Weight gain woes..help me!

food
carnivore
zero-carb
(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #41

Thank you! :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:
So far I’m feeling good. I’m listening to my body now more than ever.
You re right, screw what they say. They’re not me. It’s probably easy for a muscular male to be preaching to others about how much to eat, I’m a thirty something female with hormonal fluctuations going against me. I feel a bit foolish now but I’m glad I came here and asked you guys what you think.
All week I’ve survived on half of what I normally ate, in fact hunger doesn’t even bother me as much anymore :blush:

(Karen) #42

You’re definitely not foolish, we are all individuals x

#43

Hi Clare, just for info, the weird hormonal days I’ve meant were in the past, when I was young, decades ago.

(Sharon Spaans) #44

You are eating toooo much food! Even on carnivore calories do matter

(Robin) #45

Yep. Crazy, but true… for some of us.

(Robin) #46

Yes! At night, with a bit of salt. Cuz… salt. I even dream better.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #47

Omg yes!! Way too much food. There’s some crappy advice out there online…I read if I wasn’t losing weight then I need to eat more…ridiculous. :rage:
I adjusted my calories and the weight flew off. I’m now back to what I was before starting the carnivore diet. All in all I lost nearly three stone…All the weight I lost doing keto I gained back by eating too much meat.

(Robin) #48

Glad you figured it out! I might have been one to advise you to eat more, but only based on my own experience. We contradict each other a lot on here, but we all realize it’s absolutely NOT one-size-fits all.
Keep going strong. You got this.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #49

Thank you! :purple_heart::purple_heart:
Yes going carnivore taught me a lot, about myself and what others can tolerate…
I did it for 18 months and experienced some great benefits from it, however hormonally it messed me up. Within weeks of going zero carb my menstrual cycle went haywire and my cystic acne flared up. Then last October it got really bad and broke me over Xmas. I knew I had to get back to keto and intermittent fasting as my skin was perfect doing that. I’ve now been keto since January of this year and IF for two weeks and my skin has calmed down so much!

Don’t get me wrong I do miss the ease of carnivore but my hormones hated me! It’s amazing how for some people it can do wonders but for me it was a no go.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #50

Ridiculous or not, it’s the experience of many people on these forums who were restricting their calories when they started keto. The key is to eat to satiety, so as to give the body enough intake to make it feel comfortable parting with some of its energy store (i.e., excess stored fat). On the other hand, if one is already eating to satiety, eating even more is not going to help, so you are right in that sense.

The key is not to restrict calories intentionally on a ketogenic diet, but to let one’s appetite handle that. According to Dr. Phinney’s data, most people with excess fat to shed spontaneously eat 1000 calories or so less than their daily energy expenditure, the deficit being made up out of their fat store. As their excess fat is depleted, their appetite spontaneously adjusts to provide more energy from their food intake.

Now, this means that for someone whose appetite hormones don’t work right, even on keto, the challenge is to find a level of caloric intake that is low enough not to cause fat gain, but high enough not to trigger the body into seeing a famine. And eating ketogenically is important, because the body’s hormonal response to the foods we eat, especially when we eat carbohydrate, will determine how that food gets partitioned (in other words, whether it is used to build muscle and bone and to support our daily activities, or is stored as fat).

#51

This is interesting to me, because I am particularly fascinated by the role of female hormones at the moment.

Carnivore had the opposite effect for me in the long run. It seems to have repaired my menstrual cycle - but it got worse for several months before it got better.

But it did get better - and the difference now is night and day; the experience is so good. I’m really sorry to read that it wasn’t the case for you. I know we’ll probably never find an answer, but I’d love to know why it works for some and not others.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #52

Same here! I think it’s for the reason of understanding my hormones that I don’t regret my 18 month stint as a carnivore. I did try to stick it out as long as i could but couldn’t anymore. I’m left with some pretty big scars to heal and money spent at a private dermatologist but I’m glad I gave it a try.

