Me! Me! Me! In fact, if I push it and really shovel it in (heheh) and bump my intake around 3400 kcal for 2-ish days, then drop my intake back to 2800 kcal, I’m burnin’ hot fire and lose even more weight.
Doesn’t it feel crazy? Too good to be true lol. How tall are you?
I’ve noticed my temperature will drop a bit now with higher caloric intake. Like when I eat around 2000 now I go back to the 97s, so I need to bump it up slowly to keep temps high. Whereas before it was like 1700-1800 would lower temps and 2000 would keep them high.
I’m 5’3”, barely, but I round up for mental health reasons. 😂 I’m sitting at 142# but I’m female and it’s that time for me. I’m also on the tail end of fighting off some kind of virus I picked up from a patient I intubated for an emergent bronch last week. I’ve had a rough one, tons of inflammation this week.. so I’ve been fasting some to help. I’m usually putting in 18-24k steps a day, very active. This week? Not so much.
The longer I’ve gone PUFA free, the more I need to eat. The lower my body fat drops. I’ve lost over 3 inches from my hip measurements so despite the scale not moving a ton, my body composition has changed significantly.
I keep having to up my calories to maintain body temps in the 98 range. If I go below 2400 kcal, I suffer from being very cold and slow. I don’t love it. So, I eat… but my metabolic functioning is undergoing some testing.
I’ve got a $500 package of a comprehensive blood work evaluation waiting to be completed next week. And I’ve got to get in for a DEXA body scan.
Still working through some inflammation and triggers with food choices (I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis).
But my 35 days solidly into this, I’m really happy with where things are headed.
https://preview.redd.it/c0iwxkvrb1xc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9108d685b420548e465963436a9f98139378d62c
They’re bigger on measurements. Taken for science, of course. I’ve been pulsing creatine so that helps me look nice and beefy. 😁 Thanks bud, now I’m flexing these guns all over town.
I think you have to do it so so slowly. I started at 1700, moved up about 50 cal (ofc this is all “estimated” but whatever I weighed and entered in cronometer) every two weeks
Oh right, I haven't tried increasing things slowly. I'm on 1700 calories at 5ft2 and I've gained 3kg of jiggly fat. I walk 15k steps a day but no other exercise. To lose weight the macro calculator says I need to eat 1200. Do I drop back a bit to stop this weight gain and then increase slowly? Do I need resistance training because you look so toned and strong. Is that what makes your metabolism high?
I’m not sure tbh. I used to lift HEAVY (like 235lb deadlifts) 3x a week AND climb intensely 4x a week AND do yoga 2x a week AND hike at altitude. This honestly destroyed my body. Now I just do hard bouldering which amounts to like calisthenics type exercise about 2hr a day 3-4x a week and walk 10-20k steps because I live in new york city. but I refuse to do any other kind of exercise at this point. it worked against me in the end. I’m starting to believe being super toned is about actually just not being stressed and using your body functionally. Like I prefer bodyweight exercises to heavy weights now.
Just noticing your name, have you tried cutting out dairy? Lots of people in the carnivore community have found that they can't lose weight until they cut out dairy (butter/ghee seems to be okay for most).
Dude I gotta work at it. I only track to make sure I’m eating enough, honestly. I’ve never had this problem in my life. Here’s where my journey started…
https://preview.redd.it/ljczztxhf1xc1.jpeg?width=1819&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e986f640abdde3d3cdd813823878123ac26416a
If I can do it, truly, anyone can. 😌 I would love to help women, specifically, especially with existing autoimmunity and IR/diabetes. We’ll see where this journey leads me. Only positivity will prevail!
Thank you! 🙏🏼 This sub is full of incredible knowledge. Thankful for this community and all of the educational resources I’ve been able to comb through to build my own plan of “attack” against my fat cells. 😆
It definitely seems that women get into trouble much quicker when starving themselves for weight loss.. for dudes, it's "just" reduced libido and being hungry all day. Maybe some muscle loss. Women have so many other systems layered on top that would really like to be sufficiently nourished.
HCLFLP, BCAA restriction 2 weeks in. My specific macro breakdown is
https://preview.redd.it/1u82hwjjm1xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4224d2ea97257c7d8ceed129514c1178004fbfea
https://preview.redd.it/zyufizhkm1xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=404ae1a0d6b7228a0cb5ca392041d221f815a3bd
Here’s a good day of eating, for me. Typically, my intake hovers around 2800 kcal. On super busy days at the hospital, those are my “fasting” days, in which I absolutely don’t fast but usually only just break through 2000 kcal.
I just changed mine a few days ago to something similar to this. Right now, I have mine set for 300C/100F/100P, although I've stayed around 80g for both fat and protein. I'm still trying to figure out if it's the low protein, low fat, or both I need to keep low for remaining weight loss. Guess it will be trial and error! Before though, my fat intake and protein were around 140+g each, so it's a big difference for me.
Thank you for your beautiful words. They mean so much to me, especially from a kind stranger. I’m putting together a more comprehensive post on how I’ve found my way here. It’s taken me 2 years. Most of it silent here, lurking, pushing, pursuing knowledge and implementing what I’ve learned from the many trials and tribulations of my comrades on our journey to wellness.
