Hi y'all! Long-time lurker here who just signed up to get some guidance.
As a 24 y/o male, I've been "peating" for a year now, after a few years of doing the following: paleo, IF, low-carb, & prolonged caloric deficits.
I stumbled upon Peat's work a few years ago via Danny Roddy when I began to experience a receding hairline. That's when I sort of phased out of paleo/IF/low-carb, upped the carbs a bit, and started following IIFYM/CICO as a way to lose weight.
For 2 years, I attempted to shed bodyfat by drastically slashing calories for months at a time, which took my metabolism from bad to worse, then tried to gain muscle through a caloric surplus, only to gain excess bodyfat, and then would repeat the whole thing over again.
Temps, pulse, hairline (and eyebrows) went to s***. Despite that, I was getting stronger and managed not to get hurt (especially when calories were low ...) up until last year, which is when I "committed" to Peat full-on.
Since last year, I have been consuming the following: tons of low-fat milk, sugar, salt, fruit (bananas, oranges, mangoes, melons), some starches (boiled potatoes, rice, bread, or white pasta), lots of glycine and gelatin, occasional ADEK, coffee, shrimp, yogurt, and the occasional cheese and serving of red meat. I've even adopted a very low-fat way of eating after reading this thread, bumped up the cals to a minimum of 3000 per day, switched to skim milk, lost a little bodyfat, all good stuff.
Here are some current problems that I could use some help with:
1. Despite my average pulse and temps going up (80BPM and 98.8* at the time of writing), my waking temps are usually 96.5-97.0. After breakfast, my temps rise, and 5-6 hours later I'll have a massive lunch. Pre-lunch, I'll be 98. My temps will plummet immediately post-lunch, then slowly rise to 98.6 over the next 30-60 minutes. Does this indicate low thyroid and higher cortisol and adrenaline? Should I eat more frequently to combat this?
2. Hairline and eyebrows aren't doing great still. At the very best, my recession has halted, which is actually an improvement, but there is zero reversal of the damage done. I've started a regimen of topical caffeine, niacinamide, and aspirin dissolved in ~20% ethanol solution. Are there any other recommendations for hair?
3. Joint pain/injuries are prevalent. I've always felt best when in a caloric deficit, for whatever reason. Seriously, in the summer of 2015, I was strength training 6x per week HEAVY with minimal joint pain, but I ate as low as 1500 calories at one point - I'm a 6'0" male BTW. Nowadays, any little thing can cause a tweak with a joint or ligament/tendon, and I'm in pain for a few days. Only rest helps. Would have the increased cortisol from a caloric deficit help suppress inflammation back then? I tried daily aspirin to "mimic" this state of suppressed inflammation, but to no avail. I'm upping vitamin k2 mk4 to 15-30mg a day consumed with a fat source to see if that helps with the joints. I'm afraid that my thyroid isn't up to par yet, which is why I don't feel amazing with much higher calories (when cortisol is lower-ish, but thyroid isn't high enough to compensate... compared to super high cortisol before).
Unfortunately, my doc messed up my last order of blood work, but I did get some labs that I asked for:
Prolactin: 11.4 ng/mL (definitely too high for a male ... )
CO2: 26 mmol/L
Calcium: 9 mg/dL
Phosphorus: 3.1 mg/dL
Cholesterol: 112 mg/dL
LDL/HDL ratio: 0.95
Thanks in advance, guys. I'm really thankful for such an educational online community!!!
As a 24 y/o male, I've been "peating" for a year now, after a few years of doing the following: paleo, IF, low-carb, & prolonged caloric deficits.
I stumbled upon Peat's work a few years ago via Danny Roddy when I began to experience a receding hairline. That's when I sort of phased out of paleo/IF/low-carb, upped the carbs a bit, and started following IIFYM/CICO as a way to lose weight.
For 2 years, I attempted to shed bodyfat by drastically slashing calories for months at a time, which took my metabolism from bad to worse, then tried to gain muscle through a caloric surplus, only to gain excess bodyfat, and then would repeat the whole thing over again.
Temps, pulse, hairline (and eyebrows) went to s***. Despite that, I was getting stronger and managed not to get hurt (especially when calories were low ...) up until last year, which is when I "committed" to Peat full-on.
Since last year, I have been consuming the following: tons of low-fat milk, sugar, salt, fruit (bananas, oranges, mangoes, melons), some starches (boiled potatoes, rice, bread, or white pasta), lots of glycine and gelatin, occasional ADEK, coffee, shrimp, yogurt, and the occasional cheese and serving of red meat. I've even adopted a very low-fat way of eating after reading this thread, bumped up the cals to a minimum of 3000 per day, switched to skim milk, lost a little bodyfat, all good stuff.
Here are some current problems that I could use some help with:
1. Despite my average pulse and temps going up (80BPM and 98.8* at the time of writing), my waking temps are usually 96.5-97.0. After breakfast, my temps rise, and 5-6 hours later I'll have a massive lunch. Pre-lunch, I'll be 98. My temps will plummet immediately post-lunch, then slowly rise to 98.6 over the next 30-60 minutes. Does this indicate low thyroid and higher cortisol and adrenaline? Should I eat more frequently to combat this?
2. Hairline and eyebrows aren't doing great still. At the very best, my recession has halted, which is actually an improvement, but there is zero reversal of the damage done. I've started a regimen of topical caffeine, niacinamide, and aspirin dissolved in ~20% ethanol solution. Are there any other recommendations for hair?
3. Joint pain/injuries are prevalent. I've always felt best when in a caloric deficit, for whatever reason. Seriously, in the summer of 2015, I was strength training 6x per week HEAVY with minimal joint pain, but I ate as low as 1500 calories at one point - I'm a 6'0" male BTW. Nowadays, any little thing can cause a tweak with a joint or ligament/tendon, and I'm in pain for a few days. Only rest helps. Would have the increased cortisol from a caloric deficit help suppress inflammation back then? I tried daily aspirin to "mimic" this state of suppressed inflammation, but to no avail. I'm upping vitamin k2 mk4 to 15-30mg a day consumed with a fat source to see if that helps with the joints. I'm afraid that my thyroid isn't up to par yet, which is why I don't feel amazing with much higher calories (when cortisol is lower-ish, but thyroid isn't high enough to compensate... compared to super high cortisol before).
Unfortunately, my doc messed up my last order of blood work, but I did get some labs that I asked for:
Prolactin: 11.4 ng/mL (definitely too high for a male ... )
CO2: 26 mmol/L
Calcium: 9 mg/dL
Phosphorus: 3.1 mg/dL
Cholesterol: 112 mg/dL
LDL/HDL ratio: 0.95
Thanks in advance, guys. I'm really thankful for such an educational online community!!!
Last edited:
