Need Advice On Diet For Raising And Maintaining Metabolism

CalifornIAN

New Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
1
Hello, I am a 21 year old male and I've been dealing with metabolic issues since I was very young. Long story short, I've dealt with a lot of stress since I was a young child such as parents having a violent divorce that lasted years, self-image issues, lack of consistent social support, etc. I had actually dealt with carotenemia and bacterial overgrowth when I was just a few years old and had to be put on anti-biotics for 6 months. Anyway, I gained weight early in my life and the weight increased as I got older where my maximum weight when I was 17 was 265lbs at just 5'10".

When I got into college four years ago, I tried to ameliorate my weight issues by eating a low-carb diet, which eventually transitioned into a paleo one. This, however, only lasted about 8 or 9 months when I decided to "Eat for Heat", which also only lasted a few months as it gave decent results physically, but not mentally.

Then, during the summer of 2013 and even somewhat during the previous years of my life, I dealt with a severe amount of stress resulting from an alcoholic/drug addicted parent and drug addicted brothers. Essentially, I've been a sort of glue that gave in to help my family stay together, as I stayed sober and never experimented much at all. This stress resulted in me being unable to sleep throughout the night soundly, and I would wake up getting maybe a few hours of sleep, thus feeling fatigued and unable to go to school and work properly, and even carry out household chores.

Over time, my symptoms have gotten worse as I've interpreted and experimented with Peat's work. Currently, my weight is fairly stable at:

145.15kg/320lbs

and my height is:

187cm/6'2"

Right now, I'm dealing with a large list of symptoms that I've attempted to put into related clusters:

External physical symptoms:
-dark circles and bags under eyes
-moderate-severe gynecomastia
-excess abdominal fat
-purple stretch marks/striae
-swollen calves and legs

Internal physical symptoms:
-brain fog
-anhedonia
-memory loss and inability to retain new information easily
-lack of motivation
-unable to focus or concentrate for long periods of time
-sad
-fatigued
-easily irritated

Miscellaneous symptoms:
-poor facial hair growth/thin facial hair
-mouth breathing at night and apnea symptoms
-waking up with a dry mouth
-unable to sleep all the way through the night (usually wake up to urinate)
-low T symptoms
-back pain and soreness, especially low back and in the shoulder blade area
-heightened sweat response to any form of physical activity
-poor caffeine tolerance


A typical day of mine might go something like this...

Morning:

-wake up at 5am-6am with a temp of <97.0F
-have 2-3 jumbo eggs (I wake up starving some mornings and not feeling hungry at all other mornings) with a 12oz. glass of OJ at about 6:30am
-take 1 drop of tyronene (this has only been happening a few weeks, but it really helps get my temps up and give me energy)
-read or do homework
-have 3oz. mozzarella cheese w/ an 8oz. glass of OJ @ 8:30am
-take another drop of tyronene at 9:30am
-Physics class from 10:30-11:50

Afternoon

-have about 3-4oz. of red meat (hamburger or small steak) w/ a small, strong cup of coffee w/ lots of milk and sugar and gelatin (some days I can tolerate the coffee, other days I can't)+drop of tyronene
-Calculus class from 1-2:30
-another 3oz. of mozzarella w/ another 8oz. glass of OJ
-lots of studying until about 7pm or so when I get off the computer
-attempt to fall asleep between 9:45 and 10:15pm

During the day I'll occasionally sip some OJ or milk if I feel thirsty and depending on what my body tells me.

I'm willing to answer questions and post blood test results; however, I don't have any results yet, but I will be going to the doctor soon here for a physical and get bloodwork done. Thanks for looking over my info and responding!
 

JCastro

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
101
Our mental symptoms are identical, and I too was put on antibiotics throughout infanthood and childhood, and suffered severe trauma and stress my whole life. Addiction and mental illness also run in my family and I feel like you and I are both so sick at a young age because we are the culmination of generations of illness. I also have depersonalization and severe uncontrollable social anxiety. I am taking a break from college and this semester because I simply don't have the energy.

With my beginner’s knowledge of Peat and the fact that I'm still sick, I can’t offer much definitive advice.

Have you started eating the daily carrot salad? Have you upped your food intake a lot? Based on your report it doesn’t look like much food.

After reading a lot on this forum I realize that I’ve been chronically undereating and malnourished my entire life and I have no appetite probably because my body is so used to the neglect. Just yesterday I found this out, so I have yet to see what will change now that my intake is becoming much higher.
 

lampofred

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,244
Hey Californian (Ian?),

1) I entered your diet into cronometer.com, and the first thing that popped out to me is a severe calorie-deficit. In his 20s, Peat ate around 8000 calories a day if active and 4000-5000 calories a day when sedentary (however, this was before thyroid supplementation). I realize that Peat's intake might seem excessive, but I have heard from many sources and experienced for myself (I am also in my 20s) that young adults need much more than the recommended 2000 calories to truly be relaxed, energetic, and healthy. 3500 calories might be a good minimum, and you can go up from there depending on your hunger. The idea that caloric intake causes obesity is extremely simplistic and unhealthy imo. Peat, for example, says childhood stress can have a long-lasting impact on adult life and can alter your body's weight set-point to be higher than one might like. But to reduce the impact of long-term stress, you have to eat enough to allow your body to repair. Furthermore, your body is breaking itself down to sustain itself when you are in a caloric deficit, and recovery entails building your body up, not breaking it down. I would strongly recommend upping your food intake.

2) I know Peat strongly recommends OJ, but I have found that I handled liquids very poorly when I was stressed/hypothyroid (and many others here have had the same experience). What has worked for me is drinking liquids only to satisfy my thirst and not as a way to get calories.