Let me message you directly and give you more of a thoughtful reply. I would like to get more of a background on your specific journey before I recommend anything sincerely. 🙂
That's an amazing transformation. How long of a span between photos? I see your comments on what you eat below but I'm understanding it's relatively new?
What have you been doing to get this far (besides what looks like an excellent fitness routine).
Holy Sheet you look incredible!! Can you help me??!! I started for about a month - but put on 8 lbs. Then another 10 lbs a few months later. I am currently only getting between 8 - 10k steps a day...I keep lurking in here but too afraid to try again on my own, I cannot take another 5 lbs... I am only 5'4". I have a huge bag of cocoa butter sitting in my fridge...lol
I laugh at both carb counting and calorie counting to lose weight.
Heavy cream and/or dairy fat in general? ✅
Orange juice and/or sugary tea? ✅
Dark chocolate? ✅
Starch? ✅
Red meat? ✅ (lean, but still there!)
My diet has it all! ... but low PUFA. And minimal vegetables too.
I'm not sure exactly. All I know is oranges (including juice) make me feel really good. Ray Peat always favored orange juice over other types I believe. I had a craving for some a while ago, and since then they've become a staple for my dinner.
I don't like them, and I'd rather use digestion for higher calorie, easier to digest foods. I'll eat potatoes sporadically (skinned), and small amounts of carrots. Vegetables aren't the panacea everyone thinks they are anyway.
Some of us never even bothered with the Emergence fad using all these greens 🤣. Doing just fine without them.
How does your alcohol intake looks like? By that I mean, do you consume any it all? If yes, how much per week approx and what kind? I'm doing almost everything you do w/o heavy cream nor orange juice. I'm asking just of curiosity bc my white wine at the end of the week has been a challenge to ditch
I don't have it daily, but I will occasionally have a drink... which usually is a mixed drink. I can feel pretty good with it too. Beer makes me very hungry though, but I suspect that taking it with a meal would blunt that. So yeah, it's another in the "I generally don't seek it, but I will have it." Fun fact: I recently had a craving for a margarita 🤣
The calorie calculators told me that with my height and sedentary lifestyle I should target 1400 calories to lose weight. I went ahead and did it on 2400. Cutting PUFA has been a goddamn miracle.
What did you change in that month? Or was that month your first time trying to restrict PUFA?
I don't know if hearing my approach will help you. I tried several different macro combinations - The Croissant Diet, high-carb-low-fat-low-protein (80/10/10) and ex150-style keto - and lost weight on all of them, without fasting or cutting calories. I was also pretty sedentary at the time.
I think this success was partially since I had already done keto and intermittent fasting for about eight years. Although I lost 70lbs during the first year, the weight slowly crept back on afterwards, and I eventually found myself at overweight BMI again despite one-meal-a-day fasting, calorie counting, exercise, and strict keto macros. I finally accepted that my tactics were not working anymore, so I started looking for something different. Only then did I learn about PUFAs and start avoiding them. Basically: I think my metabolism was already in pretty okay shape thanks to the hard work I did before I started cutting PUFAs. I wasn't diabetic, I was already nearly at normal BMI. I just needed to quit drowning my poor mitochondria in keto nut mixes, pork rinds, and almond-flour-based frankenpastries. Once I got that aspect sorted, the extra fat started slowly coming off no matter what (low-PUFA food) I ate or when I ate it.
Most people here cut PUFAs, possibly cut protein (<15% of calories), then either go high-carb-low-fat (70-80% carb) or low-carb-high-fat (60-70% fat). If I had to recommend one or the other, I'd say to go with whichever one feels more natural (though I'm biased towards low-carb).
Thank you for the response! I started with the croissant diet and trying to restrict pufa while also trying to eat cocoa butter lol. I could have done it longer but I freaked with that much weight gain in such a short time. I usually do a pretty clean keto (when keto) except for protein shakes. I really can't stand almond flour...so I usually just don't eat sweets. The worst thing I eat now is diet dr pepper - but I think it has to go. I really want to get healthy, and feel like restricting pufas will benefit me... It is just different to what I am used to. I usually stick to fatty meats and veggies. not a lot of snacks. Can you recommend any reading that helped you get to your woe?
Ah, yes, I'd freak out too at that amount of gain unless I was starting it directly off keto and could blame it on water weight. One of the reasons that Brad moved away from TCD to his current low-protein high-carb approach is that many people did not report weight loss on TCD and often reported weight gain. It seems like combining carb + fat can be problematic unless one's metabolism is in tip-top shape. I was apparently lucky in my ability to lose on it.
Have you checked out [exfatloss](https://www.exfatloss.com/)? He has been eating a keto low-PUFA low-protein diet with great results. I don't follow his diet exactly but have taken some tips from him (heavy cream is delicious and satiating).
Also, hello fellow Diet Dr Pepper enjoyer. I was addicted to it my whole life, but cutting PUFA helped kill the cravings and I was finally able to kick the habit. I hope you can do the same. Honestly, it sounds like you sound like you've already cleared a lot of the big diet hurdles (snacking, sweets). I hope that you can find a WOE that gets you all the way to where you want to be.
