PALEO

hollys6699

well i have been away for about 2 months, i have been doing paleo, and sure i am loosing inches, although only about 2.5 inches total this month. so i am not very happy with the way the paleo diet is going. i am doning crossfit training 5 days per week and would havce though that i could loose some lbs. so i have decided to go back to a calorie diet to see if i can loose that way. i am going to Hawaii in 2 months and would like to loose 20# or so.

neanderthin

Those damn holidays, eh. A diet has nothing to do with whether you lose or gain weight, it's the deficit that does that, and paleo can be consumed in a deficit, just in case you thought you didn't have to or thought losing inches didn't count.

KatLifter

Those damn holidays, eh. A diet has nothing to do with whether you lose or gain weight, it's the deficit that does that, and paleo can be consumed in a deficit, just in case you thought you didn't have to.

It can, but you really don't have to cut out entire food groups to be healthy and lose weight. Legumes are great for you! Greek yogurt has a ton of protein

neanderthin

Those damn holidays, eh. A diet has nothing to do with whether you lose or gain weight, it's the deficit that does that, and paleo can be consumed in a deficit, just in case you thought you didn't have to.

It can, but you really don't have to cut out entire food groups to be healthy and lose weight. Legumes are great for you! Greek yogurt has a ton of protein

You have that wrong, of course you need to find problems with modern foods like butter, tomatoes, beans, yogurt, bread.......what would be the point otherwise.

KatLifter

You have that wrong, of course you need to find problems with modern foods like butter, tomatoes, beans, yogurt, bread.......what would be the point otherwise.

I'm really not sure what you just said?

Abells

A lot of people think that you can eat as much as you want on Paleo but that is false -- still count your calories and make sure you are high in protein. Are you strict paleo?

open your diary

JNick77

The one misnomer with Paleo, similar to people on Atkins or low-carb, is not watching your total calories or macro nutrient in-take. You definitely need to understand your maintenance versus healthy calorie deficit calorie ranges. It helps to maintain a good macro nutrient balance as well.

goodtimezzzz

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

JNick77

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

That's really a good point. There are still good "non-paleo" foods out there. Things like brown rice and whole-grain oats just about any nutritionist would tell you to include in your diet. There are things about the diet that really don't make sense. I doubt cavemen had olive oil, definitely didn't have clean water or bottled water, they drank the same water that animals bathed and **** in.

KatLifter

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

That's really a good point. There are still good "non-paleo" foods out there. Things like brown rice and whole-grain oats just about any nutritionist would tell you to include in your diet. There are things about the diet that really don't make sense. I doubt cavemen had olive oil, definitely didn't have clean water or bottled water, they drank the same water that animals bathed and **** in.

To go a step further, if you are true Paleo it should also be macrobiotic. People who live inland didn't have sea salt, in colder regions coconut or coffee. I'm also pretty sure they didn't have access to coconut aminos and all of the other special paleo foods.

Dragonwolf

well i have been away for about 2 months, i have been doing paleo, and sure i am loosing inches, although only about 2.5 inches total this month. so i am not very happy with the way the paleo diet is going. i am doning crossfit training 5 days per week and would havce though that i could loose some lbs. so i have decided to go back to a calorie diet to see if i can loose that way. i am going to Hawaii in 2 months and would like to loose 20# or so.

2.5 inches in 2 months!? That's awesome!

Keep in mind that Crossfit is also a lot of strength training. If you've only recently started doing it (especially if you didn't do much exercise before), you might not be seeing much weight change because of things like water weight (the body uses water to protect and heal the muscles after intense workouts) and what's known as "newbie gains" - gains in muscle attributed to being new at strength training. Technically, it's not much, but if you have a modest deficit (with 20lbs to lose, you probably do), it can explain the lack of scale change.

You're also 47 according to your profile, which means you're around menopause time. The hormone changes associated with menopause (even in the years prior to it) can make it harder to lose weight, no matter what kind of diet you follow.

