Getting back on the Primal/Paleo horse

lujo321

Back in March I did a Whole30 and it was awesome. My family ate mostly paleo after that and while we did have the occasional treat it was not often. Fast forward to the end of July and a vacation to stay with family in another state. We ate whatever they prepared for us while there and by the end of the week our paleo love story was pretty much over. After getting home we tried to get back on track but there has been one set back after another. I hurt my back in August which led to another illness in September and now it is October and I am finally getting the cause of my back pain treated not just the symptoms. I would like to further address the cause of my back pain by losing some weight and that is why I am back again. I truly believe paleo is the way to go. My brain is on board it is just the rest of me that is whining about it. I have a bulging disk in my lower back. It is mild enough the doctors feel it can be successfully treated with PT so I start that today. Obviously when your back is injured carrying around any extra weight only makes it worse. Well I am carrying around 100 or so extra pounds. If I could lose half of that I would be thrilled.

So that's my backstory. What I am hoping to find here is some primal support. Anyone who has been in a similar situation and can share some tips, tricks or strategies please share. I joined a 100 day challenge group and they are great but their advice is geared toward a SAD diet and so not so much helpful for what I am trying to achieve.

GrokRockStar

Just keep listening to that brain of yours, the rest of you will follow
I've been on and off Primal, and keep coming back because my body knows what it needs. It's difficult for me to be active in forums that follow SAD, so this is a safe-haven for ppl like us, who knows what truly works.

I'll also add, be consistent and if you have a slip-up, it's not the end of the world, just get right back to business. There's lots of support and good advice here!

kikih64

Agree. The body does what the mind tells it to - something like that. Planning is always key, so just pick a day to sit down with recipes and plan the menu out...do your prep so you don't just grab whatever's easy. Occasional slips/treats shouldn't bring you down - just keep focused. This is a great group. Good luck!

Akimajuktuq

Decide, commit, do. Agree with the comments above that planning and cook ups will really help you get back on track. But nothing will work if you don't decide, commit and just DO it. Definitely this has been the easiest lifestyle for me to stick to. I do have non Paleo days (never wheat) occasionally, but I just get back at it the next day. No worries, no guilt, but also no excuses; just keep keeping on. I'm totally committed to this lifestyle for life.

LeenaGee

My advice is "one day at a time." Keep introducing healthy foods to your diet and cutting out the rubbish and definitely don't follow the SAD diet.

Emlyn314

Good for you for getting back into it! For me it has taken much longer. I was primal for a solid two months, but that was almost two years ago. Being a university student, its hard to always find time to make good foods. I did it for a while, but then I got way too busy. But now I am forcing myself to find time to make good food, and its been about a week and so far so good.
I just take it one day at a time, sometimes even one meal at a time. I think, ok do I really want to have something bad to eat? I'm doing so good, don't want to ruin it now!

justaspoonfulofsugar

I just take it one day at a time, sometimes even one meal at a time. I think, ok do I really want to have something bad to eat? I'm doing so good, don't want to ruin it now!

Great point Emlyn314,sometimes it just has to be one day at a time and one meal at a time.
I am at this point right now.
I know how much better I feel when I eat properly and how bad I feel when eating things that make me feel less than optimal.
Remember though that as one meal at time works in the sense of keeping at it,it also works for falling off.If you have one bad meal it doesn't mean the next one has to be bad as well,it can just be a blip.

lujo321

Thanks for all the encouragement. I'm still not all the way back on he horse. A lot of it has to do with poor planning. I also need to go shopping and stock up on some things.

cindytw

I am getting back on track now too, after some very non-Paleo weeks! I was in Jamaica for a week, and before that was stressed out and ate a lot of junk food. Planning is key, and am trying to set myself up well for this coming work week!

ofstarsandsquid

I fell of the wagon to the point of going vegan again for about six months. I've been vegetarian or vegan most of my life (since age 11, now almost 29), so I think it's a matter of comfortability and knowing that I KNOW how to eat when I eat that way. But the fact is I don't feel good when I eat that way, so I'm back on the wagon. We all have times that things get hard, but what matters is doing what is healthy for you. If paleo or primal is what does it for you (like it does me) we're here for support!

