Paleo lifestyle... Have you tried it? How did you feel?

weightywarrior

I don't try and eat like my ancestors... BUT

I don't eat legumes (because I don't enjoy them)
l don't eat bread, rice, pasta and potatoes (because when I do eat them, I overeat - they are my trigger foods!)
I don't eat processed foods (personally I can't see that all the preservatives and colourings can be that healthy)
I don't eat much dairy (only yoghurt and cottage cheese, which I enjoy)

I enjoy meat
I enjoy fruit and veg
I enjoy nuts
I like to cook with oils

Does this make me Primal? I guess it does.
Is this restrictive? Hell, no.

extra_medium

Simply because it's not necessary to be so strict with your diet, doesn't mean that you shouldn't be strict with your diet. Some people do well with structure, while others do well with complete freedom. Of course you don't have to give up bread to lose weight, but some people find it much easier to lose weight when they do give up bread. What's unnecessary is people pointing out "but you could do IIFYM!" in every thread that's not about IIFYM.

:drinker:

I personally find calorie counting incredibly restrictive and boring. Apparently having 1/4 of a cup of icecream or 3 chicken mcnuggets is just SO much more rewarding than making a paleo banoffee pie and eating as much as you want.

I felt like...



But in all seriousness, I found it to be over the top restrictive and completely unnecessarily so. Even so far as to demonize foods like legumes (which I make a big batch of pinto beans from scratch every Sunday) which I consider to be perfectly good whole foods.

On the plus side, it got me to eating a whole lot more whole, nutrient dense foods...but ultimately I decided I'd rather just have a more flexible way of eating that was well balanced and included a whole lot of those kinds of foods...but allowing me to enjoy my ice cream or chocolate souffle or whatever for desert...or just a gummy bear when I wanted one.

No two people should have the same paleo diet. Its pretty much about eliminating problem foods, not demonising everything. You start strict and reintroduce foods slowly. If you have no negative reactions, feel free to eat them. I eat legumes, tomatoes, potatoes, sometimes feta or haloumi. I don't touch wheat & gluten because it hurts me to do so.

This is a fine philosophy, and it seems pretty sound to me, but I wouldn't call it "paleo" by any definition of the marketed diet. There is a long list of foods you're not supposed to eat based on the theory that it can't be good for humans because we supposedly didn't eat them 10,000 years ago. And we got everything right the first time.

mmipanda

No two people should have the same paleo diet. Its pretty much about eliminating problem foods, not demonising everything. You start strict and reintroduce foods slowly. If you have no negative reactions, feel free to eat them. I eat legumes, tomatoes, potatoes, sometimes feta or haloumi. I don't touch wheat & gluten because it hurts me to do so.

This is a fine philosophy, and it seems pretty sound to me, but I wouldn't call it "paleo" by any definition of the marketed diet. There is a long list of foods you're not supposed to eat based on the theory that it can't be good for humans because we supposedly didn't eat them 10,000 years ago. And we got everything right the first time.

*shrug* it's a pretty commonly held view amongst the people I know irl who eat paleo. Its really easy to find paleo bloggers yelling about poisonous tomatoes if you look for them... but I learnt right at the start to take everything I read with a grain of salt. Its all about adapting the principles to suit.

Mr_Knight

Polite opinions only please.

Did it for the better part of a year. It sucked. Low energy and incredible cravings.

Never again.

gillesse

In response to the OP and anyone else interested in the diet... not here for the drama, just want to share my experience

I am currently on the paleo diet (not completely but mostly paleo). I felt like **** for the first three weeks, but then after that, I felt really great and full of energy. Be prepared to COOK. Urgh I hated cooking in the beginning. It truly sucked having to plan meals all the time, but you get used to it. And you must have strong willpower for this to work. Eating paleo whenever you hang with your friends or relatives is not cool at all. You will have to be the picky eater who has special requests for this and that. You have to learn how to say no.

One thing I have to do though is having a small treat every other day that isn't part of the paleo diet. I have a small piece of dark chocolate. Not the whole candy bar, but a little tiny piece. That helps me for cravings. And I also have small little baked goods on some weekends (I have macarons).

I've been losing weight pretty quickly on this diet, which is enough for me to stick to it. This is not a long term diet for me, as I plan on re-introducing grains, dairy and legumes once I start toning my body and exercising. But for now, paleo is definitely for me as it is pretty much the only thing that helps me lose weight consistently. I don't plateau like I used to. It's pretty awesome if you want to lose weight without exercising too much. I do some yoga every now and then.

