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MidwestBeast in: The Case of the Mysterious Weight Gain!

larrybailey said:
I am know I have to cut all carbs and sugars. My body just hangs on to them
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I've done keto, carb-cycling and a short stint of the hCG diet. This reaches beyond the realm of just carbs. I very rarely consume anything with added sugar.
 
MidwestBeast said:
Matt, what is your stance on "modified food starch" in terms of its relation to gluten. When I'd done some digging on it a while back, it appeared to show up fine, as they said over the years it has turned more into using something else as filler than gluten (though I can't recall what, exactly, now). However, in one of Kresser's articles, he mentions them using modified food starch as a filler for thyroid meds, which proves to be troublesome for those with an intolerance, because of it containing gluten.

Is it just a case by case basis where you have to specifically find out from that company when you see "modified food starch" listed on a label?
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Honestly, living in Japan and not trusting anything I really ONLY cook all my food. I eat out maybe two times a week at either a shabu shabu place (Meat veggies in a hot pot of water), or Yakiniku....
I havent had stuff in a box/with labels in a while.
With that said, my stance is to avoid them. I avoided ALL non natural foods for 30 days. I went SUPER strict. No sucralose, no bcaas/powder/pre workout. No cooked nuts, only raw (as cooking them can cause oxidation and changing lipids into trans fats).

I ate out the other night, Gelato and some indian curry... felt pretty hung over. I really dont enjoy eating out because of this. I only do it because one must also remain social to live a happy and fruitful life lol.

Pretty much anything in a box I don't eat at all, anything in a restaurant I will eat only if I know they don't use flour and its something I know I can get away with eating mainly just some meat and veggies. (They sprinkle flour on veggies here to make them look better.... ) So I REALLY try to ONLY get something like a steak, or a grilled chicken. When I move back to Hawaii Ill probably be eating a lot of raw fish, steak and pork. Growing up I never ate anything in a box... cept packaged ramen lol. And really don't miss anything....
 
mattrag said:
Honestly, living in Japan and not trusting anything I really ONLY cook all my food. I eat out maybe two times a week at either a shabu shabu place (Meat veggies in a hot pot of water), or Yakiniku....
I havent had stuff in a box/with labels in a while.
With that said, my stance is to avoid them. I avoided ALL non natural foods for 30 days. I went SUPER strict. No sucralose, no bcaas/powder/pre workout. No cooked nuts, only raw (as cooking them can cause oxidation and changing lipids into trans fats).

I ate out the other night, Gelato and some indian curry... felt pretty hung over. I really dont enjoy eating out because of this. I only do it because one must also remain social to live a happy and fruitful life lol.

Pretty much anything in a box I don't eat at all, anything in a restaurant I will eat only if I know they don't use flour and its something I know I can get away with eating mainly just some meat and veggies. (They sprinkle flour on veggies here to make them look better.... ) So I REALLY try to ONLY get something like a steak, or a grilled chicken. When I move back to Hawaii Ill probably be eating a lot of raw fish, steak and pork. Growing up I never ate anything in a box... cept packaged ramen lol. And really don't miss anything....
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Paleo does work...
MWB, only natural food. No
Powders etc and no meal Replacements....no bars. Lean meats, coconut oil olive oil and lots of greens and some starch post workout fructose can be problematic.
 
runner_79 said:
Paleo does work...
MWB, only natural food. No
Powders etc and no meal Replacements....no bars. Lean meats, coconut oil olive oil and lots of greens and some starch post workout fructose can be problematic.
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For now though I would just say to stick with the meats. Slowly cycle off of any protein powders/powders that have anything in them aside from either the Whey, or the aminos.
For now I wouldnt really count calories. Just dont go crazy on the carbs. But if you hit like 200+ a day in good clean carbs so be it. Fructose, as much as I hate it, if it makes this diet bearable and you're main concern is not body comp eat it. I assume healing > shred is the goal atm? hehe.

It REALLY sux as I use so many supps and the 30 days seemed like forever, but they did clear most of my vitiligo. I will probably do another cleanse once again. Once I move back home so I can at least pack/make/eat all my food daily.

Don't underestimate the power of (The force) whole food nutrition. Bad food made this so, good food should make it better. If not... well then we start adding in the meds.
 