rae_32

I am also getting back on the primal wagon... I just love how un-bloated and awesome I feel after only a couple days... I'm primal thought because I just can't give up my coffee cream and cheese lol... please feel free to add me

LeenaGee

There is a interesting discussion in the main forum at the moment titled "Paleo Diet/Way of Life" if anyone wants to join in. Our poor little forum here is very quiet at the moment so I have been taking a walk on the wild side and venturing into the main forum. They are a tough crowd over there but there are definitely some nice people there as well so give it a go.

Here is the shortcut http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/general-diet-and-weight-loss-help

justaspoonfulofsugar

@LeenaGee I think it's quiet here as everyone is trying to figure out where the forums went.
Personally,I don't bother with the main forums as I find they are generally very,very negative with the paleo community.
I am happy to hear you are having success with finding some nice people though

Akimajuktuq

I'm pretty sure I commented in that forum to steer the OP over this way. It gets so stupid out there as the idea that the food matters seems to drive some people off the deep end. It's almost always some muscle bound shirtless moron telling the fat/sick, and especially women, how everything in the universe is just "calories in/calories out". The insanity of that drives ME off the deep end, so it's just better to steer decent people to our forum and mostly stay out of the general forums otherwise; for me anyway.

darjeelingexpress

I have been back on primal for about 3-4 weeks, feeling so much better - and down 15#. I believe a lot of different ways of eating or diets can work for people, but I know from experience now that this one works best for me, whether I am trying to drop weight or not. I did 2 weeks of keto to get sugar off my mind and drop some water weight for early encouragement. It's amazing how long it seems to take for the body to "wake up" and get with the program. I spent two weeks with zero movement on the scale and I was pretty frantic. ::sigh::

OP, do you think some kind of jumpstart might help you get going again? A Whole30 if you like those or something else?

So glad this group is here, the main boards are just....not that useful.

katharineshalia

I read that post, it devolved into an argument between the lady who can't understand why her homegrown tomatoes are not paleo worthy, the usual hate from an "actual paleontologist" who uses any post re: paleo as his own agenda to give everyone a history lesson on early man, and my personal favorite, "I'd like to see a grocery store available back in prehistoric times"

LeenaGee

justaspoonfulofsugar wrote: »

@LeenaGee I think it's quiet here as everyone is trying to figure out where the forums went.
Personally, I don't bother with the main forums as I find they are generally very, very negative with the paleo community.
I am happy to hear you are having success with finding some nice people though

Not all my experiences over on the main forum went well. Silly me started a discussion in the Chit, chat, fun and games section on "Why are there so many "blah blah blah the person above you" threads?"

It ended with what I can only describe as soft porn and some pretty unsavoury comments. I actually got what I deserved because those threads are obviously popular but it was annoying me how they dominate the entire forum and from what I can see are only an avenue for spammers, stalkers and really nasty people. Where are the moderators?

The good thing is that I was told in no uncertain terms that "if I don't like it, don't come here!" and some kind person told me how to hide the entire section so that I never have to look at it again. Yay, makes going to the main forum a bit better but still scary.

I don't think I will last long out in the big mean world of MFP's main forum but hey secretly I had fun having my say.

cindytw

I sent the OP of the Paleo/Primal post a message to contact me. I am not interested in arguing here on MFP, I did enough of that on my former site. You can't change anybody's mind. They either want to do something new or they don't. Most here want to argue to the death and defend something that clearly isn't the be all end all. Nobody's plan is! I wasted countless hours and a lot of stress trying to send a better message...but nobody cares, they want to do what they like. Its not about what is best for them, or healthiest, its about "I WANT". People will justify anything they WANT to the death.