But for long term, I don't see this working for me at all. To those who can do it long term, I truly applaud you. But for me, I gotta have dairy, grains and legumes. I will definitely not be introducing processed foods into my diet anymore though. There's just too much garbage in that.

This diet is not for everyone. It's extremely difficult. But if you are desperate to lose weight like I am, paleo might work for you. It has worked for most of my family so far. We are losing weight like crazy. But again, this is just our experience. Your genetics might not react well to paleo. Everyone has their own thing that works for them

ndj1979

Try the paleo group. You'll find a lot of people there who can tell you their experiences.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/54-primal-paleo-support-group

This. I'd love to talk about my experience and success with a ketogenic version of a Paleo lifestyle. But not here. I'm done with people telling my how "bad" (omg cutting out whole food groups!) or "restrictive" (cuz eating ribeye steaks, side pork, and vegetables soaked in delicious fats, etc is so terrible) my lifestyle is when I absolutely LOVE, it makes me healthy (we've been lied to), and I lose weight effortlessly. Whatever.


PS. It is cheaper to eat this way, and I can explain how. (I've kept track of my spending for years.)

ill take the steak, pork fat, AND the bread, dairy etc...and I will have no problem comparing my results to yours any day of the week...

and I am sure that our paleo brethren were munching down on ribeyes, side pork, vegetables soaked in fat, etc while they were sitting around the cave grunting at each other...sounds legit.

Comparing my results with yours? See that's the BS I'm talking about. You are a man. I'm a woman. Do you know my health situation, my life experience, etc? What's yours? Wow, you definitely have bigger muscles than me- what am I doing wrong?!!!

PS. Stop with the caveman bs. I do model my diet somewhat after my Inuit neighbours, which was as high as 90% fat, but I'm also stuck accessing the same stuff as you. So caribou, muskox, char are pretty biologically appropriate and I eat them as much as I can get but I'll eat other animals too, and vegetables that my ancestors never knew existed. Why am I still talking... what a waste of time. Bye.

isn't that what Paleo is? Eat like Paleoithic Man - AKA cavemen ....?????

Only in gifs. It's basically consuming whole foods with a long list of restriction put on certain foods based on research that shows a collision with more modern food interventions. The basic problem as I see it, is it's taken to the extreme and not all of the factors that have contributed to diseases of civilization should be solely placed on the food supply. Basically it's the old adage of context and dosage which is generally neglected in most if not all dieting theories. imo

but it is supposed to based on how humans supposedly ate like 10,000 years ago or whatever, correct?

No, that's impossible.

Here's ground zero for most of the information that paleo is based on........

http://thepaleodiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Origins-and-evolution-of-the-Western-diet-health-implications-for-the-21st-centuryabstract.pdf

Abstract: There is growing awareness that the profound changes in the environment (e.g., in diet and other lifestyle conditions) that began with the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry 10,000 years ago occurred too recently on an evolutionary time scale for the human genome to adjust. In conjunction with this discordance between our ancient, genetically determined biology and the nutritional, cultural, and activity patterns of contemporary Western populations, many of the so-called diseases of civilization have emerged. In particular, food staples and food-processing procedures introduced during the Neolithic and Industrial Periods have fundamentally altered seven crucial nutritional characteristics of ancestral hominin diets: 1) glycemic load; 2) fatty acid composition; 3) macronutrient composition; 4) micronutrient density; 5) acid-base balance; 6) sodium-potassium ratio; and 7) fiber content. The evolutionary collision of our ancient genome with the nutritional qualities of recently introduced foods may underlie many of the chronic diseases of Western civilization.

that is interesting…

wasn't the average life span ten thousand years ago like thirty..? Don't really understand following a way of eating from 10,000 years ago…and how does one replicate what was eaten 10,000 years ago ..?

ndj1979

In response to the OP and anyone else interested in the diet... not here for the drama, just want to share my experience

I am currently on the paleo diet (not completely but mostly paleo). I felt like **** for the first three weeks, but then after that, I felt really great and full of energy. Be prepared to COOK. Urgh I hated cooking in the beginning. It truly sucked having to plan meals all the time, but you get used to it. And you must have strong willpower for this to work. Eating paleo whenever you hang with your friends or relatives is not cool at all. You will have to be the picky eater who has special requests for this and that. You have to learn how to say no.

One thing I have to do though is having a small treat every other day that isn't part of the paleo diet. I have a small piece of dark chocolate. Not the whole candy bar, but a little tiny piece. That helps me for cravings. And I also have small little baked goods on some weekends (I have macarons).

