Katrina wrote:
> I am not losing as much as I had hoped.  And I have
noticed an increased appetite.  Is this because I have only been with the
diet for 3 weeks?  If so, will it go away? (Maybe it's the winter issue you
mentioned???)  I am eating meat and eggs for breakfast, anything that's
leftover from yesterday's dinner for lunch and meat, salad and a veggie for
dinner.  Snacks have been mostly nuts, a little fruit and pork rinds.  Am I
doing something wrong?

I don't know how well my experience translates to others, but I will share it 
in case it's of use to somebody.  I have struggled with my weight my whole 
life.  I'm not very overweight--just a moderate amount.  My weight goes up 
and down, but usually averages out to about 142.  I'm 5'6" (actually, 5' 
5-1/2").  At 142 I'm about 28-30% body fat and look a little chunky.  The 
lowest I've been is 128.  That is a perfect weight for me--I looked great.  I 
was probably 22% body fat at that weight.  The last time I weighed myself I 
was about 148-149 and 32% body fat.  The most I've ever weighed is 157--that 
was almost 20 years ago.  The most I've weighed recently was 152, about 4 
years ago.  Until about a year ago I'd stabilized at about 137.  I gained 
10-12 pounds after going on a restrictive diet to cure my 
colitus--restrictive diets cause me to overeat in response to the restriction.

I've found I gain weight for two reasons (1) low blood sugar, or (2) eating 
when I'm not hungry (defined as "compulsive eating").  Low blood sugar causes 
me to overeat because it makes me feel ravenous, and I will eat more than my 
body needs just to raise my blood sugar.  The paleo diet has just about 
eliminated this problem.  My blood sugar is rock solid.  I no longer have to 
eat every 2-3 hours.  What freedom!!

I'm currently working on the compulsive eating problem--eating because I'm 
bored, nervous, lonely, scared, the food tastes good, the food is in front of 
me, I haven't cleaned my plate, I want to avoid work, etc.  There is also an 
issue about ambivalence in being thin--you'd be surprised at how often this 
is an issue for women in Western culture.  There is a part of us that rebels 
at being put in the sex object box--that we're not okay unless we're thin.  
Sometimes it feels safer to have some fat on you.  If you think about it, you 
may find this is true for you, too.

If we become used to eating for reasons other than physical hunger, we can 
lose touch with our body's hunger signals.  Eating in response to physical 
hunger actually can become a little tricky.  Also, we need to learn new 
coping mechanisms for the emotions that we calmed in the past by eating.  And 
we need to look at our ambivalence about being thin.  Have you ever had the 
experience of losing weight without really thinking about it, stepping on the 
scale and noticing the loss, and then instantly gaining it back?  This has 
happened to me many times, and it's due to ambivalence about being thin.  
Maybe this is what happened to you when you regained the 6 pounds.

I believe that we would be much better off if we focussed on learning to 
respond to our body's needs for food in an appropriate way, versus trying to 
lose weight.  There is nothing inherently wrong with carrying some extra fat. 
 Big deal!!  In some cultures and in some times, it was considered beautiful. 
 Also, medical science is now realizing that the link between fat and poor 
health is not causal--they are correlated only because fat people tend not to 
exercise.  But you can be fat AND fit, and then (unless you are extremely 
obese), there are no health implications to carrying the extra fat.  This is 
Western prejudice!  Forget about it!!

In any case, for me, trying to lose weight never works.  If I'm hating my 
body and feeling ugly and fat, it just makes me want to eat more.  If I tell 
myself I'm fine now and I'm just going to learn to respond to my body's 
physical needs, my eating habits calm down.  The nervous eating goes away, 
and my body starts to return to its natural weight without any effort on my 
part.

Some people will tell you that you're gaining weight because you're snacking 
on nuts, fruit, and pork rinds.  These are calorie dense foods, but I don't 
think there is anything wrong with eating these foods or any foods.  If you 
are listening to your body and only eating in response to physical hunger, 
eating these foods will not cause you to gain weight.  Your body will tell 
you what it needs, but sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the true 
biological hunger signals, and the "emotional hunger" that has been driving 
us for so many years.  It CAN be done, however.  I've been doing much better 
with it.  I don't know whether I'm losing weight because stepping on the 
scale is bad for me--it puts me right back in the "bad body" frame of mind, 
focussing on weight loss rather than "good self-feeding"--but I imagine I am. 
 I haven't been eating very much.

I very much believe in body wisdom--our biology will lead us to want what we 
need.  But to hear this inner voice, we have to quiet the other noise in our 
heads.  External rules about what to eat and when can be very destructive 
when they lead to feelings of deprivation.  That's why I'm only 90% paleo.  I 
cheat without guilt now and then, because otherwise I feel deprived.  But 
most days I'm 100% paleo because I choose to be--it makes me feel good.  The 
wonderful affect on my blood sugar is not lost on me, so I'm motivated to 
keep eating this way.  Also, my bowels are in terrific shape--I have not been 
this healthy since I first was diagnosed with ulcerative colitus 20 years 
ago.  It's very easy to follow a diet out of choice--because it makes me feel 
good--versus because I think I'm fat and ugly and need to lose weight.

     - Sheryl