LeenaGee

cindytw wrote: »

I sent the OP of the Paleo/Primal post a message to contact me. I am not interested in arguing here on MFP, I did enough of that on my former site. You can't change anybody's mind. They either want to do something new or they don't. Most here want to argue to the death and defend something that clearly isn't the be all end all. Nobody's plan is! I wasted countless hours and a lot of stress trying to send a better message...but nobody cares, they want to do what they like. Its not about what is best for them, or healthiest, its about "I WANT". People will justify anything they WANT to the death.

I think that is the part that baffles me the most. Why the savage attacks on people who are eating fresh food? I don't get it, you say what you eat and wham, it is like you are a axe murderer or something. And this attitude "just cause you are Paleo, you think you are superior and you aren't eating true Paleo etc etc etc." Wears you out. I not going to fight it either - too hard, too stressful and a total waste of my energy.

cindytw

LeenaGee wrote: »

cindytw wrote: »

I sent the OP of the Paleo/Primal post a message to contact me. I am not interested in arguing here on MFP, I did enough of that on my former site. You can't change anybody's mind. They either want to do something new or they don't. Most here want to argue to the death and defend something that clearly isn't the be all end all. Nobody's plan is! I wasted countless hours and a lot of stress trying to send a better message...but nobody cares, they want to do what they like. Its not about what is best for them, or healthiest, its about "I WANT". People will justify anything they WANT to the death.

I think that is the part that baffles me the most. Why the savage attacks on people who are eating fresh food? I don't get it, you say what you eat and wham, it is like you are a axe murderer or something. And this attitude "just cause you are Paleo, you think you are superior and you aren't eating true Paleo etc etc etc." Wears you out. I not going to fight it either - too hard, too stressful and a total waste of my energy.

It does get to be too much, so I try to stay on the groups, and I have made comments and posted on things but try to stay out of the arguing, much as I want to sometimes! But it really will take its toll on me more than anything. I don't understand why we can't just support one another either! Although, there are times I do question whether people are really Paleo, or low carb or whatever, I keep it to myself because why does it matter? I am here to support people and hopefully get support. If they are doing well on 1/2 Paleo or 1/4 Paleo, and maybe they started out eating 100% junk...Its not my place to be the Paleo Police! Nor should it be anyone elses! I also find it quite amusing how people defend eating junk food to the death because its in "moderation" but hop all over low carbers or Paleo people! Really?!

LeenaGee

Exacty!!

lujo321

What are everyone's thoughts on food logging? I have decided to baby-step my way back in and I have cut out all gluten grains since Monday. The only non-gluten grain I have had is some corn yesterday so I have been mostly grain free. I have been eating if I was hungry though to avoid caving in on grains I allowed myself to eat as much as I want otherwise. So far when logging my calories are way high and that seems to mess with my head. When I did a whole 30 last March I stopped logging because they don't want you counting calories. I know I am eating too many nuts and definitely need to figure out a better snack. I tried putting together my own little primal packs with jerky, nuts and dried fruit but they just seem to make me hungrier. Probably all the sugar from the dried fruit. Anyway that got off track. My question is really about logging. Does it help or hurt?

cindytw

Personally, I need to log. I can overdo it on ANY plan. If I don't log, I gain or stay the same. If I am faithful and truthful in logging, and do it ahead so it's like I check off what I planned to eat for the day, then I do better. If it causes you stress and obsession, though...then I wouldn't advise it because that is counter-productive as well. I have gotten past that and really use it more as a tool to reign myself in. If I go over, *SIGH* and get back to business.

GrokRockStar

Logging for me is unnecessary when I'm eating Primal, because I do a lower carb version and all I care about are the carbs, but I do weigh out foods that I can go overboard with, mainly nuts & seeds.

ascrit

I tried not logging and it did not work for me so I got back into the MFP routine.

Akimajuktuq

There are no rules on what foods can be snacks so anything you eat for lunch, supper etc can also be snacks. Dried fruit and nuts on a regular basis definitely won't be helpful. I have two minds about logging: sometimes it helps when we are struggling and haven't achieved our best health or if we have issues with sticking to healthy foods. However, I think logging should eventually become unnecessary. I log less often now but I still need to when I have to address my carb intake. I'm far less concerned about calories because for me it's NOT calories in/calories out. It's the FOOD.

