its truly mind boggling.

 

[tara]

I didn't mean I thought it was too much protein over all - adding a can of pears would help balance. :)

 

[javacody]

Charlie,
I think with synthetics, you can really dial in your T3 and T4. Which Thyroid-S, you're stuck with the level in the supplement, plus you're getting T1 and T2 as well as calcitonin. So it makes sense why Ray would prefer synthetics. I get the feeling he's a very precise sort of guy.

Tara,
That makes sense. It never hurts to be reminded to balance protein and sugar. So thanks!

My temp is down to 97.9 right at bed time, is that a good thing? I need to do more reading about what my temps should be during different times of day...

 

[charlie]

Charlie,
I think with synthetics, you can really dial in your T3 and T4. Which Thyroid-S, you're stuck with the level in the supplement, plus you're getting T1 and T2 as well as calcitonin. So it makes sense why Ray would prefer synthetics. I get the feeling he's a very precise sort of guy.

Exactly. Also excipients are to be kept in mind.

My temp is down to 97.9 right at bed time, is that a good thing? I need to do more reading about what my temps should be during different times of day...

Temps will peak then start coming down after dark, lack of light. Add light till bedtime at least 200 watts.

 

[javacody]

My temp upon waking this morning was 96.7.

Temp after coffee + sugar + milk + collagen + juice is 97.4.

I'm noticing that my temps seem to rise much more when I have starch + protein + fat. Yesterday's breakfast included 2 slices of left over pizza and popcorn popped in coconut oil and butter.

I'm not eating any starch today to see how I feel and how my temp responds.

I'm feeling ok, but my thinking isn't as clear as I would like it to be and I feel a little sluggish.

 

[javacody]

OK. Just had my second breakfast (starting to feel like a hobbit!).

A bowl of melon (watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe) with Daisy 2% cottage cheese (1.5 cups) and a glass of 1% milk.

My temp went down to 97.1 after eating. I may have eaten too much. I'll try a smaller portion size next time.

I feel foggy. I took 200 mg more of magnesium and another grain of Thyroid-S and 3 aspirin.

 

[Dean]

Melon is one of those things they say is best eaten alone. I find that to be the case with me as well. Have to admit though, a good scoop of cottage cheese inside half a cantaloupe is hard to resist sometimes even knowing the consequences.

 

[javacody]

My temp is bouncing back. I'm at 98.0 now and my heart rate is 102.

What's the logic behind eating melon alone?

 

[charlie]

Maybe salt with the melon would help.

 

[javacody]

That's a good idea.

I probably need more salt in the morning.