Starting Paleo Monday & have a question or 2

carashirley

How many ounces of meat/protein should I eat at each meal?

I can still eat bacon while doing this (the real stuff & not this turkey stuff I've been settling for)?

My trainer suggest eating at least something every 3 hours, but I've seen people say only eat when hungry...which do I do?

I still plan on tracking my calories for the sake of knowing what my caloric deficit is everyday. My trainer suggest keeping my intake around 1500 a day. I'm worried about feeling satisfied eating like this yet sticking to my calorie limit...is it possible?

Please tell me that eventually this becomes like second nature, b/c right now I am feeling way overwhelmed! My trainer thinks eating like this will up my weight loss levels, which is great, but I'm really going for a feeling of peace with myself, the choices I make concerning food and the way I eat.


I'll take all the advice I can get! TIA!

AllanMisner

How many ounces of meat/protein should I eat at each meal?

If you're lifting, I'd go with 1g per pound of lean body mass, and .75 of a pound LBM if just doing cardio.

I can still eat bacon while doing this (the real stuff & not this turkey stuff I've been settling for)?

Do some research here. Not all bacon is created equal. Watch out for added sugar.

My trainer suggest eating at least something every 3 hours, but I've seen people say only eat when hungry...which do I do?

Smaller, more frequent meals and Intermittent Fasting are strategies. Find a strategy that works for you.

I still plan on tracking my calories for the sake of knowing what my caloric deficit is everyday. My trainer suggest keeping my intake around 1500 a day. I'm worried about feeling satisfied eating like this yet sticking to my calorie limit...is it possible?

There are many calculators available to estimate your calorie needs. From my experience, if you have enough fat in your diet, you'll be fine. If you find you're not getting what you need, make a reasoned change. Listen to your body. How do you feel? How well are you sleeping? Do you have the energy you need working out and getting through the day?

Please tell me that eventually this becomes like second nature, b/c right now I am feeling way overwhelmed! My trainer thinks eating like this will up my weight loss levels, which is great, but I'm really going for a feeling of peace with myself, the choices I make concerning food and the way I eat

Yes, it will. In fact you'll feel better and know it is the right way to treat your body.

carashirley

Allan, thank you!!!

homesweeths

Welcome!

I can tell you what worked for me. Everyone's different, of course.

My MFP macros are set so that I eat at least 55% fat (or maybe 60, I don't remember for sure),
aiming for about 80g of protein (.7 multiplied by what I estimate as my lean body mass) and under 75g of carbs (Mark Sisson's "sweet spot" for weight loss is between 50-100g).

I am almost never hungry unless my carb count approaches 100g for a day. I have a spoonful of coconut oil for breakfast, along with supplements and probiotics, and that keeps me going until lunch, or later. Today because of circumstances I wasn't able to eat lunch until after 5pm, which was nearly 24 hours after my previous meal, but wasn't lacking for energy or concentration. (Still amazes me.)

I log what I eat because I've found I'm satisfied with 600-800 calories for the day, not hungry or feeling deprived, and having to plan my eating to make sure I get at least 1200 calories for a day. Too often I don't quite make it, even then. (This means eating when I'm not hungry, strangely enough, as I'm never really hungry these days. Very different from previous "diets". Of course, this isn't a diet. It's a lifestyle that I plan to continue even when I reach goal weight.)

Dragonwolf

Welcome!

I can tell you what worked for me. Everyone's different, of course.

My MFP macros are set so that I eat at least 55% fat (or maybe 60, I don't remember for sure),
aiming for about 80g of protein (.7 multiplied by what I estimate as my lean body mass) and under 75g of carbs (Mark Sisson's "sweet spot" for weight loss is between 50-100g).

I am almost never hungry unless my carb count approaches 100g for a day. I have a spoonful of coconut oil for breakfast, along with supplements and probiotics, and that keeps me going until lunch, or later. Today because of circumstances I wasn't able to eat lunch until after 5pm, which was nearly 24 hours after my previous meal, but wasn't lacking for energy or concentration. (Still amazes me.)

I log what I eat because I've found I'm satisfied with 600-800 calories for the day, not hungry or feeling deprived, and having to plan my eating to make sure I get at least 1200 calories for a day. Too often I don't quite make it, even then. (This means eating when I'm not hungry, strangely enough, as I'm never really hungry these days. Very different from previous "diets". Of course, this isn't a diet. It's a lifestyle that I plan to continue even when I reach goal weight.)

This. Most people find that they need to be careful to eat enough food, because they don't constantly feel hungry like they did when they were eating a non-Paleo diet. Usually, the constant hunger is the reason "eat every 3 hours" is recommended - it keeps you from feeling ravaged and eating everything in the house. That doesn't generally happen if you keep your carbs lower.

I don't eat coconut oil straight like the above quote, but I've found I really like Mark Sisson's Primal Egg Coffee http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-egg-coffee/ , modified slightly to suit my tastes (it's a variation of Bulletproof Coffee - http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/ ). It keeps me going well into lunch time. I've also found that when I have it in the mornings, I'm less likely to crave carby stuff.

Smaller, more frequent meals and Intermittent Fasting are strategies. Find a strategy that works for you.

This, too, though there are a couple of things to note - while hunger-wise you might be able to do Intermittent Fasting, be careful to make sure you get enough food. I actually had issues getting enough food doing it, because I was never hungry and couldn't eat a full day's worth of food in the shorter length of time. Personally, I do best with three "meals" (I'm not totally sure the morning Primal Coffee technically counts as a "meal", but it's 400-500 calories, so it falls into "designated time for ingesting a source of calories").

So, feel free to experiment, but also listen to more from your body than just hunger. It's easy to get hung up on the hunger signals and forget that your body has other ways of communicating.

Also, it's possible that, for a while in the beginning, you'll feel like you want to eat everything and that the fattier foods don't satisfy you. This is common when you go from higher carbs to lower carbs, especially if the difference is large. Feel free to eat when hungry, even if it's way over your calorie goals for the first week or two, just stick with fatty foods and good sources of carbs (berries, tubers, leafy greens, etc). Once your body adjusts to not having the garbage and has rebuilt most of its nutrient stores, you should start self-regulating without much effort (save for possibly the aforementioned "make sure you're eating enough").