Fat Around My Middle

Can someone please explain to a lay person (that would be me) why I have gained fat around my middle since peating? Other than stomach sticking out / gut problem. I'm referring to the blubber.

Is it because I'm not burning sugar, or fat? I'm eating both, and a LOT of sugar all day. I do make sure to eat the sugar with gelatin.

just trying to understand.

Thanks

sunmountain said:

I do make sure to eat the sugar with gelatin.

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Gelatin powder? Might be the endotoxin what's making you fat. If it's gelatin from shanks, etc., probably that's not the problem.

The gelatin I eat is Great Lakes Green Can hydrolyzed collagen.

Are there tests I can ask my doc to do to find out what is causing the middle fat?

thanks

Were you eating about 1300 calories per day when you first started tracking your nutrition on cronometer? I'm sorry I can't remember.

sunmountain said:

The gelatin I eat is Great Lakes Green Can hydrolyzed collagen.

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As far as I know, all gelatin powder products have endotoxin. It's probably safe only for healthy people whose intestines aren't permeable.

Blossom said:

Were you eating about 1300 calories per day when you first started tracking your nutrition on cronometer? I'm sorry I can't remember.

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I just looked back through older posts and noticed the calorie intake was mentioned at about 1400 per day. I think that upping your calories and nutrition probably has resulted in some temporary but necessary weight gain as part of the healing process. I doubt a doctor is going to be very helpful and would maybe advise cutting calories which didn't seem to be health promoting for you before. I think the link tara mentioned (http://www.youreatopia.com) provides some valuable insight into what people experience when transitioning to normal eating from low calorie intakes. I particularly liked the article Gwenyth wrote for women age 26-52, that one sure is convincing about the importance of keeping nutrition up!
I guess I'm just trying to say that this is probably a normal part of recovering your health from years of under eating. From what I've read of anecdotal reports the weight eventually redistributes in time.

a lot of times its just water retention, people can easily accumulate 200+ oz of pure (or with toxins) water. It happened to me on a vegan diet. Up your calories, especially leaning towards protein, with adequate carbs...you should start draining

Thanks for the reminder, Blossom! I have memory problems, so that's helpful.

I'm trying to understand the metabolic issue behind the middle fat. I understand it's temporary. I'm sure some, maybe a lot, of it is water. Is there any way for me to figure out whether it's a sugar burning issue, or fat burning, or protein?

I'm not intending to cut calories at all. On the contrary, every day I'm trying to eat the most I can. But perhaps I could make some small adjustments in what I eat to minimize more of the doughnut.

Also is there any supplement to help me drain the water? I'm already eating as much salt as I can tolerate, and am sometimes thirsty.

Thanks

LOTS of salt, which you are already doing, is good. Potassium from fruit is helpful. How much fat are you currently eating? And how long have you been Peating? (Sorry, I don't remember.) My own experience is that protein and sugar do not cause weight gain, excess fat can tho...perhaps that's just me. Also, it took me MANY months to be able to properly burn sugar for energy, this was directly due to low-carbing for years....yeah, they don't talk about that at the websites I used to hang out (loathing glares towards Dr. Mercola). If you were previously low-carb, it could take a while to make that transition.

Oh, and I've heard that high cortisol contributes to belly fat too...how's yer stress level?

For a simplistic view, Gwyneth from Youreatopia says that weight gain around the middle after a state of undereating/malnutrition is a protective mechanism as the fat acts like an insulator to keep vital organs warm.

From a Peat perspective, I would agree with thebigpeatowski that excess cortisol from stress creates belly fat and I've also read that love handles indicate sugar metabolism/insulin issues.

Have you tried progest-e for the water retention. I notice a difference from taking it. It also works to lower cortisol which would target belly fat.

But I have a feeling that it just comes down to time. It took me a year and a half of refeeding on 6,000+ calories and another half a year of making sure to feed my hunger (3,000+ cals.) along with resting whenever I can to see my stomach bloat and excess pudge come off. Of course, everyone's healing time is different.

