“Wait a Minute, I Can See Your Ribs!”
April 3, 2012 in 2012, Weight Loss/Gain
This, sadly, was not said to me. My weight seems to be firmly entrenched 10-20 pounds heavier than I’d ideally like it to be. I don’t know if it’s hormones, lifestyle factors, or a need for further diet tweaks that is stopping me from losing those last few pounds (or all of the above). And I know ALOT of us deal with this same issue. I am trying some new ideas to get beyond this body weight set-point, but this is a topic for a future post; I am off on a tangent.
No, it wasn’t anyone else who said those words to me. I said them. I said them to my husband. And then, I realized what I was saying. Holy [expletive deleted], I can see my husband’s ribs! Now, my husband has always been naturally thin. He doesn’t need to lose weight, he needs to gain it (preferably in the form of muscle). But all this healthy paleo food that I’m cooking (which tends to be on the low-carb side to help me reach my goals) seems to have resulted in my husband losing a couple of pounds (and this is after he lost weight with an illness a year and a half ago that he never regained and after he lost weight with his hernia repair last December which he never regained). He just plain old isn’t eating enough. He is lazy when it comes to preparing his own breakfast and packing his lunch. He doesn’t have a big appetite (he probably is eating too low carb for what his goals are). But my sudden realization has sparked some conversation about ways that he can eat more.
So, what do you do if you want to gain weight on a paleo diet? A paleo diet already focusses on food quality, so really, the most important thing is to just eat more. How much more? Well, weight gain should be slow and steady so that hormones aren’t completely disrupted. With my husband, I’m aiming for 25% more (we’ll evaluate in a month or two). If you’re looking to gain weight from a plateau, 10% would be a better place to start. The biggest challenge for my husband is that he just isn’t that hungry.
So, what do you do if you just aren’t that hungry? Increase your carbs. Yes, I said more carbs, but I don’t mean go nuts and start eating tons of refined sugar. For my husband, we’re aiming for 3-4 pieces of fruit per day (because more fructose stimulates appetite) and at least 1 big serving of a starchy vegetable. Hopefully that should help him down those bigger servings at meals.
So, where should those extra calories come from? From everywhere. A bigger serving of everything, every time you eat. We are tackling this with some specific “rules”. For breakfast, we are trying smoothies, since that’s the easiest (and quickest to prepare) way to incorporate a lot of nutrition (and calories) in one easy to consume package (and incidentally, smoothies are not a great food if you are trying to lose weight). The shake I made for him this morning contained:
- 3 pastured eggs,
- 1 cup homemade coconut milk (full-fat)
- 1 large spoon almond butter (I would guess 2-3 Tbsp)
- 1 banana
- About 2 Tbsp frozen chopped spinach
I put everything except the banana into the large travel cup for my Magic Bullet
This seems like a pretty good amount for my husband to eat. We’ll see how it works. My husband has also recommitted to doing more exercise, including some strength training around the house so that the weight he puts on is more likely to be muscle. I am optimistic that this will do the trick!
Finally, someone else trying to gain weight on paleo, I could have sworn I was the only one. No blogger ever talks about it. It’s a nice change of pace to read something that doesn’t revolve around “being healthy = losing weight”. Please keep posting about his progress.
Btw I’ve found strength training to help me want to eat a lot of food
Thanks! My husband is not very fond of strength training, but he’s forcing himself to do some (on threat of “or else all the weight you put on will be a pot belly!”).
Add half an avocado to that smoothie!
My family dinners are ‘paleo plus rice’ for the ones who need the extra carbs. And that rice is slathered in butter!
I add avocado to his chocolate smoothie. And coconut butter to his mango “lassie” smoothie.
Can’t wait to see what new things you are doing to get past your plateau.
Of course, it’s only exciting if it works!
Thanks for this post, it was very timely. We’ve been paleo for about 7 months now, and while I am struggling to lose weight, my husband is withering away at already 35 pounds lost. He does not need to lose any more weight and could stand to put on some muscle as well. I’m going to try your suggestions for him. He does not need to be low carb like me, so it’s a challenge fixing a meal that meats everyone’s needs. Basically, my husband and daughter can eat the good carbs, where I cannot even smell them or I gain 2 pounds!
Alright, can’t find your recipe for “homemade coconut milk”:) Tell me how, please. Thank you
I’m still playing with exact methodology. But here are the two ways I make it. Method #1: soak 1 cup of finely shredded unsweetened coconut in 2 cups water for 1 hour or more (I usually let it sit for 2-3 hours). Blend in a blender on high for 2-3 minutes. Pour through a fine metal sieve or cheese cloth or nut-milk bag to strain out the pulp. Method #2: mix 3 Tbsp coconut butter (also called coconut cream concentrate) with 1 cup water and blend on high for 1 minute. I like the flavor better the first way but the second way is more instant.
Strike all of that. I have been playing with coconut milk all weekend and have it perfected. Recipe will be posted tomorrow (Monday).
Hi,
I am also on the lean side weighing in at 82kg. I started paleo this time last year and my weight plummeted to 69kg. Whilst it took a while for my body to settle down, it now sits at 74kg.
I think the biggest issue here is ego. Although I to would like to be a big fit looking human, I have been genetically designed to be lean and unfortunately there is nothing that I can do about it. I have to be happy with what I have. For the last 3 years I have done heavy weight training three times a week. I feel happy, healthy and think clearly after converting onto this new healthy way of living.
Just be careful with “eating more”. Remember we should only be eating .8 of a gram of protein per body weight kilo. Any more than that and the body metabolizes It into glucose. This in turn increases insulin levels in the body which is the cause of most illnesses including cancer.
Unfortunately these days the problem is that when people see that you are lean they think they are sick. But remember Paleolithic people were all lean and fit. They were the epitome of health.
Tell him not to worry about being lean. That was how he evolved to be. Remember, Lean=health.
Try him on a heavy weights programme. Once on it, it is addictive, just like paleo! He will put on a bit of weight. But more importantly he will be lean and healthy.
I’ve heard several people report that they got rid of the last few pounds by doing interval training (which doesn’t have to be crazy intense). Two good sources of information about this are the book “Spark”: http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/0316113506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348519115&sr=8-1&keywords=spark&tag=wwwthepaleomo-20 and Jonathan Roche’s podcast: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/noexcusesweightloss.
What would you recommend as a substitute in the recipe above for someone with egg allergy?
I would make a smoothie and drink beside some sausage or jerky.