First of all, cool screen name.

Second of all, have you tried laying off the coconut? It is easy to overconsume palatable fats. In place of such fat, you might try starches with a little bit of fat to taste. Parsnip fries, cauliflower rice, and mashed turnips are very low calorie. When I was hardcore losing weight, I sprayed "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray on stuff, even though it's sooooooo not paleo. But it also has zero calories and tastes a little bit like butter.

Why don't you post what you eat in a typical day so folks can have a hack at it. I am guessing that you are eating more calories than you realize. Switching to the Paleo diet usually means you need to eat a smaller VOLUME of food for the same calories. If you are eating the same volume of food as you did before but a lot more fat and protein, you mig be eating a LOT more calories.

Counting calories is a chore, but do it for a few days or a week just to be sure your estimates are right.

To lose weight, you need to run a calorie deficit (burn more than you eat), which you should measure per week instead of per day. You could try some fasting, such as skipping 1 or 2 meals per week, or fast one day a week. You need to be careful with the meal after a fast to be sure you don't overeat, but this is a great way to get your calories down. Figure you eat about 20 meals per week, skipping 1 or 2 of them means cutting your calories by 5-10%, which is probably just the right amount to put you on a slow weight loss.

It is almost impossible to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week, measured over a period of months. It sounds like you are frustrated, but I would not try to crash diet and lose 20 pounds, instead try to get yourself 2 pounds lighter within say 7-10 days, then identify what change you made to get there, and then you will have a plan to reach whatever weight you like.

Why the 6 week deadline? Paleo is a marathon, not a sprint (chronic cardio pun intended)

Firstly, please read these

• http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2009/8/27/how-to-lose-weight.html
• http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/06/food-reward-dominant-factor-in-obesity_28.html

Lots of good advice in those links.

I'm definitely in the hormonal milieu school of thinking vis-a-vis calories-in/calories out. But at the end of the day you cannot escape the first law of thermodynamics. Rather than re-writing a bunch of stuff I've written before, I will link to them for your reference

• http://paleohacks.com/questions/33298/calorie-in-calories-out/33303#33303
• http://paleohacks.com/questions/49970/how-do-we-reconcile-stephan-guyenets-latest-comment-with-the-insulin-story-in/50038#50038
• http://paleohacks.com/questions/48413/do-you-have-any-thoughts-or-experience-on-irreversible-obesity/48443#48443

Good luck!

1. I would invest in a scale that breaks down your body fat percentage, muscle percentage, and most importantly water weight. Believe it or not, if your body is dehydrated it will hold onto water and you will be bloated. You may think you drink lots of water but it may not be enough to avoid being dehydrated enough for bloating.

2. The most scientifically proven plan for fast fat loss is a version of the ketogenic diet, which is NOT RECOMMENDED OR SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM but it's an effective way to kickstart and see some results. It's not easy but it works. 1000 calories per day, shooting for 90% from nutrient-rich fats, in 5-a-day meals of 200 cals each.

3. Not sure about the coconut cream. Go for coconut BUTTER. Two tablespoons are just 186 calories, 153 of which (82%) are from high-quality fat. And if you ate 2 full tablespoons of it as a snack you would feel pretty darn full.

4. You might need to "reset" your appetite and mindset by going on a fast for a week. It's really difficult the first few days but then you get used to it and after that it's pretty easy to do restricted calorie plans. I reluctantly recommend the Master Cleanse with a reduced amount of the maple syrup. That's the simplest way to get into the "fasting" mentality in my opinion (no juicing). Do not substitute the maple syrup for something no-carb such as stevia. Not only does that starve your body, it makes your body think nutrients are coming and that makes your body crave food even more.

5. I'm assuming you're a woman, hopefully that's right. Is it possible that right at this moment you're on a part of your cycle that would cause you to be particularly agro about food? See my "answer" on this thread for my thoughts and approaches. http://paleohacks.com/questions/51289/how-do-you-deal-with-an-unpredictable-appetite#axzz1T8ls0ybe

Apologies in advance if you're a man!

Both nuts and coconut can be high calorie, but it could be your bodies reaction to it. You could have a food intolerance that is causing some inflamation, especially if you find yourself craving a specific food. Try leaving off or substituting something else for a suspicious food a few days and see if that tips the scale.

For example, I know for one I am eating more eggs now, and egg whites showed up as a pretty big intolerance and I tend to plateau as a result. White fish is also an issue for me, probably parvalbumin protien sensitivity. Those can cause me to not lose. Gluten exposure is definately a trigger.

