Weight Gain On Low, Low Pufa

[Luann]

I make coffee on a stovetop but strain it first in fabric, it would be too strong with the grounds in there. My dads fiance when she stays with us likes to watch it be strained and then have a cup as hot as possible, it is a cool process. Plum slatko sounds amazing, cherries too, smart eastern european people to eat fruit and gelatin with their coffee.
Lol that is very neat trivia. Your pictures of slatko and turkish coffee are beautiful, remind me of how easy and pleasant peatarian food is when prepared with love. I love cyrillic alphabet and listen to a band called a hawk and a hacksaw on pandora, if you have heard of them.

 

[nikolabeacon]

I make coffee on a stovetop but strain it first in fabric, it would be too strong with the grounds in there. My dads fiance when she stays with us likes to watch it be strained and then have a cup as hot as possible, it is a cool process. Plum slatko sounds amazing, cherries too, smart eastern european people to eat fruit and gelatin with their coffee.
Lol that is very neat trivia. Your pictures of slatko and turkish coffee are beautiful, remind me of how easy and pleasant peatarian food is when prepared with love. I love cyrillic alphabet and listen to a band called a hawk and a hacksaw on pandora, if you have heard of them.

I didn't hear about that band. To not completely hijack your thread ....then you should practice writing in cyrillic script and maybe start practicing/learning Serbian circle (kolo) kolo , kolo , kolo , kolo dance to burn some extra calories in "non stressfull way" !

 

[Luann]

I haven't weighed myself but the scale numbers surely have climbed if there was change at all. Just feels like it. And this after cutting out starch again and returning to skim milk, fruit, candy, and spinach every few days for K1. Some of this weight is probably, well, definitely, bone growth. I never drank milk as a kid, underate, and am actually one of those Peatians who gained height, 3/4 inch to be exact. At 24 & 25 years old.

One more thing, my arms are veiny. Like, starting just beneath the shoulder and spreading down to all the major veins or arteries, whichever they are, the greenish color of them is much more visible. Nothing is raised or textured though.

One more thing, to nikolabeacon, that dance looks like one of the dances from the folk festivals my parents took us to.What gorgeous costumes and fun music, those festivals were like paradise as a little girl. Those are great ideas although cyrillic script is confusing because some letters look like the plain versions of other letters :]

 

[Peatful]

I haven't weighed myself but the scale numbers surely have climbed if there was change at all. Just feels like it. And this after cutting out starch again and returning to skim milk, fruit, candy, and spinach every few days for K1. Some of this weight is probably, well, definitely, bone growth. I never drank milk as a kid, underate, and am actually one of those Peatians who gained height, 3/4 inch to be exact. At 24 & 25 years old.

One more thing, my arms are veiny. Like, starting just beneath the shoulder and spreading down to all the major veins or arteries, whichever they are, the greenish color of them is much more visible. Nothing is raised or textured though.

One more thing, to nikolabeacon, that dance looks like one of the dances from the folk festivals my parents took us to.What gorgeous costumes and fun music, those festivals were like paradise as a little girl. Those are great ideas although cyrillic script is confusing because some letters look like the plain versions of other letters :]

Thx for the update.

FWIW, I gained fast and furious when I introduced high dosage of aspirin into my diet. Muscle and probably some fat.
Loved other benefits of daily aspirin, but stopped.

Restarted at a lower dose recently, and the thickness came back....not like before, but noticeable to me (where as last time, others noticed).

Keep us posted.

 

[Luann]

Thx for the update.

FWIW, I gained fast and furious when I introduced high dosage of aspirin into my diet. Muscle and probably some fat.
Loved other benefits of daily aspirin, but stopped.

I had this experience too with aspirin, and a lot of the feedback was "no that can't happen!" But, somehow, it caused fat gain. or water.

Scale showed a pound and 1/2 lighter, yay. A woman at work told a story about how her mother maintained a weight of 110 for twenty years and thru seven pregnancies...then gained to 170 after getting a hysterectomy. Now this mother can't lose the weight from surgical menopause, despite walking and activity and a healthy home-grown diet. That's interesting in its own right as an anecdote, and I thought of estrogen sources maybe in my diet, but there are none: dried fruit, soy, beans, PUFA, nothing.

 

[artlange]

There is plaque on my teeth that comes back after being scraped away. Never saw this as a clue to my weight gain but now am thinking of a thread on the forum where someone said that plaque gets exacerbated by low carb eating.

For many years I got a lot of tooth plaque and bleeding gums if it wasn't scraped every three months. I started using EvoraPlus oral probiotic and the plaque stopped. My dentist has practically nothing to clean. I went from 4x/yr cleanings with gum bleeding to 2x per year, and no bleeding gums. Now my teeth always feel clean.

 

[Luann]

That's awesome, artlange. Congrats on finding your miracle drug, sounds like something worth trying.

 

[aarfai]

On 2500kcals skim milk, low fat high sugar fruits, lots of salt, gelatin, coffee, liver, ~ 20 or less grams of fat from stated foods and hydrogenated coconut oil, I lose between 2-3 lbs per week, its ridiculous. If your taking aspirin, niacinamide, and or glycine, those will affect fat loss etc, negatively, in my experience.
But I dont cheat, nor am I dishonest about what Im really eating, so maybe thats a factor too. ( not accusing anyone of lying, just saying )

How many of those kcal would you say comes from carbs?

 

[tca300]

@aarfai About 65%

 

[Luann]

Just started eating liver, it is so awesome! One can really feel the powerful doses of minerals, copper, and whatever other magic it holds, celebrating in the stomach

tca300 you have an interesting take on diet - do you eat starch?

 

[Luann]

@nikolabeacon.

so I saw you state that K1 is produced in the body through the flora of the gut, I am seeing an opinion online that that sort of K1 is not well absorbed, just wanted to know your take on this? You have helped me a lot. So thank you.

 

[Jon]

@Liubo hey there just thought I'd chime in on your current situation with the weight gain.

I, much like @tca300 am very controlled with my diet and have tracked things for quite a few years for natural bodybuilding (only body composition was a concern) until I recently identified I'm hypothyroid and found Peat articles. After engaging in lots of experimentation with "Peat" foods and supplements and comparing my results with past experience on how my body has responded to different foods and activities I can outright tell you that there are certain things a Peat approach will cause in relation to weight gain when metabolism isn't ramped high enough. These are my own experiences, and my hypothesis on the contraindications I experienced with staple Peat foods and supplements;

Salt- after years of eating low sodium from being misguided on the importance of salt, I started salting my food about 2tsp worth a day of Celtic Salt. I experienced an over night water retention (edema) of about 5lbs! Kept at the salt hoping aldosterone levels would normalize fluid balance, but unfortunately it never completely did. I belive this happens to people with more severe adrenal fatigue like me so the body is slow to respond to a rather rapid change in electrolyte balance. About 400-600g (Raw weight) White potatoes were the temporary cure in the mean of fixing my endocrine system, their high potassium content along with a decent amount of magnesium brought the edema down. Literally peed out 7lbs upon waking after 2 days of potatoes lol.

Aspirin- to be blunt, aspirin is POWERFUL stuff. I feel only a person with chronic fatigue really gets the depth of this power from aspirin. After one 80mg dose I was totally out of commission! Hypothyroid symptoms became severe! My fatigue was so bad I barely had the will to go to work and upon getting home that night I slept 13hours straight! I have sleep maintenance issues so this was huge for me. Basically I can't touch aspirin until I start using thyroid hormone due to my poor metabolism, which the aspirin revealed by turning off FAO and showing me my glucose oxidation is nigh lol. So if only a tiny bit had that profound of an effect on me, I would absolutely say it will largely negate your fat burning capabilities and could easily cause weight gain.

Niacinamide- to be clear I love niacinamide. This, as well as plane ol cane sugar almost immediately augment my glucose oxidation to levels I actually feel (warmer body temp, increased heart rate, calming effect, better sleep, increased libido) but niacinamide over the course of 4 days at a high dose (without aspirin mind you) caused 0.5lb weight gain. My weights are consistent as well as food sources AND amounts of each to keep variables simple and trends linear and adding niacinamide (a large dose over a day @ 1g) to my maintenance calorie level (2900cals @ 13% bodyfat) caused a definite change. 0.5 pound doesn't seem like much but you must realize that that's the equivalent of eating a surplus of 437cals a day over maintenance.
Again much like aspirin, I don't think this affect was negative by any means, just indicative of my current state of metabolism. This should point out however, the power of the inhibiting capabilities of a Peat approach.

Not enough calories will definitely make you gain weight as well, though I disagree with the consensus that it is actually making you gain fat. In my experience of losing fat (I've been sub ~5% bodyfat multiple times) I can tell you that the same calorie deficit produces different results as time goes on and one of these is weight gain. This gain is edema, not fat! I actually use this intermittent edema as an indicator that I am losing more weight. If I have been in a calorie deficit for 2 weeks consistently and suddenly go up in weight 1-3lbs I know that my cortisol level spiked and once the edema wears off (usually 4 days) I will have a new low weight of about -.8lbs to -1.5lbs beyond my previous weight. I can also tell you that when adding calories back in after dieting as the stress hormones induced from calorie restriction subside, my weight decreases even more (from reduction of cortisol induced water retention) over the course of 2-3 weeks and I end up being about 3lbs lighter than when I actually ended my calorie restriction.

SO all that in mind, and in lieu of your situation it's my contention that you're most likely;

A) not eating NEAR enough calories! Not even close! You should check out the Katch-Mcardle tdee formula and activity multiplier to find your true calorie level. This will give you a very close estimate (usually within 80-100cals accuracy) of what your daily maintenance calories should be. You must know your current bodyfat percentage though.

B) the Peat lifestyle you engage in is foundationally aimed at FAO inhibition so weight gain is probably guaranteed for those of us with a less than optimal metabolism and even after healing the metabolism I don't believe weight loss (fat loss to be clear) is guaranteed or perhaps even SHOULD occur as fat loss is ALWAYS A STRESSOR.

Hope this helps!

 

[lollipop]

@Liubo hey there just thought I'd chime in on your current situation with the weight gain.

I, much like @tca300 am very controlled with my diet and have tracked things for quite a few years for natural bodybuilding (only body composition was a concern) until I recently identified I'm hypothyroid and found Peat articles. After engaging in lots of experimentation with "Peat" foods and supplements and comparing my results with past experience on how my body has responded to different foods and activities I can outright tell you that there are certain things a Peat approach will cause in relation to weight gain when metabolism isn't ramped high enough. These are my own experiences, and my hypothesis on the contraindications I experienced with staple Peat foods and supplements;

Salt- after years of eating low sodium from being misguided on the importance of salt, I started salting my food about 2tsp worth a day of Celtic Salt. I experienced an over night water retention (edema) of about 5lbs! Kept at the salt hoping aldosterone levels would normalize fluid balance, but unfortunately it never completely did. I belive this happens to people with more severe adrenal fatigue like me so the body is slow to respond to a rather rapid change in electrolyte balance. About 400-600g (Raw weight) White potatoes were the temporary cure in the mean of fixing my endocrine system, their high potassium content along with a decent amount of magnesium brought the edema down. Literally peed out 7lbs upon waking after 2 days of potatoes lol.

Aspirin- to be blunt, aspirin is POWERFUL stuff. I feel only a person with chronic fatigue really gets the depth of this power from aspirin. After one 80mg dose I was totally out of commission! Hypothyroid symptoms became severe! My fatigue was so bad I barely had the will to go to work and upon getting home that night I slept 13hours straight! I have sleep maintenance issues so this was huge for me. Basically I can't touch aspirin until I start using thyroid hormone due to my poor metabolism, which the aspirin revealed by turning off FAO and showing me my glucose oxidation is nigh lol. So if only a tiny bit had that profound of an effect on me, I would absolutely say it will largely negate your fat burning capabilities and could easily cause weight gain.

Niacinamide- to be clear I love niacinamide. This, as well as plane ol cane sugar almost immediately augment my glucose oxidation to levels I actually feel (warmer body temp, increased heart rate, calming effect, better sleep, increased libido) but niacinamide over the course of 4 days at a high dose (without aspirin mind you) caused 0.5lb weight gain. My weights are consistent as well as food sources AND amounts of each to keep variables simple and trends linear and adding niacinamide (a large dose over a day @ 1g) to my maintenance calorie level (2900cals @ 13% bodyfat) caused a definite change. 0.5 pound doesn't seem like much but you must realize that that's the equivalent of eating a surplus of 437cals a day over maintenance.
Again much like aspirin, I don't think this affect was negative by any means, just indicative of my current state of metabolism. This should point out however, the power of the inhibiting capabilities of a Peat approach.

Not enough calories will definitely make you gain weight as well, though I disagree with the consensus that it is actually making you gain fat. In my experience of losing fat (I've been sub ~5% bodyfat multiple times) I can tell you that the same calorie deficit produces different results as time goes on and one of these is weight gain. This gain is edema, not fat! I actually use this intermittent edema as an indicator that I am losing more weight. If I have been in a calorie deficit for 2 weeks consistently and suddenly go up in weight 1-3lbs I know that my cortisol level spiked and once the edema wears off (usually 4 days) I will have a new low weight of about -.8lbs to -1.5lbs beyond my previous weight. I can also tell you that when adding calories back in after dieting as the stress hormones induced from calorie restriction subside, my weight decreases even more (from reduction of cortisol induced water retention) over the course of 2-3 weeks and I end up being about 3lbs lighter than when I actually ended my calorie restriction.

SO all that in mind, and in lieu of your situation it's my contention that you're most likely;

A) not eating NEAR enough calories! Not even close! You should check out the Katch-Mcardle tdee formula and activity multiplier to find your true calorie level. This will give you a very close estimate (usually within 80-100cals accuracy) of what your daily maintenance calories should be. You must know your current bodyfat percentage though.

B) the Peat lifestyle you engage in is foundationally aimed at FAO inhibition so weight gain is probably guaranteed for those of us with a less than optimal metabolism and even after healing the metabolism I don't believe weight loss (fat loss to be clear) is guaranteed or perhaps even SHOULD occur as fat loss is ALWAYS A STRESSOR.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for this writeup @Jon. It certainly helped me and clearly explains some of my symptoms when starting Peat, which I eventually figured out but not in such a clear, concise manner. My path was much more circuitous albeit tenacious-lol. Now metabolism and Thyroid seem to have stabilized and I seem to need way less supplementation.

 

[Jon]

Thank you for this writeup @Jon. It certainly helped me and clearly explains some of my symptoms when starting Peat, which I eventually figured out but not in such a clear, concise manner. My path was much more circuitous albeit tenacious-lol. Now metabolism and Thyroid seem to have stabilized and I seem to need way less supplementation.

So glad to help! The community on this forum has given me a ridiculous amount of insight for my own issues and I want to contribute back as much as I can!

Years of forcing my body to do things it would rather not messed me up lol but because I obsessively journaled everything through competitions and muscle gaining phases I came out with some invaluable knowledge.

Awesome to hear you have rehabbed your metabolism so well! I'm preparing to do so myself after a short leaning phase to prime my body to absorb hormones more rapidly. I am going to start the rehab process with NDT and pregnenolone, along with b-vitamins, vitamin e, k2, d3, and magnesium glycenate. Any suggestions on NDT? I purchased the American biologics stuff (bovine unfortunately as that's all I can really get) but I'm wondering if you've tried it and what you think?

 

[lollipop]

So glad to help! The community on this forum has given me a ridiculous amount of insight for my own issues and I want to contribute back as much as I can!

Years of forcing my body to do things it would rather not messed me up lol but because I obsessively journaled everything through competitions and muscle gaining phases I came out with some invaluable knowledge.

Awesome to hear you have rehabbed your metabolism so well! I'm preparing to do so myself after a short leaning phase to prime my body to absorb hormones more rapidly. I am going to start the rehab process with NDT and pregnenolone, along with b-vitamins, vitamin e, k2, d3, and magnesium glycenate. Any suggestions on NDT? I purchased the American biologics stuff (bovine unfortunately as that's all I can really get) but I'm wondering if you've tried it and what you think?

Great story @Jon! Kudos for you and your journaling. You actually can help a lot of people. Many are seriously suffering and your insight could be the turning point for them.

I rehabbed my Thyroid mostly by addressing my liver and gut. I did try in early days that particular ndt for a bit, then a tiny bit IdealLabs tyromax for a bit - did not like the DMSO garlicky flavor. Didn't notice too much and internally did not feel like going down the ndt path. THAT SAID, if ever I need ndt in the future, I would take IdealLabs new formulation of Tyromax with the mct and take it internally. I trust Haidut's integrity over pretty much any other source of ndt.

Edit: I must add to my rehab progesterone - though I took it mainly because of periomenopause. I also think it contributed to overall rehab of metabolism and Thyroid.

 

[Jon]

Great story @Jon! Kudos for you and your journaling. You actually can help a lot of people. Many are seriously suffering and your insight could be the turning point for them.

I rehabbed my Thyroid mostly by addressing my liver and gut. I did try in early days that particular ndt for a bit, then a tiny bit IdealLabs tyromax for a bit - did not like the DMSO garlicky flavor. Didn't notice too much and internally did not feel like going down the ndt path. THAT SAID, if ever I need ndt in the future, I would take IdealLabs new formulation of Tyromax with the mct and take it internally. I trust Haidut's integrity over pretty much any other source of ndt.

Edit: I must add to my rehab progesterone - though I took it mainly because of periomenopause. I also think it contributed to overall rehab of metabolism and Thyroid.

I'd love to help those suffering from hypothyroid related issues. I think probably the saddest revelation I've had since learning the causes and remedies of these condition is that they are relatively easy to rectify, and Financially affordable. It's sad to me because countless people suffer poor health, financial debt, and die from something that is largely treatable/cureable with sugar

I'm 2nd day into @haidut 's Tocovit taken at 10 drops orally by swishing under tongue and high up between molars and cheek to permeate the buccal membranes before swallowing for about 1 minute while the mct oils noticeably emulsify in my saliva. I'm lovin the product! I actually did have an increase in temp and heart rate from it but I'm pretty sure an open flame near my mouth would've went up like a bonfire lol.

I'll have to look into his stuff after I'm done with the AB. Thanks for the info @lisaferraro !

 

[Luann]

@Jon Thanks for your advice, it is invaluable that you journaled the effects of the different things you tried out. You talk about the experience with sodium, magnesium, aspirin, and niacinamide and tie those together through a common goal to all of us, reducing fat oxidation. So it seems you are saying that elimination of fatty acids happens slower than the oxidation does and that if we don't want the destructive consequence of FAO we need to wait for the PUFAs to leave the body at their own pace.

"...not eating NEAR enough calories! Not even close! You should check out the Katch-Mcardle tdee forumula" I have never heard of this, just been going off of cronometer and hazarding a guess at calories burned through the day. Thanks.

That edema is caused by weight loss and cortisol is an interesting idea. Maybe that is a cause here because my calves no longer are the same shape as they were, some definite water retention going on there. I've been able to shed maybe a pound of belly weight by cutting up high dose B6 pills into an appropriate amount to take once every two days; the HCL kind seems to work well for me (my liver works!). So you are on the money with this edema thing.

 

[Jon]

@Jon Thanks for your advice, it is invaluable that you journaled the effects of the different things you tried out. You talk about the experience with sodium, magnesium, aspirin, and niacinamide and tie those together through a common goal to all of us, reducing fat oxidation. So it seems you are saying that elimination of fatty acids happens slower than the oxidation does and that if we don't want the destructive consequence of FAO we need to wait for the PUFAs to leave the body at their own pace.

"...not eating NEAR enough calories! Not even close! You should check out the Katch-Mcardle tdee forumula" I have never heard of this, just been going off of cronometer and hazarding a guess at calories burned through the day. Thanks.

That edema is caused by weight loss and cortisol is an interesting idea. Maybe that is a cause here because my calves no longer are the same shape as they were, some definite water retention going on there. I've been able to shed maybe a pound of belly weight by cutting up high dose B6 pills into an appropriate amount to take once every two days; the HCL kind seems to work well for me (my liver works!). So you are on the money with this edema thing.

Hey no prob :)

Yes that's basically what I'm saying. though it's not as simple as JUST reducing PUFAS, as there's correlation of high triglyceride levels with a high fat diet of ANY KIND meaning no matter what length of chain of fatty acid, PUFA or otherwise, you will slow your metabolism with too much of it per day. On the other end of the spectrum, too little fat for too long will inhibit anabolic steroidogenesis due to the body lacking raw materials to produce hormones so a low fat diet for longer than 2 weeks at a time is IMO detrimental to health. A good place for fat intake is .3grams of fat per lbs of LEAN body mass. So whatever your organs, bones, muscles, and blood weigh minus your bodyfat is the amount of weight you want to be feeding with fat. In other words LEAN MASS x 0.3= grams of fat per day minimum to support hormone production.

You basically have to be on one side of the fence or the other in terms of acute goals with healing your metabolism. You can either be in a calorie deficit and aggressively deplete PUFA stores through rapid oxidation (which damage can be mitigated by use of vitamin e during a weight loss phase to avoid peri lipid oxidation) and then go back to a maintenance calorie level or slight surplus on healthy Peat foods once fat loss is done. Or you can deplete PUFAS in a passive manner by only eating Peat foods and letting your body shift its ratio of PUFA in your tissues by simply feeding it with non PUFA foods. The second option is less stressful BUT could take a verrrry long time, we're talking possibilities of YEARS depending on just how much of your bodyfat is PUFA. That is why I choose to deplete PUFAS through a combination of calorie deficit and peat foods. Unfortunately dieting is a chronic stressor and at best you can limit its negative effects but not rid them all together so that's why you need to commit yourself to either healing yourself and not worry about weight as long as your quality of life and blood work are showing positives or focus on body composition and mitigation of stress induced by losing fat until you reach your ideal bodyfat percentage.


As to the edema I can guarantee you it's cortisol/sodium induced. Especially if your ankles look wider or rings or wrist watches fit tighter. Supplements are great tools but I'd suggest just upping calories by eating more potassium rich carbs like white potatoes a couple times a day, using a little less salt, and increasing your fat intake if it's not at the level I've previously mentioned. Something else I've noticed is without enough fat your bile production will be greatly hindered so things like constipation will happen to me. Also starchy potatoes prepared either by boiling and being made into mashed potatoes or being fried in a skillet help my digestion immensely! I've had terrible digestion my whole life but making white potatoes a staple food has pretty much fixed it. I know the whole starch thing is a taboo round these parts lol but if you're not eating a high fat diet and still eating fruits along with the starch I think it's fine and in fact healthy when it's a source like potatoes or a little white rice prepared in a traditional method of boiling then steaming.

 

[Regina]

@Liubo hey there just thought I'd chime in on your current situation with the weight gain.

I, much like @tca300 am very controlled with my diet and have tracked things for quite a few years for natural bodybuilding (only body composition was a concern) until I recently identified I'm hypothyroid and found Peat articles. After engaging in lots of experimentation with "Peat" foods and supplements and comparing my results with past experience on how my body has responded to different foods and activities I can outright tell you that there are certain things a Peat approach will cause in relation to weight gain when metabolism isn't ramped high enough. These are my own experiences, and my hypothesis on the contraindications I experienced with staple Peat foods and supplements;

Salt- after years of eating low sodium from being misguided on the importance of salt, I started salting my food about 2tsp worth a day of Celtic Salt. I experienced an over night water retention (edema) of about 5lbs! Kept at the salt hoping aldosterone levels would normalize fluid balance, but unfortunately it never completely did. I belive this happens to people with more severe adrenal fatigue like me so the body is slow to respond to a rather rapid change in electrolyte balance. About 400-600g (Raw weight) White potatoes were the temporary cure in the mean of fixing my endocrine system, their high potassium content along with a decent amount of magnesium brought the edema down. Literally peed out 7lbs upon waking after 2 days of potatoes lol.

Aspirin- to be blunt, aspirin is POWERFUL stuff. I feel only a person with chronic fatigue really gets the depth of this power from aspirin. After one 80mg dose I was totally out of commission! Hypothyroid symptoms became severe! My fatigue was so bad I barely had the will to go to work and upon getting home that night I slept 13hours straight! I have sleep maintenance issues so this was huge for me. Basically I can't touch aspirin until I start using thyroid hormone due to my poor metabolism, which the aspirin revealed by turning off FAO and showing me my glucose oxidation is nigh lol. So if only a tiny bit had that profound of an effect on me, I would absolutely say it will largely negate your fat burning capabilities and could easily cause weight gain.

Niacinamide- to be clear I love niacinamide. This, as well as plane ol cane sugar almost immediately augment my glucose oxidation to levels I actually feel (warmer body temp, increased heart rate, calming effect, better sleep, increased libido) but niacinamide over the course of 4 days at a high dose (without aspirin mind you) caused 0.5lb weight gain. My weights are consistent as well as food sources AND amounts of each to keep variables simple and trends linear and adding niacinamide (a large dose over a day @ 1g) to my maintenance calorie level (2900cals @ 13% bodyfat) caused a definite change. 0.5 pound doesn't seem like much but you must realize that that's the equivalent of eating a surplus of 437cals a day over maintenance.
Again much like aspirin, I don't think this affect was negative by any means, just indicative of my current state of metabolism. This should point out however, the power of the inhibiting capabilities of a Peat approach.

Not enough calories will definitely make you gain weight as well, though I disagree with the consensus that it is actually making you gain fat. In my experience of losing fat (I've been sub ~5% bodyfat multiple times) I can tell you that the same calorie deficit produces different results as time goes on and one of these is weight gain. This gain is edema, not fat! I actually use this intermittent edema as an indicator that I am losing more weight. If I have been in a calorie deficit for 2 weeks consistently and suddenly go up in weight 1-3lbs I know that my cortisol level spiked and once the edema wears off (usually 4 days) I will have a new low weight of about -.8lbs to -1.5lbs beyond my previous weight. I can also tell you that when adding calories back in after dieting as the stress hormones induced from calorie restriction subside, my weight decreases even more (from reduction of cortisol induced water retention) over the course of 2-3 weeks and I end up being about 3lbs lighter than when I actually ended my calorie restriction.

SO all that in mind, and in lieu of your situation it's my contention that you're most likely;

A) not eating NEAR enough calories! Not even close! You should check out the Katch-Mcardle tdee formula and activity multiplier to find your true calorie level. This will give you a very close estimate (usually within 80-100cals accuracy) of what your daily maintenance calories should be. You must know your current bodyfat percentage though.

B) the Peat lifestyle you engage in is foundationally aimed at FAO inhibition so weight gain is probably guaranteed for those of us with a less than optimal metabolism and even after healing the metabolism I don't believe weight loss (fat loss to be clear) is guaranteed or perhaps even SHOULD occur as fat loss is ALWAYS A STRESSOR.

Hope this helps!

Bravo! Great write-up. I've experienced very similar. As well as the humbling reality that I'd likely been existing on FAO (and oodles adrenalin) for decades. Plain sugar has been a great help but I am no where near at my old (fake) energy level or my old rail thin weight (though the pregnenolone boobs are an hilarious nice-have). I am increasing my magnesium supplementation, along with all the other Peating in hopes of finding some renewed energy source. Currently, I still have hypothyroid and anemia symptoms.

 

[Jon]

Bravo! Great write-up. I've experienced very similar. As well as the humbling reality that I'd likely been existing on FAO (and oodles adrenalin) for decades. Plain sugar has been a great help but I am no where near at my old (fake) energy level or my old rail thin weight (though the pregnenolone boobs are an hilarious nice-have). I am increasing my magnesium supplementation, along with all the other Peating in hopes of finding some renewed energy source. Currently, I still have hypothyroid and anemia symptoms.

Thanks! Just glad my experience was validating for some :)

Yeah the whole sudden loss of energy thing SUCKS. Niacinamide seems to be promising for the rehab process though, it was the probably the most influential on temps and pulse as 1g split into 500mg doses over 8hrs kept my temperature 1.8f higher than normal and kept my pulse 75bpm which is 25pbm higher than average...though heart rate for me is probably not an accurate guage of metabolism because of athletics. Niacinamide definitely made me feel RELAXED, it was odd, oven though I heated up, pulse was higher, I just felt like I could melt into the couch lol. Only prob was the weight gain lol.

Hmmm anemic? Like actually low iron? Or just feeling emaciated? I'm curious because my fiancé is also very fit, has experimented with diet BUT has a perfect metabolism in every sense and when she messes with fat anything under 50g a day it royally jacked her up! She's 5'7" 108lbs @ 9% bf and is very dead on regular with female monthlies lol and a low fat diet distorted everything. I have a hypothesis that because women in general run on more fat burning hormones in a healthy state, it seems that they need more fat in theiir diet in general, even during a phase of less than ideal metabolism. I wonder if your fat intake is adequate? It seemed to be the single most important macronutrient for my fiancé, who regularly eats 80-100g of fat a day. Also I know fruit is integral in peat and I don't deny it's abundance of nutrients BUT I seem to do better (as well as my fiancé) on a 60:40 ratio of complex starch to simple/fruit sugars. Mind you the only starch we really eat is white potatoes, white basmati rice, and the occasional home made yeast risen bread from organic non-gmo non enriched white flour from Italy lol.

The literature that suggests glucose as a primary calorie source along with the study that showed fructose is used more efficiently with a certain ratio of glucose to fructose and can be malabsorbed without that glucose

Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans

Normal Roles for Dietary Fructose in Carbohydrate Metabolism

Fructose Malabsorption and Intolerance: Effects of Fructose with and without Simultaneous Glucose Ingestion

The Ability of the Normal Human Small Intestine to Absorb Fructose: Evaluation by Breath Testing

seems to support my experiences as eating mainly potatoes as my carb source along with 2-3 cups of fruit, a glass of orange juice, some milk, and some cane sugar a day brought my blood pressure WAY DOWN 130/90 to 110/60 in 5 months (stress, got slightly fat, and very poor food choices at the time) also potatoes fixed my digestion. I've had terrible digestion my whole life with a list of about 40 different things that were seemingly indigestible to me but after the inclusion of potatoes that all disappeared. When I have more fructose than I can absorb in a day (this is tmi) my stool has a sweet fruit smell, but when intake is tapered down to amounts the studies above suggest in relation to my starch intake I don't have that happen.Women faired even worse in relation to fructose in those studies which is another reason I watch my intake as even though I'm a man, I'm most likely dealing with some estrogen dominance so I'm sure I have a fructose intolerance to some degree. My unprofessional opinion! Take with a grain of salt lol but maybe those are things to consider with how you're feeling?