What I’d like to do here is categorize the different ways people have tried to deal with weight gain while eating in a Peat way. I hope people will post their experiences and ideas.
I’ve been following Peat eating principles for about 5 months now and, while I’ve experienced some promising changes, I have gained weight—about 15 to 20 lbs. This does seem to be a repeated theme on Peat-related forums. I don’t gauge the success of a diet strictly or even primarily upon weight control; however, I must admit it is hard for me to escape bad feelings about my fatness, and this creates a frustrating dissonance within me and within my embrace of Peat’s ideas. At the same time I find Peat’s ideas very persuasive and can swallow the fact that it might take quite a while to really see how a Peat “diet” affects weight and body shape.
I’ve bounced this Peat diet/weight gain issue around on a few different forums, I’ve received some interesting responses, and I’ve read a lot of different ways others have tried to grapple with the problem.
(I guess it would be helpful if I gave a little info about myself. I’m 59. I’m male. I come to Peat-eating after eating for about 10 years within different variations of the low carb approach. I started with Protein Power; added a lot of Mercola-type stuff like chlorella, raw foods, raw milk, intense interval exercise, fructose and sugar fear. It worked great at first: I was able to stay pretty slim and muscular, my triglycerides and cholesterol levels improved pretty dramatically. Looking back, I do think, though, that I started to experience higher anxiety, loss of libido--rarely even loss of sexual function, and I guess what would generally be called fatigue—I just felt the need to shelter and rest and recover and kinduv insulate/isolate myself from stressful stuff—like life (ha). I was diagnosed as hypothyroid. I started on Synthroid, then started questioning the conventional wisdom about thyroid issues. I switched to porcine thyroid and saw a little improvement. I tried a million supplements for thyroid and adrenals and sexuality—none with any clear, sustained positive results. I think my doctor and I have achieved a pretty good thyroid dosage.)
So here is how I would try to categorize the different ways people explain weight-gain while Peat Eating and (therefore) how they would fix it:
1. Lower Fat Consumption: this is probably the consensus among posters I view as having some credibility (I know this is a subjective judgement). Danny Roddy, for instance, advises cutting fat intake, but keeping your foot on the gas (so to speak) by continuing to eat Peat-outlined levels of carbs from fruits and sugar (and of protein)--the overarching strategy being to crank up the metabolism, which will be the most powerful factor in weight control. Roddy also advises getting lab tests and making sure crucial Peaty nutrients like thyroid, Vitamin A, magnesium, salt, calcium, aspirin, etc are at healthy levels. An important feature of Roddy’s approach is that I don’t think he advocates caloric restriction or portion control. In other words, he seems to think it’s okay to let satiety control eating. Hope I’m interpreting Danny accurately here. That is just a quick take on Roddy’s vastly fuller interpretation of Peat’s nutritional ideas as they bear on weight and metabolism.
2. Lower Fat Consumption And Exercise Some: Another smart guy is Cliff McClary. McClary says that most people come to Peat Eating from some form of “low-carbism” (like myself); therefore, they are accustomed to eating A LOT of fat. These people Think they are eating according to Peat ideas, but really they are not—because they just haven’t come to terms with the fact that, in Peat Eating, one really can’t eat anywhere near the levels of fat—even good fats—to which they were accustomed when eating “low carb” (well, not if one has weight issues). He advises lowering fats and using all the standard Peat metabolic fuels and nutrients like Roddy (above). He also says that doing strength training a couple of times a week would be a good idea. And he thinks eating a lot of small meals would help too. One interesting tidbit with McClary is that he doesn’t seem to think that coconut oil should be given a free pass even though one could come away from reading Peat thinking that it is a weight-loss food that falls into a different category from other saturated fats. I’m sorry if I misrepresent McClary’s ideas here—of course I under-represent them. As with Roddy, McClary doesn’t seem to argue for any kind of portion or caloric restriction—let satiety govern intake. Hope I don’t mistake Cliff there.
3. Calories In Calories Out, So Reduce Fats and Carbs: this is another prevalent stream of thought regarding those struggling with weight while Peat Eating. Those in this camp think that satiety is not a good limiting factor, and that one simply has to push oneself away from the OJ or fruit or sugar or potatoes, and exert portion control or caloric restriction—at least until the metabolism increases and more calories are burned. Actually, this isn’t something one hears much of on Peat-related forums. It is mostly a critique of Peat Eating one hears on Paleo or Primal or Low Carb forums. It is predictable criticism. I hope it’s not true: I hate restricting calories and feeling cravings.
4. It’s a Problem Caused by Shifting to a Largely Liquid Diet: This is an interesting strand. I think I came across this idea on the “Mark’s Daily Apple” site, in the thread where Danny Roddy was debating with several Primal Blueprinters. I’ll try to track down the poster. He said that, in his view, a lot of people struggle with weight gain when doing a Peat diet because they don’t Really come to terms with the fact that most of their diet is now Liquid (OJ and milk). And so people Drink all of those calories, but don’t really recognize that That’s It—that’s your “food” for the day. In other words, people don’t really realize that OJ and milk are FOOD, even though one DRINKS them. So they also then Eat additional (solid) food—potatoes, rice, etc. Thus they over-eat and gain weight. This view holds some water for me, because I myself have often felt—after a day of guzzling OJ and skim milk—that I still crave EATING something: I mean Chewing something Solid, etc. Not more fruit, either.
