Peata's Log For Weight Loss & Misc

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Peata

Peata

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I've been taking one or two days per week where I eat low calorie all day then have a regular dinner. I think that has helped some. Otherwise I eat between 1300 - 1800 calories. If my weight loss reports look off it's because the scale went up and down here and there which I think is normal for weight loss (and gain, imo).

Have not been exercising (but I really need to do strength training so I won't have flabby muscles).

Other averages over the last week:
250 g. carbs
40 g. fat
50 g. protein
1100 calcium

Not worrying about that stuff too much though, just eating/drinking when/what I want.

Pufas under 3 g. daily.

Caffeine over 400 mg. daily.

Supplements: Bs (not daily), Calc/mag/D here and there, E w pufa, Progest E, Caffeine.

Haven't been eating as much coconut oil off the spoon, but still using it for cooking.

At least 500 mg. Glycine.

No alcohol since usually all it does is hurt my stomach, stall weight loss, increase estrogen, etc.
 
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Peata

Peata

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So if anyone ever comes by this thread and doesn't want to wade through all the posts (even I don't want to) and wants a "quick" background and explanation of what has helped me:

Started Peat early 2013. Coming off low carb, IF, low calorie stints, etc. I had 4 - 7# I wanted to lose. Wasn't losing, but wasn't trying too hard either, so I was only mildly concerned at that point.

Winter 2014 I started putting on weight after increasing carbs a lot, and it crept higher and higher each month. Exercise didn't help. When I would try to lower calories, I would get sick. Not the normal discomfort of dieting, which I am very familiar with and can handle, but weird feelings I've described that sent me to seek medical treatment more than once. Things like light-headed, internal pressure, breathing problems, restless legs, so forth. Doctors could never find anything wrong.

Once I got my metabolism to increase some, starting around March 2015, these bad feelings became less.

To increase my metabolism I ate every one to three hours whether I was hungry or not. A snack, at the least. I ate as soon as I got up. My foods were protein and carbs ("thermogenic" foods), salted.

Of course reduce PUFA.

Less liquids, more solid foods, more salt.

Supplementing some E and/or coconut oil with pufa meals.

Calcium with phosphorus foods.

I used glycine with meats (at least 500 mg. daily).

Stopped eating too close to bed to help my stomach and waking in the night with adrenaline.

I use some Progest E during most of cycle.

Recently discovered the bad feelings may have been related to chronic gastritis, ibs, etc. and Vagus Nerve. Have not had issues with that since I started using vagus nerve technique described a page or so before this. So this has been a big deal for me. I don't have to worry about feeling like crap or when it might come out of nowhere and lay me low for day on end like it did a few weeks ago. Another benefit besides feeling "normal" is that I''m now able to lower calories more without those awful symptoms.

A day or two per week I try to keep calories on the low side (under 1000 calories) until evening, then I have a regular dinner.

Been doing all this a while though.

Not a whole lot happening fast, slow loss which I will definitely take over none. Except this last week things have picked up.

And so, I wonder if being able to handle more caffeine has really made the difference in my metabolism. Because when I tried increasing caffeine in winter/early spring, it did not go well. Adrenaline like crazy. Now I'm fine as long as I have food in my stomach/enough "sugar" in me.

But two weeks ago I gradually upped the caffeine through supplements (already drinking coffee). Along with the glycine, it MAY have started cleaning my liver of fat and estrogen. Which may have bumped up my metabolism and helped me get the weight loss going better here recently.

I dunno. Just my experiences so far of going so long without being able to lose even one pound, to finally losing.

----
In brief what helped me lose weight:
Got the normal stuff like lowering pufa, getting good nutrition, and then...
1. Got metabolism going better.
And then helped Vagus nerve or whatever issue so I could...
2. Lower calories enough.
And
3. boosted it all with Caffeine.
 

moss

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Peata, great news and thanks for taking the time to condense your thread with a quick run-down.

