The Fat Loss TroubleshootThis is your place to troubleshoot your fat loss problems from nutrition to training. This section is led by Leigh Peele, author of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot," the ultimate fat loss manual. If your results have slowed or stalled this is the place to come for advice for all your fat loss needs.
Hi,
I'm now in Stage 5 of REPAIR (Increase), in which my macros change significantly, to
25% protein ouch, won't I be hungry?
20% fat
55% carb ((50% starchy carbs)
on 1750 calories
This is quite a shock. Not in my mind, but in how to put together a day's food. I'm so used to high protein... Do you have suggested foods I can eat to increase my carbs.
Today, I've put in fitday.com an ear of corn and a whole sweetpotato and brocolli and 3 cups papaya.. but I'm not close.. and my protein is still too high. I guess today won't be great, since I'll have a high carb meal at around 8:45pm pretty late for starchy carb...
I guess it's time for the brown rice, oatmeal... what else... ? Even when I make taboulli, I'm so used to using tons of parsley to a tiny bit of bulgar ...
and what about processed carbs: So what I'd like to have/what's easy for me to imagine, is some cake, an onion roll or bagel, all the process stuff I miss that's high carb. Should I still avoid that completely, or can I add a little of it in during the week. Tuna on a piece of regular bread... instead of tuna on a cucumber slice, my, what a concept. I wouldn't go to an extreme of processed carbs, but 1serving/day?
hmmm, that's not even in my vacubulary or memory bank ... it's been so long... Geez, if I'm gonna eat processed carbs, for me the temptation would not be pasta... What are the attributes of pasta? Do you eat white or ww? It seems to be about the same as rice, but with more protein and cal per cup...
Here's what my pathetic carb dinner looks like:
meal 5:
turkey burger
2C broc
1/2 sweet potato (other half from lunch)
1 cup brown&wild rice
meal 6:
.5 cups oats into oatmeal
2 cups papaya, 1/2 cup frozen mango
and it's still only up to 48%carb
UGH... transitioning from 40-30-30carb to 25-20-55carb
It's pretty darn funny, actually
I'm gonna have to re-think this evening's food, it looks horrible
hmmm I could add milk to that oatmeal, what a treat!
There is nothng wrong with processed carbs. Sure whole grains are best for you but a bagel, pasta, bread etc once a day is not going to harm you, especially when you are following a plan that right now is higher in carb. 55% is what is considered "normal" carb by the ADA, USDA, etc. I would be careful with the cakes/cookies/pastries because that can throw you into the never ending sugar cycle if you are prone to that.
I love barley, quinoa, wheatberries, whole grain cereals, low sugar granola, basmatic rice, brown rice. So many good whole grains out there and so much you can do with them.
You have got to get your mind out of the thought that rice or pasta are bad things.
The purpose of a re-feed is to give a rice to certain hormone levels (as the book explains) and to do this we need carbs. I will keep it as simple as that for right now.
Oatmeal
Rice
Pasta
Etc
Remember you should already know from reading the FLTS what kind of carbs these are. List in the book.
You might retain excess water at first.. lots of people do that when they eat gluten.
Eating 25% protein doesn't sound half bad.. there's plenty people who only get 15% P/day. The 20% fat is what I'd be having most trouble with.
Well it's only for 2-3 weeks and then I'm back to high protein. I know what you mean about the fat really helps me feel full. I am less nervous about adding the calories than about what carb cravings the carbs will trigger. Already had a bit of a struggle with calories last week, but reigned it in by the week's end.
I've posted a chart of my progress for the past 5 weeks over on my log.
Well it was quite fun to go into Trader Joe's and look for what healthy carb treats I can add to my menu for the next 3 weeks, in addition to the rice and oats and barley
So the first thing I ate was a low fat bran muffin... you can see how carb-starved I've been for so many years
I also bought from TJ's frozen nan (indian bread), and (low fat) granola which I haven't allowed myself to have since the 70's, but now that I'm eating enough protein, I think I can do portion control with it... and 2% milk...
... and tonight I had a turkey burger with spaghetti... I noticed it doesnt' take much carb to mount those calories...
I got on the scale at 8am, was up 2 pounds after increasing my cals the past 8 days.
I went back to sleep, had a nightmare about granola and bread, about gaining weight, and going to some weight program event and realizing there were certain obligations I had forgotten to do. Oh, and everyone else at the event looked 15 pounds thinner than the first time we'd met.
I know not to watch and worry about the scale in last 3 weeks of REPAIR, and I stay committed. But my dreams have a will of their own.
Gluten has a tendency to bloat people beyond the amount you'd retain normally when it comes to adding extra carbs. It's worse when you've been depriving yourself from carbs for a very long time as enzyme output gets slowed down so much.. it lasted 6 months before carbs wouldn't bloat me anymore..
Gluten still remains an exception .. same for legumes, these also bloat me. Rice or potatoes or straight candy, dextrose or maltodextrine: nothing whatsoever.
Right now it's almost bordering on ridiculous.. over 500g of carbs will sometimes give less weight gain than the actual weight of the carbs themselves... instead of the predicted 400g + 3x400g (the water weight you're supposedly going to gain from adding extra carbs over e.g. 100g if that's your normal intake). In a very rare case there's even a weight drop on the next day .. that's the famous 'whoosh' effect.
I got on the scale at 8am, was up 2 pounds after increasing my cals the past 8 days.
I went back to sleep, had a nightmare about granola and bread, about gaining weight, and going to some weight program event and realizing there were certain obligations I had forgotten to do. Oh, and everyone else at the event looked 15 pounds thinner than the first time we'd met.
I know not to watch and worry about the scale in last 3 weeks of REPAIR, and I stay committed. But my dreams have a will of their own.
Remember repair isn't about weight loss. Repair is about your metabolism. The goal is that at the end of these 8 weeks you are able to eat more calories while staying roughly the same weight as you were when you started. The goal is to reset with little to no gain, not to reset for a massive loss. Sometimes that happens (because water balance is so f**ked up) but sometimes you are just eating 100% more calories and only weight 1 pound more. I assure you that is a victory.
Also remember fat should be low (because this is a refeed) and carbs should be high (because this is a refeed) but when it all end you can go back to a more moderate protein-fat-carb based program if desire.
Remember repair isn't about weight loss. Repair is about your metabolism. The goal is that at the end of these 8 weeks you are able to eat more calories while staying roughly the same weight as you were when you started. The goal is to reset with little to no gain, not to reset for a massive loss. Sometimes that happens (because water balance is so f**ked up) but sometimes you are just eating 100% more calories and only weight 1 pound more. I assure you that is a victory.
Also remember fat should be low (because this is a refeed) and carbs should be high (because this is a refeed) but when it all end you can go back to a more moderate protein-fat-carb based program if desire.
Yes, I remember. I wil be content if I end up at 175 (or 2 pounds over what I began it at). I committed to that when I committed to the program. Can't control my dreams though...
> remember fat should be low (because this is a refeed)
> and carbs should be high (because this is a refeed)
Thanks for pointing out that during the last refeed week my fats should still be low... I have been planning restaurant meals during that 1 last refeed week, and they tend to be fat, so I'll keep that in mind with my daily food. Those 2100-2600 calories should still be eat eat eat but within my 25-20-55% macros, huh? I was hoping to add an occasional ice cream or pizza, if I kept to my calories?
Increasing Carbs
... it's been so long... Geez, if I'm gonna eat processed carbs, for me the temptation would not be pasta... What are the attributes of pasta? Do you eat white or ww? It seems to be about the same as rice, but with more protein and cal per cup... 
List in the book.
... you can see how carb-starved I've been for so many years 
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