New. Trying To Lose Weight, Temps Are Dropping

[Sk001]

Hi All! I've been doing Peat style eating for a few weeks. I started with waking temps in the mid-97s and would maybe rise to 98 or not quite in the afternoon.

Last week, after a couple of weeks of drinking OJ, milk, salt and lots of sugar, I noticed temps rising. My waking temps were maybe 98.3 and one time in the afternoon I saw 98.9, but most of the time it was around 98.5 in the afternoon. So definite improvement. I felt warm and good.

But I need to lose weight. I'm currently a 43 year old female, 5'8", 172 pounds. I have alot of estrogen issues -- stage 3 endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts. I know I feel better when I lose some fat. I feel better even at 160, but I've only been able to get there with severe carb restriction and generally an impossible way of eating. And I feel SO cold when I eat this way -- just not good.

So 3 days ago, reading Peat, I discovered he recommends low fat for those that need to drop a few pounds. So I changed my diet to low fat -- 20-25 grams of fat, around 2000 calories per day, but I'm mostly just eating to hunger and making sure fat doesn't get too high. Switched to skim and still drinking OJ. I put my foot in myfitnesspal and I'm eating about 60-70's carbs with lots of sugar, 100ish grams protein.

But... now the last two days I've seen significant drops in temp. My waking was 97.7. After eating breakfast (2 pieces of toast with tiny bit of butter, cinnamon sugar and honey. Coffee with half/half and sugar. 16 oz skim milk with 2 tablespoons gelatin), my temp has stayed the same. My toes are cold. My nose is cold.

Help? I felt better eating more fat and my temps showed it. Or is this still just the adjustment period?

 

[Colin Nordstrom]

Are you exercising? Peat routine only works for me if I'm exerting myself. You can't lose weight (generally) if you don't bring O2 in, CO2 out, and keep lactic acid down. Are you sleeping deeply?

 

[Sk001]

No I am not exercising, other than some walking with hubby. Exercise seems to be a stressor for me for whatever reason, unless it's very light exercise.

 

[Colin Nordstrom]

It's a stressor because your body has acclimated to your new normal. It's a stressor because your body is freeing PUFAs. Some people can take a walk in the woods, and that's all the exercise they need. But those people are genetically gifted. For the rest of us (over 80% of us), you have to exert yourself to get your muscles and hormones to respond properly to cortisol and insulin. Do you have any gut issues? If you do, then Peat will most definitely not work for you because sugars without exercise lead to greater gut issues (maybe because of CO2 retention/lactic acid buildup).

 

[NathanK]

Id almost ignore macros, but angle for lower fat. Focus more on calories, but prolonged dieting will lower temps. Add at least 1 refeed day of excess calories a week. Studies show it's more effective to intermittently diet... like 1 month on and 2 weeks to one month eating normally. Whatever variable works best for you and your situation (diet in low stress times). Just dont chronically restrict calories or it will have long term hormonal effects. Those refeed days/weeks are very important to bring your hormones back to baseline after periods of dieting.

 

[squanch]

Your temps will drop a little if you're in a caloric deficit, no matter the macro ratios. Just my personal experience.
I would definitely include some weightlifting to minimize muscle loss.

 

[squanch]

Id almost ignore macros, but angle for lower fat. Focus more on calories, but prolonged dieting will lower temps. Add at least 1 refeed day of excess calories a week. Studies show it's more effective to intermittently diet... like 1 month on and 2 weeks to one month eating normally. Whatever variable works best for you and your situation (diet in low stress times). Just dont chronically restrict calories or it will have long term hormonal effects. Those refeed days/weeks are very important to bring your hormones back to baseline after periods of dieting.

The whole "reverse dieting" thing definitely works to keep metabolism up during prolonged dieting, but I honestly think it is a bit overkill if OP just wants to lose 12 lbs.
I would just lower calories until I lose around 2 lbs per week, include some weightlifting to preserve muscle mass and be done with the whole thing in 6 weeks.

 

[NathanK]

The whole "reverse dieting" thing definitely works to keep metabolism up during prolonged dieting, but I honestly think it is a bit overkill if OP just wants to lose 12 lbs.
I would just lower calories until I lose around 2 lbs per week, include some weightlifting to preserve muscle mass and be done with the whole thing in 6 weeks.

That works as well, but 12 lbs is a lot on a 170lb body and even at 2lbs/week will take longer than a month. I think a lot of people run into problems when they go overboard and diet excessively for too long without breaks (12lbs often turn into "well, maybe 20"). I think some sort of cycling would mitigate problems (like plateaus and hormone drops) and I'm not sure it would take any longer. Either way, I wanted to emphasize that macros for weight loss aren't as big of a deal--outside of getting adequate protein. Some sort of load bearing exercises are a great idea.

 

[wintagal]

More calories. I find that my metabolism comes to a screeching halt when I don't eat enough. You cut out fat but did you replace the calories with carbs? Are your total calories 905 (100 g protein, 70 g carb, 25 g fat)?
Watch for hypoglycemia from not enough carbs. A protein meal gives me hypoglycemia, which makes me cold.

 

[jitsmonkey]

you'll feel better if you fix your metabolic issues and not worry about losing weight and then...... you'll lose weight.