Paleo/Primal way of eating = finally the truth revealed?

Jeepster152010

Hi, hope you don't mind if I join in! We have been eating Primal for over a year but I have a tendency to "cheat" sometimes. I always pay for it though. I signed up for this site to track my carbs and sugar. I also get a good chuckle at the weight predictions.

sincitylulu

I have tried Primal eating but it proved to be pretty impossible for me to eat that way as I couldn't change the way my kids and husband ate.

Jeepster152010

Well, my husband is the one who researched for us and got us started on it. Our daughter is only 14 months old so she doesn't have a whole lot of say in what she eats lol...she doesn't know any different! I could provide links for your husband if you PM me.

freerange

I have tried Primal eating but it proved to be pretty impossible for me to eat that way as I couldn't change the way my kids and husband ate.

It can be hard when your spouse doesn't jon in, mine will not either, so I just make sure I fix, or she fixes something we can both have. Like last night I grilled hamburgers, I ate mine without a bun, and the other night I grilled ribs, I had spinach as a side and she had cheesey potatoes.

As long as the main dish is something you can both eat, you can mix and match the sides to fit your diet and his.

kdiamond

I have tried Primal eating but it proved to be pretty impossible for me to eat that way as I couldn't change the way my kids and husband ate.

It can be hard when your spouse doesn't jon in, mine will not either, so I just make sure I fix, or she fixes something we can both have. Like last night I grilled hamburgers, I ate mine without a bun, and the other night I grilled ribs, I had spinach as a side and she had cheesey potatoes.

As long as the main dish is something you can both eat, you can mix and match the sides to fit your diet and his.

This is what I do with my kids (my husband and I eat Paleo too). I add brown rice or potatoes or whole wheat pasta with their chicken, fish, steak, whatever we're having and then everyone eats veggies as well. I don't see what is so difficult about that.

It drives me crazy when people think this is anything like Atkins LOL. It pains me to see people argue against it. How can you argue eating all natural and unprocessed crap (and yes, wheat products are ALL processed) - I'm not saying its gonna kill you, but it isn't helping! And I never feel lathargic, tired, etc.. you should see the crazy intense workouts I do every day in Crossfit! I'll tell you what, on those Sundays when I do go off Paleo eating (like, my pizza days) I am a piece of CRAP in the gym the next day...so sluggish...so that is a complete farce. When people ask me why I do it (the usual "you don't have to lose weight thing) I tell them to try it for 30 days and get back to me, I'll bet they feel better! Don't knock it until you try it.

LuckyLeprechaun

This is what I do with my kids (my husband and I eat Paleo too). I add brown rice or potatoes or whole wheat pasta with their chicken, fish, steak, whatever we're having and then everyone eats veggies as well.

if you are convinced these things should not be eaten, why do you give them to your kids?

freerange

Supper tonight, a salad, with mixed lettuce, baby spinach, celery, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, black olives, dill pickle, onion, blue cheese crumbles, and rotisserie chicken shredded. Mixed some all natural un-pasteurized apple cider vinegar, EVOO, and italian spices for a dressing. Oh and for desert a half of a grapefruit.

Man this all meat diet is killing me.

Grokette

Your supper sounds Great!!

I am having sirloin steak, sauteed spinach with bacon, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Salad field greens with balsamic vinegar and strawberries for dessert.

Grokette

I have tried Primal eating but it proved to be pretty impossible for me to eat that way as I couldn't change the way my kids and husband ate.

It can be hard when your spouse doesn't jon in, mine will not either, so I just make sure I fix, or she fixes something we can both have. Like last night I grilled hamburgers, I ate mine without a bun, and the other night I grilled ribs, I had spinach as a side and she had cheesey potatoes.

As long as the main dish is something you can both eat, you can mix and match the sides to fit your diet and his.

This is what I do with my kids (my husband and I eat Paleo too). I add brown rice or potatoes or whole wheat pasta with their chicken, fish, steak, whatever we're having and then everyone eats veggies as well. I don't see what is so difficult about that.

