Carrie, please don't lose hope!!

You are addicted to carbohydrates!!

Please visit my facebook page!! http://facebook.com/bigtimsprimaljourney

Read the NOTES Section...you find my story, foods i eat, and results!!! ANYONE CAN DO WHAT I DO!!

Primal/Paleo lifestyle IS THE ANSWER!!! NEVER GIVE UP!! ESPECIALLY ON YOURSELF!!

Tim

Carrie...your not alone!!! Not everyone changes to Paleo WITHOUT falling off the wagon, i am one of these people, but the thing i keep telling myself is this is a LIFELONG CHANGE, not just a diet...so if it takes me 3 years to get my paleo fine tuned, then so be it. If i eat paleo 70% of the time for the first year, 80% of the time for the second year and then 95% of the time for the 3rd year, well i will be happy with that and i will reap all the benefits of the paleo lifestyle....THIS IS NOT A RACE, although i would like to eat paleo 95% of the time, its just not happening yet, but I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!

Your REASON for doing Paleo, needs to be bigger than "to be skinny", it needs to be a reason that is going to improve the quality of your life in all aspects!!!! Cause if you have a piece of cheesecake(or your favourite non paleo food) infront of you, and your only reason is..."skinniness" the cheesecake WILL ALWAYS if not eventually win!!!! What is your reason to live this way of life??????

first, take a step back and take a deep breath. Congratulations for facing your problems. There are many who do the opposite. In order for the paleo community to support you better, we need more specific information about yourself and your habits. For example, how long have you been eating clean? What is your definition of eating clean? Do you have any sort of metabolic disorders that maybe contributing to the weight-loss difficulties?

know that you are not alone in this

HEY CARRIE, you could be me! I started this in January and was 230 and now 218 as of my last weigh in and hope to be less next time I weigh. I stopped weighing every day especially since I started using weights to tone. Please dont lose hope. before paleo i was riding my bike up to 20 miles, sweating alot then coming home and eating a bagel with cream cheese and still hungry 20 minutes later! same for cereal ...of course now... much different. I am still on a path and consider this to be my way of life not a diet. stay here, you will meet lots of very smart people willing to help you.

Please take time to read Mark's board marks daily apple and rob wolff's site as well as their books. Remember you didnt get to 240 over night....this is a FACT I have to keep reinforcing...not daily any more but still when I get to a point where I am not noticing changes in my clothes or scale I just stick with it for a couple more weeks and I notice a (TMI) fat roll has smoothed or lessened....

Stay with it and notice the changes....not constantly thinking about food...satisfied feelings...better skin...what ever it is just take a full body inventory. I for one noticed better skin, less gas and one of the best things besides losing some weight is that my breathing and sinuses are SO MUCH BETTER.

As a woman, weight will come off slower, face that fact and remind yourself to keep noticing the changes. If you find all of this too much how about removing a certain group at a time...no soda or no bread....just take your time...your knees or joints and whole body will thank you just dont give up !

Theresa

Head down to the library and borrow this:

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes. It's amazing, and I wish I had read it years ago. This book explains how much of the weight loss advice we've heard over the years is downright wrong. The author backs up everything he says with numerous studies, and tells us what the real problem is and what to do about it.

If you want a longer read, also get Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by the same author. Both of these books contain eye-popping information for anybody who has struggled with weight.

Have you read Robb Wolf's book? It's The Paleo Solution:The Original Human Diet, and is well worth a read. This book changed everything for me. I think it is a fantastic starting point.

Once you have read those, you'll understand what leptin resistence is and why it matters to you. A great resource for how to reverse leptin resistence is the Leptin Prescription at Dr Jack Kruse's blog: http://jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription/

You can do it, Carrie, and paleo will work for you. :-) You'll find plenty of help and inspiration here, and on other paleo sites.

Carrie, don't lose hope. You are here writing this post and that says a lot. Also, walking 90 minutes a day isn't amy kind of lazy girl stuff, so even if it's happening slowly, you are making changes.