It would seem from what you are saying, amongst many other things, caffeine has been the game changer for you this time and the ability to tolerate increased caffeine would suggest you are on the road to improved health. Well Done!

Would you mind giving a bit of a picture of dosage of both caffeine supplement/coffees.

Thanks very much.


Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen RP
"Caffeine has remarkable parallels to thyroid and progesterone, and the use of coffee or tea can help to maintain their production, or compensate for their deficiency. Women spontaneously drink more coffee premenstrually, and since caffeine is known to increase the concentration of progesterone in the blood and in the brain, this is obviously a spontaneous and rational form of self-medication, though medical editors like to see things causally reversed, and blame the coffee drinking for the symptoms it is actually alleviating. Some women have noticed that the effect of a progesterone supplement is stronger when they take it with coffee. This is similar to the synergy between thyroid and progesterone, which is probably involved, since caffeine tends to locally activate thyroid secretion by a variety of mechanisms, increasing cyclic AMP and decreasing serotonin in thyroid cells, for example, and also by lowering the systemic stress mediators."
 
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Peata

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moss said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/96957/ Peata, great news and thanks for taking the time to condense your thread with a quick run-down.

It would seem from what you are saying, amongst many other things, caffeine has been the game changer for you this time and the ability to tolerate increased caffeine would suggest you are on the road to improved health. Well Done!

Would you mind giving a bit of a picture of dosage of both caffeine supplement/coffees.

Thanks very much.


Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen RP
"Caffeine has remarkable parallels to thyroid and progesterone, and the use of coffee or tea can help to maintain their production, or compensate for their deficiency. Women spontaneously drink more coffee premenstrually, and since caffeine is known to increase the concentration of progesterone in the blood and in the brain, this is obviously a spontaneous and rational form of self-medication, though medical editors like to see things causally reversed, and blame the coffee drinking for the symptoms it is actually alleviating. Some women have noticed that the effect of a progesterone supplement is stronger when they take it with coffee. This is similar to the synergy between thyroid and progesterone, which is probably involved, since caffeine tends to locally activate thyroid secretion by a variety of mechanisms, increasing cyclic AMP and decreasing serotonin in thyroid cells, for example, and also by lowering the systemic stress mediators."

Thanks, Moss. I was already drinking at least one cup of coffee per day, usually more. Sometimes I'd have cola or chocolate during the day.

I started using Jet Alert caplets (got them at Walmart, easy to break into divided doses). Each caplet is 200 mg. Even after this time, I have never popped a whole caplet yet. I'm pretty conservative about it, I think.

I make sure I have food/sugar first. So in the morning after I eat, I have sweet, milky coffee. Then along with that I started taking a 50 mg. piece of the Jet Alert.

After several hours if all was going well, I might have another 50 mg. piece of it with another meal. And so on, gradually building up over days/weeks. I don't have caffeine after 4 p.m. just in case.

If I'm hanging around the house, I might have several cups of coffee.

Now I am up to popping half the caplet, or 100 mg at a time. I make sure I have food or at least a sugary drink like Ginger Ale in me. I think a couple times I did 175 mg. at once. In addition to coffee or without coffee. Just so long as I get at least 400 mg. caffeine over the day. I worked up to the 400 mg. Some days I think I had 700 mg.

Sorry I can't be more precise on my dosages. I just went careful for my system and judged how I felt.
 
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sctb

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Nov 7, 2012
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Nice reading the log as always, Peata!

I know you've heard a lot of opinions on the topic of weight loss, but
I thought I'd still offer mine. I believe that an effective approach to
weight loss is one that causes a spontaneous reduction in caloric
intake, possibly accompanied by an increase in TDEE, and is not
directly macronutrient-dependent. It can be slow, though not always,
but most importantly can be sustainable and permanent.

