Peatist Losers [Weight Loss]

[thebigpeatowski]

I'm posting this here for @managing (or anyone else who might be pondering Peatish Fat Loss).....Listed below is I what I did in 2014 to lose the body fat and IMPROVE my metabolism. At the time I had issues with too much liquid, so I swapped low fat cheese, 100% fat free yogurt and no fat cottage cheese for most of the milk. I also made some of the OJ into jello and added in dried fruits like dates, raisins and dried mangoes. Weekly oysters, liver and other seafoods were also on the menu.

A daily diet that includes two quarts of milk and a quart of orange juice provides enough fructose and other sugars for general resistance to stress, but larger amounts of fruit juice, honey, or other sugars can protect against increased stress, and can reverse some of the established degenerative conditions.--RP

• ZERO starch...nope, none.
• Very Low Fat, 20 grams or less
• Strict PUFA avoidance, keep it under 4 gm per day
• High protein, for me that's at least 100 grams, often more.
• Carb emphasis on Fructose, I used honey, OJ and non-GMO fructose powder
• NO constipation, keep guts clean and moving. Raw Carrots
• Lots of Calcium, keep cal/phos ratio in check
• Lots of caffeine, use theanine when pushed too far
• B vits if you need them
• Progesterone
• Thyroid meds
• Sunshine & Walking daily
• Vitamin E
• Good Sleep
• No Stress

CHANGES FOR THIS GO-ROUND:

1. I'm just drinking 1% milk, no yogurt/no cheese/no cottage cheese.
2. No longer eating the fructose powder, just honey and organic sugar.
3. Mostly whole fresh fruits, less dried fruit than last time and drinking the OJ in liquid form.
4. I'm also no longer taking Cynoplus, stopped nearly a month ago, it'll be T3 only from here out.
5. My caloric deficit is far more forgiving this time, but the challenge is greater.

How long will it take to lose 10-15 pounds? Who knows? Any guesses??? This is uncharted territory for me.

Will I, as procrastinating peri-menopausal old woman, even be able to get the Dreaded Last Ten off ma bod? Dunno.

Will I be able to keep the Dreaded Ten off? Not sure......Wanna place bets???


I've decided to log my weekly check-ins over on my gargantuan thread in order to keep the clutter here to a minimum. Clutter is our Foe. (says the excessively wordy girl who sells clutter for a living) But mostly because I'm too lazy to start a new thread AND I have a grotesque inability to follow proper forum decorum...ha ha, funny rhyme....let's say it again: Forum Decorum.

I've taken my measurements and am considering posting before and after photos. (clickbaitable, no?) I know you're all teetering on the very edge of your seats.

 

[whodathunkit]

@thebigpeatowski, if I make a new thread, will you use it? I don't have anywhere to post and really think it might be useful to not have this VLF info jumbled up into other threads and split between this one and yours. IME it's the "jumble" that is always clutter...an extra "container" for organization purposes does not typically add to clutter, but rather reduces it. Also IME clutter is not just an adjective denoting a jumble of stuff, but also is a concept that includes the confused state of mind that the jumble produces. That's what happens on forums...info on the same topics gets scattered across different and seemingly unrelated threads. A thread is started for one purpose but goes OT one or more time, hiding nuggets of valuable info unrelated to the original topic. Hence the perception of clutter.

IMO having this info on this experiment in one thread for anyone to post who wants to join and also to keep chatter related to it in one place will improve clutter via eliminating the jumble by giving us a "container" for all the related info, and thereby hopefully reducing some confusion about where to find info if anyone's interested.

I"m a librarian and cataloger by trade, BTW. :)

Will you use if I start?

Thanks for the uber-useful post above, BTW. Really helpful. I started today. Working on getting everything together to post.

Edited: questions for you:

Were you getting regular thyroid labs or using Peat's measures of temp and pulse, etc., to determine thyroid status?

Have you ever been insulin resistant/hyperglycemic? Asking because potential insulin problems with milk.

