I do waver on my commitment to the all-beef diet. I still go back to it because It's the only thing that makes sense to me, but it is too easy to backslide. This last fall, progress was stymied by peak beef. If you're up for an elimination diet, and you want to work in reverse (start with only eating one thing, then introduce other foods incrementally), an all ruminant diet isn't the worst option by any honest measure.
At this stage, I've settled on focusing on all-beef, but permitting some essentials like black-soil-grown carrots, cabbage, celery, and minimizing carb vegetables like tomatoes, barley, and onions.
Part of the problem with weight gain can also be mental. Yes, cause — effect are difficult to disentangle; Is it the diet that causes the sluggishness or is it the sluggishness that causes the diet? Most in the health&fitness industry would tell you it's the food and exercise that is the first cause, but they aren't you, and diet and exercise aren't what I literally get paid to do.
Something, however, I have discovered in the past month is that a standing desk and wireless headset makes a bigger difference for overall health than any exercise regimen for people like us. At least it gets me over the "steep curve" necessary to start to build endurance, not to mention the additional energy it takes to stand and pace all day. You might even find yourself doing the occasional squat or lunge, if only out of needing to move.