Gawd, I would LOVE to be able to eat 6,000 calories every day for years (without exploding)....That's an amazing physical achievement!!!

Wow! Ok, that put's some perspective!

I started peating mid-May. So 5 months so far.

I low-carbed for only about a year just prior to peating.

I take progest-e / thyroid / pregnenolone twice a day every day. I take 1/4 to 1/3 tsp preg twice daily. I hope that is enough stuff to beat down the cortisol?

As for fat, I've haven't done crono in a while, but I take 2T CO in oatmeal every morning, plus generous amounts in cooking. My main fat is CO, but I also eat ice cream at bedtime, though not lately.

When BP says it took her a while before burning sugar appropriately -- how could you tell the difference? How do I know if I'm burning sugar efficiently or not, and fat?

Jennifer, how was it possible for you to eat 6000 calories? I know I need to eat more, and keep trying, but still in the early-2000+ range.

BP and Jen -- are your resting pulse and temp in the normal range now? If so, how come you still have gut issues? Aren't those supposed to resolve with increased metabolism?

Sorry for all the questions, some which I'm sure I've asked before (dang memory); still trying to understand.

I'm seeing a GI next Wed. What should I expect? I know you all have been that route. My purpose in seeing the GI is to determine the problem: is it the stomach, or leaky gut, or sibo, or something else? Will the GI want to do invasive tests?

Also I don't want to tell the GI that I'm on mino. Maybe I should stop the mino by Sunday.

thanks

Oh, and I suppose I should at least consider whether I might be reacting to the Great Lakes Green Can, which is the only thing (I think) that I did not eliminate during all my attempts at elimination diet.

Mainly because it would be hard for me to get in enough protein otherwise.

I just wanted to add real quick to please demand that they do not x-ray you in any way, shape or form. They can look around with a camera all they want but be sure to be adamant that there is no radiation involved. You are not in a life threatening situation so there is no need for you to be exposed to unnecessary radiation. It might be best to research any testing that's suggested before you go through with it. Usually the test will be scheduled for a different day than the original consultation so you should have a bit of time to see what the recommended test entails. :2cents

I think you've had some good answers - it may be an inevitable part of recovering from undereating, it's good to keep all your minerals up as well as carbs and protein, and cortisol probably plays a role.
To add an extra couple of possibly minor related factors, in terms of stress that may raise cortisol, how's your sleep? Are you regularly get 8hrs? And regular sunlight? A bit of movement in your day? Breathing?

I'm also curious about your question - how to tell if we are burning sugar well - I'd like to know that too, short of buying a glucose meter.

Thanks!!! I will tell them I don't want x-rays or radiation.

Sleep is unbelievably good MOST OF THE TIME. Only occasional disturbed night, usually when my schedule is off for some reason. I had chronic insomnia for DECADES!! And the months before peating were so bad I was getting non-functional from lack of sleep!

Two things that are undeniable improvements since peating are -- BLESSED SLEEP and almost no racing hearbeat.

Stress -- mainly too much to juggle, too much to remember, too much to do. Am trying to cut back, but also considering a major life change -- applying to go back to grad school next Fall -- which would add a whole lot more stress until mid-Dec. Don't even know if I can do it -- GRE, statement, whatnot. Plus daughter's college search. Plus opportunities at work that I'm letting go because I still can't juggle a full-time work load. Plus other commitments. So stress, yes, but I feel it differently now -- more like a heaviness and tiredness than a racing heartbeat.

Not much movement except running around errands etc. No walking. So not much sunlight. Mainly because I still feel tired most of the time. Though the preg did raise temps to 97.2 and slight increase in pulse. No bag breathing, though I keep meaning to.

The only thing that shut down cortisol for me was eating massive amounts of sugar, like nearly a cup a day. I have personally eaten over 40+ pounds of sugar, I'm referring to the bagged refined table sugar and 100% pure fructose powder. This is IN ADDITION to all of the fruits, juices and cokes etc. that are a daily part of my diet. I did this while restricting all fat in order to sort of force the conversion and I knew it was working when I stopped gaining weight.