Did you use the Great Lakes gelatin for your Jello? It's kind of nasty so wondering if the Great Lakes hydrolyzed which is less nasty than regular is just as good for our purposes

 

[thebigpeatowski]

@thebigpeatowski, if I make a new thread, will you use it? I don't have anywhere to post and really think it might be useful to not have this VLF info jumbled up into other threads and split between this one and yours. IME it's the "jumble" that is always clutter...an extra "container" for organization purposes does not typically add to clutter, but rather reduces it. Also IME clutter is not just an adjective denoting a jumble of stuff, but also is a concept that includes the confused state of mind that the jumble produces. That's what happens on forums...info on the same topics gets scattered across different and seemingly unrelated threads. A thread is started for one purpose but goes OT one or more time, hiding nuggets of valuable info unrelated to the original topic. Hence the perception of clutter.

Ha ha ha...omfg, it IS like looking in the mirror. Wordy Girl has met her match....I can barely get a word in edgeways.

.... having this info on this experiment in one thread for anyone to post who wants to join and also to keep chatter related to it in one place will improve clutter via eliminating the jumble by giving us a "container" for all the related info, and thereby hopefully reducing some confusion about where to find info if anyone's interested.

I"m a librarian and cataloger by trade, BTW.

Will you come clean and organize my office...house...life?

Will you use if I start?

It would be my pleasure, but you'll have to come up with a better name than the one upthread.:p

Thanks for the uber-useful post above, BTW. Really helpful. I started today.

You're quite welcome. I'm glad I'm not the only "Loser" in this experiment.

....questions for you:

Were you getting regular thyroid labs or using Peat's measures of temp and pulse, etc., to determine thyroid status?

I won't be getting any thyroid labs, I've found them to be useless. I can tell a lot simply by how I feel (and the number of words I spell backwards). However, I am taking my blood pressure, pulse and temperature....somewhat obsessively. I beseech thee to obtain a pressure cuff.....I know, micro-managing one's fat cells is practically a full time job. Try not to stress, it won't do your blood sugar any good.

Have you ever been insulin resistant/hyperglycemic? Asking because potential insulin problems with milk.

I had gestational diabetes at age 27, pre-diabetic in my 30's, grossly insulin resistant after my stint with High Fat Zero Carb dieting by my mid-40's and technically diabetic three years ago. My doc gave me a glucometer and tried to put me on metformin and lipitor.

I begged for mercy and promised to change my ways, told her I would start exercising etc. Oddly enough, it was my doc that told me to eat the high fat very low sugar diet with lots of fish & flax seed oils. So while I did lose a ton of weight low carbing, it was the proverbial Last Straw.

I began "Peating" in Dec. 2013 and gained a ton of weight. Fast forward to March of 2015 my Fasting Blood Sugar at doc's was low 90's. Last month I did a home test A1C and it was 5.0. So I think I'm cured.....well, at least on that issue.

Did you use the Great Lakes gelatin for your Jello? It's kind of nasty so wondering if the Great Lakes hydrolyzed which is less nasty than regular is just as good for our purposes

Yep, properly prepared orange can for jello....iffin you want jello. And the green can in every cup of coffee/honey/milk. How is Great Lakes nasty? I can't taste it in my coffee. I got three other family members hooked on the stuff, they all say the same, can't even taste it in the coffee. DO NOT PUT THE ORANGE STUFF IN YER COFFEE....that would be nasty.

 

[managing]

I meant to answer this earlier....I think theanine is an excellent supplement to go with caffeine. I hadn't discovered it yet when I did the fat loss in 2014, but there were days when I pushed things too hard back then and I think adding theanine in to the mix would have been MIGHTY HELPFUL.

Today is Day Two...yesterday wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be.

To be continued...

Theanine and carnitine have both been mentioned. Which brings up the ever important question: with food or empty stomach? Together, or separately?

 

[whodathunkit]

I beseech thee to obtain a pressure cuff..

Thy importunities are as commands to me, O Queen of the Losing Peaters. :p

Seriously...would we get away with naming the thread something like "Losing Peaters"? I'm not coming up with anything clever here that's not potentially a tacky double entendre while also making it obvious what the thread will be about (clear title being a key to it being easily searchable/findable).

I shall create the new thread as soon as I have thy permission on what to name it, Your Grace. :)

Also...whut am I looking for with blood pressure trends? I've currently managed to convert all Peat's docs to Kindle format, and with easy Kindle reading am plowing through them in earnest, but still not clear on blood pressure. I understand the rationale for temp and pulse but not sure what BP tells us that pulse can't.