Ever thought of a 24hr fast Matty? Protein cycling effects?cleaning the cells?
 
runner_79 said:
Ever thought of a 24hr fast Matty? Protein cycling effects?cleaning the cells?
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Ive done those. I did a protein fast for 5 days. Only veggies and fruits. I ate 6 grape fruits, 2 sweet potatoes, and 4 apples a day, along with 3 onions and 2 cabbages. I didnt lose much muscle, but I felt like garbage and my skin started to get really dry and pale looking... I know it's a good thing to do, just I don't really enjoy it.
 
All right, so my brain wheels are churning again (can't seem to turn them off for long lol). I'm thinking about the gluten-free diet, but not just that; the diet that cuts out my whey, supplements, etc. and puts me at basically just eating fresh bought lean meats, veggies and fruits (thinking about restriction of dairy for a while to see what role that plays; hence the whey, etc.). Anyway, as I mentioned, that would be ridiculously difficult for me (coupled with expensive).

Anyway, I'm thinking about doing it as an IF (intermittent fasting) set up. I did IF for around a month back in mid-June to mid-July. I enjoyed the eating window being what it was. However, I'd heard (don't recall if it was PA or someone else; maybe Shawn (Matrix), who said fasting with thyroid issues is not smart). So, I've had it out of my head until today. I've been digging up as much research as I can (on IF, specifically, and not extended fasts). The research I've come across thus far (which has been minimal in terms of actual scientific studies and not just articles by experts) indicates that it shouldn't be problematic. Some of it would point toward the insulin and leptin issues being improved by it. The biggest worry would probably be the increase in cortisol from fasting, though that should only be marginal and not detrimental. However, I want to get the current cortisol issue looked at and put to bed before I were to start something like this.

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This one has some decent info that I'm currently reading.

I didn't get to hear from my doc, yesterday (if he wasn't so good, I'd be pissed). I called and they said they'd call back when they had anything from him. I stopped in at 4, before they closed, to drop off a letter I typed up at work. It was a letter with some citations and such discussing the areas I wanted to look at, currently, in conjunction with whatever he came up with. One of those is another 24-hour cortisol test where I'd restrict fluids for the day to have a lower total urine volume. I told him that if it comes up as the same cortisol/L density then I'd dismiss it. However, if the overall volume is still high in a lower total volume, the density would be significantly higher and obvious evidence (though I already suspect/believe that the overall content proves that).

I've only had rT3 checked twice. The first time was back on 7/23/11. That would have been right at the end of or still during my IF run. I'm curious if that attributed to the high rT3 more than anything else. When I had rT3 checked again, I had only been taking 100mcg T3/day and I was also eating every 3 hours, again. I doubt it was the cause. In all honesty, there are just too many variables. It could just be stress, it could be that, it could be that I was still basically starving myself in terms of my cals/day intake. I doubt that's an issue with fasting, but I wanted to mention it so I can come back to this reference if need be.

So anyway, back to what I was wanting to discuss. That is that I could/would eat in the 8 hour window, again, which would make it significantly easier for me to get in all the lean meats, fruits and veggies I need, since I could do the majority of it at home and not on the go.

I'd also point out that despite my fasting blood sugar being higher than I'd like, my response to the GTT was something I was incredibly surprised by and happy with. So, my reaction to glucose does not seem bad at all. If anything, it was shocking to not see the levels spike any more than what they did. I may still get a reader and strips and check myself more often to see how I respond to protein meals, fat meals, combinations and also shortly after eating versus just an hour out.

Scattered thoughts, again, but doing a lot of digging. I don't like wasting time, so while I'm waiting on my doc, I'm going to be researching as much as I can. Unfortunately, I need to stop so I can do homework lol. That's not happening right now, though.
 
I find this intriguing (from the above link):

Adequate carb intake: Eat at least 400 “safe starch” carbohydrate calories daily during the afternoon feeding window. Relative to a very low-carb diet, this will increase daytime insulin release and, by increasing insulin sensitivity, may reduce fasting insulin levels. It will thus enhance diurnal insulin rhythm.
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Upon further deductions (I sound like a hypochondriac, now), I'm reasonably certain I have sinusitis (debatable on whether it's chronic or acute). I'm not going to delve into everything, but I'm planning on picking up a humidifier for the bedroom. The ridiculous bloody nose I had 2 nights ago didn't help things, either.
 