When I found Peat I was already gaining weight (especially around the middle) and I knew something was wrong because I was freezing cold, depressed, hair falling out, skin would not heal, etc. I went from 145 lbs. to something just over 170 lbs. in five or so months. Talk about terrifying!!! This Sugar Extravaganza seemed to be the only way for me to become a sugar burner and for several of those months I was technically diabetic with fasting blood glucose in the 130's....and desperately trying NOT to freak out.

I now weigh 132 lbs. which is less than when I started Peating a year ago. And I can eat pretty much anything I want which AMAZES me. I should probably be closer to 125 lbs. but I don't exercise AT ALL.....keep telling myself I will, but it hasn't happened.

Oh, and I did do the MAJOR life change thing too. I shut down my business, moved to country and took a year off to heal, which no doubt contributed to my stress reduction.

Damn, that year went by waaay too fast and now I gotta go back to work. WHAAAA!!!

Adding that my fasting blood sugars are back in the 80's now....How cool is Ray Peat???

sunmountain said:

Jennifer, how was it possible for you to eat 6000 calories? I know I need to eat more, and keep trying, but still in the early-2000+ range.

BP and Jen -- are your resting pulse and temp in the normal range now? If so, how come you still have gut issues? Aren't those supposed to resolve with increased metabolism?

Sorry for all the questions, some which I'm sure I've asked before (dang memory); still trying to understand.

I'm seeing a GI next Wed. What should I expect? I know you all have been that route. My purpose in seeing the GI is to determine the problem: is it the stomach, or leaky gut, or sibo, or something else? Will the GI want to do invasive tests?

Also I don't want to tell the GI that I'm on mino. Maybe I should stop the mino by Sunday.

thanks

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Yeah, 6,000 for the average person would be tough, but prior to refeeding, I did the fruitarian diet (30bad style) for two years where I was eating a good 3,000 calories worth of whole fruits and 2 pounds of leafy greens daily so I was used to a high volume of food. It was common for me to eat an entire large watermelon (not the minis) in one sitting! And before that, I was doing some pretty extreme mountain climbing every weekend and eventually wasted away despite my high calorie intake. The fruitarian diet sealed the deal though and I ended up at 70 pounds. I did it to heal my depression which it only made worse, of course.

I struggled to get my weight up and couldn't get it to budge past 95 pounds. That alone took about a year. I consumed a ton of high fat raw milk and eggs, but the weight I gained was mostly muscle so my body fat % was still too low to get my menstrual cycle back.

I then tried RBTI and after a year of not seeing improvements, started reading up on refeeding. The Minnesota Starvation Experiment and Youreatopia really helped me decide that I needed to get some major calories in me to make up for the energy deficit I believed I accumulated. My insatiable hunger was proof enough.

So I'm at over 6 years of illness and 1 1/2 years of refeeding. I just followed my appetite. In the beginning it led me to 10,000 calories a day for a couple of weeks, I think it was. After that extreme hunger passed, I seemed to settle on the 6,000 cals. In 4 or 5 months I went from 95 pounds to my weight stabilizing at 145 pounds. Once my appetite fell back to it's normal 3,000, the weight slowly came back down over the past 7 or 8 months and has settled at 110.

My temps and pulse are normal, but yes, my gut is not in good shape. I saw a GI and had an endoscopy done two years ago which showed I had an inflamed gut that the GI had no explanation for. I then took the SIBO test and that came back negative, except for gas in my colon. I've tried almost everything to fix it and my last attempt with the Neomycin antibiotic was brutal.

But yeah, it's good that you're not forcing yourself to eat more and are going by what your digestion can handle. Baby steps!

Good luck with the GI, sunmountain. I hope you find some relief soon! :)

Dump the fat from your diet, Its easily stored, empty calories, and raises estrogen levels to name a few negatives.