So while I did lose a ton of weight low carbing, it was the proverbial Last Straw.

This happens to SO MANY PEOPLE. It happened to me, too. I just can't understand why low carb/high fat doesn't have a worse rep in the mainstream by now.

began "Peating" in Dec. 2013 and gained a ton of weight. Fast forward to March of 2015 my Fasting Blood Sugar at doc's was low 90's. Last month I did a home test A1C and it was 5.0. So I think I'm cured.....well, at least on that issue.

Jeez, woman, in addition to being my long lost twin you're also my newest HERO. That is simply smashing. :) Truly inspiring. I wanna be you when I grow up!

BTW...when you gained weight starting Peat, were you eating a high-fat style diet, a la Danny Roddy's suggestions/examples in the first iteration of "Hair Like a Fox"? Or were you eating your recs above?

Also, do you mind if I repost that big post above as the first post in the new thread? Sorry for all the post hoc post questions.

 

[whodathunkit]

Which brings up the ever important question: with food or empty stomach?

Carnitine definitely without protein, although pure carb like juice or fruit is fine. So...half-empty stomach? Also, l-carnitine fumarate (LCF) from Doctor's Best brand is the best. They use only Sigma Tau as a source for this product, which by most if not all anecdotal accounts I've read is simply more effective. I never tried another brand but smarter people than me have experimented with it. Sigma Tau has a great rep for producing high quality supps, anyway.

Stuff is powerful, so go slow at first to see how you react. It gives an energy boost but can also rev up other things that can precipitate anxiety, insomnia, etc. I think it all depends upon your state of health when you start it...when I started using it I was fairly ill, so got some bad reactions. I also know people who have started it with no problems. Because of side effects I was stuck at a half cap (250mg) for a lot of months. I had to stop it a few times and restart it, too. But once I got acclimated to it, it was extremely valuable. I consider it a foundation for my recovery. There seems to be no additional benefit to taking more than 1000mg/day (my current dose).

Don't know about theanine. It's on my list of things to learn about ASAP. Hopefully Peatowski or someone else will chime in on that one.

 

[charlie]

I've currently managed to convert all Peat's docs to Kindle format,...

Would you mind posting it to the articles section? Articles

You can make a new thread and attach it, then I will sticky it to the top.

 

[whodathunkit]

@charlie, I can post directions on how to do it. I can't actually post the text in the right format...the articles themselves are converted "inside" Amazon and posted to your Prime account (or maybe a non-Prime account, I can't say because I have a membership) where you download them to your Kindle. I can't give anyone access to the files I have without also giving them access to my entire Prime account.

Will posting instructions work as well? It's truly easy-peasy. I was annoyed with myself for not learning how to do it sooner.

 

[charlie]

Will posting instructions work as well? It's truly easy-peasy. I was annoyed with myself for not learning how to do it sooner.

Yes, that would be helpful. I did not realize how Kindle worked.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Thy importunities are as commands to me, O Queen of the Losing Peaters. :p

Seriously...would we get away with naming the thread something like "Losing Peaters"? I'm not coming up with anything clever here that's not potentially a tacky double entendre while also making it obvious what the thread will be about (clear title being a key to it being easily searchable/findable).

But tacky double entendres are what make my life worth living. This experiment has simply got to have a funny title, a fat loss diet is painfully boring. I'd go so far as to all it grueling, except that we can't have starch. All this talk of clarity and search ability...pfft, your pragmatism is showing.

...whut am I looking for with blood pressure trends? I've currently managed to convert all Peat's docs to Kindle format, and with easy Kindle reading am plowing through them in earnest, but still not clear on blood pressure. I understand the rationale for temp and

I added the pressure cuff to my list of monitoring tools in order to gauge my reaction to thyroid dosing. I'm no longer using any T4 meds, finding a T3 dose can be a little bit trickier. This aspect is very specific and unique to each Loser, so you may not actually need a cuff. Personal choice.

This happens to SO MANY PEOPLE. It happened to me, too. I just can't understand why low carb/high fat doesn't have a worse rep in the mainstream by now.

I know, the only semi-rational explanation I can come up with is that when these folks see their blood sugars go wonky then they become even more convinced that sugar is evil. Deeply held beliefs....Brain washing is difficult to overrule. Death by mangos.