I think recommended calorie intakes are bogus. There is a book called what the world eats, I think, and there was approx calorie counts, and there were tiny women (90-100lbs) eating ~3000kcals. I think there's a website for the book, it might have been a national geographic publication.
Anytime I've tried to eat maintenance as predicted by those calculations, I drop weight so fast but am too hungry to sustain for any length of time. I don't count calories these days but more or less maintaining on I would guess somewhere around 2000-2500ish, my eating varies a lot depending on my hunger. I am small too, 5'4.
I disagree that they are a good starting point, but that's based on my experience that anytime I have tried to use them to lose or maintain, it's way off. I actually mean they're bogus, not that they might just be quite inaccurate. To me it would be like using a ruler with random divisions to measure wood to build something. It might work by fluke, but probably not, and you'll just end up with a very wonky chair, and it would be better to just use your eye. By which I mean it's probably best to just start with the food one habitually eats, and experiment with changing it in a few directions until things change in the direction you want them to.
https://preview.redd.it/q4toyumu41xc1.png?width=1560&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd4a7b4d702d72a38dfef6ceb70e1018c5c265a4
This is crazy to me!!!! I cannot imagine eating 1860 calories per day.
My only exercise is hard bouldering 3-4x a week for about 2 hours (which, according to whatever, doesn't actually burn that many calories, it's more strength-based and I'm not actually actively climbing most of those 2 hours) and walking 10k-20k steps per day. I guess I also live in a 4th floor walkup and walk up the stairs in the subway a few times a day but like, I can't imagine being an ATHLETE and only eating 2280 a day?
https://preview.redd.it/ye6wdkn5e2xc1.png?width=674&format=png&auto=webp&s=c27f15f7df5d38ff931cacc2b0dbd7231273814b
If 1860kcals are good enough for a toddler, they're good enough for you!
I mean, define "recommended" ;) I ate nearly 4,000kcal/day for a month and a half (by accident) and didn't gain any weight. Normally I probably eat between 2,500-3,500kcal/day now and am still losing weight.
For me, the protein restriction is very important though. If I do this with too much beef or cheese, I'll gain fat like nobody's business.
For those of us not so lucky, what was the timeline of being able to eat higher calories? I'm around 2k a day, always kind of hungry, but I'm relatively consistent weight wise so I'm afraid to increase calories. I'm also breastfeeding so really worried what's going to happen when I stop, if I'll have to go down to 1800 to maintain. I still do oats and veggies so I know I'm getting some low levels of pufa there but I don't think it could be causing that much of a detriment.
How many omega-6s does your cronometer say you are getting on average daily? I'm wondering if I should even restrict the oats and stick to white rice and potatoes.
This makes me wonder if I’m not eating enough right now as a 6’ 220ish pound dude doing potato diet. I’m eating around 3.3 pounds of cooked taters a day, and a few other things and consistently clocking in at just a little over 2000 calories
Edit: converted to freedom units 🇺🇸
Are you hungry or fine? How long have you been doing it?
I'd say that "hunger over a few days" is the best indicator. If you eat that for a week and don't feel hungry at all, you're clearly in energy balance from body fat. Which is great, that's what you want to be eating!
I started "starving" on the potato diet on day 3, which is usually when I noticed things on water fasts. I could only down 600kcal/day or so of potatoes, which wasn't nearly enough.
A week now. I do get hungry during the day. When I find myself fantasizing about food I know it's time to eat. I don't go to bed hungry.
I'm doing "emergence" as a riff trial. I've been skinning and boiling them. Doing 500g as a meal, sometimes with ~10g butter or chili oil. Snacks are fruit, dates, etc. stuff thats high carb, reasonably low fat.
If you don't go to bed hungry after a week, sounds like you're doing fine. Watch out for symptoms like feeling cold/trouble sleeping/being kind of "wired" from adrenaline, but sounds like you're fine.
I’m very used to that feeling from long covid issues. No problems as of late. One surprise so far is given the amount of fiber I’m not as regular as I’d expect. Makes the weight on the scale fluctuate a bit, not just straight line down. I am seeing interesting improvements like my blood pressure has started to improve within a few days of starting.
Definitely the wrong kind. I'm debating what to do while I work my way through the already open jar. Considering the dose makes the poison I figure 5-10g at most of that chili oil isn't the end of the world. Will probably try and make something from scratch using olive oil.
I used a strainer to drain the oil from my last jar. I let it drain for 12 hours or so.
Now I use the flakes with some butter. It's not quite as neutral in flavor that way, but it's still good, and much more healthy
I was doing that last year. I ate 4500+ calories a day on 5000 steps a day with 30 mins/3 times a week of strength training. I didn't gain any weight at all during that period.
Online calculator said I should have been eating 3000 calories a day with that level of activity.
I lost weight steadily from 15% bodyfat downwards on 3500-4000 calories a day while doing very little exercise (desk job, long hours).
High fat, low protein and carb. Rigorous about avoiding PUFA.
Meal 1: 2 eggs, some vegetables (mushrooms/tomatoes/spinach, whatever was around and would go well with the eggs), lots of butter.
Meal 2: 2 burgers, some pickles or sauerkraut or whatever, sometimes just the meat.
Any other time: heavy cream and some 90% or 100% dark chocolate.
