My Journey To Optimal Health

[Cirion]

Cool man. Yeah I’d just keep your expectations in check for the T3 lol. It’s just a small part of the puzzle for me. But yeah it should definitely help with weight loss (among other things). Good luck dude.

Thanks yeah no doubt. I plan to continue all of the other things for sure.

So today, once again, bad sleep... driving me crazy here. I felt amazing last night, I don't understand how things can change so easily.

Did T3 also give you better quality sleep? I really really really need to break this bad sleep cycle once and for all.

I am starting to think that even gelatin is not good, because it's still a protein. At least not as a night time snack. Tonight I will try to experiment and have starch if/when I wake up in the middle of the night instead.

 

[robertf]

I haven't read the whole novel but it seems like your problems are excess kapha. Even gelatin could aggravate this.
In theory a person who is mainly kapha would not do well with the diet recommendations made here.

 

[Cirion]

I don't know much about all that but I guess it's possible. Now I do know almost for a fact that a High carb, low fat diet is probably the answer for me... because at my healthiest point, I was following a very very low fat very high carb diet. I think the only reason I lost my way and started to eat high fat again was because I felt like I 'Needed' it to be satiated, and confused myself via reading up on the so called benefits of saturated fats on these forums and figured I'd be "healthier" if I ate some of those. I also know almost for a fact that excess Protein is not helpful for me either. My health started to deteriorate when I added in things like chicken breast, even while still eating high carb. So in some ways, I'm rediscovering my roots.

I am thinking excess starch may be causing me endotoxic responses though, but I am not sure how to resolve that, since sugar isn't satiating, so I have to eat starch, especially before bed, to last the night.

I am confused how I was doing so well to be honest in the past though because I had a diet that was basically Whey protein and Maltodextrin... lol

I think, I'm just gonna have to deal with some pain simply because I'm fat. Even though I think my eating is better now, the damage has been done from too much high fat and high protein eating. But, hopefully taking T3 will reduce the pain while I reduce bodyfat.

Being fat is gonna mean as I release body fat stores, a lot of PUFA and estrogens and other fun things will be released into my blood stream in large quantities. So I suppose it will be bad for a while but get better as I tough it out.

Still, my body weight has stopped increasing, so that's good. It's not dropping as fast as I'd like, but I hope T3 will fix that.

Luckily, summer is also on the way and I intend to take full advantage of the sun. I think next fall/winter I am going to buy myself a tanning bed. I am not gonna put myself through the pain of lack of sunlight next go around. Better yet, maybe this summer I'll try to apply to more jobs in Florida again.

 

[robertf]

Hmm, well chicken breast would not aggravate kapha unless with skin. Look over this and see if anything rings a bell

yes: corn, dry popcorn, millet, low fat, low salt, non fatty white fish, dry beans, rough raw vegetables/salad, rice, sour apple, cranberry, egg white, non-sweet fruit, lot of heating/dry spices esp hot peppers, black pepper, raw honey, moderate water not too much

no: dairy, potato, high fat, high salt, red meat, egg yolk, sweet fruit, sugar, too much water drinking

Balancing kapha is mainly drying everything out. High carb works but it has to do with dry/light carbs. Spices are very important and usually you find kaphas love super spicy.
Beans would be favored over animal protein.

It's basically the exact opposite of the 'Peat diet'.

If excess protein and fat were the culprits then you could also be excess pitta. But pitta would do well with dairy and sweets. An easy self-diagnostic to determine pitta or kapha would be spices. Pittas hate hot spicy things, kapha loves them.

 

[Cirion]

Interesting thoughts. I think there's truth to some of what you say for sure. I admit I'm not really into the whole ayurvedic thing but there's definitely truths hidden in it.

Don't know that I am board on the idea of low salt though. Most of the rest I agree with.

I think once hypothyroid is resolved, though, that things like dairy, sugar etc are better tolerated. So I think it's more a hypo vs. not hypo, not necessarily a pitta vs. kapha or whatever. I can say for sure that I tolerated liquids better, and sugar better, when I was not as fat for example.

