Ray Peating for About a Year

leonardo

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Hello there!

Before I begin ... I'd like to give a huge thank you to the folks behind this site. It's a resource I visit often.

About me - Age 39. Male. Always been quite sporty and healthy. Been on Ray Peat for nearly a year now.
I found this forum through Google.

Learned about Ray Peat through Danny Roddy

Prior to Ray Peat I'd actually been doing some Art De Vany style paleo for about a year. On Paleo, I lost a lot of weight and developed huge dark circles under my eyes. The paleo style eating may also have been a contributing factor in triggering mild hypothyroidism about a year ago (for which my endocrinologist put me on T4 of 25mcg per day.)

After Ray Peat style living, my face looks a lot less stressed. People complement me by saying that I look young for my age.

About a month ago, I started on dessicated thyroid (Thyroid-S) which I bought on Amazon.

My most recent blood test shows that my cholesterol levels have fallen (from 300 to 196). My TSH has fallen (from around 5 to just a little above 0). My Free T3 has gone up. My pulse has gone up from 60 to 70 (and some times even 80). My temperature also appears to have gone up ... However, I need to become more disciplined about charting temperatures.

Now, after reading some of the experiences of other members, I'm planning on moving to Cynomel.

My major health issues / questions at the moment are:

1. I seem to have lost muscle in the last one month of taking dessicated thyroid. Has this been experienced by any one else? This is part of the reason that I'm beginning a new set of experiments with Cynomel.

2. Dairy still causes some bloating, occasional diarrhea and gas.
 
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j.

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For the digestive problems caused by dairy, I think the raw carrot salad might help.
 

Ingenol

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How has your weight changed with the thyroid? Did you just lose muscle, or did you lose fat as well? If your metabolism is improving along with your thyroid you may need to increase calorie and nutrient intake as well.

I also have dark circles under my eyes and other signs of stress on a Paleo-style diet and am going to try Peat in 2012. Prior to the dessicated thyroid, did you notice any weight/muscle gain/loss Peating versus Paleo?
 

charlie

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leonardo, welcome to the forum. :welcome

Could that muscle loss be water loss? I dont know why but that just came to mind while reading your post.

Sounds like the thyroid-s is really working out for you.
 

gretchen

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Amazing isn't is about the aging effects of lower carb eating plans. :D I am close to your age (42) and really trashed my skin with all the dieting. Luckily, I've been able to fix that, and now need to start with the thyroid meds. Finding this information is easily the best thing has happened to me health-wise since I was a teen. I didn't drink milk for about 20 years, but have added it back without a lot of problems. Dairy with even just light weight training seems to have a great effect for me in terms of gaining/maintaining muscle. Can you tolerate cheese? You might add an additional carrot and maybe something like cascara to clean out your intestines.
 
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leonardo

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j. said:
For the digestive problems caused by dairy, I think the raw carrot salad might help.

@J - yes. I try to consume a raw carrot salad (raw carrot + coconut oil + apple cider vinegar) at least 5 times a week.
 
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leonardo

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Ingenol said:
How has your weight changed with the thyroid? Did you just lose muscle, or did you lose fat as well? If your metabolism is improving along with your thyroid you may need to increase calorie and nutrient intake as well.

I also have dark circles under my eyes and other signs of stress on a Paleo-style diet and am going to try Peat in 2012. Prior to the dessicated thyroid, did you notice any weight/muscle gain/loss Peating versus Paleo?

There has not been any significant weight change with the thyroid - perhaps 2 pounds of weight may have been lost.
I've begun increasing calories including nightly ice cream (cream + egg yolks + lots of sugar + home made vanilla essence or chocolate syrup.)

Good to know that you are starting on Peat in 2013.

Prior to the dessicated thyroid I did notice weight gain of about 2-3 pounds which looked like muscle. But it could just be water retention as Charlie mentions.
 
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leonardo

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Charlie said:
leonardo, welcome to the forum. :welcome

Could that muscle loss be water loss? I dont know why but that just came to mind while reading your post.

Sounds like the thyroid-s is really working out for you.

Thanks Charlie. You are right. It may be water loss. However, even if it is water, it just feels better to be a little more filled out :D

I was actually thinking of switching over to Cynomel based on the fact that you and many others on another thread mentioned that it has too many additives and that Ray Peat himself approves of Cynomel.

Are you still on Thyroid-S or have you switched to Cynomel?
 

charlie

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I am considering taking thyroid-s again, however, I should probably get the Ray Peat approved stuff. The only thing holding me back from the cynomel is money at this point.
 

Ingenol

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So little weight change but you seem to have lost muscle? Meaning your overall weight is roughly the same but you have significantly more body fat?
 