I think doing a Whole30, low carb style without logging is an excellent exercise. I'm not very likely to do another W30 (I have my own rules that I follow) but when I can get my carb addiction resolved once again I do plan to do a strict Paleo month with no logging. I'm not ready yet.

sarabeth624

I undereat if I'm doing a strict paleo/whole 30. So I log. But, I agree, quality is most important.

lujo321

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I'm going to give up the logging for a few days and see if the crazy settles down. If not I can always pick it back up.

lujo321

I have been getting back to paleo one category at a time. First gluten, then non-gluten grains, and this week sugar. I am on day 4 of no sugar. It started pretty good. Today I woke up feeling lousy with a headache and just so tired. I thought at first I was getting sick then I remembered it is probably carb flu. I got out of bed and took some ibuprofen and I feel better. It probably helped that I had some sweet potato for breakfast.

There have been a few slips along the way. Dinner two nights ago included some rice because my mother cooked and she forgot. I was too tired and hungry to fight it so I had a small serving and tried to pick out the chicken as best I could. Also on Sunday I went to book club. Book club is my monthly free day. My group really does it up and I always plan to eat whatever the hostess serves. Of course I ate some candy on Halloween which was officially before I gave up sugar but I really did better than I expected. My worst treat and I did plan it was some paleo margaritas my sister and I drank on Friday and Saturday. Super yummy and definitely worth it but way too much honey to be a regular occurrence,

So I guess most of these weren't actually slips as I planned them and they were worth it. Also I got right back to my regular plan as soon as they were over. A month ago I would have eaten poorly for weeks after a weekend like that. Friday and Saturday I really ate clean except for the Margaritas and some Halloween candy. Sunday I ate a clean breakfast before going to book club and I was so full when I got home I went to bed early without dinner. Monday I gave my daughter the last of the candy I had from Halloween without even cringing. I was ready to let it go.

RoseyDgirl

It's important to treat every day as a new day - and the more days we complete without slippage will lead to lesser and lesser cravings.

I've come to the realization that most of the treats I used to love - just aren't all that good. Of course, I haven't put myself into the situation yet, of having a dessert I'd LOVE in front of me - like cheese-cake. that would be my kryptonite. In thinking about the holiday ahead, I don't think I'd have any problems turning away from a cake or pie... mashed potatoes might be another story...

I really will have to prepare myself for what and how many allowances I will make for Thanksgiving. (stuffing - definite no, mashed potatoes - yes?, pie - no; if I can make a grain-free dessert to bring there - yes) ...

It's just one day, one meal - I'm sure I will survive it and Friday will be a recovery zone and back to my regular broadcast-meal plan.

cindytw

RoseyDgirl wrote: »

It's important to treat every day as a new day - and the more days we complete without slippage will lead to lesser and lesser cravings.

I've come to the realization that most of the treats I used to love - just aren't all that good. Of course, I haven't put myself into the situation yet, of having a dessert I'd LOVE in front of me - like cheese-cake. that would be my kryptonite. In thinking about the holiday ahead, I don't think I'd have any problems turning away from a cake or pie... mashed potatoes might be another story...

I really will have to prepare myself for what and how many allowances I will make for Thanksgiving. (stuffing - definite no, mashed potatoes - yes?, pie - no; if I can make a grain-free dessert to bring there - yes) ...

It's just one day, one meal - I'm sure I will survive it and Friday will be a recovery zone and back to my regular broadcast-meal plan.

I am with you on this! Last week I had one thing I used to love those corn puff cheese balls! They were nasty and greasy! I didn't like them as much. I find myself having much more interest in potatoes and fruit than anything these days...so for Thanksgiving I will allow potatoes and fruit and then back to low carb! Yes, whole foods, but to me way too many carbs and I binge easily on them.