Eating Paleo and counting calories

aggiesrar05

Hi all,

I've been on MFP for several months and just recently started eating 100% strict Paleo. I am highly active, training for a sprint tri, endurance bike ride, as well as CrossFit 4x per week. My CrossFit box is actually what got me started with Paleo, as we are doing a 60 day Paleo Challenge.

My question is, my calorie goals are to net 1800 calories which is above my BMR. I have my macros set to 40Carb/30Protein/30Fat as suggested by the CF main nutrition page (http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/start-diet.html). Since I started eating Paleo I've been eating a decent of food and am satisfied (and I feel amazing... best swim coaching session ever yesterday) yet I haven't been making it up to my net 1800 calories. For example yesterday I ate 1649 and burned 469 swimming. (126g Carb, 68g Fat, 115g Protein)

My CF coach who has been Paleo for a long time told me that I shouldn't worry too much about the calories, but my concern is that my BMR is about 1700 calories, if I'm netting below that isn't that a bad thing?

Thanks for the help!

victoria4321

I think its fine. It could be an adjustment thing because of all the extra bulk but over time you should be able to eat more.

I'm following the same plan as you only difference is I have two fasting days where I eat one meal so I get more calories on some days.

AggieCass09

Listen to your body....Paleo is supposed to be based on how you feel and what works best for your body. I'd try out various amounts for a few weeks and see how it goes. Also, the macros in the cf page are for the zone diet which isn't the same as Paleo (it's very number centric and is based off of entirely different premises). Anyhoo, your coach is right, don't worry about the calories. Just Paleo approved foods until you are satisfied. Adding in good fats (coconut oil when cooking, avocados, nuts, fatty fish, etc) will keep you full and up those calories.

Good luck with your challenge!

victoria4321

Listen to your body....Paleo is supposed to be based on how you feel and what works best for your body. I'd try out various amounts for a few weeks and see how it goes. Also, the macros in the cf page are for the zone diet which isn't the same as Paleo (it's very number centric and is based off of entirely different premises). Anyhoo, your coach is right, don't worry about the calories. Just Paleo approved foods until you are satisfied. Adding in good fats (coconut oil when cooking, avocados, nuts, fatty fish, etc) will keep you full and up those calories.

Good luck with your challenge!

In an ideal situation, you would follow Paleo and zone. The zone diet isn't too complicated its just a 40/30/30 macro ratio split for each meal. You should still count calories I think if you want to lose weight. The zone is based off a similar principle also. Its assumed that as you follow strict Paleo you'll naturally fall into the zone macros which I do believe works. I don't watch my macros too strictly but the days that I go strict paleo I see myself naturally falling into zone ratios.

The zone diet has all these blocks and numbers but that's supposed to make it easier for someone who doesn't want to count calories. So they'll see 1/2 an apple = 1 carb block and they'll have a number of blocks to make up for each meal. Since MFP is tracking your calories and macros you don't need to use the block method.

Be careful with "listening to your body" I'm not sure how your body works, but my body loves ice cream, chocolate, and sweets lol.