Combie

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I have lost approx 30lbs in last 3 months. I look smaller and thinner, but my muscles are more defined. I may well have lost some muscle mass, but the net effect is i look more muscular due to increased separation as a result of the fat and water loss. Muscles grow back mate, if you train them. I cannot wait for 2013, when i am getting back into the gym and back on the mat.
 
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leonardo

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Ingenol said:
So little weight change but you seem to have lost muscle? Meaning your overall weight is roughly the same but you have significantly more body fat?

I'm not sure what's happening. It does not look like fat gained.
And today, after a workout (some heavy deadlifts + military presses) I seem to be pumped up more.

I'm planning on starting on the 5/3/1/ program posted by Charlie in one of the other threads.
 
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leonardo

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Combie said:
I have lost approx 30lbs in last 3 months. I look smaller and thinner, but my muscles are more defined. I may well have lost some muscle mass, but the net effect is i look more muscular due to increased separation as a result of the fat and water loss. Muscles grow back mate, if you train them. I cannot wait for 2013, when i am getting back into the gym and back on the mat.

That sounds like a net positive.
Hope 2013 is the year of making more muscle for all of us :)
 

charlie

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leonardo said:
Ingenol said:
I'm planning on starting on the 5/3/1/ program posted by Charlie in one of the other threads.


I think you really are going to like that! Had my best strength gains on that program. Sad to say, I have completely stopped working out due to trying to heal. But, if I were to start back up it would be 5/3/1. It absolutely works. And bodyweight exercises for the accessories. Even Wendell said himself, he never felt more athletic then when he did the bodyweight exercises for the accessories.

Let us know how it goes!
 
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leonardo

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Charlie said:
leonardo said:
Ingenol said:
I'm planning on starting on the 5/3/1/ program posted by Charlie in one of the other threads.


I think you really are going to like that! Had my best strength gains on that program. Sad to say, I have completely stopped working out due to trying to heal. But, if I were to start back up it would be 5/3/1. It absolutely works. And bodyweight exercises for the accessories. Even Wendell said himself, he never felt more athletic then when he did the bodyweight exercises for the accessories.

Let us know how it goes!

Thanks Charlie. I hope to provide a write up on my experience on the program.

About that program - is it worth buying the ebook or is it good enough to initially piece together the routine based on the spreadsheet that you posted + what's available for free on the Internet?

I don't mind spending the $20 to buy the book but I want to put it off if the ebook only adds incremental value :)
 

charlie

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Well, I was able to piece most of it together from the internet. But, I still did buy the ebook because it really has everything right there available for you if you need to reference anything.

I say, if you have the money, and dont mind, then get it. Because you will have Jim himself explaining the program directly to you. Plus, you will be supporting his effort to help you with the most absolute bad a** program that there is out there. Its so simple, yet completely effective, and also fun.

And if anything, start much lower on the weights then you think you should. That way, you dont lose momentum on the upswing and it will last longer therefor getting the most strength out of yourself.

BTW, I just realized that the program I put on the other thread goes directly to the "5/3/1 heavy singles". If you look at the bottom, you will see a tab that says "Wendlers". That will take you to the original 5/3/1 calculator, just ignore the accessories and pick your own. I prefer the heavy singles as thats what I got the best results from and was the most fun.
 
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leonardo

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:cool: Thanks Charlie. Can't wait to get started on the heavy singles program.
 

Yves

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This might be controversial, but I would consider dropping the dairy. I tried making dairy work for 2 years.. I get my calcium from fortified OJ and supplements now. I was able to achieve some tolerance, but found I quickly lost it whenever I took breaks in drinking milk and never felt 100% with dairy. When genetic testing showed I was not a lactase-persister I gave up on it. I still eat some ice cream and butter/cream now and then and I won't refuse cheese when eating out, but rarely consume milk. Are you Italian? You may not a lactase-persister. I know many are going to say that it can be fixed with diet and hormones, which may well be true to some extent, but I think it's clear that people who are genetically better able to digest lactose are going to have a much easier time tolerating milk: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence . I found giving up on the dairy focus was a move I should have accepted years ago. If you don't tolerate dairy it can make things worse since the lactose will feed bacteria and cause the gas, bloating, diarrehea. This might not be too bad if it feeds the lactic acid bacteria, less so if it's stimulating e. coli. My serotonin dropped meaningfully when I dropped dairy.

About the T3 - I found I also had trouble maintain muscle with cytomel. If you have a high rt3 and t4/t3 ratio I would consider aspirin. My ratios have improved slowly over time (I can't pin it all on aspirin of course, but there is research showing aspirin improves t4->t3 conversion). I feel like aspirin helps in the muscle category as well.
 

charlie

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Yves, how much aspirin are you taking?
 

Yves

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I take between 1-4 325mg tabs about 4-5 days a week. I like to cycle things as a general principle. If I have a headache I may take up to 8 in a day. I used to get stomach irritation but it seems to go away as long as I dissolve the tabs instead of swallow them whole.
 

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