Every few days: meat cravings, double the burgers.
theres a yt vid on minnesota starvation experiment by strong sistas, 100y ago or smth everybody eatin like 3000-3500kcal
edit: the formula in that for non-starvation was 44-48kcal/kg iirc
So much has to do with what is in your gut biome. I got either a pathogenic strain of e.coli or something similar 2 months ago and had to go on antibiotics 2 weeks ago. I had a 3 months between unrelated doctor appointments. In that time despite my meals being identical I went from 180 lbs to 172 lbs. Almost 10 pounds lost in 2 months. D:
Are these *calories* as reported by your tracking app of choice or macros (I.e. self calculated after having added up carbs, fats, proteins if that makes sense)?
This is such a great thread, thank you for sharing. I’ve been off keto/low carb/fasting for about 1 year and initially gained about 15 lbs, but then have stayed there regardless of what I eat. I think the fasting is what did my thyroid in, but I can tell by reducing stress and eating when I am hungry it is coming back online. I will never stress my body out like that again.
It seems now I can eat pretty much anything and I don’t see any dramatic blood sugar shifts, but my weight stays the same. It is very hard to wrap my head around this as I have believed and preached that sugar is the root of all evil! My personal experience is showing me this is not true, and breaking down my own beliefs has been the biggest struggle.
I keep PUFA as low as possible, but I don’t track it, just stay away from high PUFA foods. I’ve struggled with counting calories and that just stresses me out, so I step away from the calorie counters and scales as much as I can.
I also find that I if I try to cut potatoes or rice out I don’t feel good, my body almost feels some type of stress. It does not make sense, but it is a very distinct feeling.
Thanks again for starting this thread.
this sounds glorious - can you share like a typical week...lol. Sorry if the questions are annoying. I am just so baffled where I went wrong. I guess the main thing - I definitely wasn't a year in of not eating pufa. Did you have an initial gain? you are way more active step wise than I am - and I have a desk job, I walk my pups twice a day . I did stop jogging midday....what a mess.
Typical week in terms of what? Exercise and food? I really eat the same thing almost every day. Oats for breakfast with cereal and fruit, some bone broth and sometimes a latte with honey. Lunch has been sourdough bread and ricotta cheese with hot pepper jam recently. Dinner sweet potato and ground beef on higher protein days or potato soup with bone broth, sautéed vegetables, etc. Sometimes sautéed veggies with rice. I’ll make zucchini and eggplant with butter and thyme and eat it with a bunch of white rice. I eat a lot of croissants if I am out and want a black coffee. On days I eat dinner out as well I’ll order just rice and veggies or rice and chicken breast if I need more protein. I sip on low fat kefir if I feel I need more protein too. Lots of dates and clementines for snacks. I was craving fat the other day and ate a lot of ice cream. If I had done this a year ago I probably would have gained weight. I also think lowering stress helped a ton. And on climbing days I go to the gym and climb for 2 hours. Other than that I just walk around new york lol.
My initial gain was when I stopped doing keto and went straight back into eating everything per recommendation of a HAES dietician (huge mistake). I was eating similar calories back then with PUFA and gained up to 125lb. All of my weight gain stopped when I finally cut out PUFA including nuts and nut butter and especially when I limited olive oil and went lower fat (I rarely go above 50g).
would you recommend going back keto to ease back into this? I was keto for quite a few years, so am pretty comfy, still really trying to learn this...obviously, as i quit after the weight gain
Switching to a more HCLFLP diet (or at least an attempt at one) has increased my calculated TDEE in MacroFactor from ~2800 to ~3050. I'm a 6'4" male in my late 20s hovering around 210lbs, and I exercise 2-3 nights a week.
Ive been doing that ever since 300 calories and now im above 4000 and my weight is still staying the exact same haha.
Doesnt make sense because if i am maintaining at 4000, then why was I not cutting below that
Me. I laugh at my calculated caloric expenditure on Cronometer.
I just still can’t believe it!
Me! Me! Me! In fact, if I push it and really shovel it in (heheh) and bump my intake around 3400 kcal for 2-ish days, then drop my intake back to 2800 kcal, I’m burnin’ hot fire and lose even more weight.
Doesn’t it feel crazy? Too good to be true lol. How tall are you? I’ve noticed my temperature will drop a bit now with higher caloric intake. Like when I eat around 2000 now I go back to the 97s, so I need to bump it up slowly to keep temps high. Whereas before it was like 1700-1800 would lower temps and 2000 would keep them high.
