Weight Gain. BUT Inches Lost! FINALLY!

[MichelleLE]

Key, I did the same salt internally the whole RP time. Meaning salt in on everything. Perhaps 3 tbls a day. But went from one bath a week to everyday. I was doing baking soda in my OJ. But Clint said that was making matters worse for me, so stopped that. Not sure why. But use it in the bath only now. The OJ was a problem before, the bottled, I think it made me bloat. But the fresh home squeezed is fine in small amounts, I am upping that too. No bloat. I went slow though in the 3 months. I am up to 2-3 large glasses a day for a week now. I started out with one small glass a day until my gut healed. The sweeter fresher was so much better on my digestion, I think.

 

[Edle]

Edie what was happening to you in part is you were overtraining.

Thank you for taking time Bones. But my problem was not overtraining. For the record, I am an endurance athlete, but as strength is my weakness, I take strength training pretty seriously. It would be easy to conclude that I lack muscle because of too much endurance training, but I have taken periods completely off endurance training and done weight training only 2-3 times a week, and my lack of progress was the same. Before I switched to Peat, I did train most days, but at very low intensity as I felt pretty crappy generally. But my underlying problem was not overtraining.

If you do lose fat, it will seem like you have more muscle especially if you are really thin like that and everything shows up better. It's like this one Peat person who works in the exercise field said, look at a crack addict's abs who doesn't do any exercise but when the fat is gone you can see what's there.

Sure, almost every fat person has a six pack, just well hidden. But I did gain fat on Peat also (scales can change BF% estimates by changes in hormone levels only). I know my body pretty well, I know where I gain fat, and I gained a bit there when I switched to Peat. But at the same time I got more definition in my triceps and quads. My top weight on Peat eating after a couple of months was 125 lbs, 14.7% up from when I started. It is quite a lot. But I still fitted into all my clothes - still bought dresses in US size 0.

I do not want to hijack this thread. My point is just that I do not doubt MichelleLE´s story for a second. Maybe most exercise physiologist would be skeptical, but then again they might be wrong. Many medical doctors have been, and are, wrong about many things, even (maybe especially) the basics.

 

[Bones]

Edie, thanks for sharing the details. For the record when one is assessing over-training they take into account factors like cardio, how much rest one gets, how many hours of work a person does. Over-training could be three days for one person who is stressed at work and doing cardio but four days for someone else doing the same level of training who left off the cardio for example.

Not talking about this specific case but if a person is coming from a previously well-nourished state and they are trying to pack on more than a few lbs of muscle without weight lifting where their weight can be the same but they have increased muscle and lost fat so that the gain has little effect on clothing size...I guess it's possible. I just haven't been aware of it up until this point. This is my experience and what I am used to reading about
"Gaining muscle is the pursuit of many athletes, particularly those who compete in strength and power-based sports, and can easily be accomplished with the right mix of good training and good nutrition. An athlete must eat more calories each day than he expends, to gain muscle. Generally, it is suggested that a 500-calorie per day surplus of calories per day can result in 1 to 2 lbs. of gain per week, says Christian Thibaudeau, physique expert and strength coach. Train up to five days per week says Thibaudeau. Frequent training allows the body to produce more of certain hormones that assist in muscle growth like testosterone and IGF-1." I mean just to get 1-2 lbs a week, look what's involved. But they don't know about Peat so his knowledge could affect a different outcome, it's possible.


More definition is awesome, great job. I have a question for you:
"My top weight on Peat eating after a couple of months was 125 lbs, 14.7% up from when I started. It is quite a lot. But I still fitted into all my clothes - still bought dresses in US size 0."
So you had stopped all exercise?

Exercise physiologists work first hand with people taking measurements and taking into account measurable results. Health results can be less quantifiable which is why people can be fit and not healthy but think they are healthy. That's what attracts me to exercise science, the results are very measurable.

 

[Edle]

For the record when one is assessing over-training they take into account factors like cardio, how much rest one gets, how many hours of work a person does.

I am not saying that the training was building me up. I took a break for six weeks because I thought it would help restore my metabolism. I trained at low intensity, as I felt shitty most days. But my underlying problem was a total hormonal collapse on GAPS/autoimmune Paleo five months prior (resulting in chronic low T3, amenorrhea, chest pain, adrenaline rush at night, loss of 20+ IQ points etc.). And this was not caused by training - I took a break when I started GAPS.