5. Stop Drinking All That Milk: One poster with the distinctive handle “Senneth” has posted that her Peat weight gain struggle was solved by stopping the milk drinking. She said, as I recall, that she continued to eat other solid dairy products, but that when she stopped drinking all that milk “the pounds melted away” (or words to that effect). I wish this would prove true for me. I haven’t tried it.
6. Cheating--Maybe Some Gain Weight While Putatively Eating Peatishly Simply Because They Cheat: I came across a lot of self-described Peatatarians who said, flat-out, that they were weary from all the different restrictive diets they had tried in the past, and simply did not consider themselves beholden to any “Rules”—Peat-derived or otherwise. To me, the Peat “diet” in its strict form—as best one can extrapolate it from Peat’s articles and interviews—is a quite challenging diet. Frankly, I can’t imagine very many people really doing it without “cheating.” A lot of people say they’re “trying Peat” or “adding some Peat,” but at the same time say proudly that they are not going to torture or restrict or deny themselves. One poster whom I really enjoy, with the handle “Thomas Seay” (I think) says that he believes that it is very important to Cheat A Lot on a Peat diet (or on any diet, if I understand him right) because nobody (even Peat) has a corner on the truth, and so your best bet is not to place all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. Again, this Thomas Seay is one of my favorite posters and a voice of reason on several forums, so I’m not being snide or sarcastic, and I understand where he’s coming from. But I suppose I do have to say that his approach differs from mine, because I wouldn't feel I’ve Really Tried a certain diet if I don’t do it pretty strictly. So, I’ve discussed those who Clearly State that they Intend to cheat (maybe that means they are not cheating?). In addition, I would have to think that many more cheat inadvertently. Maybe they are not well educated on Peat’s ideas. Maybe they Are well educated but they sortuv “sneak” a lot of non-Peat stuff into their diet without admitting it to themselves (or at any rate to others when they post).
The way I understand Peat’s ideas about metabolism (and therefore about weight), I can’t accurately judge whether they are working or not unless given time. I have stuffed myself for years with PUFAs, and therefore my metabolism is damaged or at least very sluggish, so it may take a long time to excrete those PUFAs and start to see improvements in metabolism (which of course will impact weight). One very general principle here, for me, in this discussion of weight-loss, is that Peat Eating may indeed result in healthy weight and pleasing body shape, but for some it simply may take Time. Darn it.
I’ve been following Peat eating principles for about 5 months now and, while I’ve experienced some promising changes, I have gained weight—about 15 to 20 lbs. This does seem to be a repeated theme on Peat-related forums. I don’t gauge the success of a diet strictly or even primarily upon weight control; however, I must admit it is hard for me to escape bad feelings about my fatness, and this creates a frustrating dissonance within me and within my embrace of Peat’s ideas. At the same time I find Peat’s ideas very persuasive and can swallow the fact that it might take quite a while to really see how a Peat “diet” affects weight and body shape.
I’ve bounced this Peat diet/weight gain issue around on a few different forums, I’ve received some interesting responses, and I’ve read a lot of different ways others have tried to grapple with the problem.
(I guess it would be helpful if I gave a little info about myself. I’m 59. I’m male. I come to Peat-eating after eating for about 10 years within different variations of the low carb approach. I started with Protein Power; added a lot of Mercola-type stuff like chlorella, raw foods, raw milk, intense interval exercise, fructose and sugar fear. It worked great at first: I was able to stay pretty slim and muscular, my triglycerides and cholesterol levels improved pretty dramatically. Looking back, I do think, though, that I started to experience higher anxiety, loss of libido--rarely even loss of sexual function, and I guess what would generally be called fatigue—I just felt the need to shelter and rest and recover and kinduv insulate/isolate myself from stressful stuff—like life (ha). I was diagnosed as hypothyroid. I started on Synthroid, then started questioning the conventional wisdom about thyroid issues. I switched to porcine thyroid and saw a little improvement. I tried a million supplements for thyroid and adrenals and sexuality—none with any clear, sustained positive results. I think my doctor and I have achieved a pretty good thyroid dosage.)
So here is how I would try to categorize the different ways people explain weight-gain while Peat Eating and (therefore) how they would fix it:
1. Lower Fat Consumption: this is probably the consensus among posters I view as having some credibility (I know this is a subjective judgement). Danny Roddy, for instance, advises cutting fat intake, but keeping your foot on the gas (so to speak) by continuing to eat Peat-outlined levels of carbs from fruits and sugar (and of protein)--the overarching strategy being to crank up the metabolism, which will be the most powerful factor in weight control. Roddy also advises getting lab tests and making sure crucial Peaty nutrients like thyroid, Vitamin A, magnesium, salt, calcium, aspirin, etc are at healthy levels. An important feature of Roddy’s approach is that I don’t think he advocates caloric restriction or portion control. In other words, he seems to think it’s okay to let satiety control eating. Hope I’m interpreting Danny accurately here. That is just a quick take on Roddy’s vastly fuller interpretation of Peat’s nutritional ideas as they bear on weight and metabolism.