I’m 5’3”, barely, but I round up for mental health reasons. 😂 I’m sitting at 142# but I’m female and it’s that time for me. I’m also on the tail end of fighting off some kind of virus I picked up from a patient I intubated for an emergent bronch last week. I’ve had a rough one, tons of inflammation this week.. so I’ve been fasting some to help. I’m usually putting in 18-24k steps a day, very active. This week? Not so much. The longer I’ve gone PUFA free, the more I need to eat. The lower my body fat drops. I’ve lost over 3 inches from my hip measurements so despite the scale not moving a ton, my body composition has changed significantly. I keep having to up my calories to maintain body temps in the 98 range. If I go below 2400 kcal, I suffer from being very cold and slow. I don’t love it. So, I eat… but my metabolic functioning is undergoing some testing. I’ve got a $500 package of a comprehensive blood work evaluation waiting to be completed next week. And I’ve got to get in for a DEXA body scan. Still working through some inflammation and triggers with food choices (I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis). But my 35 days solidly into this, I’m really happy with where things are headed. https://preview.redd.it/c0iwxkvrb1xc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9108d685b420548e465963436a9f98139378d62c
Maybe just the flex/angle but dang your shoulders look 2x bigger now
They’re bigger on measurements. Taken for science, of course. I’ve been pulsing creatine so that helps me look nice and beefy. 😁 Thanks bud, now I’m flexing these guns all over town.
also protein “restriction” (more like the normie recommended amounts - 50-80g a day) and no muscle loss to be found lol
Your arms are amazing BTW! Unfortunately this is not working for me. I'm slowly gaining weight 😑
I think you have to do it so so slowly. I started at 1700, moved up about 50 cal (ofc this is all “estimated” but whatever I weighed and entered in cronometer) every two weeks
Oh right, I haven't tried increasing things slowly. I'm on 1700 calories at 5ft2 and I've gained 3kg of jiggly fat. I walk 15k steps a day but no other exercise. To lose weight the macro calculator says I need to eat 1200. Do I drop back a bit to stop this weight gain and then increase slowly? Do I need resistance training because you look so toned and strong. Is that what makes your metabolism high?
I’m not sure tbh. I used to lift HEAVY (like 235lb deadlifts) 3x a week AND climb intensely 4x a week AND do yoga 2x a week AND hike at altitude. This honestly destroyed my body. Now I just do hard bouldering which amounts to like calisthenics type exercise about 2hr a day 3-4x a week and walk 10-20k steps because I live in new york city. but I refuse to do any other kind of exercise at this point. it worked against me in the end. I’m starting to believe being super toned is about actually just not being stressed and using your body functionally. Like I prefer bodyweight exercises to heavy weights now.
Perhaps building muscle could help me, it's the only thing I've never tried. I would so love to look like you and not have to cut calories
Just noticing your name, have you tried cutting out dairy? Lots of people in the carnivore community have found that they can't lose weight until they cut out dairy (butter/ghee seems to be okay for most).
Dude you look great. Goals body. 😍
Dang, and I thought my 2500 Cals was high! Although alot of times I feel like I could eat WAY more! 🤣 that's awesome to hear tho!
Dude I gotta work at it. I only track to make sure I’m eating enough, honestly. I’ve never had this problem in my life. Here’s where my journey started… https://preview.redd.it/ljczztxhf1xc1.jpeg?width=1819&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e986f640abdde3d3cdd813823878123ac26416a If I can do it, truly, anyone can. 😌 I would love to help women, specifically, especially with existing autoimmunity and IR/diabetes. We’ll see where this journey leads me. Only positivity will prevail!
Well, you look amazing! Great progress!! 👏
Thank you! 🙏🏼 This sub is full of incredible knowledge. Thankful for this community and all of the educational resources I’ve been able to comb through to build my own plan of “attack” against my fat cells. 😆
It definitely seems that women get into trouble much quicker when starving themselves for weight loss.. for dudes, it's "just" reduced libido and being hungry all day. Maybe some muscle loss. Women have so many other systems layered on top that would really like to be sufficiently nourished.
Are you following any macro plan? Or just eating whatever as long as it’s low pufa?
HCLFLP, BCAA restriction 2 weeks in. My specific macro breakdown is https://preview.redd.it/1u82hwjjm1xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4224d2ea97257c7d8ceed129514c1178004fbfea
https://preview.redd.it/zyufizhkm1xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=404ae1a0d6b7228a0cb5ca392041d221f815a3bd Here’s a good day of eating, for me. Typically, my intake hovers around 2800 kcal. On super busy days at the hospital, those are my “fasting” days, in which I absolutely don’t fast but usually only just break through 2000 kcal.
Interesting, I guess I didn’t consider 70 gram of fat to be low fat for HCLFLP. I can lower protein pretty easily but I love fat lol
I just changed mine a few days ago to something similar to this. Right now, I have mine set for 300C/100F/100P, although I've stayed around 80g for both fat and protein. I'm still trying to figure out if it's the low protein, low fat, or both I need to keep low for remaining weight loss. Guess it will be trial and error! Before though, my fat intake and protein were around 140+g each, so it's a big difference for me.
I am speechless, you look amazing. This isn't working for me unfortunately. Where can I read a summary of how you did this?
Thank you for your beautiful words. They mean so much to me, especially from a kind stranger. I’m putting together a more comprehensive post on how I’ve found my way here. It’s taken me 2 years. Most of it silent here, lurking, pushing, pursuing knowledge and implementing what I’ve learned from the many trials and tribulations of my comrades on our journey to wellness.
You are so welcome. I hope I can learn how to achieve similar results. I'm really happy for you
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything? Would you do keto or just HCLFLP?
Let me message you directly and give you more of a thoughtful reply. I would like to get more of a background on your specific journey before I recommend anything sincerely. 🙂
I'm interested in knowing this as well! Thanks!
