The 'Thrifty Gene?'

[Beaner]

My weight loss has stalled, in spite of keeping my fats and oils very low, under 10 grams. I also gave up meat and nutrient dense foods. I am wondering if I have the 'thrifty gene'? Is it possible my body grabs any bit of fat it can and stores it? I have fallen off the wagon a couple of times when presented with high fat foods. Couldnt help it-weddings, funerals, grandaughters learning to cook . The next day, the scale says I gained a pound. The only thing I can think of is to count calories AND eliminate the fats.

[ETeSelle]

My weight loss has stalled, in spite of keeping my fats and oils very low, under 10 grams. I also gave up meat and nutrient dense foods. I am wondering if I have the 'thrifty gene'? Is it possible my body grabs any bit of fat it can and stores it? I have fallen off the wagon a couple of times when presented with high fat foods. Couldnt help it-weddings, funerals, grandaughters learning to cook . The next day, the scale says I gained a pound. The only thing I can think of is to count calories AND eliminate the fats.

Well, there is no added fat on this plan for good reason. That means NO oil, either added in cooking or in pre-packaged items. For most of us, that also means eliminating or greatly limiting plant foods high in calorie density, such as nuts, olives, and avocados.

The "thrifty gene" is the NORMAL way to be. Human beings wouldn't have made it this far if we weren't able to survive--and thrive--on relatively few calories. It's only recently that food was abundantly available, or even available year-round. People WITHOUT the thrifty gene were pretty much out of the gene pool LOL.

And of course you can "help it." Just say no. I eat no differently at weddings than I do any other day. I generally eat before I go so that, if there are no plain raw veggies and fruit, I can just skip the food altogether. If you want to be slim and healthy, that's what you have to do.

Be sure you are eating NO meat, NO dairy, NO oils or margarines of any kind (including in packaged foods), and minimal plant foods high in calorie density. You WILL lose weight.

[healthyvegan]

if you have an Iphone and are willing to take a pic of your meals every day I can coach you using my app PlateWatchers, which is Free in the Apple App Store, just PM me for a username and password. Doesn't sound like you are "nailing it" on the diet, I am really good about helping you make your food more interesting & pleasureful so the cakes & cookies out in the wild don't derail you. Of course if you've been limiting calories your body can clamp down and really lower your metabolic rate so that losing weight is nearly impossible. The solution is to stick to McDougalling & eat MORE vegetables & starches & up your activity to try to jump start your metabolism and really understand the opportunity cost of every drop of fat you are ingesting.

Opportunity Cost of added fat = effort required to reduce your total glycogen & blood sugar + effort to burn the calories of the fat ingested.

That is a crude incomplete equation, but to put it into perspective, say you eat 500 calories of fat from birthday cake. You may have to swim or run for 45 minutes just to put a big enough dent in your blood sugar & glycogen before you can even start getting at those cake calories. You'd be looking at 3 hours of heavy activity in one setting or 6 hours of hiking to erase a few slices of cake.

The current mentality of calorie in calorie out doesn't take into account that the human body burns sugar first and then fat. Commonly called "the wall" when most elite athletes are 45mins+ into their work out when they run out of sugar energy & then switch to fat.

Now imagine how your body does it... we just don't have the time to add any more fat to the fuel tanks in our body, the OPPORTUNITY COST is TOO HIGH.

[f1jim]

There are people that genetically are more efficient at fat storage than others. But to determine that you must actually follow the plan to the letter and evaluate. Even those that are genetically predisposed to gain weight will not be substantially overweight on this program. It's nearly impossible to sustain significant excess weight on this program unless there is a medical reason it may be happening. Start at the basics with the program and work from there. Get the basics down before chalking up your fate to genetics. Most people in their first 6 months to a year on this program are still in the learning curve.
f1jim

[colonyofcells]

On days when eating more fat, maybe exercise more. What I heard is people gain weight mainly from the festivals and parties. The 1949 okinawa diet had around monthly festivals where they eat more but they don't gain weight maybe bec. they exercise more daily and eat less calories daily to compensate. Maybe they eat less daily and compensate by eating more at the approximately monthly parties. The problem in america is probably bec. they eat lots every day and also eat lots at parties so the weight keeps on increasing every year till people drop dead.