New to Paleo

Sapphiresue

I have been on a 'get healthy' journey since Nov 2013 - quit smoking, no dairy, no gluten, no added salt, no added sugar, back to lifting weights - but I have lost 50 lbs and just can't alter my diet any more to keep losing weight. My trainer suggest paleo to see if this will work with my metabolism.... I am willing to try anything at this point. Suggestions? Tips? Experiences? Anything to share with a beginner?

Dragonwolf

Without being able to see your diary, it's hard telling what tweaks you need to make to be fully Paleo, but it sounds like you're pretty much there already. At the moment, I only have two things:

1. It is possible to be deficient in sodium. The less packaged food you eat, the more likely it becomes. "No added salt" isn't a universally good thing, so keep an eye on it and if you find your sodium is consistently low and especially if you start showing signs of sodium deficiency (in my experience, sleep disturbance is one of the first signs of it), make sure to get some more in.
2. Pretty much all that's left, given your list, is to drop the rest of the grains and any legumes you have in your diet. This pretty much requires you to get the bulk of your meals from whole foods sources.

That said, keep in mind that Paleo is not a weight loss plan. It's a way of eating to promote health. On Paleo, weight loss generally comes as a result of being well-nourished and free of chronic issues like systemic inflammation. Don't judge the success of this way of eating based on how much weight you lose, but by how you feel in any and all aspects of your life.

Additionally, weight loss is not linear. You've lost 50lbs already. That's a huge change to your body. If that has been consistent loss up until recently, then it's possible your body just needs a break, to repair and re-calibrate everything. This isn't a bad thing. Keep doing what works for you and any excess fat you have (if any, you didn't provide any stats) will come off with time.

Finally, check out Staci's story.

SteamClutch

Welcome Sue, I totally agree with Dragonwolf above; not a lot to add there but I will recommend reading one of the many solid books out there that can get you focused starting with Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and you may want to check out Whole30 as a kick start if you need a highly structured venue to work off of. I am a similar age as you and have been at this nearing a year, this works and I cannot emphasize enough that we are here to help if you want support just ask.

homesweeths

Also, how many calories are you eating? My weight loss stalled because I was eating according to MFP's recommendations, which was only 1200 calories a day. I did some research and ended up setting a goal between 1500 and 1800 calories. When I keep my carbs below 80g on a consistent basis, and keep my calories above 1500, I lose weight.

cindytw

"No added sugar" can equal to a LOT of carbs! Have you tracked honestly and what is your average carb intake? that can really wreak havoc. What do your fat and protein look like as well?

lujo321

Congrats on quitting smoking. That you managed to do that and lose 50 pounds is amazing. Well done.

theimprovedsharonat50

You have made some FANTASTIC changes (especially quitting smoking!). Get some decent Paleo cookbooks and plan ahead is my main suggestion. Having healthy food always ready to eat has been the key to my success....hungry and no good options often leads to poor choices at least for me. You can do this!

Sapphiresue

Thank you all for your suggestions and encouraging words As some of you mentioned, I have made some hard changes this year and I am still around to talk about it LOL I guess I am too hard on myself, so I am giving myself a break until January 1st. I am going to stick with my exercise routine and try to slowly move to the Paleo diet/lifestyle. I just bought Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and over the next 6 weeks will work my way through it. I have his 21 Day Transformation to start off with in 2015, followed closely by his 90 Day Journal. I feel 100% better just with what I have done and I hope I feel even better adopting Paleo/Primal lifestyle. If anyone would like to be a friend on here, please send me a request.

LeenaGee

Well done!! What you have done is truly inspirational and you deserve to feel really proud of yourself. I agree with all of the above and think your body needs to settle into the new you. Give it time whilst eating healthy food and without putting pressure on yourself to lose more weight. Paleo should be relatively easy for you with all the major changes you have already made. Now it is time to start smelling the roses sweetheart with those beautiful healthy lungs of yours. Good for you.

1961dublin

Hi all, I am new too. I have been on Intermittent fasting since Feb last, and I lost 2 stone. I eat within a 7 hour window. So I am nearly at maintenance now which I am finding hard. On non fast days I never eat grains and rarely eat processed stuff. I do eat coconut oil and so called healthy fats. What are the main changes with paleo? I think I already follow most of them. Do I really have to give up dairy with paleo?

homesweeths

1961dublin wrote: »

Hi all, I am new too. I have been on Intermittent fasting since Feb last, and I lost 2 stone. I eat within a 7 hour window. So I am nearly at maintenance now which I am finding hard. On non fast days I never eat grains and rarely eat processed stuff. I do eat coconut oil and so called healthy fats. What are the main changes with paleo? I think I already follow most of them. Do I really have to give up dairy with paleo?

Dairy would be included on the primal end of the spectrum. (Is it a spectrum?) It depends on how you react to dairy. One way to tell would be to give up all dairy for at least a month and then reintroduce it and see how (if) your body reacts.

For myself, I can manage full-fat dairy (sour cream, butter, full cream) on an occasional basis, and even cheese (so long as it's not part-skim) once or twice a week. I don't do well with milk protein, so I know I do better without dairy but I'm not quite ready to leave it behind altogether.

Although some paleo/primal advisers allow rice, I have found I don't do well with that grain. I react more to rice (have been sick all morning from yesterday's gluten-free stuffing, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie) than to wheat! Actually, I don't think I react to wheat at all, as long as I keep total carb count down.

So a large part of success with paleo is paying attention to your body and figuring out what food is health-inducing and nourishing. It's a lifestyle, not a diet.

homesweeths

p.s. For me the main changes with paleo have been not snacking (not a self-control thing, I just don't get hungry the way I used to), eating beween 50-60% of my calories in good fats (bacon fat, coconut oil, butter, avocado), eliminating processed stuff and almost all grain, keeping sugars low (eating decent protein, lots of veggies, a little fruit but not much of that). I also almost never eat nuts or drink alcohol, though nuts and wine are "allowed" on most paleo lists. I just find I do better without them.

Personal experience -- I'm not at "maintenance" by a long shot, though I've been maintaining a 35-pound loss (is that about 2 stone?) for a year now without any effort at all. I'm sure if I buckled down (as in a little less "20" on Mark Sisson's 80/20 idea) I would easily lose the rest of my "extra" weight.

OTOH, I'm healthier than I've been in years. Significantly fewer colds, hay fever much improved, arthritis much improved, almost no migraines after having them on a regular basis before.

You mention struggling. Have you noticed what triggers you? I have more trouble when my carb count rises above 80g daily for more than a couple of days in a row. I do best with two 100-carb days in a week (not together) and the rest of the days 50g or less. It's got a name (carb-cycling, maybe?), and it was discussed here many months ago -- when I was steadily losing weight and then stalled, I found out that staying low carb all the time caused my body to adapt to low-carb eating, which meant I stabilized and stopped losing weight. Boosting my carbs once a week -- and making sure I was eating at least 1500 calories a day -- got me losing again.

If I don't eat at least 1500 calories a day (good fat, meat, and vegetables can be so satisfying that I can easily get to the end of the day with only 700 calories to my account), something odd happens (starvation mode?) and I actually start to gain weight. Same thing if my carb count is consistently above 100g a day -- I gain weight, plus with higher carbs that restless hunger feeling (wanting *something* but never finding satisfaction) returns.