Hi:

Here are some notes from my food log because I seem to be stalling.

I'm five foot eight, weigh 158 and have been on paleo since April 20.  At the start, I weighed 190 lbs and have typically lost eight lbs per month. For the last two weeks, I've not lost anything.

Now, a big change is that I've started some basic exercises again in the last few weeks, see details below, but my program (that seems an over-blown title for push-ups and running) is so minor, I find it hard to believe it would keep my weight so steady. I've actually had no weight loss since my Aug 20 monthly benchmark. That being said, I think my trousers are a bit looser so I may be getting some lean mass in but I think something else must be at play here.

• I don't use salad dressings or anything like that on my veggies. I also don't use steak sauces or condiments apart from mustard.
• When I log something as Ketostix: 1:30 DP that means 1:30 PM, the reading registered a dark pink.)
• When I say cream x2 that means I had two cups of coffee or tea with cream.
• When I say California Mix, the kind I buy has only carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.
• Rillete is probably unfamiliar to many of you. A friend turned me on to it from a butcher shop that specializes in unpreserved, no wheat/filler game meats. Basically, it's ground up game meat and fat. Delicious.

Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom of the group.

Sept 3 - Lots of unadorned veggies (asparagus, celery, lettuce) and two beef tournedos. Late at night, a mouthful of the pork ribs I'm cooking overnight in the crock pot. Weight the same.
• Cream x2
• Run x20min
• Press-Ups x 40
• Ketostix: 1:30 Medium Dark


Sept 2 - Pork flank strips and turkey drumstick in the crock pot. F***ing fantastic. I had it in the morning and then the left over cucumber and yellow onion salad in the evening.  The turkey and pork had chopped yellow onions, a  sun dried tomatoes, dried veggies, some bbq spice, some pork spice, juniper berries and salt. Amazing.
Weight is 157.
• Cream x2
• Run x0min
• Press-Ups x 40
• Ketostix: 1:30 Dark Pink

Sept 1 - Roast beast cooked and California mix . It could have used salt but I'm cutting down on that. Three slivers of pork for a late night snack.
Weight is 157.
• Cream x2
• Run x20min
• Press-Ups x 40
• Ketostix: 2: 15 LP


Aug 31 - Roast beast cooked 12 hours with shallots and no salt with spinach on the side. I'll be eating that to-morrow. Weight is still 158.

A fitness calculator reports the following: Body Mass Index:     24.1  kg/m2
Waist-to-Height ratio:     0.50
Percent Body Fat:     19.3%
Lean Body Mass:     127.6 lb

• Cream x1
• Run x20min
• Press-Ups x 40
• Ketostix: 2:15 Medium

Aug 30 - Weight is stil at 158. Fish and California mix for lunch some game meats for supper.
• Cream x1
• Run x0min
• Press-Ups x 40!
• Ketostix: 2:30 Med-Dark

Aug 29 - Weight holding steady at 158, damn, it. This week saw several changes to my diet and here's what they were:
• Many, many more eggs than is usual.
• Starchy deep fried Indian food on Friday evening.
• Knockwurst that I've not eaten for a while that have an astonishing 4g of sugar per sausage.
• A larger than usual amount of dairy

I have suspected for some time that eggs slow me down for weight loss. I also had some butter this week which doesn't help and plenty of milk the last few days. Even thought it's now days layer, I may also still be paying for that starchy/deep fried Indian food.  But, I also had a salt accident with my supper steak so I may be retaining some water.
• Cream x2
• Run x30min
• Press-Ups x 35
• Ketostix: 10:20 AM med

Aug 28 - Went to a restaurant with friends and had steak and eggs for breakfast with some fruit to have a big end of summer event. Yep, we're already starting to get some cool nights. The 2:30 ketostix reading was as pale as pale can be. Now, I had three cups of coffee but two of them were with the latex milk that comes in plastic thimbles and never spoils but I had all that deep fried shit last night at the Indian restaurant. Weight is really high at 158.5 but I had a heap of starches yesterday in that garbage at the Indian restaurant, and I've not had a BM in two days.

• Cream x3
• Run x0
• Press-Ups x35
• Running x15
• Ketostix: 2:30 Pale but at 7:10 PM it was medium pink.

