Paleo Diet...Thoughts?

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conchita962
conchita962 Posts: 327 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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!
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Replies

  • akm21
    akm21 Posts: 1
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    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
    Brown_Eyed_Beauty Posts: 109 Member
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    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
    ezlbs Posts: 5 Member
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    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
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    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
    chrisdell21 Posts: 54 Member
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    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
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    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
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    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
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    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
    spngebobmyhero Posts: 823 Member
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    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
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    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
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
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    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
    conchita962 Posts: 327 Member
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    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
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    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
    conchita962 Posts: 327 Member
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    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
    womanwithamission Posts: 67 Member
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    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
    booyainyoface Posts: 409 Member
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    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
    Sarah0866 Posts: 291 Member
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    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
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    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
    tajmel Posts: 401 Member
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    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
    SarahRea32 Posts: 167 Member
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    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

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