Increase in girth

leo

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The weight gain I experienced in the first two weeks of Peating has halted thank God. I put on approx 3-4 pounds rather quickly.

HOWEVER, I am getting a huge flabby gut! My abdomen area was pretty flat before and now it's pudgy like a baby's. Not a pretty sight.

Anybody know why this happens? I thought we were supposed to experience a 'shift' to more muscle less fat??
 
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leo

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ps. forgot to add...I am doing low fat version. Cut out the hagaan daz and am drinking 1% milk.
 

jyb

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I don't gain weight myself, but is it really possible to change appearance due to fat in just 2 weeks? I can't see how that's possible. I can see how water retention adds pounds or how digestions issues bloat the gut, however.
 
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leo

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jyb said:
I don't gain weight myself, but is it really possible to change appearance due to fat in just 2 weeks? I can't see how that's possible. I can see how water retention adds pounds or how digestions issues bloat the gut, however.

I didn't say it was due to fat....I just mentioned that I lowered my fat intake.

I haven't gained more pounds....maybe it is bloating?

But the texture has changed in 2 weeks....it's less taut....more blubbery. Don't know if that makes sense.
 

haidut

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You probably have high estrogen, and it was masked on the diet that you had before so now that the stress hormones are calming down it is showing up and making you retain water. Also, if you have been burning fats for some time due to diet and/or stress it takes time for things to normalize. Right now you are probably still burning up fat and converting the sugar to fat. The good news is the newly converted fat is saturated so it should not do much damage. The things that are clinically best shown yo prevent weight gain while correcting metabolism are the following:

1. Magnesium: Multiple studies on PubMed showing intakes of 500mg to 2,000mg daily for a month prevent and in some cases reverse weight gain due to switching over from ketosis to glucose oxidation.
2. Taurine: Same as above, the dosage is 15g to 30g daily for about a month. The side effects is 180% increase in testosterone, so enjoy!
3. Caffeine: 400mg per day for 8 weeks prevented AND reversed most of the weight gain from above mentioned issues.
4. Protein: About 2g/kg/day for a human would increase thermogenesis and prevent and reverse the weight gain.

Finally, Ray Pat said in one of his articles (and I verified it with my biochem contacts) - "protein, salt and thyroid are the most thermogenic substances" one get their hands on legally. So, definitely add salt as much you can tolerate. Any excess water you are retaining makes the fat cells synthesize estrogen and divide, and estrogen is very lipogenic so it becomes a vicious circle. Get excess water out and estrogen down and you will lose weight. High dose vitamin E would probably help initially to bring estrogen under control.
 

Peata

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I'm finally losing a little weight after also spending much time bloated and jiggly, and can vouch for much of what Haidut said. I only wish I'd figured it out sooner, but it took me about 8 months to put it all together from reading bits here and there.

Anyway, I already had the food part down OK and the protein, caffeine, salt, and was having some taurine and B vits, (but I still don't take thyroid), but it was when I started supplementing magnesium, high dose E, and added higher dose of B1, B6 that I've finally shed a little weight and don't feel bloated all the time. I'm currently using a lot of Progest-E for the time I'm at in my cycle. So I'm not exactly sure which supplement(s) made the biggest difference in estrogen, but I "feel" it had something to do with magnesium, E, and I'm less sure on the B1 and B6 but I'm sure they didn't hurt. Time will tell if I'm really getting this under control.

Good luck.
 
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leo

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Thank you Haidut and Peata, but I must tell you that I have already stopped Peating.

I went over 10 lbs and just could not handle the thought of going higher. I was always "giving it one more week" to see what happens and that got me in trouble. Plus eating all day and taking my temperature and pulse was causing me stress, and I felt it a bit OCD and at this stage of my life I would like to be free from food issues. Luckily for me I do not have any digestive nor allergy issues from either low carb or high carb eating so for me the change back is a no brainer....considering that midriff weight at my age is a risk factor for disease.

I have since returned to low carb, and have shed some lbs and am feeling as fine as I did before I made the switch. It is not difficult for me....we eat out a lot and I can always find a good protein with some veggies for dinner. I will still try to avoid PUFA. Maybe once I have lost this weight, I may add small amounts of fruit again...we'll see.

The initial reason to Peat was due to sleep issues and oddly enough sleep is getting better with or without Peat so the initial good response I had was either a fluke or a very strong placebo reaction.

I wish everyone well in their quest to better health!
 

haidut

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leo said:
Thank you Haidut and Peata, but I must tell you that I have already stopped Peating.

I went over 10 lbs and just could not handle the thought of going higher. I was always "giving it one more week" to see what happens and that got me in trouble. Plus eating all day and taking my temperature and pulse was causing me stress, and I felt it a bit OCD and at this stage of my life I would like to be free from food issues. Luckily for me I do not have any digestive nor allergy issues from either low carb or high carb eating so for me the change back is a no brainer....considering that midriff weight at my age is a risk factor for disease.

I have since returned to low carb, and have shed some lbs and am feeling as fine as I did before I made the switch. It is not difficult for me....we eat out a lot and I can always find a good protein with some veggies for dinner. I will still try to avoid PUFA. Maybe once I have lost this weight, I may add small amounts of fruit again...we'll see.

