I had a disastrous February...have developed some sort of auto-immune condition and am having lots of tests done. Pretty much ate whatever the heck I felt like during February, and of course gained weight.

I have been STRICTLY PALEO (except for some HFWC and some cheese..not a lot of cheese, just a modest amount) for the past four weeks. I lost three pounds very quickly, but haven't lost anything since. I am stuck at 183.

I am still proud of the fact that I am no longer 226...even if I spend the rest of my life at 183 I know I did myself some favours by losing some weight...but I really want to lose MORE weight! I have a lot of flab around my middle. I got down to 169 in the summer when I did the Whole30 Challenge...the weight just fell off me. It's not doing that anymore! So sad.

I am sure that some of the problem is that I'm really not exercising at all...I seem to have developed arthritis in my left hip, and oh my gosh does that hurt. The pain radiates down to my left shin (weird!) and I feel as if I majorly pulled muscles there, or have shin splints, even though I know I did nothing there to hurt it. I do go for walks about every second day with my dog (once the pain killers kick in!) but have not gone to the gym for any kind of weight workout in weeks.

I read that losing weight really has more to do with diet than with exercise, so I am wondering how to change my diet to help the weight come off. Right now I eat only two meals a day...breakfast and supper. I do not snack. I choose not to eat lunch because I am a teacher, and I am always working through the lunch hour anyway!

Typical breakfast: ALWAYS eggs fried in either bacon grease or coconut oil, AND either bacon (3 or 4 pieces) or about 4 oz. steak. I pour the extra fat over it all and eat it. Nom nom nom! I also have coffee, usually black but sometimes with HFWC.

Typical supper: Some kind of animal protein (it varies), probably about 8 to 10 oz. Always some sort of low carb vegetable (either cooked or raw) with added fat. Usually a low carb dessert. Sometimes (maybe every second day) a glass of wine.

I don't know if I can cut this back...I eat to satisfaction. If I cut back I am afraid I will be hungry. Now, I can lose weight if I go hungry, but if I go hungry for too long I will snap and start eating everything in sight.

The only thing I eat that is not paleo is the dairy...I could cut that out (damn!) but I would miss it. Maybe I really should try that first and see what happens.

I would love anyone's suggestions, or stories of what worked for them. Help a buddy out? Thanks!

I found the worst thing for my arthritis was dairy. Very sad.

Are you sure your thyroid is functioning up to snuff? I mean, have you looked into beyond just accepting your doctor's word on it? Forgive me if you have, I can't keep track of everyone's thyroid status, mine is hard enough to track.

If it helps at all, I'm in a similar boat as you. The only way I seem to lose weight at this point is by doing something extreme, like hcg.

What's the autoimmune condition?

It is possible is due to uric acid. Eating lots of protein "could" increase your uric acid levels. Gout is mostly associated with the feet/big toe. But it is possible in other joints.

Of course, it could just be that you have a bad hip and your relative increase in movement is irritating it.

I have lots of bad joints (since age 12). Even when I show no RA activity I get sore joints. Sometimes one, sometimes several, fortunately mostly none. And really no major changes in activity. Environmental changes do bother them eg pollen, pressure changes, etc.

In addition, the joint surface is not always the issue. The bursa is often the bigger problem especially shoulders.

And of course you cannot rule out some other injury. After hurting my ankle, my walking to compensate for the sore ankle lead to hip issues.

Not too sure what the autoimmune condition is Nancy, but I just had a WHOLE CRAP LOAD of blood taken this morning. What happened is about this time last year I developed psoriasis on my BUTT, of all places! Dealt with that for a year with steroid creams, it was under control. Then about six weeks ago my upper body erupted in a similar sort of rash. I thought it was psoriasis, but when I got back to my dermatoligist (the one who diagnosed the psoriasis last year) she said no, it didn't really quite LOOK like psoriasis, and why would it flare up so badly over so wide a body space in such a short period of time? She was thinking allergic reaction, and sent me to an allergist, but in the meanwhile put me on prednisone to get the inflammation under control, and ordered all the blood tests to be done once I was done the prednisone (which was on Friday). So, allergist thinks it's eczema, but again, what is causing it? The allergist, by the way, LOVES my WOE! Isn't that nice? He said that he bet my asthma totally improved once I cut out wheat. I told him why yes, it did, and it would be nice if the rest of the world knew about this. He said that most people simply wouldn't be compliant. Wow. Don't know about the rest of the world, but I like breathing more than I like wheat.

ANYWAY...

So yes, this whole skin eruption happened at the same time as my hip started to go on me...connection? Something autoimmune flaring its head? I just don't know. The dermatologist is also an INTERNIST, and so is well placed to examine the evidence that is coming her way via blood testing. I know that thyroid hormone is being looked at, as well as reproductive hormones (I'm 45) and pretty much everything else under the sun! I think the tech this morning took about 10 vials of blood!

I can certainly update the forum once I know the results myself.

I was following along on the "resetting leptin" thread, and read that Dr. Kruse says that women may not see weight loss for weeks. I wonder if that is what is happening to me? I didn't set out to reset my leptin when I got much better with my diet, but that may very well be what's going on...

I will definitely ditch the dairy and see how that improves things. I will also make a real effort to up the fat and lower the protein. Scottie123, thank you for your suggestion about gout...I did have gout as a TEEENAGER, of all times, in my big toe, so I do know what it feels like...it doesn't feel like that now. It really does feel like what arthritis has been described to me. I will let my internist/dermatologist know (she is testing for rheumatoid factors as well) and I think an x-ray is needed to diagnose arthritis. Who knows, maybe I have lupus?

Oh, small world! While I was waiting at the testing clinic, I struck up a conversation with the lady behind me in line...she is an immunology technician! She said she would probably be doing the analysis on my blood! We had a fascinating conversation. Such an interesting profession.

Thank you both again, Nancy and Scottie!