Also, if you are building muscle, you will weigh more, but in that case clothes get looser and the tape measure shows a loss. if your clothes are getting tighter, that is probably not the problem.

Listen to your body and eat what makes you feel better.

I'm curious more about your waist line is this noticeable fat in the mirror or just the scale? Do you feel better? as others have said it is very easy to over due fat, coconut cream is one of the most dense fat source of calories I've found.

I burst out of most jeans I try to wear, my damn legs don't fit in them, but you also can't get a hold of any fat.

Take your scale and toss it out the window. Weighing ones self I believe is only useful if you want to use it for a % of weight lifted, I find it interesting information, or how much water you lose post workout (weigh before and after to see the difference in weight tells you how much water you lost during) other then that it just makes people all insecure about their weight and "I don't weight what i used to" does not tell you how much muscle you have or any other useful information.

I will put good money on it that you are also gaining muscle. You may need to give it more time, or you may need to cut back on the coconut cream. I wouldn't panic, I will put money on it you are getting stronger.

Paleo isn't a weight loss diet. Some people do lose weight but it's more men than women. Everyone is different. I too would be interested in calories you are consuming, and pro, fat and carb grams daily. I did zero carbs with Paleo and didn't lose weight until I started also counting calories.

I whole hardheartedly agree with UncleLongHair... He sounds just like my trainer!! Count those calories... yes it can be a pain. I didn't know where to start til I knew where I was at (calorie wise).

My simple answer is to cut the coconut and add probiotic food like kim chi or kraut. I will also post a simple link for you to listen to.

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/podcast-episode-i-interview-with-stephan-guyenet-on-obesity-and-weight-loss

Were you dieting or restricting calories prior to this? If so, this is the inevitable bounceback as you start to feed your body. From your body's point of view, it doesn't know when the next famine is coming so it has become very efficient as turning food into stored fat just in case it has to live through another famine. The only way I know to get through this is to continue to eat good quality, nutrient-rich food, eat as much as your body asks for and tolerate the weight gain until your body reverses those metabolic changes. It's very tempting during this time to start restricting calories, but don't. You'll end up having to live on a reduced number of calories just to maintain your weight. Not fun.

If you haven't been restricting calories, just ignore what I'm saying. It may not apply to you.

I don't see any mention of protein in your post. That might be a factor. I could consume gallons of fat and would still be hungry if I didn't have enough protein. Protein is just intrinsically satiating anyway. What else are you eating other than fat? It would be surprising if you can eat almost all your calories from coconut, given how (literally) nauseating it is after a significant quantity.

So yes, I would suggest eating lots of leanish meat. Then simply add whatever you need to feel unhungry of either fat or low carb, low calorie vegetables (brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach etc.) each of these are satiating in quite different ways. As you may already be doing, once your protein needs are met, add fat (or fibrous vegetables) to satiety, rather than consuming large quantities of fat first off, for the sake of ingesting high fat, and adding food thereafter to stop being hungry.

lots of great recommendations for you but just my initial thoughts:

1. whats your caloric intake currently per day? (you must know this)

2. whats your BMI? with those two bits of info you can take away 500 calories from your day.

3. what is the % you are eating??

I'd suggest starting at 65% fat, 25% protein, no more than 50gcarbs this takes time to figure out, adjusting every 2 wks until you start to loose fat/weight is slow to come off in general, but fat will melt after a month of getting the amounts right.

You need a balanced ratio that works for you, but you need all those things daily; its the only way to know what you are taking in and to use it to figure out why its not working.

1. fat is good for you, but its better to get it in a variety of forms, not just 600 calories worth of coconut milk. Avocados, EVOO, coconut oil, nut butters if tolerated

2. are you eating fruit, nuts, dairy?

3. stress will kill all your attempts, you need to find a way to relax, be patient and really concentrate on whats going on.

4. exercise, do as M. Sisson suggests and cut your exercise out. You may be gaining muscle under the fat you have instead of burning it. That was what was happening with me at first. Just make sure to move all day long, walk where you can, stand where you can. Avoid sitting, move move move! You need to burn that fat off and once you lean down you can start working those muscles. Walking and working in sprints is whats recommended, but only when you are ready!

Likely you will figure it out, but it won't come off in 6 wks. The way I look at it is, its better to burn off the fat slowly which is more noticeable in the long run. Make sure you eat enough of the right things in the right proportion so you do not loose existing muscle!!

hang in there!!

