Paleo Diet...Thoughts?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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%.