Paleo Diet...Thoughts?

conchita962

Good morning! 3
I'm 43 5'7" 170 lbs. I'm a runner (finished my first marathon on Sunday!) and I've started Crossfit 2 months ago 2x per week.

I CANNOT lose weight!
I've been struggling for several years now. I've tried eating more, eating less, etc. I gain and lose the same 5 freaking lbs.
So Crossfit is a supporter of the Paleo Diet, I've just read the book and was wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts. Thank you!

akm21

I haven't done Paleo myself, but I have done some research on it previously.

I have also never done cross fit and have no clue as to what it is.

From what I have read, Paleo seems to have good results and in my opinion takes a somewhat common sense approach to your diet. Man-made refined carbs are evil not just for weight control, but also in terms of nutritional benefit. It is also really good for people suffering from IBS (which is why I researched into it). I have contemplated Paleo but I'm too much of a wuss to go full on!

I try to follow an eating pattern that is somewhat similar to Paleo in the sense I don't eat refined carbs, I am allergic to dairy anyway, try to eat fruit that is in season and am fairly big on protein.

Personally, I find that the elimination of carbs later on in the day is the perfect way to lose weight as is eating 5-6 small meals a day.

Brown_Eyed_Beauty

I was just about to post this topic... LoL anyway, I'm reading The Paleo Ansewer after keep hearing about it from other sources.

I'd like to try the diet but I know it's going to be hard because I like pasta. What I think I'll do is cut out dairy first and see how that goes. According to what I was reading, dairy contributes to a lot of stomach and acne issues which I have.

Ill try to post about how it goes. Getting my husband to try it too is going to be a challenge but it also helps with gout. I hope that will at least interest him. Feel free to add me BTW.

ezlbs

My son has done the Paleo diet (and Cross fit) with great success. The difficulty seems to be maintaining the strict guidelines. I wish you luck with any direction you take!
Laura

bpotts44

I think you can probably achieve loss without the paleo diet. My guess is that MFP is overestimating the calories from running and you should not eat them all back or use a HRM for greater accuracy. I've basically eat half back and that is about right. You don't have much to lose. I'd advise setting your loss goal to 1/2 per week and eat back 1/2 your exercise calories. Or calculate your TDEE and a 10-20% deficient and use that.

chrisdell21

I have done this once before and am back on it. It was great. I had so much more energy, my health was better, and I was dropping weight fairly easily. One thing I tried to make sure I did was get as much as I could organic. And i was shocked at how little I ended up missing carbs. There are great alternatives out there that still taste amazing. The dairy was harder to give up so I kept a very little in moderation in my diet.

psuLemon

I do 80/20 paleo and love it. I have been working on cutting the last 6% of body fat. It has also helped me cut my sodium in half. I will note, as a runner, it's going to be hard to cut body fat. You can burn a ton of calories and many people rarely eat enough to compensate. Now the advantage to paleo is it's all lean meats, tons of fruits and veggies and the foods are delicious IMHO.

neverstray

You can try it. I think it's stupid, but that's because paleolithic people did not eat that way to be healthy. They ate that way because that's the only choice they had. LOL. They also died at age 30. So, think about that. I think it's a silly diet. Those are my thoughts. If you could unfreeze a paleolithic person, I'm pretty sure ice cream and packaged food would amaze them and they would love them.

Hendrix7

If you want to readied a tedious back and forth with people arguing about this very subject check out this awesome thread.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/763200-what-is-the-real-paleo-diet

spngebobmyhero

paleo allows me to maintain my weight loss almost effortlessly. With no grains, I get no cravings and eating well isn't as much of a struggle.

slkehl

It's great if you can keep it up. What's important is finding something that works for you and that you can maintain. If it's too strict, try something else. It's certainly not the only way to lose weight.

deb3129

You can try it. I think it's stupid, but that's because paleolithic people did not eat that way to be healthy. They ate that way because that's the only choice they had. LOL. They also died at age 30. So, think about that. I think it's a silly diet. Those are my thoughts. If you could unfreeze a paleolithic person, I'm pretty sure ice cream and packaged food would amaze them and they would love them.