Also, as others have said, it's still good to track your calories, especially if you're new to Paleo or any other low-carb style of diet (and especially low-carb/high-fat ones). If you're new to it and aren't very good at self-regulating your eating, it's very easy to over eat, because the full-fat foods generally have more calories than the same amount of lower-fat foods (consider an ounce of chicken breast vs an ounce of avocado).

Afura

I do paleo including dairy (you may take my cheese from my cold dead hand), and I agree with one of the other responses that people think you can eat whatever you want all the time (steak and bacon in some whackjobs opinion), but it is just healthy eating fresh meats, fish/seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and oils like olive, and coconut,etc. What should be cut out on paleo is dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods. There's a lot of healthy/clean eating out there that are remarkably similar to paleo eating because it does take out a lof the the foods with additives. Yes, you are cutting out some things that are delicious, and even most people that eat paleo I'd say are probably 80/20 or 70/30, as it is terribly hard not to eat some foods (even protein shakes are not always 'pure'), but it's not that hard. It's also a good way to find out what foods you're sensitive to if you try and reincorporate them later. It's the people that are hard core, or crazy about it that make paleo seem like such a pain.

All in all, if you're not eating enough, or eating too many calories, you'll have the same issues with paleo as any other eating lifestyle. Enjoy your food, however you decide to eat, eat well, and play hard.

Dragonwolf

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

That's really a good point. There are still good "non-paleo" foods out there. Things like brown rice and whole-grain oats just about any nutritionist would tell you to include in your diet. There are things about the diet that really don't make sense. I doubt cavemen had olive oil, definitely didn't have clean water or bottled water, they drank the same water that animals bathed and **** in.

One of the issues with grains (besides the gluten in the gluten-containing ones) and legumes is the phytic acid, which binds to a number of micronutrients, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, making them unavailable for humans to absorb, and causing deficiencies in these micronutrients (anemia and osteoporosis, anyone?).

To go a step further, if you are true Paleo it should also be macrobiotic. People who live inland didn't have sea salt, in colder regions coconut or coffee. I'm also pretty sure they didn't have access to coconut aminos and all of the other special paleo foods.

It's called Paleo because it's modeled after what Paleolithic man ate, not to completely reproduce what they ate (that's impossible, given that many of those plants and animals are extinct). You don't need "special Paleo foods" to be Paleo, just like you don't need to live on fakemeat to be vegetarian or gluten-free breads/pastas to be gluten-free. Animals, some fruit, some nuts, and vegetables (mainly the less starchy ones, unless you need the extra carbs). That's about it.

maillemaker

well i have been away for about 2 months, i have been doing paleo, and sure i am loosing inches, although only about 2.5 inches total this month. so i am not very happy with the way the paleo diet is going. i am doning crossfit training 5 days per week and would havce though that i could loose some lbs. so i have decided to go back to a calorie diet to see if i can loose that way. i am going to Hawaii in 2 months and would like to loose 20# or so.

I had the same experience. I switched to eating Paleo as people told me how much weight they were losing by eating natural, healthy foods.

Guess what? You can still eat too much of natural, healthy foods.

So now I count calories again.

JNick77

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

That's really a good point. There are still good "non-paleo" foods out there. Things like brown rice and whole-grain oats just about any nutritionist would tell you to include in your diet. There are things about the diet that really don't make sense. I doubt cavemen had olive oil, definitely didn't have clean water or bottled water, they drank the same water that animals bathed and **** in.

One of the issues with grains (besides the gluten in the gluten-containing ones) and legumes is the phytic acid, which binds to a number of micronutrients, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, making them unavailable for humans to absorb, and causing deficiencies in these micronutrients (anemia and osteoporosis, anyone?).

It's interesting that gluten is listed as such an issue. I have an aunt that has Celiac's disease and she posts a lot of information about it and gluten. She's a rather academic person so researches a lot of medical journals and what not. She posted something about how having a gluten free diet for a non-Celiac patient is NOT good. There must be some value to it.

Dragonwolf

Happy you are doing a balanced approach paleo is for cavemen..not very enlightening...I did pale..it was an epic failure...eat all foods be abundant LIVE ABUNDANTLY!! learn from us and kick ****ING *kitten*!!!!!!

