Help! Weight Loss Not Working

[natedawggh]

Over the last year I've fixed a ton of health issues by Dr. Peat's work that I've been having: eczema, chronic coughing, insomnia, low temperatures, hair loss, arthritis, erectile dysfunction, among others.

I seem to be stuck 40 lbs overweight though I eat a strictly Peat friendly diet based on Dairy and Fruit (I was fat before Peat), with occasional cuts of meat and/or stocks.

My lab results were all OK or great except for high triglycerides and an enlarged thyroid. I am on thyroid meds and my temperatures always at 98.4 in the morning and get to 99 or more for most of the day even if I forget to take thyroid, and I have a raging libido. I am never cold. I am never hungry, and my calories each day are between 2800 and 3400 (I am also 6 foot 6 and 34 years old, so I have a higher calorie requirement than smaller people).

I have tried the recommended ways to lose weight. Specifically I cut calories for three weeks but that didn't work, and then did a very low fat (less than 4g a day) for 30 days, and tried it again on two other occasions for two weeks, and I didn't lose any weight at all and it made me feel really, really lousy. Eating moderate fat (butter and coconut oil) keeps me feeling better and temps and pulse higher, and I don't have to eat as many calories, but I still don't lose any weight. Moderate activity doesn't help either and increasing various supplements like niacinamide or cascara doesn't help, nor did increasing fruit intake where I tried to eat a ton more fruit to rev up my metabolism. I take K2, B1, Niacinamide, liver, Vit. E., copper, and pregnenolone (for the last month). I have a suspicion that it has something to do with my high triglycerides, and Peat says that isn't harmful as long as they're saturated, but I can't help but think there's a connection there and I don't know how to fix it.

 

[lexis]

Peat says calcium is the most important nutrient for weight loss.Tried egg shell powder?

 

[tara]

By what standard do you judge yourself overweight? Sounds from your description as though your current weight is at least compatible with pretty good health for you. Maybe your body is happy at this weight, and is doing its best to maintain it. No guarantee that it will be as happy at a different one? Just speculations, of course. There might or might not be something else it wants that would change this.

 

[Blossom]

It's always possible that your weight might actually be what is healthy for you at this time. Your weight could change with time, or not, but many people would be thrilled to experience the healing that you have over the past year. You are doing great natedawwgh!
You are more than a number on a scale. I think humans can enjoy good health in a wide range of shapes and sizes.
I had to put aside my weight preoccupation and shift to nourishing myself completely in order to heal. This wasn't something I did easily because I had a deeply entrenched belief that thinness equalled health. I'm medium sized rather than extra small now but I'm healthier than I've been since my teens and I know I couldn't have gotten well without Peat's work and self acceptance. I gained, plateaued for a while and only recently have I noticed my clothes fitting a bit looser. I haven't tried to change my weight at all because I'm not interested in a set back. I had one minor set back when I was going through a divorce and my mom nearly died both within the same four month time period and I could feel the stress hormones coursing through my body. My weight went up a bit temporarily during that time but I stuck with getting good nutrition and rest and it balanced back out without me doing anything to force it down. I know I'm not offering up anything practical here but for what it's worth I do understand.
At a year in it is possible that further changes will happen simply by continuing on your current path and letting your body manage the rest. I just wanted to share my experience. Best of luck to you natedawwgh.

 

[aquaman]

Are you talking 40 pounds of fat or weight?

They're 2 very different things!

You could always try the VoSMDAs (VoS' Miracle Daily Allowances) :)

 

[Dizzryda]

When I cut calories and/or go very low fat I can lose the weight, but I feel stressed with a borderline tmj thing going on. This is even with plenty protein and sugar every couple hours.

 

[natedawggh]

Are you talking 40 pounds of fat or weight?
They're 2 very different things!
You could always try the VoSMDAs (VoS' Miracle Daily Allowances) :)

40 lbs of fat... at my ideal shape I was 225, and now I'm at 285. I know that I put on a lot of natural muscle from Peating...my shoulder muscle and chest size went up naturally, so I figure that I only have 40 lbs of fat to lose.

It's always possible that your weight might actually be what is healthy for you at this time. Your weight could change with time, or not, but many people would be thrilled to experience the healing that you have over the past year. You are doing great natedawwgh!

Thanks Blossom! Yes, even after knowing that I would put on this weight I would do it again, because so much else about my health was fixed and most importantly I FEEL better than I have in years. This is just vanity now and I have a suspicion that my weight will go down naturally later, but being understandably a little vain, I would like to get back to my fighting weight and also be healthy.

By what standard do you judge yourself overweight? Sounds from your description as though your current weight is at least compatible with pretty good health for you.

Yes it is...I do believe that weight gain is a protective adaptation, so I don't beat myself up about it. But I have figured out how to specifically cure conditions with specific substances, the only one left is the weight gain.

