Paleo Newbie:

If you were drinking that much Coke, you're in caffeine withdrawal!  That would also explain the headaches.  You're trying to solve two problems at once: caffeine addiction and carb addiction, each of which is difficult by itself.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Tolerance_an.....withdrawal

The good news is that you're over the hump as far as the headaches.  Don't expect those to come back.  But since you were dependent on the caffeine/sugar hit for your energy levels, that's going to take longer to deal with.  

As the article states, moderate aerobic exercise and weight training is effective in regaining metabolic flexibility.  Are you exercising at all, and if so, how?  

And are you eating the fruit in between meals, or with them?  If you're eating the fruit as a snack, you're sabotaging yourself as far as trying to regain metabolic flexibility.  Fruit is fine, but eat it with a meal.  Same with any other "snack food": either eat a meal or suck it up.  If you keep feeding your body little carb hits, it'll use those and keep you out of beta-oxidation, which is the only way you are going to lose any fat.

Beth:

I think that sugar/"carbs" eaten with a meal (i.e. containing plenty of complete protein and saturated fat) is far less harmful than sugar consumed as part of a snack.  It's the snacking that does you in: see "Why Snacking Makes You Weak, Not Just Fat".  

So if you want to eat more carbs, experiment with adding them to one of your meals.  My inclination would be breakfast, as it's usually closer to lunch than lunch is to dinner, but that sounds like you should just try it and see what works for you.

Have you considered that you might be self-medicating with simple carbs to raise your serotonin levels?  Women do this much more frequently than men.  5-HTP (or even just tryptophan) can help, but check the contraindications before starting it.

Peggy:

Thank you for contributing your observations!

I've never cheated for long enough to lose my metabolic flexibility, but I remember exactly what it was like having to eat every three hours.  And I appreciate the support: thank you.

JS

Paleo Newbie:

Definitely some form of exercise is necessary: as the research shows, weight loss doesn't do it by itself.  Weight training is good if you can't walk or ride yet. To get aerobic exercise, you can do push-ups and other upper-body stuff even if you don't go to the gym.  Can you do air squats, or does that mess up your feet?  Because air squats will definitely get your blood moving and your heart rate up.

If you're in a permanent foot damage situation, you can find one of those hand-bikes for people with paralyzed legs...but I hope that by slowly building up your barefoot walking you can rehabilitate your feet enough to walk and ride.

Between being completely sedentary, eating a terrible diet, and being addicted to stimulants, I think it's going to take some time to work through all of your issues.  So long as you're making forward progress, which you are, I wouldn't be too concerned.

Does a little bit of caffeine instantly clear the brain fog?  It might be interesting to drink a small black coffee, or a cup of tea, to find out if you're just in caffeine withdrawal.

JS

Jay Dean:

Thanks for sharing your experience!  I also need to get some exercise each day or I don't feel right.

Interestingly, most of the research I find on metabolic flexibility is on the ability to switch the other direction, i.e. to sugar-burning, which is also impaired with Type II diabetics (as one might imagine).

Paleo Newbie:

If you're having digestive trouble, you are likely to also have nutrient absorption issues.  If you've been on a high-sugar diet for such a long time you might have SIBO.  You might also have insufficient stomach acid (meat and fat requires more stomach acid to digest than carbs).  I'd look into those.

Can you tell me which filtering software is blocking my site?  I can't imagine what I've said that would flag this place for illegal drugs...sheesh.

JS

Mike:

Thanks for contributing!  I'm glad to see you here, and I'm glad to know that I've mostly got things right so far.  I'll have to look into the fasting connection, and into the low-calorie connection.  I'm a day and a half into a fast right now...and yes, I'd obviously be dead if I couldn't beta-oxidize for energy, because given all the skiing I did yesterday I can't have a lot of glycogen left.

Incidentally, you can read Mike's blog here, at Extreme Human Performance.  

DJSapp:

That's a great point, and here's a hint: if you're hungry but the thought of eating any specific food makes you not want to eat it, you're probably dehydrated.  Drink a big glass of water and see how you feel.

JS