I believe the relevant dietary factors to be, at least:
- Nutrient density
- Satiety
- Palatability/food reward
- Variety

Nutrient density is a well-trodden path here on the forum. On the
topic of satiety and palatability, I have some suggestions: solid food
is significantly more satiating than liquid, so I would prefer fruit,
cheese, seafood, meat, eggs, potatoes, etc. I think a black coffee
with fruit or dark chocolate is better than with sugar and milk. In
the studies that I've seen, boiled potatoes are the most satiating
food of all – twice that of most foods, in fact.

There are some foods that are highly palatable and offer low satiety,
even though they might be fine nutritionally. Generally these are
combinations of carbohydrate and fat, and unfortunately our beloved
iced cream and fried potatoes are among them ): Best to be avoided
for weight loss, or possibly limited to small amounts as a final meal
for the day.

A number of studies show that food variety is associated with a
larger intake. Simpler meals can be quite helpful here. I enjoy meals
like fruit with cheese, or meat with cooked vegetables or potatoes.

In general, most studies show that the distribution of fat, sugar and
starch in a diet does not have an effect on weight loss, except
when low-carb or low-fat have significant palatability/food-reward
implications. On the other hand, I believe that nutrient density is
best achieved through a balanced macronutrient diet, and that
low-fat is counter-productive here.

Cheers and best of luck!

- Scott
 
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Peata

Peata

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Thanks for the input, Scott.

So far I haven't avoided fat. I have tried to keep it below 40 g. per day lately, but that doesn't always happen.

Even when I went very low fat back in winter/early spring, it did not help weight loss. That was keeping under 20 g. day and usually under 10 g. Maybe it would have more of an effect now that my metabolism and weight loss seems to be going better, but I'm thinking if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

I don't always eat stuff that many here would consider Peaty. I feel it is varied and satisfying to me though.
 
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Peata

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I lost about another half pound overnight. Wottt? :beammeup

Can't believe I'm saying this, but now I wonder if the weight is coming off TOO fast, and would be bad because of release of pufas or whatever. :poke Poke me cause I think I'm dreaming here. Anyway, I'm doing all the Peat stuff to mitigate damage that I know of. Guess I'll just see where this takes me. And yes, it must be the caffeine :coffee
 

sctb

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Messages
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Peata said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/97117/ I lost about another half pound overnight. Wottt? :beammeup

Can't believe I'm saying this, but now I wonder if the weight is coming off TOO fast, and would be bad because of release of pufas or whatever. :poke Poke me cause I think I'm dreaming here. Anyway, I'm doing all the Peat stuff to mitigate damage that I know of. Guess I'll just see where this takes me. And yes, it must be the caffeine :coffee

Oh, I wouldn't worry about it one bit, but that might just be me.
I've never experienced any ill effects from fat loss personally,
except when calories or nutrition was too low. Sounds like things
are going well, way to go! :)
 
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moss

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Messages
305
Peata said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/96979/
moss said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/96957/ Peata, great news and thanks for taking the time to condense your thread with a quick run-down.

It would seem from what you are saying, amongst many other things, caffeine has been the game changer for you this time and the ability to tolerate increased caffeine would suggest you are on the road to improved health. Well Done!

Would you mind giving a bit of a picture of dosage of both caffeine supplement/coffees.

Thanks very much.

Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen RP
"Caffeine has remarkable parallels to thyroid and progesterone, and the use of coffee or tea can help to maintain their production, or compensate for their deficiency. Women spontaneously drink more coffee premenstrually, and since caffeine is known to increase the concentration of progesterone in the blood and in the brain, this is obviously a spontaneous and rational form of self-medication, though medical editors like to see things causally reversed, and blame the coffee drinking for the symptoms it is actually alleviating. Some women have noticed that the effect of a progesterone supplement is stronger when they take it with coffee. This is similar to the synergy between thyroid and progesterone, which is probably involved, since caffeine tends to locally activate thyroid secretion by a variety of mechanisms, increasing cyclic AMP and decreasing serotonin in thyroid cells, for example, and also by lowering the systemic stress mediators."