It drives me crazy when people think this is anything like Atkins LOL. It pains me to see people argue against it. How can you argue eating all natural and unprocessed crap (and yes, wheat products are ALL processed) - I'm not saying its gonna kill you, but it isn't helping! And I never feel lathargic, tired, etc.. you should see the crazy intense workouts I do every day in Crossfit! I'll tell you what, on those Sundays when I do go off Paleo eating (like, my pizza days) I am a piece of CRAP in the gym the next day...so sluggish...so that is a complete farce. When people ask me why I do it (the usual "you don't have to lose weight thing) I tell them to try it for 30 days and get back to me, I'll bet they feel better! Don't knock it until you try it.

As someone that transitioned from Atkins to Primal Blue Print - there is not much difference.

The major differences are Atkins allows grains, dairy, beans and legumes, Primal blue print does not. ATkins is also a bit more structured so that you can see if you have an food intolerances.

Other than that, they are the same plan.................

pyro13g

And, there is no Ketosis with Primal/Paleo. Maybe in vague sense, but not where Atkins puts you.

caprica

And, there is no Ketosis with Primal/Paleo. Maybe in vague sense, but not where Atkins puts you.

I am not really a big fruit person, so some days I find my carbs are low and i dip into ketosis. I sometimes feel like I am on some kind of cyclic ketogenic diet by accident.

Grokette

And, there is no Ketosis with Primal/Paleo. Maybe in vague sense, but not where Atkins puts you.

Actually the "sweet spot" for effortless weight loss that Mark Sisson often speaks about is pretty deep ketosis and there is nothing unhealthy about being in ketosis as long as you are a healthy individual. Your body is switched to a primarily fat burning machine, instead of carb burning.

For most people, that is keeping the carbs between 0-50. 51-75 grams of carbs most will probably be in a mild state of ketosis and up to about 125 grams you may float in and out of ketosis.

I have done both plans. There is not much of a difference except Atkins is way more structured than PBP.

caprica

Has anyone tried the paleo blueprint cookbook? Which recipes do you like best?

Grokette

Has anyone tried the paleo blueprint cookbook? Which recipes do you like best?

I have tried the majority of the recipes in the cookbook and like all of them so far.

caprica

Which ones do you cook most often?

brainzzz

I don't think there is a single "truth" to how people should eat. The human body is amazingly complex and adaptable, so unless you're a high performance athlete, there is a wide range of macros that work for most people (the split between fat/carbs/protein). Regardless of the specifics, if someone tries to eat a fairly well balanced diet with 15-30% protein (some people go a little higher), 20-30% fat and 45-60% carbs (some people go a little lower), and try to get most of those calories from foods that are in or very close to their original forms (minimize the processed foods you eat), then they can be healthy.

I don't buy into any of these restrictive food plans because while I may agree with elements in each of them, I find the combination of restrictions unnecessary and overly-extreme. For example, I agree with the Paleo ideas that eating fat (even animal fat) is not bad for you, getting enough protein, eating foods in unprocessed form and that we should avoid processed sugars but I don't agree with the idea that you should have to cut out all starches and legumes. Perhaps some people's bodies are "picky" or have food allergies and need something a little different (ex - very few/no grains, no gluten, no dairy, etc.) but most people don't need to do anything extreme to be healthy and feel good.

Ditto...down to the last word.

Agree, we are complex, and it is important just to find what works for you (and avoinding the gimmicks etc).

My only "problem" with what they call the Primal Diet (and I am only going on a limited knowledge here so this is only my humble opinion) is that our genes have changed in a number of ways since the "Primal times" to deal with the variety of circumstances mankind has had to encounter, so we are not really the "same" as then (there is much research on genetic mutations that have allowed populations to deal with differing food types).