Not talking about this specific case but if a person is coming from a previously well-nourished state and they are trying to pack on more than a few lbs of muscle without weight lifting where their weight can be the same but they have increased muscle and lost fat so that the gain has little effect on clothing size...I guess it's possible. I just haven't been aware of it up until this point.

(...)

Exercise physiologists work first hand with people taking measurements and taking into account measurable results. Health results can be less quantifiable which is why people can be fit and not healthy but think they are healthy. That's what attracts me to exercise science, the results are very measurable.

The baseline is important. I cannot speak for MichelleE, but I was probably always low on thyroid, and after it fell further, I could not function normally. It is well known that T3 is needed to gain muscle. And simply by eating a Peat like diet (and taking hormonal supplements), or by tweaking a Peat diet for better digestion, nutrient absorption and cellular metabolism (like MichelleLE did), the tissue can change drastically.

Most of the studies about strength gains in (power) athletes are done on males, in the 20s, with pretty good hormone profile to begin with. And exercise physiologists are concerned about response to exercise. They do not measure improvements on diet (and supplements) alone. When there is a non-exercise control group, I doubt that they are fed an optimal diet.

"My top weight on Peat eating after a couple of months was 125 lbs, 14.7% up from when I started. It is quite a lot. But I still fitted into all my clothes - still bought dresses in US size 0."
So you had stopped all exercise?

After a six weeks break from training (coincided with when I started eating a Peat inspired diet. I started supplementing thyroid four weeks into that), I started training again, gradually. I had then gained some weight and felt stronger. I did six types of body weight strength exercises, plus tubing for swim stroke (broken into two days) and a big five weight protocol (on a third day). I did endurance (what you call cardio) six days a week, including easy sessions. My endurance sets on the bike included power sets (high gear, low cadence) which I seem to respond to. So yes, I added some more weight after I started training again, and some of that was probably muscle. But nothing was new with the training I was doing - I was doing similar training to what I had done before, but I was responding better.

 

[Bones]

"It is well known that T3 is needed to gain muscle. And simply by eating a Peat like diet (and taking hormonal supplements), or by tweaking a Peat diet for better digestion, nutrient absorption and cellular metabolism (like MichelleLE did), the tissue can change drastically."

I don't think T3 supplementation was mentioned, are you just saying increase in T3 from food tweaks?
"These are the factors that seemed to help me get thin again…" I am still not understanding how someone can be thin again when they gain 20 lbs with no weight training while the scale remains the same. I want to learn more about this so I can help people in the gym. I just don't get the mechanism.


What you wrote Edie makes sense, you supported your training with proper food and rest to build muscle. You take exercise pretty seriously and it's great to get results. I have seen often where someone takes a break and comes back stronger than ever and are surprised b/c they think taking rest weeks will make them weaker. So even if you return to the same training you aren't doing the same thing if you took a break. The break is factored in against the over training which includes total exercise you are doing taken into account with lifestyle and diet. Comparing your situation with all your training background to the original posters is more like apples to oranges b/c of the exercise factor.

"Most of the studies about strength gains in (power) athletes are done on males, in the 20s, with pretty good hormone profile to begin with. And exercise physiologists are concerned about response to exercise. They do not measure improvements on diet (and supplements) alone. When there is a non-exercise control group, I doubt that they are fed an optimal diet. "
I agree with what you are saying, the point is that measurements are taken and they shoot for verifiable results. Even doing Peat for a while and reading different experiences from people I am not seeing this reporting back of gaining muscle to the point of losing inches with no training unless they were coming from a non-peat state and then when they gain muscle, clothes in fact fit tighter. But reading stuff on the internet doesn't get the whole story from people so maybe this is happening more often than we know? That would be awesome. People haven't been doing Peat in large numbers and reporting back on forums for more than a couple of years so I think with time we are going to learn and hear about much more as people start nearing a 3 year mark of doing Peat. It will be exciting to keep hearing about progress.

 

[gretchen]

Well, it's official: I'm fat. I weighed myself today at the mall and am up 20 lbs. Yes, I was anorexic, but I now weigh about what I weighed when I first started dieting 15 years ago (109). I walked through the mall after buying some not so great fitting jeans (I'm too fat for size 25 but size 26 is just ridiculous looking) feeling all sad and sorry for myself. I feel like such a failure.