Previous to carnivore I did IF and keto (never restricted calories and ate to satiety) and always attributed my clear skin to keto, however having gone back to IF for 2 weeks I think now it was actually the fasting that reduced the inflammation. In just 2 weeks my skin is so much calmer, it’s basically done what my dermatologist couldn’t do :joy::joy::joy:

I think the excessive protein boosted testerone on carnivore too which didn’t help. Now I’m moderate protein and higher fat I think that’s helped too.

I’m so pleased carnivore works for you and a bit jealous lol I wish I was still carnivore it’s so easy and no cravings!!

Very interesting how we’re all made so different!!

#53

Same! If I eat more food in such a way that exceeds my maintenance calories, I will stall or gain weight - ketogenic diet not withstanding.

Some people on the other hand says eating more works for them. Different strokes.

That’s why we all have to find what works for us. Glad you found yours!

#54

Yeah, absolutely - thanks for sharing your experiences. Fasting is such an interesting topic.

I didn’t explicitly set out to fast on keto, but I did have a few days where I didn’t eat for 24 hours because I felt full.

It’s curious to me that I’ve never felt like this on carnivore, and I’ve read a lot about how the carnivore process is almost a mimic of fasting / fasting isn’t required - but it’s evident that it wasn’t enough in your experience. Whilst I don’t ever have the urge to fast, no matter how much I’ve eaten, I do have a very up-and-down appetite that falls in line with my hormonal cycle.

I struggled to eat more than about 1600 calories yesterday (80F / 20P) - but in the week prior to my cycle, I can easily put away double that without blinking. It’s quite startling to experience the difference between what feels like a bottomless pit and virtually zero hunger at all - I have to really pay attention to my cycle to go food shopping (lest I buy too little or too much), which feels ridiculous.

(Edith) #55

For me, when I am strict carnivore, I don’t get my period. I’m 55 years old, so I thought it was just because I am at the age. I have found though, that every time I add some carbs back into my diet via a little bit of fruit, my period starts back up.

#56

Wow. Interesting what can happen to some people… I have an extremely stubborn body that refuses to change so my woe usually doesn’t change it noticeably. The changes are usually mental (and it was almost nothing between low-carb and keto, high-carb -> low-carb and keto -> carnivore were the big ones).

(Bob M) #57

Interesting. I sometimes wonder if those of us (like me) that like high protein like it because it acts like a surrogate carb – provides more “energy” in the manner carbs would, if we were eating them? Maybe if we ate slightly more carbs, protein could be decreased?

I do think there’s a role for carbs, at least for some people. Even the original “Diet Doctor” lost some stubborn weight when he went higher carb, higher protein. And, as evidenced above, some hormonal regulation can be better (or worse) with higher carb.

I’ve been experimenting with a pseudo-TKD (targeted keto diet), where I add in some carbs, at least on the days I do body weight training. It does seem to provide a mental improvement, at least.

The issue for me is finding “carbs” that don’t negatively affect me. Tried rice, and also beans at two different times. The rice was bad, the beans were terrible to me. I’ve been eating spaghetti squash, which don’t seem to affect me, but also don’t have much in the way of carbs. Still searching for what I can eat.

I do think there’s a role for at least some carbs by some people.

(Edith) #58

I am finding this to be true for me. I didn’t add much carb, but just a serving of fruit a day, but it makes a difference. I definitely feel better, my hormones function. The other thing that seems to happen is that when I am full carnivore, I become much for sensitive to histamine. When I add some fruit back in, I become more histamine tolerant. This has happened to me twice now.

To produce the enzyme that breaks down histamine we need vitamin C. My theory is that my histamine intolerance really goes up, because I’m not getting enough vitamin C on full carnivore.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #59

Yes I do agree with this too.

Since adding some green veggies/Bit of fruit back into my diet I’ve reverted right back to the way I was pre carnivore…touch wood my cycles have gone back to the full month they were before and my skin is happier. It’s only been month 1 but touch wood!! Amazing how 18 months of carnivore and only a few weeks on keto/IF can fix things!!

I have also read that fibre can stabilise estrogen in women so I’m mindful now to ensure I do get some low carb veggies in. I’m averaging about 7 net carbs a day but seems to have worked a charm

#60

White rice gave you digestion issues? Have you tried quinoa?