Ray Peat weight loss is elusive for many, mainly due to following wrong advice. Hopefully by the end of this article you may figure out where you are going wrong.
Interesting reading in the Ray Peat groups recently and the study where a bunch of guys were given 6,000 calories and no exercise. It demonstrated that while their metabolism increased, so too did their fat and other, not so great, health markers.
While the study was extreme, I think it was a great example of how too many people emphasise the increase of calories as the only way to get to health and a higher metabolism using Dr Ray Peat principles. (Anything under 2,500 calories was deemed to be an eating disorder! What?)
A fast metabolism is one of the key factors that improves overall health no matter what your specific ailment.
I’m coming across more and more people who are health damaged by keto, low carb, paleo, veganism, intermittent fasting and even excess exercise, so I just wanted to make a summary post of all my articles so far, that talk about my journey back to health via the Dr Ray Peat guidelines. A fast metabolism is a really big part of the solution.
Examples of issues
Just this past week a friend with weight issues tested her waking temperature and came in at 36.1C (97F) – so it’s not diabolical but whatever she is doing is contributing to her metabolism decline, which will only get worse if she doesn’t address it now.
Another follower on IG complained about not being able to lose weight any more, she had lost and regained a few times in the past but just couldn’t budge it any more, despite still eating the recommended balanced diet with low calories and doing heaps of cardio. Her temperature – 35.0C (95F) and pulse 60 bpm – which is pretty bad and the level I was when I realised I was heading down the wrong path.
Then two other people where a dietitian and an obesity specialist both recommended low carb/keto diets!
So there is no surprise that the US currently has a thyroid dysfunction epidemic and Australia will soon follow. Already world wide nearly 20% of all women have PCOS! Given the popularity of keto/low carb and quitting sugar, these issues are no surprise.
What controls the metabolism? The Thyroid gland!
So if you are already in the damaged state, these articles will give you an insight as to what you may be doing wrong and the steps required to fix it.
So this is a snapshot of the pro-metabolic direction for optimising your health and hormones with food and exercise. (I don’t know anything about the supplementation side of things because I didn’t need to do that. I do take about 2000mg of non acidic Vitamin C a day though, just because it makes me feel better and it actually reduces cortisol.)
After two years now my body temperature has increased from:
A waking temperature of 35.3C (95.5F) – and after exercise/walking was 34.3C (93.7C).
To now, just in the last few weeks, I’ve reached 36.7C (98F) waking and goes right up to 37.7C (99.9F) after food. (I credit my new light weights exercise program for this last boost.)
When my body fell into a heap two years ago with a pile of hypothyroid symptoms, I had also put on about 6kgs (12lbs) since my lowest low carbing weight, but I didn’t put on any more while switching to Peaty foods. This was because I ignored most of the advice to drastically increase calories to help the body heal. I researched the forums first and everyone who said they did this put on loads of weight. Honestly I don’t think it gets you there any faster. Your body needs time to learn how to process carbs again properly, and clearing the fat out of the way via a lower fat diet was probably the most effective tool for me.
4 years on
Now I am four years into committing to a Ray Peat style lifestyle, the weight I want to be and thriving. A few more recent articles may be helpful:-
Please start on the super easy One Ten Toned exercise program to make sure whatever exercise you are doing now, is not sabotaging your healing efforts:
I show some of the exercises on my YouTube channel:
Having muscle tone helps your body burn fat at rest, shifts around the belly fat, and just helps with circulation, posture, and puts the spring in your step.
Also I have now completed the ZEN Beach Diet book which summarises all of the above and gives you a meal plan, macros and recipes to get started on right now. Available here.
And please share this post with anyone you feel is suffering the effects of wrong diet and punishing exercise, so we can help as many people as possible get on the right track.
A big thank you to Dr Ray Peat whose wisdom is helping so many people regain their health.
I’m so excited to advise that I’ve created a new home workout for a fast metabolism called…
One Ten Toned
– An easy exercise plan for a fast metabolism and a healthy toned body.
It’s been a labour of love and there are a few people to thank, but first you may be wondering, “Why exercise, isn’t food your thing?”
Yes indeed it is, but for real health, exercise is part of it too. However just like extreme diets, people have been going whacko over extreme exercise like Cross Fit, marathon running, super heavy weights or exercising twice a day for an hour at a time, and all it’s doing is breaking people down and damaging their bodies. They think it’s healthy or helps with weight loss and actually for most, it’s not true.
You hear this line thrown out everywhere – “Just eat less and exercise more” – as the magical answer to everyone’s weight issues. The problem is it doesn’t actually work if you do it incorrectly (which most people do) and makes the issues worse, as you will see in this story…
I’ve seen it a couple of times now on social media where health bloggers and even a famous, healthy living personality have dissed skim milk, labelling it as highly processed, devoid of nutrients, not real food blah, blah, blah. And they took pride in saying they don’t drink milk anymore anyway!
Despite wanting to answer on those posts and give a different view explaining how skim milk is good for you, my response would be too long. So I’ll come over here and have a rant on my blog instead!
Pro metabolic foods and fast metabolism snacks are the only ways you can actually increase your metabolism. Certain exercises can lower your metabolism but only food can increase it.
I had a question on Instagram recently – “why are you trying to eat so much fruit?”
This was in response to one of my snack pictures and caption explaining how I am trying to eat six cups of fruit a day.
I had lunch with a friend recently, who like me, has been into the whole losing weight, trying to be healthy thing for years. She had tried everything too but had been in a good place for quite a while. She believed she had found her perfect mix of exercise and eating without too much drama, and she had maintained her 20kg (40lb) weight loss for the longest time.
I’ve flavoured up my low fat ice cream recipe to create chocolate peanut butter ice cream!
Normally I’m not a fan of chocolate ice cream, preferring real chocolate every time. But this time it’s different, somehow I’ve managed to get the intensity just right and the combo is bliss.
I’ve made it four times since the first time already! Just as well it’s super easy to make.
Did you know there is a wrong way to drink coffee? There is a particular way to drink coffee for a fast metabolism and health benefits, so read on to learn how it’s done.
