new to paleo....still have questions

kir911

I have been full force logging food and working out hard and consistently since September and have only managed to lose 19 lbs. I am plateauing more than losing it seems. My husband is a personal trainer and he and I stay pretty on top of our nutrition. Until recently we were still eating brown rice, whole grain pasta, Quinoa, beans etc, all the good starchy carbs. But, still we weren't making progress towards our goals. So...we recently started eating the paleo style. He has been doing it for a while and it took me a little longer to give it a shot. But...I have at least another 50-60 pounds to lose, and I figured since what I had been doing wasn't working, trying it couldn't hurt. I like eating meat so the increase it that is great and not a problem. The only thing I miss right now is dairy...I loved greek yogurt and 2% cheese in small amounts, and skim milk. The starchy carbs I can live without. I am really excited to see how things go moving forward. I would be interested to hear your feedback on this way of eating. I am still logging my food, because I have a tendancy to eat out of boredom and I want to be accountable for what I put in my mouth. That is what got me here to begin with. Should I be monitoring my fiber intake? I still can't believe I can eat butter either. Is it your understanding that we can't eat anything canned either (i.e. tomatoes). I am sure I will have more questions, but those are a couple.

scarletleavy

Regarding dairy, some people tolerate it just fine, others not so much. I'd suggest cutting out dairy completely for 30 days and seeing how it goes. I can tolerate dairy pretty well, so I'll occasionally have yogurt or cheese, but I do eat a lot less of it than I used to. After 30 days, add a bit back into your diet and see how you feel. If you're OK, don't feel like you can't ever eat dairy again.

To be honest, I don't monitor my fiber at all.

With canned items you have to watch out for added ingredients or added salt. Other than that, canned vegetables and such are not the end of the world. I prefer fresh whenever possible, but if I can't do fresh, then I do frozen, if not frozen, then canned. That's my little hierarchy.

Hope that answers a few of your questions.

As for me, I love the Paleo way of eating, my only complaint is that it does take a lot of time/planning. And as I've found out this week, it can be difficult to keep up when you're sick and have no one to help you. I've been eating the weirdest things this week because my body couldn't tolerate normal foods and I couldn't prepare my typical Paleo fare.

demuralist

I do primal as opposed to paleo.

Have no problems with dairy, so I do HWC in my coffee, and rarely greek yogurt.

The thing I found when I first started was a tendency to "allow" myself quite a bit of added fat. I find I do best, weight loss wise when my protein grams come from leaner sources and I don't do much by way of adding fats.

I don't do all the bacon, that many seem to be crazy for.

It is a process to see what works best for you, the tricky part is that the details change as you lose.

ganesha303

I handle dairy well and am much more attracted to Primal vs Paleo as well.

monkeydharma

Re dairy: we no longer use cow dairy - it is too difficult to wade through the legal BS and find product that hasn't been adulterated or corrupted in some way. What little dairy we use is made from either goat or sheep milk. Both are more easily digestible than cow milk. I get both goat butter and yogurt (which can also double as sour cream) from my natural foods co-op, and goat and sheep cheeses can readily be found at Trader Joe or your local cheese shop.

Try increasing your green veg intake rather than meat.

Make sure grains are out of your life - particularly if you are trying to lose weight. It's all about the response to insulin, and that is affected by grains, carbs and sugars. As long as your body is tryiing to burn carbs for fuel, it will be resistant to weight loss. But, once you switch to burning fat as fuel - then the fat starts to go away.

Minimize any sugar that is not in the middle of a fruit. And be moderate about even that.

Having fat be allowable doesn't mean gorge on the stuff. While bacon is not the enemy - neither is it a friend. USe grass-fed meats and enjoy the fat it has, or if you use grain-fed meat, trim off all fat and cook in an omega3-rich oil.

Enjoy your journey!

Anathama

Hey there, I'm new to the paleo/primal thing too, just been a couple of weeks so far. I've been getting most of my info from Dr. Kurt Harris and his blog Archevore. It's definitely in the Primal camp as he does allow dairy.

http://www.archevore.com/get-started/

Good Luck!

kir911

Thanks for all your responses!! Most helpful. I am gonna give the no dairy thing a shot for 30 days and then see how I do adding it back in a little. I never used it excessively to begin with. I definately believe the grains, sugar and starchy carbs and the issue for my body, I just don't handle them well. I completely agree about not going crazy with the fats, or bacon. I am using everything sparingly. I think the absence of the grains alone will do the trick for me. I was already doing everything else.

chammich

I'm on day 25th of my 30 day challenge with no dairy. I didn't drink milk to start with but I did eat cheese. That i do miss but the results I am having are worth it. I like the previous poster who doesn't eat cow dairy..I think that's a good idea and I might incorporate that into my diet later. If it gets too restrictive for you without dairy maybe have it once a week.

kcalla

I've been following this way of eating for over a year. I had lost 60+ pounds (WWers) when I started Primal/Paleo. I find that all week long I eat lean meats, lots of eggs, healthy oils, and tons of veggies. Snacks are low-sugar fruits, nuts, and 60% chocolate. Once I weigh in on Fridays, I splurge with 1 Min. Muffins, coconut bread, and sometimes tortilla chips. Sure enough...once I add the carbs in, I'm up on Monday. So... that's how I maintain. The carbs have to go to lose the weight. IMHO

I consider myself and 80/20 gal. Oh, and I do splurge on a glass or 2 of wine every week or so.