Also in "primal times" humans would have eaten "all the animal" (skin excluded), and I do not see these diets (again caveat of I have not read widely on this) encouraging the eating liver, kidney, brains, stomach (even stomach contents) of animals etc etc etc, which have a range of nutrients.

I think that such distant ancestors would have eaten a wide variety of animals (from rats, mice, birds, insects, grubs, reptiles, large and small herbivores... in fact almost anything with a face they could catch as food was scarce) - modern humans do not. Our meat diet comes from a limited stock of genetically non-diverse stock.

Now this is just my opinion and thoughts (and I have a small bias being a vegan - not for moral reasons just for health reasons, based on the China Study discussing the extensive research and impact of excessive consumption of animal protein on cancer).

To add to this, the topic of exact ratios of animal to plant material consumed by our ancestors is still rather controversial. Originally it was thought that hunting and animal foods contributed in part to the evolution of our larger brains but more recently, evidence suggest that other food sources such as plant tubers may have had just as much impact.

What we do know is that humans have adapted to various plant to animal ratios. Traditional Inuit diets consisted of an extreme 90% animal material where as many societies have existed as exclusively vegetarian and have a much lower 5-10% of their diet being derived from animal products and now a days vegans can live healthily enough with 0%. Modern hunter gathers, who presumably live a lifestyle most in line with our ancestors, show an incredible diversity in the ratio of animal to plant material in their diets.

If a paleo/primal diet seems to be working for you, that's fine, but it's by no means definitive that humans ought to eat like this.

freerange

I don't think there is a single "truth" to how people should eat. The human body is amazingly complex and adaptable, so unless you're a high performance athlete, there is a wide range of macros that work for most people (the split between fat/carbs/protein). Regardless of the specifics, if someone tries to eat a fairly well balanced diet with 15-30% protein (some people go a little higher), 20-30% fat and 45-60% carbs (some people go a little lower), and try to get most of those calories from foods that are in or very close to their original forms (minimize the processed foods you eat), then they can be healthy.

I don't buy into any of these restrictive food plans because while I may agree with elements in each of them, I find the combination of restrictions unnecessary and overly-extreme. For example, I agree with the Paleo ideas that eating fat (even animal fat) is not bad for you, getting enough protein, eating foods in unprocessed form and that we should avoid processed sugars but I don't agree with the idea that you should have to cut out all starches and legumes. Perhaps some people's bodies are "picky" or have food allergies and need something a little different (ex - very few/no grains, no gluten, no dairy, etc.) but most people don't need to do anything extreme to be healthy and feel good.

Ditto...down to the last word.

Agree, we are complex, and it is important just to find what works for you (and avoinding the gimmicks etc).

My only "problem" with what they call the Primal Diet (and I am only going on a limited knowledge here so this is only my humble opinion) is that our genes have changed in a number of ways since the "Primal times" to deal with the variety of circumstances mankind has had to encounter, so we are not really the "same" as then (there is much research on genetic mutations that have allowed populations to deal with differing food types).

Also in "primal times" humans would have eaten "all the animal" (skin excluded), and I do not see these diets (again caveat of I have not read widely on this) encouraging the eating liver, kidney, brains, stomach (even stomach contents) of animals etc etc etc, which have a range of nutrients.

I think that such distant ancestors would have eaten a wide variety of animals (from rats, mice, birds, insects, grubs, reptiles, large and small herbivores... in fact almost anything with a face they could catch as food was scarce) - modern humans do not. Our meat diet comes from a limited stock of genetically non-diverse stock.

Now this is just my opinion and thoughts (and I have a small bias being a vegan - not for moral reasons just for health reasons, based on the China Study discussing the extensive research and impact of excessive consumption of animal protein on cancer).

To add to this, the topic of exact ratios of animal to plant material consumed by our ancestors is still rather controversial. Originally it was thought that hunting and animal foods contributed in part to the evolution of our larger brains but more recently, evidence suggest that other food sources such as plant tubers may have had just as much impact.

