primalnerd

Hey, Ominay, keep up the good work! As Commander Nesmith would say, "Never give up, never surrender!" (Galaxy Quest) After reading through the other posts, I decided to share some of my weight loss experience. I hope it provides some useful information to anyone stuck in their weight loss journey. I, too, have been obese since childhood. The highest I have ever recorded myself weighing was 322 pounds on a 5'4" frame at age 27, but it is quite possible that I weighed more than that in the past. Fortunately, I came across Wheat Belly, The Primal Blueprint, and Primal Body, Primal Mind; through those books, I learned about food sensitivities and their ties to autoimmune diseases. Intrigued, I decided I would adopt a strict paleo lifestyle, and just a few days in, I knew it was the right choice. After losing 100 pounds in less than a year, my weight loss hit a plateau. I tried everything to get out of the rut: eliminated all problem causing foods (nightshades, FODMAPs, nuts, seeds, etc.), ate low amounts of carbs, intermittent fasting (16 hr, 24 hr), limited my protein intake, and even cut out all fruit. While I did lose a few pounds in about 6 months, my weight kept fluctuating around 215 pounds. My energy levels got worse, and I really had no idea what to do; perhaps 215 was what my body thought it's perfect weight ought to be. But that answer just didn't make any sense to me, and I kept searching. Since I like to test and analyze everything, I decided to try a 48 hr fast. After I had hit 36 hours into the fast, I came to a startling realization: I felt great. Actually, not just great, but fantastic even! I was prepared to feel hungry or a sag in energy. Yet I just felt great. I felt no inflammation (my stomach had never been that flat), my energy levels were high, and my mind was completely clear and focused. After marveling a bit at this surprising result, a thought went briefly through my mind: what if I'm sensitive to everything? I guffawed at the thought, and pushed it out of mind. There was just no way that could be so! A few days later, I had a biofeedback allergy/food sensitivity test performed by my doctor, and it turned out that I literally was sensitive to everything (chicken, animal fat, fiber, Vitamin A, you name it). This test just confirmed my theory that I suffered from Celiac disease, and, as a result, I had an extremely leaky gut. Since learning that, I have been actively trying to heal my gut. I have done several gallstone cleanses (disgusting, but after the second cleanse, I felt much better), and I have been following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). Much of the SCD has been trial and error, but I now have a handful of foods that do not bother me too much. I now weigh approximately 200 pounds, and I feel much better. I still have to lose something like 50 pounds, but I am confident that my body will correct itself as my gut heals.

Thank you for the suggestions. I honestly cannot take a break from my diet (nor do I want to) because of all the food intolerances I have. Plus, I really don't view it as a diet in the sense that you eat this way temporarily; I really see it as a permanent lifestyle change, one that is infinitely better than what I've done previously. I think I may try the elimination of fruits for awhile and see how that goes. As for starches, I don't eat any right now; for carbs, I have upped my consumption of vegetables to some degree. I'll look into seeing what all fats I can add in. Any suggestions as to what would be good replacements for the loss in calories from the fruit?

I have been following a paleo lifestyle for over a year now, and, wow, the results have been amazing! Not only have I lost a ton of weight, but my health is better than it has ever been in my life. I marvel at how different I feel today than what I felt like over a year ago. That being said, I am becoming concerned with a weight loss "plateau" that I have been stuck at for the past three months. Background: Sex: Female. Age: 29. Height: 5'4". Weight: 215 lbs. Diet: I follow a strict paleo diet (out of necessity: I am intolerant to grains, dairy, eggs, nightshades, and various other things). I also practice intermittent feeding where I limit my daily caloric consumption to a 6-8 hour time window. My daily caloric intake is approximately 1600 calories; sometimes more, sometimes less - it depends on my hunger levels. I don't go below 1200 calories nor exceed 2000 calories (which would be really hard to eat that much on a strict paleo diet. At least for me, anyways). I try to limit my intake of fruits to no more than two servings daily. Exercise: I do strength circuit workouts three times a week, sprints once a week, and lots of low impact cardio. After hitting a huge weight loss goal in early August, I have gone from losing 8-12 pounds a month to fluctuating within 5 pounds of my current weight over the past three months. Now, I am aware from research that the body can take a month or so to stabilize itself after some weight loss. I do notice that while the scale numbers are not going down, my body has different composition; namely, I am getting more muscle definition and my cloth size is shrinking (albeit ever so slowly). I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to help jumpstart my system back into weight loss mode or if there's something I'm doing wrong that is sabotaging my weight loss efforts. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.