"The ray peat diet" is likely the ideal diet for someone who has resolved hypo. I keep going back to Zachs because his experience seems to reflect mine. He had to go zero fat high starch to lose weight and then once he lost weight he found he tolerated a higher sugar and moderate fat diet a lot better.

 

[Cirion]

I took two moderately long walks out in the nice sun today.

I noticed - my post walk fatigue/brain fog is very low today.

I am not sure if it is because of the sun promoting T3, I'm getting used to a 80-90% carb diet, or what... But I'm not gonna complain about it...

In the past I'd have days I'd be so tired at my desk I would barely even be able to go out for a walk or not even be able to. When I was eating higher fat that is. And also high protein. And when I would go for a walk, I'd have bad brain fog afterwards.

Will be curious to see how I burn (or not) from all the sun too. I am hoping I won't because my diet is low PUFA. This will make a positive feedback loop because then I can stay out in the sun longer... thus generate more T3... etc...

I am starting to think too that it is time to start a little bit of ramping up of exercise. Nothing tooo crazy, but I think at this point, with high carb intake - it's a safe bet I should be able to handle some level of working out. If nothing more than doubling up on walking which I have been attempting to do.

 

[ilikecats]

@NommyWommy I take 6 dosages of 24 mcgs (basically the equivalent of 6 grains of NDT total).

 

[NommyWommy]

@ilikecats thanks for that . So 144mcg I suppose would be a total replacement dose? Do you feel the effects of T3 building over a few days? Does it increase your morning waking temps? Thanks

 

[Cirion]

Getting better appreciation for respecting circadian cycles to get better sleep. It's not as simple as "just go to bed earlier". Or even as simple as "stop looking at bright light before bed". I now realize actually the most important part is "finish your calories for the day by or just after sunset". I tested this yesterday, I had my dinner as soon as I got home from work and had no problems going to bed by 9 pm. (I often have trouble going to sleep until 11 because I'd mess around on my computer before preparing dinner).

The caveat is that this only works if your dinner had sufficient calories... otherwise you'll get hunger insomnia problems.

I know it's cliché, but I think the key to sleep hygiene is get up when the sun rises (if possible), and stop eating / go to bed soon after sunset. I have historically struggled with BOTH of these aspects, which is probably why my sleep hasn't been great.

I still struggle to wake up at a reasonable hour. Maybe if I can sleep RIGHT after sunset (so like 730-8 pm now), I could get up by sunrise. I need a lot of sleep, so going to bed much later makes this impossible for me.

Anyway, this may be obvious to some, but it was an enlightening epiphany for me. Our circadian cycles are regulated not just by light but ALSO timing of food intake. The latter part was the missing key for me.

 

[aquaman]

Getting better appreciation for respecting circadian cycles to get better sleep. It's not as simple as "just go to bed earlier". Or even as simple as "stop looking at bright light before bed". I now realize actually the most important part is "finish your calories for the day by or just after sunset". I tested this yesterday, I had my dinner as soon as I got home from work and had no problems going to bed by 9 pm. (I often have trouble going to sleep until 11 because I'd mess around on my computer before preparing dinner).

The caveat is that this only works if your dinner had sufficient calories... otherwise you'll get hunger insomnia problems.

I know it's cliché, but I think the key to sleep hygiene is get up when the sun rises (if possible), and stop eating / go to bed soon after sunset. I have historically struggled with BOTH of these aspects, which is probably why my sleep hasn't been great.

I still struggle to wake up at a reasonable hour. Maybe if I can sleep RIGHT after sunset (so like 730-8 pm now), I could get up by sunrise. I need a lot of sleep, so going to bed much later makes this impossible for me.

Anyway, this may be obvious to some, but it was an enlightening epiphany for me. Our circadian cycles are regulated not just by light but ALSO timing of food intake. The latter part was the missing key for me.

This sounds like a really good area for you to work hard on.

Same applies to me, currently trying to shift my pattens to rising earlier and sleeping earlier.

 

[Cirion]

This sounds like a really good area for you to work hard on.

Same applies to me, currently trying to shift my pattens to rising earlier and sleeping earlier.