What we do know is that humans have adapted to various plant to animal ratios. Traditional Inuit diets consisted of an extreme 90% animal material where as many societies have existed as exclusively vegetarian and have a much lower 5-10% of their diet being derived from animal products and now a days vegans can live healthily enough with 0%. Modern hunter gathers, who presumably live a lifestyle most in line with our ancestors, show an incredible diversity in the ratio of animal to plant material in their diets.

If a paleo/primal diet seems to be working for you, that's fine, but it's by no means definitive that humans ought to eat like this.

NO SOCIETY IN HISTORY HAS BEEN EXCLUSIVELY VEGETARIAN,,,,,,,,,,, NONE.

kdiamond

This is what I do with my kids (my husband and I eat Paleo too). I add brown rice or potatoes or whole wheat pasta with their chicken, fish, steak, whatever we're having and then everyone eats veggies as well.

if you are convinced these things should not be eaten, why do you give them to your kids?

I never said I am convinced these things should never be eaten...I feel like not eating them makes me perform better and I look better. I'm not bloated and lethargic like I am when I'm carb loaded. I'm not gung ho that grains are 'poison', but the diet is healthier than most. I also never said I never eat a piece of pizza either, I still believe in everything in moderation...

Also, my kids need the extra calories...they love fruit and all, but with how active they are they need the extra calories that come along with grains...my husband and I do not.

People are going to argue against every 'way of eating' I suppose. I know FOR ME personally, my body responds very well to Paleo eating. Not only that, but I can eat WAY more to get to the same amount of calories. And I feel better putting whole natural foods in my body. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

caprica

I survived my first 24 hour intermittent fast yesterday. Skipping breakfast was no fun, but by morning tea I was doing o.k. and breezed through lunch By dinner I was starving. Dropped some weight off the scale this morning, as a result of the fast, but I think it is probably water weight.

Has anyone here tried intermittent fasting?

p.s. I've just cooked the pot roast from the paleo blueprint cookbook. yummmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyy

SOLSTICE62

Bump

jenbcp

I wanted to comment on this thread because of my own experiences with various diets, and most recently, the Primal/Paleo way of eating. I have tried every single diet (and some fads) you can think of. There was Jenny Craig, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Flat Belly, South Beach, Raw Foodism, Nutrisystem, Blood Type, Sugar Buster’s, Macrobiotic….well, you get the point.

About a month ago I read Mark Sisson’s “Primal Blueprint” and have been following the diet for the last few weeks. Something clicked. This is working for me, and I can definitely envision sticking with this long-term. Everything about the primal (paleo is similar, but not 100% the same) way of eating makes senses to me, and more importantly, to my body.

I think eating is a very personal thing. What works for one may not work for another. My sister lost 85 pounds on Atkins, and I barely lasted one week. My boss lost 100+ on Nutrisystem, and I fell off the bandwagon after a month. Weight Watchers has worked for friends a few family members, but I found the meetings and tracking of the points took up time I didn’t have. Point being, some things will work for some people, and not for others.

The one thing I love about this forum is that it doesn’t matter what diet you’re doing because this is a support system. Diets aren’t about finding the “perfect solution” or talking down to anyone, it’s about sharing triumphs and failures, and understanding that each of us is putting in a lot of HARD WORK.

Best of luck to everyone, no matter what diet you’re doing

tmaksparkie

I am a primal eater, with some dairy(Greek yogurt and a little cheese) it is so natural although I am not looking forward to Easter because candy still gets me once in a while.

rachpiper720

I am finally converting to the primal diet after MUCH research into the topic. I have come in with an open mind after using the USDA food pyramid as a guide for my weight loss. I have had a small success managing my calorie deficit, but have been hungry all the time and with doing lots of strength training, the 5-6 oz of lean meat (as recommended for my daily intake on the food pyramid) has not been cutting it. Plus, the 7-8 oz of whole grains per day left me feeling full....for about 10 minutes.