2. Lower Fat Consumption And Exercise Some: Another smart guy is Cliff McClary. McClary says that most people come to Peat Eating from some form of “low-carbism” (like myself); therefore, they are accustomed to eating A LOT of fat. These people Think they are eating according to Peat ideas, but really they are not—because they just haven’t come to terms with the fact that, in Peat Eating, one really can’t eat anywhere near the levels of fat—even good fats—to which they were accustomed when eating “low carb” (well, not if one has weight issues). He advises lowering fats and using all the standard Peat metabolic fuels and nutrients like Roddy (above). He also says that doing strength training a couple of times a week would be a good idea. And he thinks eating a lot of small meals would help too. One interesting tidbit with McClary is that he doesn’t seem to think that coconut oil should be given a free pass even though one could come away from reading Peat thinking that it is a weight-loss food that falls into a different category from other saturated fats. I’m sorry if I misrepresent McClary’s ideas here—of course I under-represent them. As with Roddy, McClary doesn’t seem to argue for any kind of portion or caloric restriction—let satiety govern intake. Hope I don’t mistake Cliff there.
3. Calories In Calories Out, So Reduce Fats and Carbs: this is another prevalent stream of thought regarding those struggling with weight while Peat Eating. Those in this camp think that satiety is not a good limiting factor, and that one simply has to push oneself away from the OJ or fruit or sugar or potatoes, and exert portion control or caloric restriction—at least until the metabolism increases and more calories are burned. Actually, this isn’t something one hears much of on Peat-related forums. It is mostly a critique of Peat Eating one hears on Paleo or Primal or Low Carb forums. It is predictable criticism. I hope it’s not true: I hate restricting calories and feeling cravings.
4. It’s a Problem Caused by Shifting to a Largely Liquid Diet: This is an interesting strand. I think I came across this idea on the “Mark’s Daily Apple” site, in the thread where Danny Roddy was debating with several Primal Blueprinters. I’ll try to track down the poster. He said that, in his view, a lot of people struggle with weight gain when doing a Peat diet because they don’t Really come to terms with the fact that most of their diet is now Liquid (OJ and milk). And so people Drink all of those calories, but don’t really recognize that That’s It—that’s your “food” for the day. In other words, people don’t really realize that OJ and milk are FOOD, even though one DRINKS them. So they also then Eat additional (solid) food—potatoes, rice, etc. Thus they over-eat and gain weight. This view holds some water for me, because I myself have often felt—after a day of guzzling OJ and skim milk—that I still crave EATING something: I mean Chewing something Solid, etc. Not more fruit, either.
5. Stop Drinking All That Milk: One poster with the distinctive handle “Senneth” has posted that her Peat weight gain struggle was solved by stopping the milk drinking. She said, as I recall, that she continued to eat other solid dairy products, but that when she stopped drinking all that milk “the pounds melted away” (or words to that effect). I wish this would prove true for me. I haven’t tried it.
6. Cheating--Maybe Some Gain Weight While Putatively Eating Peatishly Simply Because They Cheat: I came across a lot of self-described Peatatarians who said, flat-out, that they were weary from all the different restrictive diets they had tried in the past, and simply did not consider themselves beholden to any “Rules”—Peat-derived or otherwise. To me, the Peat “diet” in its strict form—as best one can extrapolate it from Peat’s articles and interviews—is a quite challenging diet. Frankly, I can’t imagine very many people really doing it without “cheating.” A lot of people say they’re “trying Peat” or “adding some Peat,” but at the same time say proudly that they are not going to torture or restrict or deny themselves. One poster whom I really enjoy, with the handle “Thomas Seay” (I think) says that he believes that it is very important to Cheat A Lot on a Peat diet (or on any diet, if I understand him right) because nobody (even Peat) has a corner on the truth, and so your best bet is not to place all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. Again, this Thomas Seay is one of my favorite posters and a voice of reason on several forums, so I’m not being snide or sarcastic, and I understand where he’s coming from. But I suppose I do have to say that his approach differs from mine, because I wouldn't feel I’ve Really Tried a certain diet if I don’t do it pretty strictly. So, I’ve discussed those who Clearly State that they Intend to cheat (maybe that means they are not cheating?). In addition, I would have to think that many more cheat inadvertently. Maybe they are not well educated on Peat’s ideas. Maybe they Are well educated but they sortuv “sneak” a lot of non-Peat stuff into their diet without admitting it to themselves (or at any rate to others when they post).
The way I understand Peat’s ideas about metabolism (and therefore about weight), I can’t accurately judge whether they are working or not unless given time. I have stuffed myself for years with PUFAs, and therefore my metabolism is damaged or at least very sluggish, so it may take a long time to excrete those PUFAs and start to see improvements in metabolism (which of course will impact weight). One very general principle here, for me, in this discussion of weight-loss, is that Peat Eating may indeed result in healthy weight and pleasing body shape, but for some it simply may take Time. Darn it.