Maintaining My Weight - Ray Mend Eat

I have struggled with my weight my whole life. So many times I was dieting and I wasn’t even overweight. Those scale numbers really mess with a head. The thing about those numbers is that those same pounds on me have looked very different depending upon what my diet was at the time. I can wear the same size small with a twenty pound difference, eating starches and very little calories at 132 or eating high protein and calcium weighing 152 pounds. One weight had me looking skinny fat, while the other higher weight made me look strong. Both look good, but both aren’t healthy. Being skinny fat had me obsessing over the scale, down with a cold every December, and needing a man’s help for many physical tasks. Me now at 145 pounds, in this recent photo, has me full of energy, never sick, and having a lot of strength. I now eat my proteins during the day for energy, and pair them with a sugar source. That sugar source is usually a fruit or honey, but often I strain my fruit into a drink and dilute it quite a bit with water and add sugar. At night is when I eat more carbs and fats, to set myself up for sleep. Eggs and cheese are a frequent part of my evening meals. To lose weight I keep starches out of my diet and reduce my fat intake. When I am back to where I feel happiest I maintain that habit, but enjoy things like potatoes and more meat. Again keep in mind that fruit can put on the pounds, especially dried fruit, whole fruit and pure fruit juices. They are just too many calories in one sitting, so dilute those juices and add that good white sugar. My weight still goes up occasionally if I am out at restaurants more often, but I have my ways of minimizing the setbacks of those visits and cascara tea is one of them. I also drink a glass of milk before I go out so I don’t eat so much when I am there.

P.S. The thing about this photo is I took it before going to the grocery store three months ago on New Years Day. While so many made their resolutions to lose weight, especially after the holidays, that was the farthest thing from my mind. My weight stays just where I want it now.

“When a person wants to lose excess fat, limiting the diet
to low fat milk, eggs, orange juice, and a daily carrot or
two, will provide the essential nutrients without excess
calories.” -Ray Peat

3 comments

J.R.K says:

March 21, 2024 at 12:39 am

Rinse & re Peat, thank you for sharing your story. I am sure it is one that will resonate with many who face the struggle of the,”ideal weight and body image”. But ultimately what is many times overlooked is what the bio energetic aspect of these two components are impacted and how the diet interrelates with the ability to accomplish the aspects of of life that are meaningful to the person, whether that means interpreting the writings of Plato, or being able to surf the waves of the North shore of Oahu. Ultimately this will be determined by the quality, quantities and which of the macronutrients will be oxidized predominantly, and thereby the amounts of subsequent oxidative stress associated with the individuals personal internal processes.
In your case Rinse & re Peat it seems that you have become attuned to your bodies personal needs and not only what it requires, but when it is required for each time of day and the goals needed to be achieved. Ultimately this is what we all strive for.
I look forward to seeing and hearing your thoughts on starches and how preparation can be key to the enjoyment of these usually demonized comfort foods such as potatoes, can be enjoyed without the high glycemic index as well as the subsequent presorption of starches in cells.
Given the current environment with many different counter arguments to the consumption of sugar and carbohydrates in general, a viewpoint that advocates the importance of the role of carbohydrates especially the glucose and fructose combination that is found in sucrose, will certainly be perceived as an almost sacrilege, but it turns out that it has been misunderstood and is actually only counterintuitive.

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1. Cari aka "Rinse & rePeat" says:
  
  March 21, 2024 at 3:59 am
  
  You said a lot here J.R.K. You are right in that what is required for each individual depends on their activities and their health. One who has damaged their digestion for too many years has a deeper hole to dig out of. That doesn’t mean that the body works any differently though. It means they have to be more careful during their healing process with the foods they choose versus say a young person who can abuse themselves for quite awhile before they see the results of that. This is why I say a young person can take advice from an older person, but an older person should not follow the advice of what works for a young person. What “seems” to be working doesn’t mean it is working. The scale tells almost nothing. Children know more about what we should eat. The food pyramid got stupid and we all followed it right off the cliff. Just the worry alone about dieting and losing weight will put on pounds. People need to simplify things and go back to long ago history where people ate basic foods which enabled them to work hard long into their old age. Sugar is just an energy source. If you don’t give your body sugar sources it will convert the protein you eat or even your own body tissue to get it. Sugar and calcium are big keys to losing weight and maintaining weight, protein is a close second.
  
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DozingAnt says:

March 21, 2024 at 5:01 pm

Very grateful to read the dialog and resonate with J.R.K’s. observation about so many variables which can confuse our choices and outcome. Each guideline offered by the various diet trends have some truths which can lure us, yet results vary so much. Knowing which path to take is difficult and seems to require a deeper comprehension of biochemistry than I currently have.

Maximizing ATP would seem to logically take us to high energy, good health but there seem to be so many pitfalls in understanding how to get there. For me, I’ve recently focused on better understanding calcium and sugar but also realize how these impact B vitamins and other important nutrients.

I always looks forward to perspectives others have accumulated in their own journey because using recent published journal articles requires tricky discernment. That’s why reading Cari’s posts have been so enlightening, as are many others. It’s with gratitude I read what other’s post because they’re giving of themselves, as they too struggle to find answers.

Although we may have seemingly different maladies, it’s possible some are called different names but stem from similar causes. Dr. Peat’s simple quote Cari posted is what I’m currently using as a baseline and hoping it will require only minor tweaks to find the balance she and others have achieved. 🙂

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