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For the life of me I can't figure out why my husband hasnt lost a ton of weight. Here are his stats:

  • 5'9" 265lbs
  • Paleo compliance level in the last year: 75%
  • Last doc visit in the spring showed higher than norm cholesterol and blood sugar but not enough to warrant medication
  • About 6 years ago he weighed over 300lbs and lost it by doing chronic cardio and eating very very low cal (tuna salad all day)
  • We cook with pastured fat and eat 90% local grassfed with a decent amt. of veg, some tubers occasionally (fried in tallow)

The problem is, I have lost 40 lbs and have maybe 15 to go to my pre-preggo weight and he doesnt budge. Granted, almost all of his family is obese, carrying weight in the bellies (men) and bellies/thighs/butt (women).

He works out at least three times per week (kbells/sprints/plyo's) but his gut doesnt budge. For comparison, when we were doing a low cal/high protein/moderate carb, his gut didnt budge. He is also less gluten intolerant than myself and does have a sweet tooth.

This guy does not want to count food intake on a food tracker and he does have a taste for carbs. If he doesnt start losing weight, Im really afraid he will do it his way, which is borderline starvation and will cause a rebound weight gain.

Are we looking at serious metabolic damage that is going to take longer than we thought to repair? Any advice?

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feel free to undo that community wiki thing. that was a moment of "wonder what this does?" – frankifries Jan 5 2011 at 23:59

7 Answers

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I think the only way to know for sure would be to convince him to do at minimum a month of faithful paleo - without sugar, flour, fruit, and even nuts and dairy (perhaps except for ghee and butter). Of course you mentioned that he is already resistant to food logging, so you'd may have problems convincing him to give up that last 25%. If he did a month like this and weight started to melt off, it could become apparent that even though quantitatively his nonpaleo intake was 25%, it was having much more than 25% effect against his weight loss hopes. (And as Ignacio mentioned, and I will attest personally, just 25% of neolithic elements is enough to throw off efforts entirely.)

Also, I didn't see any mention of intermittent fasting - maybe if he combined intermittent fasting with working out - and he did his training sessions fasted before getting his carbs (= friendly carbs like sweet potatoes) in, perhaps there could be some results? I've read enough testimonies from folks who had no luck losing weight until fasting was integrated strategically that this might be key for him.

Finally, one other succint list of causes to consider: Mark Sisson's 17 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight.

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To get a good answer you should first state what is his 25% non-paleo: for instance if that 25% consists of high caloric foods (lots of starch, sugar or flour) it is quite logical that he would not lose weight. On the other hand if his diet is mostly sound perhaps he could see a doctor: some physical conditions, like hypothyroidism or diabetes could make it very hard to lose weight, even on an diet that would be excellent for the average guy.

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2 
 I agree with this post. I'd also like to add how much stress and how much sleep is he getting? Lack of sleep and stress can keep that weight on the belly/hip/thigh area. I'd suggest that he do a strick 30 days on paleo to get rid of the sugar cravings and get him on at least an 80/20 if not 90/10 paleo lifestyle. – THATgirl Jan 6 2011 at 0:16
Well he just told me today that they have free peanuts at his job. I think he was eating them on a daily basis just to have a hand to mouth sensation. I nipped that in the bud last night! – frankifries Jan 6 2011 at 15:57
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You have to want to do it. If he truly wanted to, he would be asking the questions, not you, he would be tinkering with his diet and through simple trial and error, finding out what is wrong. He is no doubt on a healthier path than he otherwise would be on, but to attempt to coerce someone into doing this would be a losing battle.

Your implication that it might run in his family is certainly not true. His genes are not defying the laws of thermodynamics or biology and creating energy ex nihilo. There's probably a Mars bar in the woodpile.

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Do they still make Mars bars? ;) – sherpamelissa Jan 6 2011 at 0:45
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 Oh do they ever... nom nom nom... – James Jan 6 2011 at 1:03
@Travis--I have felt this way for a long time. I always urge him to read more about this. So last night I sat him down and made him read the Whole 30 plan. He is committing to 30 days and Im going to do it with him which means I cant have my raw milk (hear my cry) – frankifries Jan 6 2011 at 15:58
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Ditto Ignacio. I very highly recommend the Whole30 (google it) for people who are stumped. You may think you're eating less sugar/grains, etc than you really are. Go all in and cleanse your system and then you can slowly reintroduce foods one at a time to see how your (husband's) body reacts.

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He's going to comply with the Whole30. Day 1 today. I hope to have a good report in 30 days :) – frankifries Jan 6 2011 at 16:01
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I have two thoughts...

One, get him to drop the carbs down. Lose the potatoes for just a month. Zucchini and squash cut in circles and fried are a decent replacement and less carby. You don't say if you are eating fruit and/or nuts. I would drop those down too. Concentrate on eggs/meat/low carb veggies.

Two, can you get him to track his food for even a week? Or even just a day or two. Just something to give you a baseline of what he's actually eating. Sometimes, calories do count, but I know tweaking my ratios of protein/carb/fat also pushed me through a plateau.

Oh. Three thoughts! When I have been stuck on a plateau, using my heart rate monitor to make sure that I am pushing myself doing my interval training and not just going through the motions.

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Hate to say it, if nothing's moving, you've got to start logging. Sucks, but it's the only way, at least till things are identified. I suspect his 75% is more likely 40-50%.

Also, do evaluate the stress. Asides from the whole first on/last off gut area situation, us guys pack it on there when we've got high cortisol levels (stress, whatnot).

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I took this into consideration, so I put the foot down and told him its a 9-5 bedtime for us each night. he usually plays with his iphone for an hour and is always sleepy at work. – frankifries Jan 6 2011 at 16:00
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Does he have a glucose meter? Excellent weight loss tool

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Yes if he is eating contraband this will reveal all! Also I am about 20kg over my goal weight - insulin resistant - probably diabetic - its taking me a long long time to shift the weight - started getting sun and swimming - I think getting some proper sun each day I not only feel better but the weight starts to come of. I am Lacto paleo %100 and only have dairy 3 times a wk and thats cream in my coffee! It just takes time to heal I think – Vivalapaleo Jan 6 2011 at 5:49

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