...when you gained weight starting Peat, were you eating a high-fat style diet, a la Danny Roddy's suggestions/examples in the first iteration of "Hair Like a Fox"? Or were you eating your recs above?

I was eating everything in sight....no, I'm exaggerating. When I added carbs back in I wasn't handling sugars well AT ALL. I struggled with falling asleep after eating, neuropathy, massive adrenaline rushes, chronic diarrhea from Hell etc. I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't restrict anything, sort of a re-feed a la Matt Stone. I was severely malnourished when I arrived here and my body needed to know the famine was over, so it HAD to happen. I guess, I don't know. I have a tendency to jump in head first....perhaps I should have dipped my toes in and gone more slowly.

The resulting weight gain was causing wicked bad estrogen symptoms. I had a breast lump that was painful and growing, doc wanted me to go in for a needle biopsy. I read about that procedure and decided against it. I took some fairly aggressive measures which included insane doses of progesterone and various herbal antimicrobials for my guts....and Voila, now you know the rest of the story, albeit the CliffsNotes (registered trademark) version.

Can you even believe I've written over forty pages of total bulls*t when it could all be said in three sentences?

....do you mind if I repost that big post above as the first post in the new thread? Sorry for all the post hoc post questions.

Nope, don't mind at all...but I re-posted it over on my thread for a gal who's having blood sugar issues and I added a few things that I'd forgotten about here, plus I noticed some typos which the Editor in me cannot abide (but was too lazy to deal with at the time). So how about I go clean up that post and you can use the Spiffed Up Version?

And stop apologizing for so many posts and questions, jeez man. You're up to what, like 50 posts? Please.

Editing to add that it looks as if I can no longer edit the post over at my thread so just edit whenever you repost, maybe add to the supplement list or whatever.

All this technological kindle stuff has my eyes glazed over, have NO idea what you guys are talking about.

 

[whodathunkit]

Insufficient posts!

LOL. Careful with that kind of dangerous rhetoric. The Energizer Bunny got nuthin' on me when it comes to certain topics.

Very very interesting to find an intelligent approach that actually addresses real issues. I've been hopeful that thinking like this could slowly start to work.

I hear you. I was about at my wit's end when I found this. It can work, but it can be rough going. The regimen apparently builds mitochondria (as evidenced by amazingly increased energy and stamina) and "rebuilds" or revitalizes some key cellular processes. Gets a lot of stuff "revved up" in the process. In truth, I don't understand everything it does or why it works...I just know it did for me.

But there can be a lot of side effects, and the poorer your health in general, the sicker it can make you before things get better. Some people can't do it because the side effects are prohibitively uncomfortable and sometimes scary. Potassium depletion due to invigorated tissues using up an unaccustomed volume of potassium can lead to potassium deficiency which means heart palps, dizziness, stuff like that. Due to increased metabolism nearly all nutrients start getting used up at unaccustomed rates, in fact, so it can lead to a lot of unexpected deficiencies.

The foundation of the "protocol" is four supplements: methycobalamin (methylated B12), adenosylcobalmin (adeno B12), methylfolate (active form of folate, NEVER EVER EVER the Demon folic acid), and l-carnitine fumarate. But you wind up taking a bunch of other stuff like B6, B2, zinc, etc., to help with side effects from the foundational supps. It can be a huge process, but hugely rewarding. It's been nothing short of a miracle for me, although as I said, some people can't do it. And even though it was a miracle for me I missed five weeks from work the first year I was on it. It was in week-long increments rather than a whole five-week stretch, but I would get the "flu" and have to stay home until the flu symptoms went away. First time this happened I had only been on the protocol less than two weeks. But the guy who created the stack said it went like that, so I was prepared. And I knew I was on the right track because each time I recovered I felt better and had more energy than I did before I got sick. It was like three steps forwards and two steps back, which is actually a net gain of a step for each cycle, so a win. And since I was only marginally functional before I started, and now I can exercise for over an hour at a time and still do other stuff with my day, it is indeed a miracle.

Maybe healing doesn't have to be that way (forward and back), but IME, that's the way it usually goes.