I'm probably not the best person to give advice about weight loss, I'm somewhat on the chubby side (I weight same as you but am an inch shorter), and am having trouble losing myself, but something did jump out at me. How does "3 oz. of the coconut cream" constitute a healthy nutritious meal? It doesn't. That's why you're still hungry after. I ate a meal of eggs, steak, and veggies that added up to about 600 calories yesterday, and it kept me satisfied for almost 7 hours.

Also nuts, as I understand it, are bad for weight loss because it's so easy to overeat them.

A combo of higher fat/lower carb is making my body want to gain. I think lean meats, veggies and fruit are best for me. I've been reading all the posts here about LC and VLC, and it just doesn't work for me. I experimented with LC/VLC for a few weeks and it just put 2-3lbs of fat on me. I don't think it works for everyone. I didn't have any weight to lose, I just wanted to lower my bf% a point or two, but I got the exact opposite result. Maybe you're that way too. I'm going back to Just Eating Paleo. Not carb counting or anything counting. My workouts are better and I feel stronger just eating lean meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. Low carb might just not work for some people. And there's no magic reason Paleo lets people pound fat and get lean. It still happens that if you eat beyond your calorie expenditure, you can gain fat. I hate to say it, but that's just how it can be sometimes. If I were you, I'd just cut out the coconut fats and get my fat from nuts and meat. Try that for 6 more weeks and see if it works for you. And FYI I don't like 120lbs at 5'6" is 'too low'. I'm 5'5" and 115 (or was until I tried LC! Now I'm 118!) and I didn't and still don't look too thin AT ALL. I look perfectly healthy at that weight. It's about body type, not just height and weight.

I'm going to throw in an additional answer and suggest that those of us who'd like to lose "weight" should probably articulate ourselves more specifically and talk about wanting to lose "fat."

Someone like Love who is doing a lot of exercise, if we were to assume she is otherwise eating strict LC Paleo with reasonable calories, could be losing fat but gaining muscle and therefore maintaining or gaining "weight."

In that event the problem wouldn't be about what is being eaten but maybe too much exercise. Exercise also makes you hungrier, so it makes sense that Love is not being satiated by what she eats.

I'd also want to know where her excess fat deposits are located. In my Paleo journey thus far, by just eliminating non-Paleo foods and having a greater awareness of my overall caloric intake, but keeping my very moderate exercise regimen right where it is, I've lost an appreciable amount of fat in my "love handles" area, which was my biggest problem area. I've been eating lots of coconut butter and using coconut oil in cooking, but not other coconut products.

But each person is totally different in something like reacting to coconut . . . . As seems to be the key mantra on this site, "listen to your body."

Yes, I know that 120lbs is not too low, because I used to weigh that and it was great! haha. Ok, today I begin with Fitday. The problem definitely stems from overeating, too many calories. I think I do better with lots of veggies too, and not quite so much fat. I'm switching to that plan NOW! The coconut has an affect on me I can only call ADDICTIVE, which I wonder is it because it is sweet? I don't crave other sweets. And if anyone is still reading this, my question is, given that I may have an allergy/reaction to the coconut cream/milk, should I also cut out the oil (I just bought a jar)...I've heard that most people do not react to just the fat in the way they might to the protein in it. I guess to be safe I should just put the jar aside for awhile... Thanks again all, this is very helpful to me. It makes a big difference to hear things I was denying in my own brain (calorie restriction) from other people, it makes it easier to hear and take it as sooth!

First off, do not focus on your scale weight, the scale is very deceiving and completely inaccurate in figuring out your body composition.

When I was training very hard I would lose 5 lbs in water weight from my workouts alone and in the past 30 days I've gone from 168 to 178 but went down to 7% body fat from 9% body fat, so I've actually gained muscle and lost fat, which is helps me tremendously with my strength, metabolism and athletic performance.

In the short term I would do three things:

1. Forget the scale. It's useless and unpredictable, if I were you I would weigh myself once every couple weeks.
2. Take before & after photos. For most people this is the mother of all benchmarks. That's what counts, right? Do I look and feel better than before I started this program or diet protocol.
3. Take a body fat percentage test. This is huge. For example if your were at 130 lbs but were at 5% body fat I could almost guarantee that you would be more impressed and pleased with that result vs 120 lbs and 15% body fat(nobody wants to be "skinny fat").
4. Intermittent fasting. Once a week I would throw in a 16 hour fast to really speed up the process.

Also, I didn't see anything on your post about a training program. If you really want to speed up the process focus on conditioning and try to burn 500 calories a day. Along with a Paleo diet and -500 calorie a day training deficit you'll get to where you want to be and then some.

Hope this helps, hit me up if you need any other tips!