I've been losing weight pretty quickly on this diet, which is enough for me to stick to it. This is not a long term diet for me, as I plan on re-introducing grains, dairy and legumes once I start toning my body and exercising. But for now, paleo is definitely for me as it is pretty much the only thing that helps me lose weight consistently. I don't plateau like I used to. It's pretty awesome if you want to lose weight without exercising too much. I do some yoga every now and then.

But for long term, I don't see this working for me at all. To those who can do it long term, I truly applaud you. But for me, I gotta have dairy, grains and legumes. I will definitely not be introducing processed foods into my diet anymore though. There's just too much garbage in that.

This diet is not for everyone. It's extremely difficult. But if you are desperate to lose weight like I am, paleo might work for you. It has worked for most of my family so far. We are losing weight like crazy. But again, this is just our experience. Your genetics might not react well to paleo. Everyone has their own thing that works for them

if it is difficult and not for the long term. Why don't you just eat in a calorie deficit and not restrict whole food groups? Wouldn't that be easier and produce same results?

julieferg7

I am currently following more of a modified Primal diet and love it. Though, to be honest I do have one day a week where is I want something (ie. doughnut, bread, chocolate, etc) I eat it in moderation. I am insulin resistant (diagnosed by an endocrinologist) and this way of eating is by far the best for me. Straight on calories deficits just do not work for me and I have tried! Weight Watchers (calorie restriction) and exercise with eating breads and pasts and rice etc did nothing for me. The scale hardly budged! So, the blanket statement that as long as there is a calorie deficit that you will lose weight is a fallacy for some people, especially those with insulin insensitivity issues. However, when I apply primal concepts *and* a slight calorie deficit, the weight almost falls off.

My energy level has stabilized, my cycles have regulated, and my A1C dropped 2 points. I feel no deprivation at all since I have that one day a week I eat what I want in moderation. Is it more pricey? Yes, honestly it is, but I know where my food is coming from. My macro nutrient ratios are usually around 50% fat, 25% carb and 25% protein and aim for no more than 100 g carbs a day. I stay away from feed lot beef and buy a mix of traditional and organic produce. I am finally hitting my micro nutrient goals without using supplements. I don't miss traditional bread and get my carbs from small amounts of fruit, lots of veggies, sweet potatoes and occasionally regular potatoes (not strictly primal/paleo) or a slice of sprouted grain bread.

SnicciFit

Simply because it's not necessary to be so strict with your diet, doesn't mean that you shouldn't be strict with your diet. Some people do well with structure, while others do well with complete freedom. Of course you don't have to give up bread to lose weight, but some people find it much easier to lose weight when they do give up bread. What's unnecessary is people pointing out "but you could do IIFYM!" in every thread that's not about IIFYM.

:flowerforyou:

KateK8LoseW8

I'm currently doing the whole30 for kicks, which is very strict paleo. Surprisingly I'm not having much trouble sticking with it at all. I'm enjoying the volume of food and I feel pretty good!

mmipanda

In response to the OP and anyone else interested in the diet... not here for the drama, just want to share my experience

I am currently on the paleo diet (not completely but mostly paleo). I felt like **** for the first three weeks, but then after that, I felt really great and full of energy. Be prepared to COOK. Urgh I hated cooking in the beginning. It truly sucked having to plan meals all the time, but you get used to it. And you must have strong willpower for this to work. Eating paleo whenever you hang with your friends or relatives is not cool at all. You will have to be the picky eater who has special requests for this and that. You have to learn how to say no.

One thing I have to do though is having a small treat every other day that isn't part of the paleo diet. I have a small piece of dark chocolate. Not the whole candy bar, but a little tiny piece. That helps me for cravings. And I also have small little baked goods on some weekends (I have macarons).

I've been losing weight pretty quickly on this diet, which is enough for me to stick to it. This is not a long term diet for me, as I plan on re-introducing grains, dairy and legumes once I start toning my body and exercising. But for now, paleo is definitely for me as it is pretty much the only thing that helps me lose weight consistently. I don't plateau like I used to. It's pretty awesome if you want to lose weight without exercising too much. I do some yoga every now and then.

But for long term, I don't see this working for me at all. To those who can do it long term, I truly applaud you. But for me, I gotta have dairy, grains and legumes. I will definitely not be introducing processed foods into my diet anymore though. There's just too much garbage in that.

This diet is not for everyone. It's extremely difficult. But if you are desperate to lose weight like I am, paleo might work for you. It has worked for most of my family so far. We are losing weight like crazy. But again, this is just our experience. Your genetics might not react well to paleo. Everyone has their own thing that works for them

for everyone following along, may I add that we say right from the start that weight-loss should be seen as a side-effect of eating well and feeling better. If you hate it, don't do it. Don't force yourself to stick to something just to see results, because it's likely that the weight will come back on when you stop it.

