EM2WL and Paleo/Primal

booyainyoface

anyone have any experience with paleo/primal (less restrictive- cheese/protein pow ok) and the EM2WL calorie amounts? I am a (slightly recovering) severe carb addict and have been doing well with a 45/30/25 split, but have a lot of friends that have been talking about primal blueprint, so i was thinking about taking a stab at it.

I want to continue to take in 1850 calories/day (medium active- scooby tells me to eat 1802, so i rounded up!) but change up my diet to the primal way of eating.

any feedback would be appreciated! if anything maybe i will learn to cook a little bit

believeandtry

I have the exact same question!!! I come from a restrictive dieting past, but for the past 2 years have been eating a balanced diet without any binges. My crossfit coach keeps telling me to go paleo, but i don't know if i should do it. I don't think i would have a problem with it (besides the fact that i love my rice and rice, but i can give it up) but i am wondering if going paleo/primal will work and if it will ever lead me to go back to yo-yo dieting ways since it is essentially restricting certain food groups.

I have gained 10+ lbs and am on week 7 of my reset and am wondering if i should stick with what im doing and go on a cut eating carbs, rice, and everything in moderation or do my cut and go paleo/primal.

I guess I am adding another question to this thread. I am in no mean hijacking your thread booyainyoface but i didn't want to start another thread with essentially the same question .

booyainyoface

the more the better! I don't do crossfit, but do lift very heavy I binged (A LOT) in the past and not so much recently, but do slip up every now and then. i thought the same about if the restriction will make me binge in response to restriction... but i really don't think it will. I cut out bread (not all wheat, just bread) 2 years ago, and honestly don't even think about it now. I am thinking about keeping my calories at 1850; make sure i get 145g protein (lean body mass), 50-100g carbs, and the rest fats. Maybe the limited carbs will help keep blood sugar in check. I am not going to go all into it with intermittent fasting, or calorie restriction... but i made some fatty meatballs, portioned out 3 lbs of chicken, bought nuts, stocked up my fridge with veggies, herbs, and full fat yogurts and cheese (primal says its ok) and am going to make an attempt at this

i would still love anyones input!

bradthemedic

What is restricted (no/no) on paleo?

booyainyoface

no-no's: grains- wheat, rice, quinoa... all of em. legumes. dairy. white potatoes. sweet potatoes are ok

primal allows dairy- preferably full fat (paleo is a little more strict)

essentially you are eating; meat, veggies, eggs, nuts, fruit, sweet potato/yams, red wine on occasion. its kinda atkins-esque, but you can eat carbs with no restrictions as long as they aren't processed or a grain of any sort. most people eat around 100g carbs a day from veggies/fruits i guess. primal recommends doing a 80/20 split of primal/normal to get started so its not so restrictive.

google it- its pretty trendy right now with crossfit, so there is lots of information and tasty sounding recipes out there!

i guess this is similar to the candida diet- for an overgrowth of yeast in the gut. ick!

HeidiHoMom

I wonder why white potatoes would not be okay, they are a vegetable.


My experience is not quite paleo but I did southbeach and I ended up only lasting about a month. By the end of the month I couldn't eat eggs or meat anymore. The thought wanted me to vomit.

And then when I went back to eating carbs I gained the 15 lbs back that I lost plus another 40 (I was over eating too but I think I just went on a binge fest after because I felt so deprived and I gave up on dieting all together.

snowbab

I aim for 1850 NET calories a day and I have been on an almost paleo diet (I still eat dairy as I need the calcium, and it's usually full-fat yogurt or full-fat milk which is so much more delicious!) since the start of this year.

Paleo broke me out of a 3.5 month long plateau *shudder*. Then increasing my calories from 1200 to 1500 to 1700 and finally to 1850 over my dieting period since last September (OMG it's been almost a year already?!) has really helped my metabolism and I have continued to lose the same and usually more weight with more food. Win!

Feel free to take a look at my diary to get an idea of what I generally eat in a day

My macros are 25/35/40 (It's a complete lie that fat=fat! Eating too little=fat because of muscle loss, as I soon realised!)

Good luck ^_^

cinico

Me!! I am trying to eat upper on the calories but still keeping the primal/paleo principals! This week 2, no difference scale wise but I am still trying to get over the carb flu and muscle soreness from a workout! There is another lady on here that is also primal and she eats on the higher end of the calories as well! She has had success doing this! I must say that some days I was still eating closer to the 100 grams of carbs and when I did primal in the past I lost weight when I was closer to 50 grams of carbs but I am trying to clean up my diet better! I too have gained plus 10 pounds with the reset and after 4 weeks cut and weight loss and decided to go primal again!

epcooper

I wonder why white potatoes would not be okay, they are a vegetable.

White potatoes are very high in starch and have very little nutritional value. Sweet potatoes are still pretty starchy, but they have a ton of important nutrients.