And then I am sure a large percentage of them would become obese and unhealthy, the way that an increasing number of Americans have.

conchita962

The concept of the diet doesn't seems stupid to me at all actually. It's probably one of the less complicated plans out there.
I have tried several approaches to calories in and out...Ate calories back...not eat calories back, increase calories, decrease, zig zag, used TDEE, etc. I'm exactly where I started and pretty frustrated.

And I agree that if the 'caveman' was here and he ate all that crap he'd be in the same boat half the American population is in!

Was just wondering if anyone had a success or failures on this.

caribougal

Join the Paleo/Primal Support group here on MFP. We have a great little crowd.

I eat Primal (Paleo + Dairy) and have had huge success. For me it works, it's easy, and I feel more in control of my eating than ever before in my life. But, it's NOT a diet for quick weight loss. You still need to make sure that if you want to lose, you're eating at a deficit. The nice thing is that it's just so easy to eat at a deficit because you eat such filling, nutrient-dense foods. And the freedom from the sugar demons is the best part. No crazy cravings. No constant desire to graze all day. No obsessive food thoughts.

Check out the Whole9 website. Some people ease into it. Others go hard-core with a Whole30, which is super hard but very beneficial. I haven't done the Whole30 yet, but except for dairy, I'm pretty close in general.

conchita962

Thank you caribougal! I will definitely join..I'm gonna need some support!
I'm not looking for a quick fix, I just want to see some kind of improvement over time with honest effort!

Thank you again!

womanwithamission

Check out whole30, I'm planning on starting Sunday the 14th. It's based on the book "It starts with food". The same idea as Paleo. It's not about weight loss, but changing your relationship with food. Everyone. Claims it changed their life. I'm hoping for the same results. Consider joining me. Add me as a friend if you like

booyainyoface

i love it. i decided to try it for a month, and now its been almost 4. i feel amazing, have more energy, have reduced the size of my hips (im pretty sure i have/had/am fixing a hormonal imbalance), have learned to cook, and have mostly gotten over the binge-exercise cycle i was in the last several years. try it and see if it works for you... others peoples opinions are nothing more than their experience with it, and its different for everyone.

Sarah0866

it's great in the sense that all of your food sources are natural and unprocessed, though I can't say that it's better for losing weight than plain old clean eating and keeping grains and legumes in your diet.

AntWrig

You can try it. I think it's stupid, but that's because paleolithic people did not eat that way to be healthy. They ate that way because that's the only choice they had. LOL. They also died at age 30. So, think about that. I think it's a silly diet. Those are my thoughts. If you could unfreeze a paleolithic person, I'm pretty sure ice cream and packaged food would amaze them and they would love them.

And then I am sure a large percentage of them would become obese and unhealthy, the way that an increasing number of Americans have.

People are "obese and unhealthy" because they are lazy to put it bluntly.

tajmel

I don't really agree with paleo's perspective on grains, but there's nothing wrong with eating whole natural foods, whatever you call it. Seems sound to me.

SarahRea32

Paleo makes a lot of sense from a biochemical point of view. Our bodies haven't changed much at all since paleolithic times yet with our popular fast food culture our food supply has changed vastly - and all you have to do is look around to see the effects of this on our waistlines. Try it, you will probably find it works

neverstray

You can try it. I think it's stupid, but that's because paleolithic people did not eat that way to be healthy. They ate that way because that's the only choice they had. LOL. They also died at age 30. So, think about that. I think it's a silly diet. Those are my thoughts. If you could unfreeze a paleolithic person, I'm pretty sure ice cream and packaged food would amaze them and they would love them.

And then I am sure a large percentage of them would become obese and unhealthy, the way that an increasing number of Americans have.

I don't think Paleo is anything special though, and it keeps a lot of good stuff out of the diet. Why not just eat clean and healthy? Potatoes, Corn, Rice...all good stuff. Just because some ancient NON-EDUCATED humans didn't eat certain things was nto for any reason other than they either weren't available to them, or they didn't know about them. It's stupid, to be frank about it. Why not just not have electricty or plumbing, and all the other things. I mean, go all the way with it. Live in a cave and hunt with spears. Do it all out if you're going to do it. Then, when you get the flu, you just die. No shots or medical care. Sounds like the Paleo people had it made and knew a lot about health care and living. /sarcasm.