If you're really interested in it, the details are at a forum for chronic fatigue sufferers called "Phoenix Rising" Find the "Detox/Methylation" subforum on the main forum board and start reading the sticky threads at the top of that forum for starters. It can be confusing at first so reading and re-reading is recommended. But pretty much all the info anyone needs to get started and resolve problems is already posted there somewhere. Like most boards, it can get a bit jumbled up, though. Best advice is to just keep reading and it comes clearer.

FWIW, I found myself there after giving Peat a six months go that left me feeling not any better (although not remarkably worse) and probably a little heavier than before I started it. I was discouraged after Peat and about to give up. Before finding this protocol I was almost resigned to the long, slow decline into poor health and middle age. Without it, I might not even be here today. I was in pretty bad shape.

Phoenix Rising is a board for chronic fatigue sufferers, and some people over there are very sick. Some people have an incredible number of genetic mutations that make it impossible for them to tolerate things that most of us take for granted. So anyone that goes over there to find out more about the protocol, please don't go with the attitude like it's a general health board and you're dealing with a normally healthy population of people looking to improve their health. It's not that, and in fact the men who led the charge on the B12 protocols that put me back together were both very, very ill. They got no help from doctors so they put their prodigious brains to work to help themselves. One passed a few years ago, the other (who spawned my preferred version of the protocol) is still fighting the good fight.

Anyway, PR Is a board for sick people, so anyone who goes over there, please keep that in mind. Just saying because it's surprising the number of people who hit PR off the internet and just don't seem to get that it's not a board for general health...it's a board for sick people that also happens to have a lot of good health info. The subset of people the board was set up to serve collectively exhibit a vast array of odd and generally misunderstood symptoms. I didn't even realize until I got there that I was suffering from all the symptoms necessary to diagnose me with a case of moderate chronic fatigue. I thought I was just old and fat and on the way down. There's a lot of valuable info over there. All are welcome, everyone just needs to keep the primary purpose of the board in mind. Kinda like here...this is a forum about Peat, even though general health non-Peat strategies get a fair shake.

I don't but since cautiously reintroducing gym for the zillionth time at gentle levels, I am handling bread better than other starches and than in the past. I could continue avoiding starch but I'm going with this it seems like I could learn something.

I like starch a lot, and it's done me a lot of good at a time when I really needed it. But I'm still learning and open to Peat's ideas...what he says particularly about serotonin resonates particularly with me, although I haven't been able to get results from practical application of his ideas yet. I think one thing that tanked me in my Peat experiment before was crappy liver function.

Anyway...have you looked into potato hacking? I'm not a fan of grains at all because I strongly believe that PUFA is The Devil, but non-PUFA starches have done me a lot of good.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Maybe healing doesn't have to be that way (forward and back), but IME, that's the way it usually goes.

Me too....exactly....my red light sauna does this to me. It's like peeling back onion layers, er something. See how scientific I am?

And PUFA is the Devil, estrogen too.

 

[managing]

Thy importunities are as commands to me, O Queen of the Losing Peaters. :p

Seriously...would we get away with naming the thread something like "Losing Peaters"? I'm not coming up with anything clever here that's not potentially a tacky double entendre while also making it obvious what the thread will be about (clear title being a key to it being easily searchable/findable).

I shall create the new thread as soon as I have thy permission on what to name it, Your Grace. :)

Also...whut am I looking for with blood pressure trends? I've currently managed to convert all Peat's docs to Kindle format, and with easy Kindle reading am plowing through them in earnest, but still not clear on blood pressure. I understand the rationale for temp and pulse but not sure what BP tells us that pulse can't.


This happens to SO MANY PEOPLE. It happened to me, too. I just can't understand why low carb/high fat doesn't have a worse rep in the mainstream by now.


Jeez, woman, in addition to being my long lost twin you're also my newest HERO. That is simply smashing. :) Truly inspiring. I wanna be you when I grow up!

BTW...when you gained weight starting Peat, were you eating a high-fat style diet, a la Danny Roddy's suggestions/examples in the first iteration of "Hair Like a Fox"? Or were you eating your recs above?

Also, do you mind if I repost that big post above as the first post in the new thread? Sorry for all the post hoc post questions.

How about "The Peatist Loser"?

 

[whodathunkit]

I'd go so far as to all it grueling, except that we can't have starch.

Har. Dee.

pfft, your pragmatism is showing.