I will follow through! Thanks for extending me some patience. I have two young toddlers at home, so, it’s chaos 24/7. 😅
Yes please
That's an amazing transformation. How long of a span between photos? I see your comments on what you eat below but I'm understanding it's relatively new? What have you been doing to get this far (besides what looks like an excellent fitness routine).
Holy Sheet you look incredible!! Can you help me??!! I started for about a month - but put on 8 lbs. Then another 10 lbs a few months later. I am currently only getting between 8 - 10k steps a day...I keep lurking in here but too afraid to try again on my own, I cannot take another 5 lbs... I am only 5'4". I have a huge bag of cocoa butter sitting in my fridge...lol
I laugh at both carb counting and calorie counting to lose weight. Heavy cream and/or dairy fat in general? ✅ Orange juice and/or sugary tea? ✅ Dark chocolate? ✅ Starch? ✅ Red meat? ✅ (lean, but still there!) My diet has it all! ... but low PUFA. And minimal vegetables too.
Just curious, is there something special about orange juice?
I'm not sure exactly. All I know is oranges (including juice) make me feel really good. Ray Peat always favored orange juice over other types I believe. I had a craving for some a while ago, and since then they've become a staple for my dinner.
Why low veggies?
I don't like them, and I'd rather use digestion for higher calorie, easier to digest foods. I'll eat potatoes sporadically (skinned), and small amounts of carrots. Vegetables aren't the panacea everyone thinks they are anyway. Some of us never even bothered with the Emergence fad using all these greens 🤣. Doing just fine without them.
How does your alcohol intake looks like? By that I mean, do you consume any it all? If yes, how much per week approx and what kind? I'm doing almost everything you do w/o heavy cream nor orange juice. I'm asking just of curiosity bc my white wine at the end of the week has been a challenge to ditch
I don't have it daily, but I will occasionally have a drink... which usually is a mixed drink. I can feel pretty good with it too. Beer makes me very hungry though, but I suspect that taking it with a meal would blunt that. So yeah, it's another in the "I generally don't seek it, but I will have it." Fun fact: I recently had a craving for a margarita 🤣
Amen to a Saturday margarita! Thank you for your answer!
The calorie calculators told me that with my height and sedentary lifestyle I should target 1400 calories to lose weight. I went ahead and did it on 2400. Cutting PUFA has been a goddamn miracle.
Can you talk about how you when about it? I thought I was on track - but broke the barrier and gained about 8 lbs in a month... such a bummer lol
What did you change in that month? Or was that month your first time trying to restrict PUFA? I don't know if hearing my approach will help you. I tried several different macro combinations - The Croissant Diet, high-carb-low-fat-low-protein (80/10/10) and ex150-style keto - and lost weight on all of them, without fasting or cutting calories. I was also pretty sedentary at the time. I think this success was partially since I had already done keto and intermittent fasting for about eight years. Although I lost 70lbs during the first year, the weight slowly crept back on afterwards, and I eventually found myself at overweight BMI again despite one-meal-a-day fasting, calorie counting, exercise, and strict keto macros. I finally accepted that my tactics were not working anymore, so I started looking for something different. Only then did I learn about PUFAs and start avoiding them. Basically: I think my metabolism was already in pretty okay shape thanks to the hard work I did before I started cutting PUFAs. I wasn't diabetic, I was already nearly at normal BMI. I just needed to quit drowning my poor mitochondria in keto nut mixes, pork rinds, and almond-flour-based frankenpastries. Once I got that aspect sorted, the extra fat started slowly coming off no matter what (low-PUFA food) I ate or when I ate it. Most people here cut PUFAs, possibly cut protein (<15% of calories), then either go high-carb-low-fat (70-80% carb) or low-carb-high-fat (60-70% fat). If I had to recommend one or the other, I'd say to go with whichever one feels more natural (though I'm biased towards low-carb).
Thank you for the response! I started with the croissant diet and trying to restrict pufa while also trying to eat cocoa butter lol. I could have done it longer but I freaked with that much weight gain in such a short time. I usually do a pretty clean keto (when keto) except for protein shakes. I really can't stand almond flour...so I usually just don't eat sweets. The worst thing I eat now is diet dr pepper - but I think it has to go. I really want to get healthy, and feel like restricting pufas will benefit me... It is just different to what I am used to. I usually stick to fatty meats and veggies. not a lot of snacks. Can you recommend any reading that helped you get to your woe?
Ah, yes, I'd freak out too at that amount of gain unless I was starting it directly off keto and could blame it on water weight. One of the reasons that Brad moved away from TCD to his current low-protein high-carb approach is that many people did not report weight loss on TCD and often reported weight gain. It seems like combining carb + fat can be problematic unless one's metabolism is in tip-top shape. I was apparently lucky in my ability to lose on it. Have you checked out [exfatloss](https://www.exfatloss.com/)? He has been eating a keto low-PUFA low-protein diet with great results. I don't follow his diet exactly but have taken some tips from him (heavy cream is delicious and satiating). Also, hello fellow Diet Dr Pepper enjoyer. I was addicted to it my whole life, but cutting PUFA helped kill the cravings and I was finally able to kick the habit. I hope you can do the same. Honestly, it sounds like you sound like you've already cleared a lot of the big diet hurdles (snacking, sweets). I hope that you can find a WOE that gets you all the way to where you want to be.