So comments like "if you are desperate to lose weight like I am, paleo might work for you" are bad news and you won't get much support in the community if that's your attitude.

mmipanda

that is interesting…

wasn't the average life span ten thousand years ago like thirty..? Don't really understand following a way of eating from 10,000 years ago…and how does one replicate what was eaten 10,000 years ago ..?

you might find this an interesting read - http://www.cracked.com/article_20451_5-dumb-myths-about-prehistoric-times-that-everyone-believes.html

amy1612

if it is difficult and not for the long term. Why don't you just eat in a calorie deficit and not restrict whole food groups? Wouldn't that be easier and produce same results?

Come on, leave off. People can eat however they want and find what works for them. If they want to call it paleo let them, if they want to restrict foods, let them. Some people will figure it doesnt work for them and start introducing more flexible eating, others will find it works well and stick with it as just 'how they eat'. I know the bro science that comes along with these topics is hard to swallow, but what does it really matter if someone chooses not to eat foods that you like or eat and calls it whatever name.

Wilhellmina

Going Paleo has been the best decision I've ever made. I made the switch in August of last year and will never look back. I'm dropping weight consistently, never feel deprived with my food options, and I've never felt better mentally or physically as I do right now.

congrats on finding a way to create a calorie deficit….

You don't feels deprived but are eliminating whole food groups..? Interesting...

If you call "eatable" food substitutes food groups, yeah, but further what gives you that idea and that it is calorie deficit?

julieferg7

There Is a book titled Deep Nutrition that, though wordy at times, has a few chapters that explain what happens on a cellular level when there is excess carbs in the blood. It was what finally got me to commit to the way I now eat. Since all carbs get broken down in to sugar in the body, this is why some people see better results on lifestyles like this one.

kelly_e_montana

wasn't the average life span ten thousand years ago like thirty..? Don't really understand following a way of eating from 10,000 years ago…and how does one replicate what was eaten 10,000 years ago ..?

No, seriously, I am not pushing paleo. I am not even doing anything close enough to paleo to call it paleo other than cutting out foods from my own diet that don't work for me. So I'm not talking because I have nothing personal to offer. I have no idea why other people who use their macros (like I do) have to barge into threads that have nothing to do with them and act like the drunken uncle in the corner who can't shut up with his opinion on everything that has nothing to do with him. Blah blah blah.

dm38

I tried it and it didn't really agree with me.

The negatives were far greater than any benefits.
-I spend a decent amount on good quality food but doing it properly meant I was spending huge amounts on food.
-I travel a lot for work and it was really difficult and near impossible sometimes as I would only arrive in a city/hotel after 10pm on some nights and I couldn't carry loads of food all over with me - sure the scanners would have loved me! i.e. I can easily spend each night of the week in a different city and hotel with meetings starting a the crack of dawn and finishing when it's dark and having to then rush to catch a plane or train - it probably didn't help that I broke my hands so luggage weight really was an issue.
-When dining out with friends, family and colleagues it's difficult as it's so restrictive.
-I was obsessing way to much.
-spending what little personal time I did have preparing food.
- i've never been a huge fan of meat.

It would have been easier if I could have purchased paleo food on the go.

I generally now try and avoid grains, sugars, processed rubbish, anything that's pre-packed where possible but I don't obsess about tracking down grass fed, organic fed meat products or locally grown fruit and veg and occasionally if I'm working long hours it's not the end of the world if I have a sandwich or a lentil salad.

ndj1979

wasn't the average life span ten thousand years ago like thirty..? Don't really understand following a way of eating from 10,000 years ago…and how does one replicate what was eaten 10,000 years ago ..?

No, seriously, I am not pushing paleo. I am not even doing anything close enough to paleo to call it paleo other than cutting out foods from my own diet that don't work for me. So I'm not talking because I have nothing personal to offer. I have no idea why other people who use their macros (like I do) have to barge into threads that have nothing to do with them and act like the drunken uncle in the corner who can't shut up with his opinion on everything that has nothing to do with him. Blah blah blah.

so I can't ask questions about said method?

ndj1979

Going Paleo has been the best decision I've ever made. I made the switch in August of last year and will never look back. I'm dropping weight consistently, never feel deprived with my food options, and I've never felt better mentally or physically as I do right now.

congrats on finding a way to create a calorie deficit….

You don't feels deprived but are eliminating whole food groups..? Interesting...

If you call "eatable" food substitutes food groups, yeah, but further what gives you that idea and that it is calorie deficit?

dropping weight = calorie deficit….

unless you are saying that you eat in as surplus and still lose weight?