Get eating down pat for 30 days then change accordingly....
Body has stress, so no need to add to it more...
Keep us updated with how you are going man!!!
 
Onlychevy6 said:
It cant hurt to try. But you would want to give it a solid 6-8 weeks.
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For sure.

I'm not changing anything (other than just the complete elimination of gluten) until I have more stuff in order with the doc (namely cortisol). I'm not going to do the super restrictive diet until I get the other things done, too. So, for the next few days, I'm still going to be eating whey and unrestricted fruits and vegetables. After talking with him and doing whatever tests we decide on, then I'll consider both the IF as well as the super restrictive GF diet.
 
MidwestBeast said:
For sure.

I'm not changing anything (other than just the complete elimination of gluten) until I have more stuff in order with the doc (namely cortisol). I'm not going to do the super restrictive diet until I get the other things done, too. So, for the next few days, I'm still going to be eating whey and unrestricted fruits and vegetables. After talking with him and doing whatever tests we decide on, then I'll consider both the IF as well as the super restrictive GF diet.
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A minor thought on cortisol. Try not to stay away from the carbs. Yes I said it. In some cases carb restriction will elevate cortisol levels. I think it was shown in a study with athletes. Post workout carbs blunted or at least lowered the release of cortisol. Fats are also important. Fats fuel them hormones so you have more raw material to make the other hormones as well. Sadly, gluconeogenesis works through cortisol and is basically fueled from it, so a 0 carb diet will derail you after a while. Probably for you in NO time. No fat diet = rabbit starvation diet and also will cause the body to do somethings you don't want it to... because of stress. The best thing that has worked for me is a REALLY thought out cyclical diet. I basically have 4 foods I eat. Sweet potatoes, chicken thigh/breast, coconut milk and blueberries...Every day I do a combination of all 4 to hit my goals. Be it high protein high carb for post workout (im bulking) Or a fattier meal in the evening with a thigh or just coconut milk. My mornings also are basically coconut milk and blueberries. I don't really know why but when I do this I feel more alert. I will add in some BCAA (Stupid I know but it's habbit. one would think with my all fat/fruit breakfast i'd be trying to trigger some AMPk receptor upregulation by hitting a protein fast... but whatever, I'm no perfect) if I am going to do anything like walk to work etc. lol.

My diet is VERY tight. I still suffer from minor set backs as I like my whey.... omfg I like my whey. I gave it up for 3 months though. As long as I have gut health though I can drink it. Gut health stops me from bloating and having pain from the protein it seems. Just a pretty pricey tool to use as everytime I take my protein I have to take a pill usually... hahha.

I hope I have confused you even more.... I have confused myself...
 
mattrag said:
A minor thought on cortisol. Try not to stay away from the carbs. Yes I said it. In some cases carb restriction will elevate cortisol levels. I think it was shown in a study with athletes. Post workout carbs blunted or at least lowered the release of cortisol. Fats are also important. Fats fuel them hormones so you have more raw material to make the other hormones as well. Sadly, gluconeogenesis works through cortisol and is basically fueled from it, so a 0 carb diet will derail you after a while. Probably for you in NO time. No fat diet = rabbit starvation diet and also will cause the body to do somethings you don't want it to... because of stress. The best thing that has worked for me is a REALLY thought out cyclical diet. I basically have 4 foods I eat. Sweet potatoes, chicken thigh/breast, coconut milk and blueberries...Every day I do a combination of all 4 to hit my goals. Be it high protein high carb for post workout (im bulking) Or a fattier meal in the evening with a thigh or just coconut milk. My mornings also are basically coconut milk and blueberries. I don't really know why but when I do this I feel more alert. I will add in some BCAA (Stupid I know but it's habbit. one would think with my all fat/fruit breakfast i'd be trying to trigger some AMPk receptor upregulation by hitting a protein fast... but whatever, I'm no perfect) if I am going to do anything like walk to work etc. lol.