There is no way whatsoever I can tolerate this weight, I'm just too small boned. So, I will have to switch to something else. I either need to cut back on calories, go on thyroid, exercise or probably all 3. What bugs me the most is there've been few health improvements. I still get up to pee at night and am still groggy in the morning.

 

[Edle]

"It is well known that T3 is needed to gain muscle. And simply by eating a Peat like diet (and taking hormonal supplements), or by tweaking a Peat diet for better digestion, nutrient absorption and cellular metabolism (like MichelleLE did), the tissue can change drastically."

I don't think T3 supplementation was mentioned, are you just saying increase in T3 from food tweaks?

I said I take desiccated thyroid. One grain has about 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3. A Peat diet can help convert T4 to T3.

On the rest I think we can agree to disagree a little

@ gretchen. Peace. http://make-everything-ok.com/

 

[SheilaHelm1]

@ gretchen. Peace. http://make-everything-ok.com/

Ha ha Love it x

 

[gretchen]

"It is well known that T3 is needed to gain muscle. And simply by eating a Peat like diet (and taking hormonal supplements), or by tweaking a Peat diet for better digestion, nutrient absorption and cellular metabolism (like MichelleLE did), the tissue can change drastically."

I don't think T3 supplementation was mentioned, are you just saying increase in T3 from food tweaks?

I said I take desiccated thyroid. One grain has about 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3. A Peat diet can help convert T4 to T3.

On the rest I think we can agree to disagree a little

@ gretchen. Peace. http://make-everything-ok.com/

Thanks.

 

[biggirlkisss]

Go Michelle. Keep it up.

 

[tomisonbottom]

MichelleLE,

Was the coke an integral part of losing the bloat for you?
I haven't gained weight but I sure feel like I am likely too soon.

What I have gained is a bloated feeling and feeling like a "rock" is kind of in my tummy all the time.
Before this my stomach was always flat and my digestion was regular and now it's either runny or verrry sluggish. *sorry if thats tmi*

 

[tomisonbottom]

I don't understand how a person can put on 20lbs of muscle with no weight training by simply going from one version of peat's diet to another in a few months. I have been going to the gym since I was a teenager and just putting on five solid lbs of muscle from where I was, during an intensive and dedicated weigh training cycle after already having a fit body altered my body and was an impressive gain. My jeans were actually tighter b/c of the muscles on my legs even though my weight was the same. I used calipers and and used one of those digital body fats gadgets that reflected the percentages when you put in the info like height and weight and age etc. Perhaps I am misunderstanding something here. Did you measure anything?

Somewhere around the 12minute mark in this audio clip, RP talks about how people lost water (inches) and gained muscle though a study they did and it was just diet change:

download/file.php?id=312

 

[tomisonbottom]

I must add I also drink a mexican coke every other day. Sometimes everyday.

MichelleLE,

Was the coke an integral part of losing the bloat for you?
I haven't gained weight but I sure feel like I am likely too soon.

What I have gained is a bloated feeling and feeling like a "rock" is kind of in my tummy all the time.
Before this my stomach was always flat and my digestion was regular and now it's either runny or verrry sluggish. *sorry if thats tmi*

 

[Dutchie]

I must add I also drink a mexican coke every other day. Sometimes everyday.

MichelleLE,

Was the coke an integral part of losing the bloat for you?
I haven't gained weight but I sure feel like I am likely too soon.

What I have gained is a bloated feeling and feeling like a "rock" is kind of in my tummy all the time.
Before this my stomach was always flat and my digestion was regular and now it's either runny or verrry sluggish. *sorry if thats tmi*

I don't drink coke,but I can imagine that the sparkles in it can cause more bloating though the caffeine in the coke migth speed things up....but you can also get caffeine from coffee

 

[tomisonbottom]

I left out another major factor... HCL Betaine with each meal! Large amounts. I did not have enough stomach acid. Baking soda in my OJ was actually making it worse rather than better.... I now only take the HCL every few days with a meal if I feel I need the digestion help.

How do you know if you don't have enough stomach acid?

 

[jet9]

I left out another major factor... HCL Betaine with each meal! Large amounts. I did not have enough stomach acid. Baking soda in my OJ was actually making it worse rather than better.... I now only take the HCL every few days with a meal if I feel I need the digestion help.

MichelleLE, hi
I know it’s an old post, but I wonder are you still taking HCL Betaine with good results?