I stumbled upon the primal/paleo way of eating after I watched "Fathead", which was eyeopening, but I still took it with a grain of salt as I come from an engineering/science background. I got Gary Taubes "Good Calories Bad Calories" book and picked it apart, and have researched the subject on my own in PEER reviewed journals (not just internet websites). The human body is complex, more complex that we can ever imagine! Not one thing will work for everyone. If you can lose weight by just reducing caloric intake, then great! If not, then look beyond the "a calorie is a calorie" mentality. I suggest to through the science of anything they try before you jump on a bandwagon. Listen to what your body says and try different things until something works! Good luck to all!

YeaILift

Full Article Available at www.alanaragon.com/researchreview (December 2009)

lodro

Of course it's a far from "objective" look, but that's a minor detail.

YeaILift

Of course it's a far from "objective" look, but that's a minor detail.

How so? Also, this is only the summary. The full article is about 2 pages longer.

Grokette

I have tried Primal eating but it proved to be pretty impossible for me to eat that way as I couldn't change the way my kids and husband ate.

It can be hard when your spouse doesn't jon in, mine will not either, so I just make sure I fix, or she fixes something we can both have. Like last night I grilled hamburgers, I ate mine without a bun, and the other night I grilled ribs, I had spinach as a side and she had cheesey potatoes.

As long as the main dish is something you can both eat, you can mix and match the sides to fit your diet and his.

Yep, yep!! This is what I do also............

I make a meat and vegetable or vegetable, salad and then make my hubby a baked sweet potato or an occasional white potato for him. Or sometimes I will make some home made yeast rolls to go with the meat and veggies for him.

It is not hard to do and the more you do, the more inclinded your family will start to follow your lead. Lead by example and they will follow. :bigsmile:

lodro

Of course it's a far from "objective" look, but that's a minor detail.

How so? Also, this is only the summary. The full article is about 2 pages longer.

it's hard to quote from an article that's an image. do you have a link to an online, quotable version?

myukniewicz

i'm very interested in paleo eating, thank you for the post!

Barneystinson

In case anyone wondered where the heck I've been 'round these forums...

I've been on the experiment of what I'd call the standard American diet (150g plus daily) for half marathon training for the past 3 months. I'm probably eating about 2200 calories per day to keep up with running 4x weekly. The day before longer runs, I eat well above 200g carbohdyrate to maintain my energy. I've tried eating less carbs but I bonk out. I also feel like a sugar junkie. Constantly want to eat. Bleh.

Prior to that I'd been eating low carb / paleo (I'm not a zealot about avoiding all grains or sugars - but I liked to keep my carb intake within balance to maintain my weight). I was keeping in shape by lifting, doing light runs and walks (no running exceeding 3 miles), and basic play - climbing around, being a doofus outside, y'know... I hit 129 back in the fall and I was lookin goooood! Jeans were fittin nice, heck yes, go hot Barney.

I feel like utter s**t eating this many carbs. I've went up to 135 pounds, lost muscle tone, and feel sluggish. My blood iron sucks (even with supplementation), I'm getting joint pain (again), and yes, did I mention I feel like s**t? I'VE BECOME SKINNY FAT. Who cares that I can continuously run for 10 miles. I AM FLABBY. BOOO FRIGGITY HISS.

I'm going to run this half marathon this weekend and call it quits for long distance running. There's seriously no point to beating myself up over this. I have no idea how or why the general public idolizes distance running as being the pinnacle of health.

I doubted some of the paleo and primal zealotry and recommendations, but wow, people, I'll be honest, I think there's a lot of sense in what they're saying - especially about lifestyle. Lifting and "slow, low" cardio...they win. Hands down. Bicker all you want about how many carbs to eat to maintain lifestyle or whatever caveman ate. I'm going back to eating less than 100g daily and eating some delicious fatty fat animal fat because wow, do I feel so much better eating that way.