Aug 27 - Seem to be stuck at 157. Left over pork for lunch and two sausages that may have been packed with cereal or filler of some kind, and then what I was a non-paleo Indian meal because everything came deep fried and battered.
• Cream x2
• Run x0min
• Press-Ups x 35
• Ketostix: N/A


Aug 26 – Am 157. I may be adding a bit of lean mass from the press-ups but I really don't see how given that it's only 35 press ups per day. Bacon and eggs for lunch, celery, lettuce, rillette and a pork for supper, sausage + pickle as a snack.
• Cream x1
• Run x15min
• Press-Ups x 35
• Ketostix: 1:30/Med.

Aug 25 -  Seem to be 160 this morning, and while I certainly ate a lot last evening.  Weight was 157-ish at noon. I went for a 15-minute run and I felt great. It was a completely different experience from earlier this spring.
• Cream x1
• Press-ups x 35
• Ketostix: 9:20 AM med pink.

Cucumber salad, three pieces of delicious crock-pot pork, a boiled egg, some celery, rilette and my goodness I am full. I also went for a run for the first time in many a moon and I felt fantastic. Of course, the last time I went for a run I was 190 so being more two stone and two lbs lighter will do that.
• Cream x2
• Press-Ups x35


Aug 24 - Was 157 this morning. Salad with patι (no wheat listed on the package) and two pieces of chicken with the fat and drippings. Mmmmm. This evening, two eggs, some celery and pate and rillette and some liverwurst. Oh, and a small steak. I was also eating late into the evening, much later than usual.
• Cream x2
• Press-Ups x0

Aug 23 - Was 157 post-pee this morning. It'll be a day for leftovers to clear out the 'fridge: celery, lettuce, pate and cold cuts. I have the Ian Fleming eggs for supper plus some rillette on lettuce.
• Cream x1
• Butter x 2
• Press-Ups x35
• Ketostix 9:50 AM Pale pink

Aug 22 -  Eggs and fish for lunch at a brunch, four pieces of chicken for supper. Mmmmm.  A few odds and ends for snacks: cold cuts and celery. Now that the weather is getting colder, I'll find it harder to stave off hot drinks like mid-afternoon teas and coffees. This'll mean more cream.
• Cream x2
• Press-Ups x35

Dairy does seem to stall weight loss eventually, so it could be that.

However, if you were previously not exercising at all, I would not be surprised if pushups and running resulted in a significant muscle gain on paleo for the first few weeks.

Take your measurements - the scales lie.

Sometimes you stop losing weight; sometimes for long periods. Four weeks is a plateau. Use a mirror and how your clothes feel to guide you. If you really really have to, then use a tape measure.

If you can't move any weight for a bit then eat more fat - eating fat tells your body to release fat. I don't think the cream is a problem. You can also try variation - swap around; have a big eating day then a little one. Shake things up. Actually, I think something is happening - it just hasn't hit the scales. How much do you want to lose?

Be wary of allowing the scales or your ketostix to affect your moods or feelings about yourself.

Patience, grasshopper.

Have you thought about intermittent fasting (IF) 16 hours everyday and dropping fruit/starches? Fasting is hard, but your stomach will adapt. I've been paleo using IF since April and I haven't plateau'd.

I like these sites for IF:
www.theleansaloon.com (wfs)
www.leangains.com (wfs)

I like the 16-17 hour IF with two satisfying meals. I'll IF for 17 hours, but I will go out for 3-4 mile run before breaking the fast with sugar-free sausage and eggs.

"Dairy" is one thing. Milk, as you mentioned drinking once and much of, is a weight loss no-no. Milk is carb-heavy.

Cream is almost all milk fat with only trace carbs. I would be surprised if cutting cream made a difference. The high fat content is more likely helping here. It makes more sense to cut fruits and veggies (high-carb/low-fat) before cream.

All based on my personal opinion. That weight loss has everything to do with (A) cutting carbs and (B) burning calories. Eat more protein and fat. Exercise more (but not too much).

Friendly reminder, too: you are already at a very healthy upper-end BMI. I want to say congratulations on how far you've already come!

Whether it's fruit or dairy just try an elimination diet test.  Keep one and lose the other for a week or two and see what happens.  Then switch for a week or two. 

Could he just substitute full fat coconut milk for the cream? People seem to like it in their coffee or tea.