Yep. As well as an idealist (cuz I think people might actually use the forum search function ). And at my age, too. Whodathunkit? :p

Okay, so how about "The Very Low Fat Peatishly Prone Properly Fitting Pants Protocol Experiment"? IMO that's a reasonable combination of your whimsy and my pragmatism. What you think?

Ooooorrrrr....what about Peatist Losers? A play on the title of this thread.

I added the pressure cuff to my list of monitoring tools in order to gauge my reaction to thyroid dosing. I'm no longer using any T4 meds, finding a T3 dose can be a little bit trickier. This aspect is very specific and unique to each Loser, so you may not actually need a cuff. Personal choice.

Since I'm experimenting with haidut's Tyromax and a first time thyroid experimenter, I'm actually quite interested. I just don't understand the particulars. Are we looking for spikes not to go above a certain level, BP never to go below a certain level, spikes after eating or dosing, etc. But we can save that for one of the other threads (yours or our Losers thread).

Death by mangos.

Honey, please. I've gotten some Haitians from Heaven lately. And organic grapes are back at Whole Foods! Cheap!

I was eating everything in sight....no, I'm exaggerating. When I added carbs back in I wasn't handling sugars well AT ALL. I struggled with falling asleep after eating, neuropathy, massive adrenaline rushes, chronic diarrhea from Hell etc. I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't restrict anything, sort of a re-feed a la Matt Stone. I was severely malnourished when I arrived here and my body needed to know the famine was over, so it HAD to happen. I guess, I don't know. I have a tendency to jump in head first....perhaps I should have dipped my toes in and gone more slowly.

This is good to know. I've actually rectified my health to a great degree, and reduced my blood sugar astoundingly with very low fat starch, to pretty much normal. Getting iron out of my liver (my sugars went up 50+ clicks after an iron transfusion four years ago) with B2 helped a lot, too. My sugars actually went up a few clicks starting Peat this go-round, although they're not worrisome. So maybe I won't be hit too hard with refeeding. Fingers crossed. Where's that icon when you need it?

. I took some fairly aggressive measures which included insane doses of progesterone

I added 90mg today after experiencing a reversal of bloating and irritability last night from increasing my night dose just 30mg. So I'm up to 180mg. I've never had a good reaction to progesterone in the past but I'm loving it now. Seems to be I'm ready for it this go 'round. Curiosity: what was your top dose?

Can you even believe I've written over forty pages of total bulls*t when it could all be said in three sentences?

I'll take 40 pages over three sentences any day. Speaking of...what's the title of your big thread? :p

Nope, don't mind at all...but I re-posted it over on my thread for a gal who's having blood sugar issues and I added a few things that I'd forgotten about here, plus I noticed some typos which the Editor in me cannot abide (but was too lazy to deal with at the time). So how about I go clean up that post and you can use the Spiffed Up Version?

This is Fabulous. Thank you!

BTW...I think I like "Peatist Losers". Simple and to the point, but kinda clever. :)

 

[HDD]

I got a good laugh from your song choice above @thebigpeatowski , and think it would be a great title/opening for a new weight loss thread. Men could still follow even if they aren't blessed by extra junk in their trunk.

 

[whodathunkit]

How about "The Peatist Loser"?

@managing, I swear I did not read your post before I posted mine. I was busy typing when you posted this. Awesome.

So...two votes for "Peatist Losers". Anybody else?

 

[managing]

Har. Dee.



BTW...I think I like "Peatist Losers". Simple and to the point, but kinda clever. :)

Ha! I think I beat you by about 5 minutes!! Get's my vote!

 

[thebigpeatowski]

So...two votes for "Peatist Losers". Anybody else?

Yes please...Keep It Simple.

Good Gawd Almighty, my life is complex enough.

Day 3 is not going so well...hurry up and make a thread so I can go and complain over there.

 

[narouz]

I stumbled across this poem hiding amidst your prose, Big P.
So I took the liberty.
I hope you don't mind...

Death by Mangoes
by The Big Peatowski

Deeply held beliefs--
brain washing is
difficult to overrule.
Death by mangoes.


​

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Oh narouz....you read my (addled) mind!

I was thinking we should log our Derriere Diminishment Dealio strictly in haiku format....you'd like that. Oh wait, nah...you're nearly as wordy as I am.