3) A fantastic instant-relaxation technique for me is bag-breathing. Because you mentioned symptoms like waking up with dry mouth/mouth-breathing, I think you're aware of how strongly Peat likes CO2. Bag-breathing/controlling my breathing and breathing slower and less in general does wonders for me any time I'm stressed. Maybe you could do this constantly throughout the day so that you transition into a naturally more relaxed state.

Many of the symptoms you have sound like symptoms of semi-starvation, high estrogen, high cortisol, and low CO2. Semi-starvation and mental stress lead to low CO2 and high cortisol, high cortisol and low CO2 lead to high estrogen, high estrogen in turn decreases CO2 and increases cortisol in a vicious cycle. I realize what I am saying is pretty similar to Eat for Heat (increase caloric intake, reduce fluid intake), but if you look up the Minnesota starvation experiment, young males were experiencing severe symptoms at around 1700-1800 calories, which is what cronometer.com is showing for your caloric intake.

You may also want to try supplementing progesterone or DHT. They are basically completely opposite hormones in that one is feminizing and the other is the most powerful androgen, but I think they will have similar results. I know one member on here named Haidut sells 11-keto-DHT which is legal in the US, and Peat sells progesterone. Progesterone and DHT will both lower estrogen, lower cortisol, and increase metabolism and maybe help you break out of a vicious cycle.
 

toucan

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
7
Our mental symptoms are identical, and I too was put on antibiotics throughout infanthood and childhood, and suffered severe trauma and stress my whole life. Addiction and mental illness also run in my family and I feel like you and I are both so sick at a young age because we are the culmination of generations of illness. I also have depersonalization and severe uncontrollable social anxiety. I am taking a break from college and this semester because I simply don't have the energy.

With my beginner’s knowledge of Peat and the fact that I'm still sick, I can’t offer much definitive advice.

Have you started eating the daily carrot salad? Have you upped your food intake a lot? Based on your report it doesn’t look like much food.

After reading a lot on this forum I realize that I’ve been chronically undereating and malnourished my entire life and I have no appetite probably because my body is so used to the neglect. Just yesterday I found this out, so I have yet to see what will change now that my intake is becoming much higher.


can someone tell why the carrot salad is beneficial ?
 

rooz7939

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2015
Messages
32
Hey Californian (Ian?),

1) I entered your diet into cronometer.com, and the first thing that popped out to me is a severe calorie-deficit. In his 20s, Peat ate around 8000 calories a day if active and 4000-5000 calories a day when sedentary (however, this was before thyroid supplementation). I realize that Peat's intake might seem excessive, but I have heard from many sources and experienced for myself (I am also in my 20s) that young adults need much more than the recommended 2000 calories to truly be relaxed, energetic, and healthy. 3500 calories might be a good minimum, and you can go up from there depending on your hunger. The idea that caloric intake causes obesity is extremely simplistic and unhealthy imo. Peat, for example, says childhood stress can have a long-lasting impact on adult life and can alter your body's weight set-point to be higher than one might like. But to reduce the impact of long-term stress, you have to eat enough to allow your body to repair. Furthermore, your body is breaking itself down to sustain itself when you are in a caloric deficit, and recovery entails building your body up, not breaking it down. I would strongly recommend upping your food intake.

2) I know Peat strongly recommends OJ, but I have found that I handled liquids very poorly when I was stressed/hypothyroid (and many others here have had the same experience). What has worked for me is drinking liquids only to satisfy my thirst and not as a way to get calories.

3) A fantastic instant-relaxation technique for me is bag-breathing. Because you mentioned symptoms like waking up with dry mouth/mouth-breathing, I think you're aware of how strongly Peat likes CO2. Bag-breathing/controlling my breathing and breathing slower and less in general does wonders for me any time I'm stressed. Maybe you could do this constantly throughout the day so that you transition into a naturally more relaxed state.

Many of the symptoms you have sound like symptoms of semi-starvation, high estrogen, high cortisol, and low CO2. Semi-starvation and mental stress lead to low CO2 and high cortisol, high cortisol and low CO2 lead to high estrogen, high estrogen in turn decreases CO2 and increases cortisol in a vicious cycle. I realize what I am saying is pretty similar to Eat for Heat (increase caloric intake, reduce fluid intake), but if you look up the Minnesota starvation experiment, young males were experiencing severe symptoms at around 1700-1800 calories, which is what cronometer.com is showing for your caloric intake.

You may also want to try supplementing progesterone or DHT. They are basically completely opposite hormones in that one is feminizing and the other is the most powerful androgen, but I think they will have similar results. I know one member on here named Haidut sells 11-keto-DHT which is legal in the US, and Peat sells progesterone. Progesterone and DHT will both lower estrogen, lower cortisol, and increase metabolism and maybe help you break out of a vicious cycle.

Hello lampofred,

I realize this thread is a bit old but your reply (second point specifically) was very interesting to me because I know I'm calorie deficient and I've been trying to increase my calorie intake. Recently I've managed to get my calorie intake up to 2500-3000 but it takes a lot of eating to get there (this is a great increase for me being in 1500-1800 range probably since I was 15, I'm 29 now). I drink a lot of OJ and trying to increase my milk intake. Having said that I don't really handle liquids too well and getting the liquid/salt balance seems to be trickier than I thought. I was wondering how you managed to increase your calorie intake without consuming too much liquid (I've also been avoiding starches, and trying not to eat too much muscle meats).
 

aquaman

Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
1,297
Eat more solid food, less liquid. Eat earlier in the day. Eat regular proper meals. Use a thermometer and pulse measurement to test if it's helping.
 

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