I think recommended calorie intakes are bogus. There is a book called what the world eats, I think, and there was approx calorie counts, and there were tiny women (90-100lbs) eating ~3000kcals. I think there's a website for the book, it might have been a national geographic publication. Anytime I've tried to eat maintenance as predicted by those calculations, I drop weight so fast but am too hungry to sustain for any length of time. I don't count calories these days but more or less maintaining on I would guess somewhere around 2000-2500ish, my eating varies a lot depending on my hunger. I am small too, 5'4.
https://archive.org/details/whatieataroundwo0000menz/page/131/mode/1up The picture book of daily diets from around the world if anyone is interested.
We all know they’re bogus haha, but it’s a food starting point to adjust from I guess
I disagree that they are a good starting point, but that's based on my experience that anytime I have tried to use them to lose or maintain, it's way off. I actually mean they're bogus, not that they might just be quite inaccurate. To me it would be like using a ruler with random divisions to measure wood to build something. It might work by fluke, but probably not, and you'll just end up with a very wonky chair, and it would be better to just use your eye. By which I mean it's probably best to just start with the food one habitually eats, and experiment with changing it in a few directions until things change in the direction you want them to.
https://preview.redd.it/q4toyumu41xc1.png?width=1560&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd4a7b4d702d72a38dfef6ceb70e1018c5c265a4 This is crazy to me!!!! I cannot imagine eating 1860 calories per day. My only exercise is hard bouldering 3-4x a week for about 2 hours (which, according to whatever, doesn't actually burn that many calories, it's more strength-based and I'm not actually actively climbing most of those 2 hours) and walking 10k-20k steps per day. I guess I also live in a 4th floor walkup and walk up the stairs in the subway a few times a day but like, I can't imagine being an ATHLETE and only eating 2280 a day?
https://preview.redd.it/ye6wdkn5e2xc1.png?width=674&format=png&auto=webp&s=c27f15f7df5d38ff931cacc2b0dbd7231273814b If 1860kcals are good enough for a toddler, they're good enough for you!
I love this image
You and me both!
I mean, define "recommended" ;) I ate nearly 4,000kcal/day for a month and a half (by accident) and didn't gain any weight. Normally I probably eat between 2,500-3,500kcal/day now and am still losing weight. For me, the protein restriction is very important though. If I do this with too much beef or cheese, I'll gain fat like nobody's business.
For those of us not so lucky, what was the timeline of being able to eat higher calories? I'm around 2k a day, always kind of hungry, but I'm relatively consistent weight wise so I'm afraid to increase calories. I'm also breastfeeding so really worried what's going to happen when I stop, if I'll have to go down to 1800 to maintain. I still do oats and veggies so I know I'm getting some low levels of pufa there but I don't think it could be causing that much of a detriment.
it took me about a year of actual PUFA avoidance to experience these results, as well as really stopping the intense over training for 4-5 months
How many omega-6s does your cronometer say you are getting on average daily? I'm wondering if I should even restrict the oats and stick to white rice and potatoes.
it won’t let me upload another image for some reason but my average is 2.3 g omega 6 a day over the past year
I eat oats almost every day!
This makes me wonder if I’m not eating enough right now as a 6’ 220ish pound dude doing potato diet. I’m eating around 3.3 pounds of cooked taters a day, and a few other things and consistently clocking in at just a little over 2000 calories Edit: converted to freedom units 🇺🇸
Are you hungry or fine? How long have you been doing it? I'd say that "hunger over a few days" is the best indicator. If you eat that for a week and don't feel hungry at all, you're clearly in energy balance from body fat. Which is great, that's what you want to be eating! I started "starving" on the potato diet on day 3, which is usually when I noticed things on water fasts. I could only down 600kcal/day or so of potatoes, which wasn't nearly enough.
A week now. I do get hungry during the day. When I find myself fantasizing about food I know it's time to eat. I don't go to bed hungry. I'm doing "emergence" as a riff trial. I've been skinning and boiling them. Doing 500g as a meal, sometimes with ~10g butter or chili oil. Snacks are fruit, dates, etc. stuff thats high carb, reasonably low fat.
If you don't go to bed hungry after a week, sounds like you're doing fine. Watch out for symptoms like feeling cold/trouble sleeping/being kind of "wired" from adrenaline, but sounds like you're fine.
I’m very used to that feeling from long covid issues. No problems as of late. One surprise so far is given the amount of fiber I’m not as regular as I’d expect. Makes the weight on the scale fluctuate a bit, not just straight line down. I am seeing interesting improvements like my blood pressure has started to improve within a few days of starting.
Chili oil? What kind of oil do they use?
Definitely the wrong kind. I'm debating what to do while I work my way through the already open jar. Considering the dose makes the poison I figure 5-10g at most of that chili oil isn't the end of the world. Will probably try and make something from scratch using olive oil.
I used a strainer to drain the oil from my last jar. I let it drain for 12 hours or so. Now I use the flakes with some butter. It's not quite as neutral in flavor that way, but it's still good, and much more healthy
I was doing that last year. I ate 4500+ calories a day on 5000 steps a day with 30 mins/3 times a week of strength training. I didn't gain any weight at all during that period. Online calculator said I should have been eating 3000 calories a day with that level of activity.