Thanks, Moss. I was already drinking at least one cup of coffee per day, usually more. Sometimes I'd have cola or chocolate during the day.

I started using Jet Alert caplets (got them at Walmart, easy to break into divided doses). Each caplet is 200 mg. Even after this time, I have never popped a whole caplet yet. I'm pretty conservative about it, I think.

I make sure I have food/sugar first. So in the morning after I eat, I have sweet, milky coffee. Then along with that I started taking a 50 mg. piece of the Jet Alert.

After several hours if all was going well, I might have another 50 mg. piece of it with another meal. And so on, gradually building up over days/weeks. I don't have caffeine after 4 p.m. just in case.

If I'm hanging around the house, I might have several cups of coffee.

Now I am up to popping half the caplet, or 100 mg at a time. I make sure I have food or at least a sugary drink like Ginger Ale in me. I think a couple times I did 175 mg. at once. In addition to coffee or without coffee. Just so long as I get at least 400 mg. caffeine over the day. I worked up to the 400 mg. Some days I think I had 700 mg.

Sorry I can't be more precise on my dosages. I just went careful for my system and judged how I felt.


Peata thanks, that is very helpful.


Peata said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/97117/ I lost about another half pound overnight. Wottt? :beammeup

Can't believe I'm saying this, but now I wonder if the weight is coming off TOO fast, and would be bad because of release of pufas or whatever. :poke Poke me cause I think I'm dreaming here. Anyway, I'm doing all the Peat stuff to mitigate damage that I know of. Guess I'll just see where this takes me. And yes, it must be the caffeine :coffee

Poking you... (I am very remedial when it comes to emoticons).
Are you still doing the Vagus nerve exercises? This may have also helped reduce possible acetylcholine saturation enabling better 'fight back' and I mean that just in general terms, fear alone will ramp up acetylcholine and eating more solids with salt and reducing fluids will help also reduce the 'floating on fluids'.

Environmental Enrichments & the Brain 2013 KMUD

RP: Yeah, in escapable stress, the stress hormones, rather than pushing higher and higher on the cortisol and adrenalin direction to excite things, run the heart at a faster rate, the body shifts when it sees futility, inability to escape, it can simply switch gears and turn off that system and turn on the acetylcholine cholinergic system. And the confinement, inescapable stress, which is the extreme of isolation, the extreme opposite from an enriched environment, this turns on the cholinergic dominant system, which lowers blood sugar, and in consequence of lowering the blood sugar, activates histamine release. Some of the acetylcholine nerves, such as the vagus nerve, amplify their influence by releasing histamines. It is very similar to its effect to acetylcholine, so you can think of this kind of inescapable stress as turning on the histamine type of cholinergic reaction."

There was reference to acetylcholine/vagus nerve/environment in the last KMUD interview which may interest if you have not already heard the interview.

Agree with sctb, wouldn't worry about losing the weight, so long as you don't waste away.
I'll just have some of what you're having!

Good luck
 
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SQu

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Great to hear peata! I think vitamin e protects if you're worried about pufas. But I doubt you'd feel well in any case, if it was a problem. Very encouraging progress - I can see I'll have to revisit caffeine sometime!
 
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Peata

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Thanks for the encouragement, Everyone.

I actually went back up a little last week due to hormonal issues. I had a 31 day cycle this last time which is a little long for me lately. It also lasted just a few days. So I'm not sure if that's a bad sign or what. Cramps and breast soreness were there in the beginning, but not bad. I didn't need to take anything for the pain. I did get some troublesome acne but I can't say it was worse than before. I'll give it a few more cycles to see how/if caffeine is having effect on cycle.

Now that it is over, I am down another pound. So I've lost 11# since the end of May. Not a lot to some people, but this is coming from someone who previously couldn't lose a pound, and also I'm not exercising. I still need to get going on that.