Peat says calcium is the most important nutrient for weight loss.Tried egg shell powder?

I drink a TON of milk, and yes at one point I tried egg shell powder. It definitely increased my metabolism—every time I drink milk my heart rate speeds up and my temperatures increase, but the weight has never gone down yet.

When I cut calories and/or go very low fat I can lose the weight, but I feel stressed with a borderline tmj thing going on. This is even with plenty protein and sugar every couple hours.

Yeah, I used to be able to do this when I was younger, but now being in such a sensitive state of health it makes me feel very crappy, and I know the biology behind that reaction will set me back in my health gains, and the fat would come back anyway.

 

[toddy]

Try to do exercise.

 

[taylor108]

Personally, I feel that our society puts too much emphasis on thinness as an indicator of health-we judge people as "healthy" when they are skinny, though the reality is in most cases the opposite of that. Having a little extra weight than our vanity dictates, and believe me I am not immune to this, may actually be protective. When I was 10 pounds lighter than I am now, people probably assumed I was "healthier" when the sad reality was the complete opposite-I was periodically starving myself, always tired and irritable, and didn't menstruate. No one's definition of healthy. But I get where you are coming from, and especially since Peat is such a radical way of eating people are probably quick to judge, ie "oh you should eat low carb, eat more protein, eat salad, eat protein bars, go to the gym for hours", etc.
Like Blossom said, bringing Peat's ideas fully into my life has made me be more at peace with where my body is at and has made me focus much more on how I feel and operate as opposed to striving for an unattainable goal. Not that losing weight is unattainable, and I hope that you eventually reach a set point you feel happy with. Drastic actions to lose weight like cutting calories/carbs to the extreme or over-exercising go against Peat's recommendations and in my opinion will do more harm than good-chances are the pounds will be gained back eventually.
It sounds like you have already made leaps and bounds towards healing your body, which sounds great! Best of luck to you on your journey.

 

[visionofstrength]

Are you talking 40 pounds of fat or weight?
They're 2 very different things!
You could always try the VoSMDAs (VoS' Miracle Daily Allowances) :)

40 lbs of fat... at my ideal shape I was 225, and now I'm at 285. I know that I put on a lot of natural muscle from Peating...my shoulder muscle and chest size went up naturally, so I figure that I only have 40 lbs of fat to lose.

Can you do a tape measure of your neck and waist? I think you may be closer to your ideal weight than you realize.

For example, if you have a 17 inch neck and a 40 inch waist, at 78 inches tall and 285 pounds, you may only have 21% body fat, and 60 total pounds of bodyfat. That's by no means a great deal of fat for someone of your height. From there, to get to 16% (which is really quite thin!) would be a difference of only 14 pounds of bodyfat.

I always wonder if there is an unrealistic idea of a man's body image from seeing all these ridiculous pics of horribly emaciated, roided up men posing in their underwear? Just as there is for a woman's body image from seeing cachexic women photoshopped to look glamorous (when in real life they look sickly)?

Decreasing bodyfat % is very easy in some ways, but it does take great attention to what you put in your mouth. You get a free pass for fructose, casein and medium chain triglycerides, especially if you eat often enough. You'll find that you can eat as much of only these things as you want, and you'll gain lean body mass but not fat, effectively reducing your bodyfat percentage.

But all other kinds of fat can add to fat, as can glucose and cortisol from stress, or endotoxins from intestinal irrititants. I don't know that you can lose much fat without starving if you are under a lot of stress, or have intestinal irritation. Fat seems to be a protective response to stress and endotoxins.

And I am curious, please tell me how many of the proposed RDAs do you do? See viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5551&start=30#p66013

 

[Dizzryda]

Decreasing bodyfat % is very easy in some ways, but it does take great attention to what you put in your mouth. You get a free pass for fructose, casein and medium chain triglycerides, especially if you eat often enough. You'll find that you can eat as much of only these things as you want, and you'll gain lean body mass but not fat, effectively reducing your bodyfat percentage.

What are the best sources of fructose and medium chain triglycerides?

 

[visionofstrength]

Decreasing bodyfat % is very easy in some ways, but it does take great attention to what you put in your mouth. You get a free pass for fructose, casein and medium chain triglycerides, especially if you eat often enough. You'll find that you can eat as much of only these things as you want, and you'll gain lean body mass but not fat, effectively reducing your bodyfat percentage.

What are the best sources of fructose and medium chain triglycerides?

Ripe orange juice, no pulp or enzymes. Honey if you can find one that agrees with you, and is not cut with sugar as many are. Fructose powder, again if you can find one that agrees with you.

Coconut oil is more than half MCTs but but pure "MCT oil" can be mixed with the coconut oil to increase the percentage even more.