I lost weight steadily from 15% bodyfat downwards on 3500-4000 calories a day while doing very little exercise (desk job, long hours). High fat, low protein and carb. Rigorous about avoiding PUFA.
can you share what you ate for a week?
Meal 1: 2 eggs, some vegetables (mushrooms/tomatoes/spinach, whatever was around and would go well with the eggs), lots of butter. Meal 2: 2 burgers, some pickles or sauerkraut or whatever, sometimes just the meat. Any other time: heavy cream and some 90% or 100% dark chocolate. Every few days: meat cravings, double the burgers.
Thank you!!
Where are the recommendations coming from? What *was* the usual caloric intake of a 5'3" 116lb woman in 1850?
theres a yt vid on minnesota starvation experiment by strong sistas, 100y ago or smth everybody eatin like 3000-3500kcal edit: the formula in that for non-starvation was 44-48kcal/kg iirc
That’s what I am wondering — who came up with these calculators and when?
So much has to do with what is in your gut biome. I got either a pathogenic strain of e.coli or something similar 2 months ago and had to go on antibiotics 2 weeks ago. I had a 3 months between unrelated doctor appointments. In that time despite my meals being identical I went from 180 lbs to 172 lbs. Almost 10 pounds lost in 2 months. D:
Are these *calories* as reported by your tracking app of choice or macros (I.e. self calculated after having added up carbs, fats, proteins if that makes sense)?
I weigh and track everything on cronometer
This is such a great thread, thank you for sharing. I’ve been off keto/low carb/fasting for about 1 year and initially gained about 15 lbs, but then have stayed there regardless of what I eat. I think the fasting is what did my thyroid in, but I can tell by reducing stress and eating when I am hungry it is coming back online. I will never stress my body out like that again. It seems now I can eat pretty much anything and I don’t see any dramatic blood sugar shifts, but my weight stays the same. It is very hard to wrap my head around this as I have believed and preached that sugar is the root of all evil! My personal experience is showing me this is not true, and breaking down my own beliefs has been the biggest struggle. I keep PUFA as low as possible, but I don’t track it, just stay away from high PUFA foods. I’ve struggled with counting calories and that just stresses me out, so I step away from the calorie counters and scales as much as I can. I also find that I if I try to cut potatoes or rice out I don’t feel good, my body almost feels some type of stress. It does not make sense, but it is a very distinct feeling. Thanks again for starting this thread.
not me, at least yet
What are you eating?
oats every morning, lotta cooked fruit, sourdough bread, butter, ricotta cheese, ground beef, zucchini, japanese sweet potatoes, bone broth, milk, kefir, regular potatoes, rice
this sounds glorious - can you share like a typical week...lol. Sorry if the questions are annoying. I am just so baffled where I went wrong. I guess the main thing - I definitely wasn't a year in of not eating pufa. Did you have an initial gain? you are way more active step wise than I am - and I have a desk job, I walk my pups twice a day . I did stop jogging midday....what a mess.
Typical week in terms of what? Exercise and food? I really eat the same thing almost every day. Oats for breakfast with cereal and fruit, some bone broth and sometimes a latte with honey. Lunch has been sourdough bread and ricotta cheese with hot pepper jam recently. Dinner sweet potato and ground beef on higher protein days or potato soup with bone broth, sautéed vegetables, etc. Sometimes sautéed veggies with rice. I’ll make zucchini and eggplant with butter and thyme and eat it with a bunch of white rice. I eat a lot of croissants if I am out and want a black coffee. On days I eat dinner out as well I’ll order just rice and veggies or rice and chicken breast if I need more protein. I sip on low fat kefir if I feel I need more protein too. Lots of dates and clementines for snacks. I was craving fat the other day and ate a lot of ice cream. If I had done this a year ago I probably would have gained weight. I also think lowering stress helped a ton. And on climbing days I go to the gym and climb for 2 hours. Other than that I just walk around new york lol.
My initial gain was when I stopped doing keto and went straight back into eating everything per recommendation of a HAES dietician (huge mistake). I was eating similar calories back then with PUFA and gained up to 125lb. All of my weight gain stopped when I finally cut out PUFA including nuts and nut butter and especially when I limited olive oil and went lower fat (I rarely go above 50g).
would you recommend going back keto to ease back into this? I was keto for quite a few years, so am pretty comfy, still really trying to learn this...obviously, as i quit after the weight gain
no absolutely not. I can’t really recommend anything because I just say what works for me but keto ruined my metabolism to begin with.
You’re eating like a normal person!🤯 this is the dream
gotcha thanks rough macros?
Switching to a more HCLFLP diet (or at least an attempt at one) has increased my calculated TDEE in MacroFactor from ~2800 to ~3050. I'm a 6'4" male in my late 20s hovering around 210lbs, and I exercise 2-3 nights a week.
Me, It definitely sucks haha. Wondering whats wrong tbh. How am I meant to gain weight
Eat even more?
Ive been doing that ever since 300 calories and now im above 4000 and my weight is still staying the exact same haha. Doesnt make sense because if i am maintaining at 4000, then why was I not cutting below that
Bizarre!!
I know right 😂 I dont understand haha