Question(s) for Paleo folks

kw0205

I'm curious - I know you can eat whatever you want from certain food groups and lose weight. I'm curious as to what you do to then maintain once you've reached your goal weight - add back in a few of the forbidden foods? I know with Adkins, you severely limit your carbs for the first two weeks and then eventually add them back in (and still lose), until you add back in enough to maintain.

My three seconds of research didn't turn up the answer, so I thought I'd check here. It's just a curiosity :-P

bpotts44

You cannot eat whatever you want and expect to lose weight. If you are in caloric deficit over time you will lose weight. If you want to maintain then increase your calories so that you are no longer in deficit.

corneredbycorn

Paleo/primal is a lifestyle, not a diet. You increase your calories to maintain, but you don't start adding back the forbidden foods. At best, you'll see people mentioning an 80/20 ratio of paleo/non-paleo foods, but most people allocate that 20% to stuff they can't control like added cornstarch to soup or hidden sugars and a small treat every now and again like corn on a holiday, not as license to eat a plate of pasta or a pizza.

That's why it's not sustainable for me. I like pasta too much. I liked how I felt though when I pushed my carbs lower so I switched my ratios to 50/25/25 f/p/c and it's working well so far.

caribougal

You can't eat whatever you want from certain food groups and lose weight. It can seem like that, because it's hard to overeat meat and veggies. It is not, however, hard to overeat fruit, nuts, and nut butters. So with a Paleo diet, generally people lose without counting calories because if they're doing it right, they're getting the majority of their food from nutrient-dense sources and from foods that are quite satiating. They get more "bang for their calorie buck".

Once you hit maintenance weight, just like with any other diet, you need to maintain your healthy eating habits in order to maintain your new current weight. If you just resort back to previous eating behaviors, chances are you'll be eating foods that are less filling and less nutritious, and therefore may end up eating more overall... 3.2.1... weight gain.

The "forbidden foods" on Paleo are all foods that have the potential to detract from your health, rather than add to it. Each person makes their own decisions about what's on that "no" list, and how strict they want to be. Someone above mentioned 80/20 or 90/10 rule. Generally, even the most die-hard Paleo adherents end up 90/10, because it's not easy to always control what's in your food when you're eating out, because we all have a favorite food we'd like to enjoy every once in a while, and because we're human and sometimes slip up.

Do more than a few seconds of research on it. You'll quickly know if it's for you or not.