I still get around 400 mg. caffeine through supps and coffee.

I take a little Progest E 2 x day (small strip on top gums).

Other than that, I supplement "as needed" with glycine, calcium, magnesium, Bs, E. Four capsules of Activated Charcoal now and then before bed.

And the use of antihistamines as needed for either allergy symptoms or sleep or stomach. Dimenhydrinate, mostly, as it is being very good to me. I take as little as I can get by with. Very occasional cyproheptadine, diphenhydramine or doxylamine succinate since these are more likely to give a "hang over" or other side effects (for me).
 
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Peata

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Wanted to get down that I've been taking B1 since last Wed. I had success with it a long time ago for focus, energy, getting things done. I've been using a B complex here and there but not really seeing an effect. Also not seeing much since I started using a brand of B1 that I had leftover, each capsule 500 mg. and taking it 2 x day. It's been hit or miss. I think that's why I stopped taking it before, because it wasn't having an effect on me like it used to after I used a different brand.

When B1 was going well for me, I just used generic stuff from Walmart or the drugstore. Not so great fillers. But it didn't seem to matter. I picked up a bottle at Walmart this afternoon and will see if it makes a difference. Each tablet is 250 mg. and I took 2.

It's also supposed to reduce lactate, ammonia, estrogen, and heavy metals.

Though my weight loss is very slow, I'm pleased that it has not stopped or reversed (other than temporary from menstrual cycle). I am down a bit more on waist size.
 
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Peata

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No weight loss since I last posted.

Since yesterday evening I've been craving sugar and fat more. I think because I had a stressful Fri and Sat. Or it could be because I'm roughly a week away from my ToM.

Been taking at last 500 mg. B1 daily. Sometimes 1 g.

Supplements:

B1, and sometimes a little B complex
E with pufa
1/3 Caltrate chew if needed with a meal (Up to one whole piece per day)
Caffeine supplemented along with coffee during day
Slow Mag, one per day usually
Progest E 2 x day
Dramamine, usually 1/2 tablet when I'm having gut issues; more if I feel I need help with sleep

I started back on Cyproheptadine Thursday. 1/2 mg. and then the last couple days I've been taking 1/2 mg. two x day (total 1 mg). I took 1/2 mg. this afternoon and then this evening took 1 mg. I believe I'll try 1 or 2 mg. per day from now on and see how I do. I like its calming effects. And I miss the relaxed attitude I had when I was taking it regularly. I need that again, so I can feel at my best for me and those around me. Even though it seemed to stop working for me after a couple months each time I've taken it over the last year, I will take the positive effects as long as I can get them. And then restart again if needed.

Oh, and I had a bad gallbladder experience Friday evening. Someone brought General Tso's chicken home and I had some. It made my gallbladder hurt like I hadn't experienced in years. I had to take 4 Anacin over the evening to get it under control. I think it must have been more Pufa in one meal than I have had in ages. I don't know. I mean, I wasn't really thinking of the pufa when I was eating it so it wasn't psychosomatic, but the pufa in it was later all I could figure why it hurt me so bad. Because I normally can eat quite a bit of fat iwithout problem. I can eat things like cheeseburgers, ice cream, potato chips (coconut oil fried) and be OK. But the restaurant General Tso's chicken did not pass muster.

Was craving french fries this evening, so as part of dinner I peeled and sliced potatoes and fried them in coconut oil. Lots of salt and ketchup and a cherry Pepsi with real sugar. Really hit the spot.

And one more thing, something else that's been helping me get to sleep if I don't want to take too much antihistmine is a breathing exercise. You inhale through nose to count of 4, hold for count of 7, then release for count of 8. Repeat until you fall asleep. Somehow this relaxes me and I fall asleep before I even do the exercise very long. I read about it online and didn't think it would work, but somehow it does.