My problem is the CONSISTENCY. It's easy to be good for one day or two, then you stay up too late on a weekend, and it throws it all off... lol

I like to play online games with my friend. However he can rarely ever play. So when he does, I jump at the chance... unfortunately, it frequently occurs late at night and I've been know to stay up until midnight playing with him. And then my schedule is thrown out of whack for days afterwards. I know this isn't ideal when it comes to circadian cycles, but if I adopt a strict schedule, it means we'll never play together... lol siiigh.

Makes me wonder - how do people here maintain a good circadian rhythm while still having a social life? I don't even have a social life LOL and I still can't do it!! Night clubs and whatnot no longer interest me at all though so there is that at least. I only went to a couple when I was dating my ex who was into nightlife and she worked night shift. BTW, don't ever do that - date someone who works night shift. I firmly believe it was one of many factors that ultimately ruined my health.

 

[Cirion]

Two days in a row getting to bed by 9 pm! Maybe there is hope for me yet haha. I found my old light-alarm and used it the last couple of nights and it has been helpful to wake up easier. This was to tide me over until my outlet-timers came in the mail (today). Those will help even more because I can make it very bright in the bedroom (500-1000+ watts of lighting) prior to waking up. Waking up is still somewhat annoying, but I have actually had morning wood the last two mornings which is actually new to me. I wasn't getting any for the longest time, so I think I'm doing something right.

 

[Cirion]

Tested my light timer today! Pretty cool. It turned on and I was still tired though so I went back to bed (I set it to come up around sun-up, so I could sleep extra if need-be). I had a whole bunch of vivid dreams sleeping while 300W was shining near my face, and woke up feeling pretty good actually (98.5F waking temp too).

Had a dream that I was hunting for houses on the beach haha!

This thing works great as a sun simulator =) Just set it to come up when the sun comes up. Viola, you've made your own "artificial" sun-up lol!

Gonna take it a level or two higher now. I will set the entire room lights to come on, and maybe add a second 300W bulb also.

 

[Cirion]

So, today I just hit a new milestone which was cool. 98.6F waking temp... On a weekday. I've managed this on a weekend but NEVER on a weekday. The following are major contributors I believe:

- Waking up to 600W of lighting (I have two 300W lamps set to turn on at 7AM which is roughly the time the sun is up)
I still often go back to bed for an hour or two after, but I have a suspicion that sleeping under bright light is very anabolic because after sleeping under this light I tend to feel better. I would sleep the whole night under a light but it's too stimulating right at bed time and also having light all day messes up my circadian rythym.

- Now taking thyroid (pure T3) in one big shot in the morning - 64 mcg with my caffeine. T3 does seem to more or less stabilize my energy for most of the day. One thing I have noticed is that T3 also gives me an increased appetite. I am having to eat almost 1,000 grams of carbs a day now to be satiated.

- Increased starch, drastically reduced fat intake. I eat virtually zero fat now, and ultra high carb, about 50-60% from starch and 40-50% from sugar, and pretty low protein, though I'm gonna bring back (some) animal protein but not much, no more than 8 oz a day, because I think 70 gram protein might be (somewhat) too low and I'm leaning more towards around 120g a day.

 

[Jsaute21]

So, today I just hit a new milestone which was cool. 98.6F waking temp... On a weekday. I've managed this on a weekend but NEVER on a weekday. The following are major contributors I believe:

- Waking up to 600W of lighting (I have two 300W lamps set to turn on at 7AM which is roughly the time the sun is up)
I still often go back to bed for an hour or two after, but I have a suspicion that sleeping under bright light is very anabolic because after sleeping under this light I tend to feel better. I would sleep the whole night under a light but it's too stimulating right at bed time and also having light all day messes up my circadian rythym.

- Now taking thyroid (pure T3) in one big shot in the morning - 64 mcg with my caffeine. T3 does seem to more or less stabilize my energy for most of the day. One thing I have noticed is that T3 also gives me an increased appetite. I am having to eat almost 1,000 grams of carbs a day now to be satiated.

- Increased starch, drastically reduced fat intake. I eat virtually zero fat now, and ultra high carb, about 50-60% from starch and 40-50% from sugar, and pretty low protein, though I'm gonna bring back (some) animal protein but not much, no more than 8 oz a day, because I think 70 gram protein might be (somewhat) too low and I'm leaning more towards around 120g a day.