My diet is VERY tight. I still suffer from minor set backs as I like my whey.... omfg I like my whey. I gave it up for 3 months though. As long as I have gut health though I can drink it. Gut health stops me from bloating and having pain from the protein it seems. Just a pretty pricey tool to use as everytime I take my protein I have to take a pill usually... hahha.

I hope I have confused you even more.... I have confused myself...
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That likely played a role in the whole onset of the problems. For a few years, I basically didn't eat carbs (bought into the hype and didn't do any research back then; or at least not in the right places). I won't go into the past like crazy on this, though. I plan on having a nice array of all 3 macronutrients. I've been using the RLS probiotic for a few months, now. Even before I started it, I never felt any adverse reactions or problems to whey/milk/dairy. Whether there is or was bloat, though, would have been too difficult to tell with the elevated body fat.

This is what today's meals looked like for me:

- 3 scoops NutraPro + 2 tbsp psyllium husk fiber
- 1 can chicken breast/thigh (54g pro)
- 1 small sweet potato, 1 small granny smith apple, 3 scoops NutraPro
- 25g BCAA intra-workout
- 3 scoops Muscle Replenisher
- 1 cup brown rice, 6 eggs, 1 slice FF American cheese, 1 slice pepperjack
- a small amount of nuts

So I stayed gluten-free. That won't be hard for me. Where it will be difficult is if I go super restricted and cut out whey and dairy. If I do, Matt, what is my safe list of foods in each group (specifically which meats, fruits, vegetables, fats, any other carb sources)? If I do that, it will probably be in an IF setting, if I can get the cortisol test, again and make sure everything is in order.

In all honesty, the IF thing sounds appealing for that, as well as re-establishing a good circadian rhythm. Mine is likely messed up since my 8 AM cortisol is fine. I haven't been sleeping as long as I should be, so I have to focus more on getting 8 hours (it's hard). IF is always nice, too, with thyroid meds, since you have to wait an hour afterward to eat and it makes my breakfast not really seem like breakfast, anyway.

You actually didn't confuse me at all with that one, Matt.

Oh, and I ordered Dr. K's book, yesterday, as was recommended. I need to do some more reading on Robb Wolf's stuff, still.
 
mattrag said:
Hey MWB, this is straight from Robb himself.

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Appreciate it, bro-ham. I'll give it a look over once I talk to my doctor and get through the next few steps (I'm not trying to do a complete 180 and go that restrictive right off the bat...namely because I still have other food at the house, don't want to go crazy yet lol, and want to conserve money by using my whey).
 
Day 1, complete.

Weight this morning, upon rising = 268.6 lbs

*sigh* lol

I don't see it changing for quite a while, but it is what it is and I'm approaching this whole thing like the machine I know I can be. 180 days to clear gluten? 179 more til it's out.
 
mattrag said:
Good job bro! One day at a time!
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Yep.

Really, 180 days isn't all that long, in the grand scheme of things, so it's just a matter of keeping the goals and focus clear and staying mentally driven. I did a full set of measurements, last night, and I'm ready to go back to where I was -- no doubt about it.

I'm really hoping that even though that's how long it takes for gluten to leave the body that I see some relief before that, though.
 
He's treating us like the loser he got drunk and had a meaningful conversation with at a party. We want to publicly acknowledge one another now but he wont give us the time of day until the next party.
 
lol

boys, boys...it's okay. Daddy is here. And he loves both of you, very much.
 
2 days complete.

Going to go hit back in a few and then grocery shop.
 
MidwestBeast said:
lol

boys, boys...it's okay. Daddy is here. And he loves both of you, very much.
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Don't fall for it Flexy! He doesn't really mean it. That's exactly how he lured the last little bearded boy into his house. He's very manipulative. Remember the "care" package he convinced you to send him with all your favorite supps and some revealing photos? yeah, MWB posted those pics of you on Big Bodybuilding Babes.xxx
 
kingjameskjf said:
Don't fall for it Flexy! He doesn't really mean it. That's exactly how he lured the last little bearded boy into his house. He's very manipulative. Remember the "care" package he convinced you to send him with all your favorite supps and some revealing photos? yeah, MWB posted those pics of you on Big Bodybuilding Babes.xxx
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SO not true. Those pics were just for me. It was so hot watching Flex put on that fake beard on. :yumyum:
 
mattrag said:
Hey MWB, this is straight from Robb himself.