I don't have a solution for you (I'm a noob and so there are others here who will help you more than I can). But these are the things that help me stay with the plan and stay in (some approximation of) control. I:

keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge to snack on try to pre-cook my meals to there is always something to eat (this post is really helpful, I think: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/01/14/paleo-kitchen-the-method-behind-my-madness/ ) drink a lot of coconut milk make sure I cook with enough coconut oil or butter don't go near bread or pastries because they are my crack-like downfall

I don't do it myself, but probably everyone here will tell you to start lifting some heavy things because it will help you burn fat and get toned quickly.

You're already doing it, girl. Hang in there. A lot changes in a year.

Carrie,

I have always had a horrible relationship with food, eating, how I eat and live. I used to weigh almost 400 pounds and now 160. Losing weight will be the most difficult thing you have to do in your life. It took you a long time to get to 240 I would imagine, it will take a long time to get to where you want to be, but don't give up.

There are already lots of great suggestions here. A food diary is a great idea. Doing something to get your heart rate up and give your metabolism a boost will help too... Sometimes just a little change will help.

If you'd like to chat one-on-one, feel free to e-mail me or gchat me @ kyndra@gmail.com

Sounds like you're leptin resistant. Try going to Wellness Resource and get the advise of the Doctor that talks about his Leptin Diet, I have been on it since may & I have lost 44lbs. And I too had a lot of the same issues you have. But I now have no cravings at all. Good luck & NEVER give up hope!

What a beautiful group of people we have in this community..my story is your story,is their story and we are all working on our optimal health together.We got your back girl!

Hey Carrie, I am the same height and got up to my highest weight of 218. I am now 195 and on my way down. I had gotten to the point where 'out of control' didn't even define how I felt about food. Since going Paleo, I have to remind myself to eat....I just don't have the hunger or even the interest in food that I used to. At any time that I take a 'cheat', boy! do I feel those sugar cravings hit hard! Where you are is in the spiral of eat, feel down, eat some more to take away the pain. Stick with your eating plan, really look at what you are eating and if there are any cheats going on that you are not admitting to yourself. Stick with it!! The biggest thing that has helped me is NOT getting on the scale. I feel how my clothes feel. I only know my weight right now because of having just been at the doctor's office.

Hey Carrie, congratulations on going paleo you can do it! The first hurdles are always the toughest and sometimes you just feel hopeless and want to scream. I say scream its cleansing. My husband is the one who was overweight st 340 lbs and he is now 225 but it took us 2 and a half years to get there and lots of frustration, anger and stress. Sometimes, we found, your body has to correct whats wrong which takes a lot of energy if your not eating quality foods and fats your body is not going to get the energy it needs.

Also eat your fats! Fat to loose fat is a crazy thought in this society but its what has helped my husband and even I have dropped a few pounds. Fat keeps you full and if you are not eating extra sugar and carbohydrates your body will choose to burn the fat immediately instead of storing it keeping you energized. Unrefined virgin coconut oil, pastured tallow, lard and chicken fats, coconut milk, ghee, palm oil. Read Mary Enig, Eat Fat Loose Fat and apply to paleo.

Don't loose hope, do not become addicted to the scale and do not judge yourself in the mirror. If one day you notice your clothes are bigger then weigh yourself. Also dont overdo cardio you put to much stress on your system.Your daily walks are wonderful. Also you will have times where your weight stalls then its time to take a look and see what internally might need help to get your weight loss going again.

Not eating bread is such a great start! But there are so many other grain-containing foods that will keep your weight on, you need to cut them all out of your diet as soon as possible. If you do nothing more than that, you will see results.

no --

pasta, tortillas, chips, rice, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, crackers, cookies (even fat-free or sugar-free), granola bars, oatmeal, quinoa, couscous, croutons, sauces or anything else made with wheat, cereal.

There are a lot of other "non-paleo" foods that can be omitted to feel better and lose fat, but grains are the biggie. They're the hardest to eliminate, and that means their elimination will bring about the biggest change in how you feel and look.

Of course eliminating all types of sugars is also important, but I assume that if you are already very heavily focused on losing weight you will have already eliminated sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave, etc. If not, that's step two!

Keep reading this site and asking questions, as you can see there is a lot of support to be obtained here.

~~ Much love ~~