That's really a good point. There are still good "non-paleo" foods out there. Things like brown rice and whole-grain oats just about any nutritionist would tell you to include in your diet. There are things about the diet that really don't make sense. I doubt cavemen had olive oil, definitely didn't have clean water or bottled water, they drank the same water that animals bathed and **** in.

One of the issues with grains (besides the gluten in the gluten-containing ones) and legumes is the phytic acid, which binds to a number of micronutrients, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, making them unavailable for humans to absorb, and causing deficiencies in these micronutrients (anemia and osteoporosis, anyone?).

It's interesting that gluten is listed as such an issue. I have an aunt that has Celiac's disease and she posts a lot of information about it and gluten. She's a rather academic person so researches a lot of medical journals and what not. She posted something about how having a gluten free diet for a non-Celiac patient is NOT good. There must be some value to it.

I'd be interested to see more about her research, since I'm unaware of anything that gluten and gluten-containing food offers that can't be obtained through other means. Nor am I aware of anything uniquely beneficial that gluten brings to the table that would be *harmful* to cut out.

From what I've seen, the tests for Celiac is still woefully flawed and spotty. It's getting better, but generally speaking, it tests only for reactions to certain gluten proteins, which means you could have the worst reaction in the world, and never get diagnosed, because you're not reacting to the "right" proteins. And that's assuming that your doctor is informed enough about Celiac to even consider running the tests for it (I have a friend who had to fight with her doctor for several years until she finally got fed up and went to someone else who finally recognized her issues and history as possibly being gluten-related and ran the tests). Everything I've seen (including WebMD) says that Celiac has an undiagnosis rate of 95% (according to WebMD, potentially 1 in 100 Americans have Celiac, but only 5% of the people with it actually get diagnosed). (Source: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/news/20080520/celiac-disease-underdiagnosed )

Then, there's also the matter of subclinical gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity, where the body doesn't "react enough" to test positive for Celiac, but one's quality of life and overall health improves by cutting it out of the diet. The same goes for "atypical" symptoms (systemic inflammation usually attributed to other ailments such as arthritis, attention issues usually attributed to ADD/ADHD, certain forms of eczema, migraines, etc), especially if one's doctor is about treating the symptoms instead of looking for the root cause, or simply doesn't know enough about Celiac to put the pieces together in that way.

bcattoes

To go a step further, if you are true Paleo it should also be macrobiotic. People who live inland didn't have sea salt, in colder regions coconut or coffee. I'm also pretty sure they didn't have access to coconut aminos and all of the other special paleo foods.

I don't think you can follow both a macrobiotic and Paleo diet. While both recommend whole natural local foods, macrobiotic is plant based and recommends little to no meat. Paleo, not so much.

bcattoes

One of the issues with grains (besides the gluten in the gluten-containing ones) and legumes is the phytic acid, which binds to a number of micronutrients, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, making them unavailable for humans to absorb, and causing deficiencies in these micronutrients (anemia and osteoporosis, anyone?).

There just isn't the data to back up this statement. In study after study people who follow a more plant based diet rich in whole grains, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruit. and lean meats (usually known as a Mediterranean diet) are shown to be overall the healthiest people.

Legumes are some of the healthiest foods around. They should be eaten in abundance.

weinbagel

JERF.

etoiles_argentees

Legumes? Peanuts? Phytates? Phytates have also been shown to inhibit important enzymes involved in digestion, including pepsin and amylase. huh?

Drussander

This is a tough topic actually. There does seem to be alot of compelling arguments as to why giving up certain foods is a good thing. I have been reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taub and there are some interesting, if not controversial positions in that book.

The whole concept of insulin resistance, etc. is confusing and good arguments can be made on all sides, but the fact is, many people that cut out refined carbs do indeed lose weight. Many argue that in the end it is just calorie reduction in another form, but Taub's book in particular is a rather compelling read.

While I like to think it's just calorie's in, and calories expended, I'm not so sure that's the case for everyone.

In short, there may be merit to the whole paleo and low carb approach for certain people. While I'm not convinced yet, I'm not going to just dismiss it either as it does appear to work for quite a few people.