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Just read this. Not gonna lie, the idea of not eating fruit doesn't sit well with me. I could get on board with the rest of it pretty well, but losing that and dairy is a lot. Gluten free -- not that hard. That diet -- very restricting.
 
MWB,
You have a hard buy in with this due to your mystery problem.
It's a 30 day elimination to start. Once it's 30 days, see how you look feel and perform. If good, add back in some berries...or find yourself some grass fed hydrolyzed isolate...it's a rough buy in man but the 30days strict will do well
 
runner_79 said:
MWB,
You have a hard buy in with this due to your mystery problem.
It's a 30 day elimination to start. Once it's 30 days, see how you look feel and perform. If good, add back in some berries...or find yourself some grass fed hydrolyzed isolate...it's a rough buy in man but the 30days strict will do well
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Well, until I have any more testing to look at GI issues, I'm going with gluten-free / paleo, but not that restricted. IIRC, they didn't even have eggs on there. I'm fine with eating naturally and eliminating gluten, as well as processed foods, but that's just hell. If it comes down to that's what I have to do, then so be it, but I've done enough crap so far that hasn't worked and I'm not doing it again with this.
 
Hey Midwest, not sure if you are interested but I ran a fungal / candida cleanse while I did my trial with removing gluten and adding in probiotics. I saw really good results after about a week on the plan with the cleanse as far as bloating and gas was concerned. Anyway, just something to give some thought to
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5 days complete.

Also, still haven't heard from my doc...10 days. Not cool. They randomly closed yesterday, I guess, because it was answering machine all day long. I just called and left a message this morning, but I'll be calling again, this afternoon. I'm never a dick about it, but the brain fog has been setting back in and this weekend I had some minor depression; nothing that was bad at all, really, just a lack of a drive to do anything (ya know, being fat and all...lol).

The brain fog really makes me curious if there's somehow a dopamine depletion going on (thus explaining the elevated prolactin levels, too).

I'm in a great mood right now, though, because I just had some Focus XT. And I just got back from chem class and my professor (pretty awesome to have a guy with a doctorate in chemistry teaching you at a community college) was chucking superballs off the walls and they were hitting students lol.
 
indysoccer16 said:
Hey Midwest, not sure if you are interested but I ran a fungal / candida cleanse while I did my trial with removing gluten and adding in probiotics. I saw really good results after about a week on the plan with the cleanse as far as bloating and gas was concerned. Anyway, just something to give some thought to
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Thanks, man! I'll be sure to read this in a bit and see what it's all about. I do like the thought of it, because I had some little red bumps showing up around the outside corners of my eyes for a while (started back in the Fall) that my own research led me to deduce that it was candida related (I never went to a dermatologist, though). Was that something you had a problem with? It was hard to find any actual medical literature on it, but most of the forum responses I'd come up with seemed to be tied to food allergies of some sort.
 
So, doc's office called me back...and he is out all week. Yup.

He is at a conference somewhere and won't be back until next week. The girls there are really good (I see them as much or more than my friends) and one of them said she already passed my info/note along to him. I don't care if I can't see him, I want him to either agree that I need the abdominal scan and start the paperwork for it or at least sign off on the tests I wanted done, as well, so I can do SOMETHING. I absolutely loathe wasting time and I already felt the brain fog and minor depression over the weekend for a lack of action. I grow extremely tired of dieting and eating healthy, along with everything else, and only watching myself fall further and further out of shape. As is pretty obvious, I am not at all happy, right now.
 
Dang man, sounds like life if sucking bug time ATM. Head up bro. You're on the right track! Now it's just gonna take time. :)
 
MidwestBeast said:
Thanks, man! I'll be sure to read this in a bit and see what it's all about. I do like the thought of it, because I had some little red bumps showing up around the outside corners of my eyes for a while (started back in the Fall) that my own research led me to deduce that it was candida related (I never went to a dermatologist, though). Was that something you had a problem with? It was hard to find any actual medical literature on it, but most of the forum responses I'd come up with seemed to be tied to food allergies of some sort.
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Candida is weird, some doctors know a lot about it and others give you a blank stare, and honestly what I think the biggest issue is with the health systems is that doctors are trained in medicine not nutrition. They are taught how to treat diseases and symptoms once you have them. When you go in for check ups they never talk to you about your diet, or nutrition they just worry about your stats being in a normal range most don't even care if you are nearing the top or bottom as long as you fall within "normal" Diet and nutrition alone IMO can help rid you of most health related issues.