I find that there are times during the day that if I try this exercise to calm myself, my lungs can't seem to support it - I have to breathe faster/more frequently than the exercise lets me. It can be uncomfortable, and I know I'm breathing too much and under stress.

Other times, it's no problem at all.
 
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Darn, forget the 1 + mg. cypro... It's made me crazy hungry. It has to be the cypro. I am going to go back to 1/2 mg. per day instead of 1.5 mg. I did today. I forgot how it makes me eat like a horse. And I just didn't feel "right" for a few hours this evening. Maybe it was the types of food I was eating too that had me feeling weird this eve, but I'm not gonna risk another round of that. I also can't risk gaining back the weight I lost over 3.5 months in literally 3 days.
 

tara

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Peata said:
post 100597 And one more thing, something else that's been helping me get to sleep if I don't want to take too much antihistmine is a breathing exercise. You inhale through nose to count of 4, hold for count of 7, then release for count of 8. Repeat until you fall asleep. Somehow this relaxes me and I fall asleep before I even do the exercise very long. I read about it online and didn't think it would work, but somehow it does.
I like this exercise too.
 
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tara said:
post 100706
Peata said:
post 100597 And one more thing, something else that's been helping me get to sleep if I don't want to take too much antihistmine is a breathing exercise. You inhale through nose to count of 4, hold for count of 7, then release for count of 8. Repeat until you fall asleep. Somehow this relaxes me and I fall asleep before I even do the exercise very long. I read about it online and didn't think it would work, but somehow it does.
I like this exercise too.

Always good to have more 'tricks' in one's bag to relax and sleep.
 
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I gained a few pounds, but thankfully am back down one pound of that today. I haven't felt the intense hunger since reducing the cypro a little, so I won't go over 1/2 mg. most days.

I can now take a whole 200 mg. caffeine tablet and drink more caffeine around that, as long as I have enough food/sugar. It's nice to not feel a stress response. This is my 2nd day having a minimum of 600 mg. I want to try this higher amount because I wonder if the lower amount was aggravating some hormone issues. My acne became quite bad recently. I am in the last week before ToM but this acne was worse than I've had in a long time. So I'm trying more caffeine to hopefully lower estrogen.
 
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Have lost the weight I gained last week. It may have been hormonal hungries because my period did come today, sooner than I expected (27 day cycle this time). But I'm not taking chances by increasing cyproheptadine right away either.

I'm up to 800+ mg. caffeine now. I can hardly believe I've doubled my dose. I was taking 400 mg. for a while, then last Monday I upped it to 600 and by Friday up to 800 (plus). I have no stress reaction at all, even when increasing it, but I take it right after food/sugar. I take 200 mg. caplets at a time. I did work up to the initial 400 mg. and stayed there a while. It's just in the last week I increased it when I felt ready. I'm planning to stay at this higher dose for at least a couple weeks.
 
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Yesterday, 2nd day of period, and I had fatigue all day. Thankfully I did not have to go anywhere and could spend the day in a useless heap on the couch and bed. I hadn't slept well since Friday night, but I thought that was due to hormones/gastritis, but I did cut back on the caffeine yesterday just in case. I may have increased it too fast last week. I am taking 600 mg. daily now instead of 800. I ate pretty normally during the day yesterday. I started to get a bit of energy by late afternoon but still didn't get much of anything done. Slept well last night without waking, so yay. Feeling more normal today. I used to get this fatigue all the time to where I thought I was getting chronic fatigue, but since starting the Peat stuff, it comes once every one or two months or so.

Had cramping yesterday evening. Have had bouts of diarreah. But have NOT had breast tenderness this cycle.
 
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My weight had climbed a couple pounds, but now it is going down again. I am down ten pounds from the highest weight, atm.

What seems to help is not overdo the starches and fat. I love fats, but I am trying to keep them lower, averaging 25%. Starches, I don't avoid completely, averaging 50 g.

Watching calories, of course. Proteins - I'm getting 50 - 60 g. most days.
 

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