The initial reason to Peat was due to sleep issues and oddly enough sleep is getting better with or without Peat so the initial good response I had was either a fluke or a very strong placebo reaction.

I wish everyone well in their quest to better health!


Leo, no problem - good luck with everything! I personally think there is no such thing as Peat approved eating "rules". He keeps saying that context is everything. Maybe for you the method is to slowly increase carbs at the expense of fats, and make sure those carbs are sugars and not starches. And by slowly, I mean months and potentially years.
However, some things are more or less physiologically fundamental - i.e. if you eat high protein and low carb diet your stress hormones will go through the roof b/c high protein lowers blood sugar. I don't know of a single medical case where that does not hold true and I have scoured the literature and argued with doctors some of whom have 50 years of practice.
Over time, high cortisol will destroy your bones and kidneys. Not to mention that chronically elevated cortisol eventually leads to mental issues like psychosis and such.
I did high protein and low carb for 2 years, and although my weight was where my doctor wanted it to be, my cortisol was sky-high to the point that even the doctor admitted that weight was a relatively minor factor with first place taken by things like cortisol and adrenalin, which will also determine blood pressure. Have you checked yours while on low carb? Initially it drops b/c cutting carbs works just like diuretics but that is a disaster in the making. Eventually, arteries calcify and blood pressure starts rising and I have seen a number of chronic Paleo dieters in their 20s and 30s, thin as a stick with a blood pressure 160/110.
I also had trouble sleeping. I still weigh 10lbs more than I did on low carb, but I can sleep and don't have nightmares anymore, nor do I have to wake up 5 times at night to piss like a racehorse, which are all symptoms of high cortisol/adrenalin/serotonin. These things take time, especially considering that PUFA half-life is two years, and it takes at least 4 years to get rid of enough PUFA to feel a difference. For me the key to avoiding weight gain while "Peating" was moderate protein, high fructose (powder form) and only 15g a fat a day in the form of a tablespoon of coconut oil just enough to absorb my vitamins K, A, D, and E.
But to each his own. I hope you keep experimenting and find what's right for you. Keep us posted anyways, since often the science is in the exceptions and not the rules.
 
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leo

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I appreciate your concern and your knowledge. However, I found no good reason to continue. My blood pressure had always been good on low carb and only started going up after I began Peating. I posted about my concerns. Same with blood sugar levels. In fact, my labs looked significantly worse after Peating than before so I have no reason to feel that I am actually bettering my health by doing a Peat style of eating. I have also tested my cortisol several times prior to Peating and have not/do not have high cortisol. I don't consider myself high estrogen either since I have always tested very low estrogen...almost nothing. I could be low progesterone too but I do not wish to take any hormones at my age.

I also could not fully accept adding white sugar, coca cola and some of the other things mentioned here....gummy bears, more meds, etc. I feel a healthy diet should be able to withstand minimal supplementation. I took a plunge with the pregnenolone and almost had to go up one bra size in a week. No thank you to hormones.

I guess I was just experimenting. And the experiment failed. I am no worse off...except for the weight and that should disappear quickly. I am lucky to be in very good health at 61 and am still enjoying my completely healthy and med free 92 yr old father. My mother died this year at 90. They never paid any attention at all to what they ate. So I guess there are other factors at play here and maybe I dug too deep and experimented too much, when none of it was really necessary.

I do not intend to do very low carb for an extended time....just until I lose this latest weight. Maybe in the future I will try to cycle things more as I do like my fruits......do low carb for a few weeks, then more fruits and milk for a few weeks etc, and see if my body adapts better to that. There is a guy on another forum who pushes this type of cycling and maintains that it is the healthiest way for the body to adapt to all types of foods.

What I do know now...and fully accept....is that I do not want to view my eating habits as a religion. I don't want to have to think about it...talk about it...or defend it. I know now that there is not one right way of anything. I have been on many health forums and the fundamentalist fervor that evolves there is very dangerous. Everyone should take everything with a grain of salt....and skepticism!

I do want to say thank you to all who chimed in when I was struggling with this. I appreciate your time and what you consider to be the best suggestions at the time. For those who are still struggling, I do hope you find your answers.
 

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aguilaroja

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leo said:
....I do not intend to do very low carb for an extended time....just until I lose this latest weight. Maybe in the future I will try to cycle things more as I do like my fruits......do low carb for a few weeks, then more fruits and milk for a few weeks etc, and see if my body adapts better to that. There is a guy on another forum who pushes this type of cycling and maintains that it is the healthiest way for the body to adapt to all types of foods....

Whether Peating or not, if going the high protein route, it might be helpful to consider (good quality) gelatin as a regular part of the protein intake. Reasons include:

(1) Gelatin is a convenient way to get protein sources that have a different proportion of amino acids than in muscle meat or dairy (or vegetarian sources). The glycine, proline & lysine amino acids can be stimulating amino acids in meat.

(2) Gelatin is a fairly cheap and versatile protein. It's also easier for getting the collagen amino acids than making bone broth or oxtail soup, though those are good.

(3) It is only modern diets that use primarily the muscle meat protein from the animal and rarely the other parts. There may be some useful traditional knowledge about nutrients from other parts of the animal.
 

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