In my case, I didn't have anything on my eye but I did have other symptoms that after researching seemed to the the result of a candida overload. Once I did the diet and the cleanse I felt so much better, but I will worn you. I did **** mud for a couple days, it was coming out black and sludge like haha. But after about two weeks things started to get better and I noticed my bloat going down and I usually am pretty gassy but it all went away. I had more energy and felt like I could think clearer, how you mentioned the fog. One thing about Candida and yeast is that candida and yeast feed off of dying yeast so it takes a long time to get it fully out of your system but it sounds like you are in this for the long haul.
Also you will have dye off which can cause a number of things and they suck, but it goes away.

I have no affiliation to this site I am posting, but it just gives you an idea of what symptoms you might get from die off and you can google away also
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Thanks for the info, man.

Do you know what the ingredient profile on that product you first listed is? On Amazon, it doesn't list anything. More than anything, I wanted to see if there was anything comparable Nutra or anywhere else had.
 
6 days complete

I'll do a weigh-in, tomorrow, just to see if there's any change. I doubt it and don't expect it from the GF issue this early on, but I've been restricting cals pretty heavily.

One of the girls in the office said they'd be open til 3, yesterday, so to call and get an appt before they closed up. I decided to drive over there, instead. I was there at 2:30 and they were locked up. I called the office and someone picked up in back, but when I told them I was out front she reiterated that they were closed. Needless to say I was beyond pissed off.

I called, today, and have an appointment for next Wednesday afternoon. I'll be there on Monday, though, to drop off the letter I'd already written and ask him to sign off on tests beforehand. Nothing like 2+ weeks passing when he hasn't talked to who he said he would.

In the big scheme of things, I stay positive, but last night was a bad night for me. It's certainly hard to stay up when everyone doesn't have the same sense of urgency that I do. It just sucks losing more days and weeks and months of my life; time that I could be fixing myself.
 
I have a bottle still, I do a cleanse about every 6 months for a month. Between the ex and myself we have run about 5 different cleanses and had the best success by a long stretch with this one. She had tinea versicolor and had to adhere to a pretty much gluten free lifestyle to keep it from popping up.

Here is the break down

Fungal Defense Herbal Balance blend 475mg
Syrian Oregano
Sweet Basil
Lemongrass powder
Olive Leaf extract
Cinnamon Bark Powder

Fungal Defense Enzyme Balance 233mg
Protease 20,000 HUT
Cllulase 20,000 CU

Fungal Defense Living Herbal Proten-Zyme 125mg
Garlic Juice, Yucca Juice

Hope that helps man
 
MidwestBeast said:
6 days complete

I'll do a weigh-in, tomorrow, just to see if there's any change. I doubt it and don't expect it from the GF issue this early on, but I've been restricting cals pretty heavily.

One of the girls in the office said they'd be open til 3, yesterday, so to call and get an appt before they closed up. I decided to drive over there, instead. I was there at 2:30 and they were locked up. I called the office and someone picked up in back, but when I told them I was out front she reiterated that they were closed. Needless to say I was beyond pissed off.

I called, today, and have an appointment for next Wednesday afternoon. I'll be there on Monday, though, to drop off the letter I'd already written and ask him to sign off on tests beforehand. Nothing like 2+ weeks passing when he hasn't talked to who he said he would.

In the big scheme of things, I stay positive, but last night was a bad night for me. It's certainly hard to stay up when everyone doesn't have the same sense of urgency that I do. It just sucks losing more days and weeks and months of my life; time that I could be fixing myself.
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Damn. I'm a pretty patient guy, but things like this really make my blood boil. It's great to see that you're still able to stay positive. My father is going through some medical issues. He's normally very pessimistic, but for some reason, he's been very optimistic through the whole thing. It really seems to make a huge difference.
 
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