SweatpantsRebellion

Do you plan to eat paleo/primal the rest of your life? I think that's something you should consider so that this doesn't become another diet. Good luck with your decision.

booyainyoface

thanks everyone for the input: HHMom: its similar to southbeach, but WAY less restrictive, and doesn't market their "healthy" chemically produced bars and other products. Primal isn't just based on meat, but LOTS of veggies, and dairy is OK (thank goodness!)

sweatpants: thats exactly where i find my challenge- can i live with it. I have friends that have done it for a year, and can't imagine changing back to a traditional western diet. I already am pretty much grain free, but have a wicked sugar tooth. im hoping that this might help level out my bloodsugar levels, restore nutrients i am low on (i still struggle getting fats in), and help shift me away from easy grab and go foods to real foods for satiety (maybe ill learn to cook?!.) im going to start today- give it a few weeks, then re-evaluate how I feel on it!

not spamming, but if anyone is interested in just a few recipes that aren't grain based here are just a few yummm: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/#axzz22EG9j1fe

Thanks everyone

SpazzyMal

If you think you can continue to do it for a long time and are planning on eating a lot of vegetables... then I don't see why this diet wouldn't be technically healthy. Though to be frank the amount of meat and eggs I see the typical paleo/primal person eating worries me as that's linked to a lot of unhealthy things.

Basically my opinion is that paleo/primal is just the same low-carb diet as every other low-carb diet, except it goes so far as to restrict grains completely, where as a lot of other low-carb diets just recommend severely limited quantities. I don't think dropping grains is necessary for most people to be healthy, but I also don't think it's necessarily an unhealthy thing to do as long as you're replacing grains with veggies and not pork chops.

HeidiHoMom

I wonder why white potatoes would not be okay, they are a vegetable.

White potatoes are very high in starch and have very little nutritional value. Sweet potatoes are still pretty starchy, but they have a ton of important nutrients.

IMO potatoes actually have a lot of nutritional value. Lots of different nutrients in it.

booyainyoface

sweet potatoes/yams are on the GO list for paleo/primal hence they do have so many nutrients. make sure you are eating your potatoes organic as they are on the "dirty dozen" lists for prioritizing where you spend your money on organics

here is the dirty dozen/clean 15 list. http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

HHMom- if you ever slice potatoes and make them like chips in the oven, you should try to do the same thing with beets- SO GOOD!

LuluProteinFueled

Do you plan to eat paleo/primal the rest of your life? I think that's something you should consider so that this doesn't become another diet. Good luck with your decision.

So true, such a great point!!! I have considered paleo (just like I have considered every other diet ever written to man) but I know now that I would never be able to stick to it long term so what's the point. I know I can still get lean eating a reasonable amount of carbs (look at Lucia & Kiki!) so I would only be depriving myself of something that would potentially lead to binging.

I never ever plan to compete, so I will never again have to worry about cutting carbs. It's a wonderful feeling.

Ange_

I wonder why white potatoes would not be okay, they are a vegetable.

White potatoes are very high in starch and have very little nutritional value. Sweet potatoes are still pretty starchy, but they have a ton of important nutrients.

IMO potatoes actually have a lot of nutritional value. Lots of different nutrients in it.

This. Once heard a nutricionist questioned about what as better sweet potato or white potato. Answer was neither. But have different good nutrients so you are better off have variety in your diet and some of both.

Mandys_Getting_Fit

I think I'm kind if primal/paleo ... but not hardcore about it. My macro ratio is set to 30% carb, 35% protein, and 35% fat (but I try to keep my saturated fats in check). Out of a 2000 calorie per day diet, it works out to 150g carbs, 175g protein, and 78g fat. I do eat an ocassional slice of whole grain toast with breakfast, but the majority of my carbs come from veggies & fruits. I do eat low fat dairy also.

For exercise, I lift heavy 3x per week and add a few minutes of light cardio afterward. On my off days, I still walk the dog, walk my daughter to/from school, clean the house, garden, etc. But I don't slave over cardio.

I think that the paleo/primal lifestyle can be healthy, but it's all a matter of personal preference I think.

knowak82

HHMom- if you ever slice potatoes and make them like chips in the oven, you should try to do the same thing with beets- SO GOOD!

Hm. I might have to try that...I love cooking sweet potato chips in the oven. Might have to try something new

_Amy_Budd

I am Primal for over a year, and have added the EM2WL principles to it a few months ago, and have seen great success. Yes, Primal eating is healthy. Yes, one can do it for a lifetime. My macros are 55% fat, 15% carbs, and 30% protein.


Amy

cinico

I am Primal for over a year, and have added the EM2WL principles to it a few months ago, and have seen great success. Yes, Primal eating is healthy. Yes, one can do it for a lifetime. My macros are 55% fat, 15% carbs, and 30% protein.


Amy

Yay so glad you posted!

AmbitionStrong

I eat mostly Loosely Primal... meaning i eat just enough other foods to annoy Primal/Paleo loyalists.

I eat lots of dairy (Fage greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, milk, cheese) and potatoes (sweet or white) rice (white only, no brown) I have kids, so I tend to eat bread, english muffins, or other carbs, but my rule is I only eat those carbs if Im eating them with protein. I try to stay around 100-150g of carb a day, making sure I get about 150-225g protein, rounding out the rest with good fats (animal, coconut, butter, etc)