Cool to see your progress. Which T3 do you take?

 

[Cirion]

Cool to see your progress. Which T3 do you take?

idealabs Tyronene

I will admit, it's not quite the gamechanger I thought it would be, the effects seem to be rather subtle. Still, I think it's helping me. I don't consider it to be the lynchpin in the operation. much like @ilikecats determined, also, but a helpful tool in the arsenal so to speak. Other things like carbs, and light, is actually more helpful than the T3 honestly. But, I think it's definitely worth playing with T3.

I am also taking walks out in the sun a lot now as I can. Yesterday I took two 30 min walks in UV index 5-7 sunlight so I am sure that helped also.

You want to be in high UV sunlight as much as possible. I also don't seem to be burning anymore since going low fat. Normally after a couple 30 min walk I'd already have light burns.

Winter sucks because not only it is cloudy and cold, but the UV index rarely gets above 2-3. You start to really see benefits from the sun once the UV index reaches 6+ (My personal experience)

On that note, the UV index is 7 today... Time for a walk =P

 

[lampofred]

If you have a lot of stored PUFA (if you are overweight, you most likely do since most stored fat is PUFA), it might be good to take thyroid alongside lots of aspirin to reduce prostaglandin formation. I used to hate taking thyroid until I started daily 2 (sometimes 3-4) tabs of aspirin. Now, the aspirin is allowing me to take larger amounts of Cynoplus with less negative effects and more of the positive effects you would expect from taking thyroid hormone (more relaxation, less verbosity, while still maintaining high alertness). Previously, even the smallest bit of thyroid would make me sweat like crazy and have other weird side effects.

 

[Cirion]

Interesting, what is your thyroid to aspirin ratio? @lampofred

I was also having some weird issues taking thyroid multiple times a day and for now seem to do OK with one big dose in the morning.

I found out yesterday that the hunger gets quite urgent on thyroid lol. By the time I was off work I was ready to eat ANYTHING, haven't had that happen to me in a while... and I had to basically eat two "dinners" last night, haha. I was hungry shortly after the first.

I consider this a good thing since a strong appetite tends to correlate with a strong metabolism.

 

[lampofred]

Interesting, what is your thyroid to aspirin ratio?

Right now I'm taking half a tab of Cynoplus (I think that's about 1.75 grains or something around that) along with 2 325 mg tabs of aspirin dissolved in water (and 1 gel of LifeExtension vitamin K) daily, and it seems to be working really well for me.

Before I started taking aspirin, I guess I had really high cortisol levels artificially raising my temps and making my metabolism seem much better than it actually was, whereas in reality my thyroid function was almost non-existent.

 

[Cirion]

Yeah having too many carbs from sugar just made me jittery and high cortisol. Starch seems to be a more stable source of calories in some respects. Also as I say, I am having to start eating more while on thyroid. Yesterday I had around 4300 calories, and keep in mind that's with virtually zero fat, so that's a LOT of carbs lol.

Perhaps of note too is yesterday I ate enough food that I lasted the whole night without a midnight snack, and I feel that had an impact to my waking temps. I know it's something most of us here know and have heard, but it's worth repeating. If you run out of glucose at night, you are going to have problems. I seemed to run out of glucose more often when my dietary fat was higher in particular. I think that is because I replaced glucose calories with fat, which reduced my overall glucose intake AND interfered with the metabolism of glucose I DID eat. Note that I single out glucose. Glucose matters more than fructose. For storage of carbs at least. So a heavy glucose meal at night (which I did yesterday) seems far more beneficial than a fructose (fruit) heavy meal. Now, fructose DOES seem helpful for immediate access of energy, so it's more useful earlier in the day. The glucose heavy meal however lets you store carbs overnight more readily. And I often crave fruit earlier in the day which seems to validate my theory. Later in the day is when I want the heavier stuff like potatoes or oatmeal.

I now believe eating in the middle of the night is bad and screws with your circadian cycles. You should only eat from sunup to sundown. If you are waking up at night to eat, it means you didn't eat enough in the day, so eat more the next day.