Flyered_Up

Worst mistake I made during my weight loss! Eat carbs and plenty of them! There is no reason to cut them out unless you are carb intolerant.

trumpeter26

I've been doing paleo for about 5 of the 6 months I have been trying to lose weight, I've lost 110 pounds, and my fat body mass has gone down drastically (a little heavier than I was in hs but smaller in size). Like some posters have said, it's a very common sense approach to eating. A lot of people think you need carbs, you do get carbs in the paleo diet, healthy, fresh, unprocessed carbohydrates which are great for you. Instead of bread, eat sweet potatoes and fruit!

conchita962

I haven't read anything about cutting out carbs at all...you just get them from a different source.

emtron500

I love paleo. It does tend to be carb-reduced, but not really by definition. It eliminates grains and encourages you to get carbs from vegetables (including things like sweet potatoes) or fruits (especially berries) instead. It's not really terribly restrictive - especially compared to other reduced-carb plans like Atkins. I think it's definitely worth trying.

Clew

We're in the same boat, lady. I've done paleo (and its derivatives) off and on over the past few years. I struggle - STRUGGLE - to lose weight no matter what, but when I eat paleo/primal I FEEL a million times better on the inside. That's got to count for something

Paleo has plenty of carbs, Flyered - just from fruits and vegetables instead of processed grains.

Flowers4Julia

I've had a Paleo/Primal lifestyle for almost a year and it was the BEST thing I did! Thing is...it is a lifestyle and one I easily embraced.

Grains just bloated me anyway, the only dairy I eat is cream in my coffee, don't need cheese.

The folks who want to argue it out are wasting there time with all their nonsense, "caveman would eat ice cream if they could" talk - LOL! Thing is, cavemen didn't die from a poor diet, they died because they naturally had shorter lifespans in general then. They didn't have disease and they didn't eat GMO or processed foods, they had NO carb/sugar addiction because there was no such thing.....They ate what was available, fasting because they had to, and didn't "workout" when they were fasting (meaning waiting for the next beast to happen along or for trees to bear fruit once a year!) Their exercise and foods were natural.

That aside, I have maintained easily and can't understand why for a second anyone eats any different! Pure, clean natural foods, moderate healthy exercise=Happy Life.

Join the Paleo group, it is very supportive.

Sk1nny_F4t

As a new user of the site but someone who has been paleo for the past 2 years I think this thread sums up the main issue when people hear about paleo: it means different things to different people.

If you are trying to cut body fat you will most likely do a lower carb version, someone who is lifting and maintaining or bulking might eat all the carbs they want. Some add dairy, cheeses, chocolate, alcohol, you get the picture.

No matter how I eat, I need to tune it to fit my specific goals, and it needs to include adequate fat and protein so I am satiated. My biggest take away from the sentiment of your OP was "I can't lose weight".. so what is wrong? Are you fat phobic, do you not have regular meals (skip breakfast,etc.) then binge later when starving?

I think you need to discover what is wrong with how you are doing it if you have been following diets and not losing. Until you figure this out you will keep spinning your wheels. Good luck

sonnetsocks

I've been on the Paleo diet for a short period and love it. The first week I saw increased energy levels. Maintaining it really is not that difficult, but I wasn't eating a lot of grains. I'm a rice person and I was able to cut back on that pretty easy. I've actually lost cravings for the things they suggest not to eat. Which means to me my body doesn't really need it anyways. I'm about 80/20 with it and will probably stay that way. If I want to try and lose more weight I might temporarily go 100%.

Tedebearduff

Good morning! 3
I'm 43 5'7" 170 lbs. I'm a runner (finished my first marathon on Sunday!) and I've started Crossfit 2 months ago 2x per week.

I CANNOT lose weight!
I've been struggling for several years now. I've tried eating more, eating less, etc. I gain and lose the same 5 freaking lbs.
So Crossfit is a supporter of the Paleo Diet, I've just read the book and was wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts. Thank you!

I eat my own way but I've been told it's "Paleo" check my ticker in my signature for results I've been doing it for 6 months now. I still eat beans and nuts I think your not supposed to eat one of those 2. I also stay away from potatoes and yams as they are high in starch.