 

[freyasam]

Decreasing bodyfat % is very easy in some ways, but it does take great attention to what you put in your mouth. You get a free pass for fructose, casein and medium chain triglycerides, especially if you eat often enough. You'll find that you can eat as much of only these things as you want, and you'll gain lean body mass but not fat, effectively reducing your bodyfat percentage.

What are the best sources of fructose and medium chain triglycerides?

Ripe orange juice, no pulp or enzymes.

I have to disagree with the claim that you get a free pass for fructose when it comes to weight loss. I gained 25 pounds of fat, very quickly, by adding fruit and fruit juice to my diet when I started Peating last year. My total caloric intake went down, because the fruit was replacing some of my meat and fat intake. Yet I still got overweight from increasing fruit and juice.

It's very misleading to claim that people don't gain weight from fructose.

 

[messtafarian]

I'm not sure how you feel about the rest of your organs but according to Peat and others, if your liver is sluggish then your thyroid is sluggish and therefore, the entire system is sluggish regardless of other overall health markers.

I am not a believer in those crazy ideas about "liver flushing" or going bananas with coffee enemas; and Milk Thistle actualy does not do anything.

BUT-- supplementing K2 and caffeine plus focusing on B vitamins can improve liver function.

Also, it could be a water problem. One thing that happens somewhat often with Peat people is that they end up taking in a lot of liquid that the body can't really process fast enough. Adding salt -- or making sure you get enough -- can be important but I have seen people on this board drop 15 pounds by adding cream of tartar twice a day to their regimen.

It's not that the liquids are a problem, it's just that you need the salt to match its volume.

 

[cout12]

Decreasing bodyfat % is very easy in some ways, but it does take great attention to what you put in your mouth. You get a free pass for fructose, casein and medium chain triglycerides, especially if you eat often enough. You'll find that you can eat as much of only these things as you want, and you'll gain lean body mass but not fat, effectively reducing your bodyfat percentage.

What are the best sources of fructose and medium chain triglycerides?

Ripe orange juice, no pulp or enzymes.

I have to disagree with the claim that you get a free pass for fructose when it comes to weight loss. I gained 25 pounds of fat, very quickly, by adding fruit and fruit juice to my diet when I started Peating last year. My total caloric intake went down, because the fruit was replacing some of my meat and fat intake. Yet I still got overweight from increasing fruit and juice.

It's very misleading to claim that people don't gain weight from fructose.

If you read correctly, he said *only* these things. Just adding fructose to a random diet doesn't mean you won't gain weight. What it means is that if your diet is 100% these things you won't gain weight. It's definitely close to true for me. No way I could gain weight on a diet like that even if I force fed myself all day. I'm not sure I would automatically fall to 10% bodyfat if I were to eat like that though, I just know I would never gain weight on it.

 

[freyasam]

So how exactly does that work? I mean, the claim is that if you ONLY eat those things, you won't gain weight. So if we assume these substances have special properties of NOT causing weight gain, why would it matter if you're eating other foods? Why, when I added those things to my diet, which was already close to Peat-inspired, while reducing my meat intake and eliminating PUFAs, did I become overweight?

It doesn't make sense to me to say that if you eat ONLY those things you don't gain weight, but if you add them to your already good diet even while REDUCING overall caloric intake by eliminating other food, you'll somehow gain weight.

 

[freyasam]

Also, what about the people eating Peat-inspired for years with weight that won't budge, and when they cut down on juice and fruit, they lose the weight?

 

[tara]

So how exactly does that work? I mean, the claim is that if you ONLY eat those things, you won't gain weight. So if we assume these substances have special properties of NOT causing weight gain, why would it matter if you're eating other foods? Why, when I added those things to my diet, which was already close to Peat-inspired, while reducing my meat intake and eliminating PUFAs, did I become overweight?

It doesn't make sense to me to say that if you eat ONLY those things you don't gain weight, but if you add them to your already good diet even while REDUCING overall caloric intake by eliminating other food, you'll somehow gain weight.

As far as I can tell this is a theory of VoS's, which has not thus far been supported by a lot of empirical testing across a relevant range of people. My guess is that some strategies result in weight-loss for some people depending on various factors beyond current control, including age, gender, and history.

 

[DarrylC24]

By what standard do you judge yourself overweight? Sounds from your description as though your current weight is at least compatible with pretty good health for you. Maybe your body is happy at this weight, and is doing its best to maintain it. No guarantee that it will be as happy at a different one? Just speculations, of course. There might or might not be something else it wants that would change this.

I agree. Might find your weight healthy and happy.

 

[natedawggh]

I don't, but not because of the weight, the lack of perfect health seems to correlate with waist size, and when I was skinny I was healthy, until I was not and then I put on the weight. Part of my journey is trying to see if losing the weight ever helps with other conditions, considering that adipose tissue exerts estrogenic influence on the body, which can't be good.