My experience going 'paleo'

I started the 4 hour body slow carb diet thing a year ago. It's paleo without fruit but adds beans for "slow" carbs. No milk. No grains. Have lost all my weight doing that. I liked it because it was simple: eat whatever a caveman had available to him in whatever quantity you want. Don't care about calories. Working out is not required (I lost 28 lbs before I did any kind of exercise whatsoever). The concept is not about caloric deficit, it's about eating what your body ate for 75,000 years. Made sense to me and the concept was simple enough to follow. I do track calories now (have been for 9 months, only 1 month with MFP) but only because I am a data freak. I do not regulate my intake based MFP calories. I do make adjustments based on micro nutrient deficits.

And cheat day is awesome. Eat whatever you want in any quantity. My first cheat day I ate a whole razzleberry pie with a pint of Graeter's vanilla ice cream. For breakfast. Another cheat day I ate only Hostess Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cherry Pies, Sno Balls and Cinnamon Rolls (the day they announced they were shutting down). That was 5,000 calories of pure sugar. And I felt like crap all day. But I liked it. Did not want any of those things again. Cheat day should be a part of every diet. I think it is the singular aspect that has kept me on this diet for so long. Anything I crave during the week, I make a note and get it on Saturday.

I don't knock anyone's approach to losing weight. Quite the opposite. I try most of them from an experimentation and curiosity standpoint. I did ketogenic for a while. Tried intermittent fasting. Did Paleo for a couple weeks. They all seemed to work just fine but did not fit me. The only experiment that did not work was low calorie. Very low calorie. I went down to 1,400 cal / day (my BMR is 2,900 cal / day) for a couple of weeks and actually gained weight. And got a gut. I was definitely in starvation mode. That was bad.

Maybe that's the most important message: do what works for you and what you are comfortable and happy doing. And don't be afraid to experiment.

Enjoy the ride.

I'm so pleased to see so many responses, and especially all of the ones that talk about your own weight loss and nutrition journeys. I especially loved the post about us all being an N=1 for our health and wellness-- so true. I know folks who are "paleo" (or their version of whatever that means) and in phenomenal shape, and I also know strict vegans who are in phenomenal shape. It's pretty amazing what our bodies can do.

Along the alcohol vein of conversation, I'm sure that our ancestors must have dabbled in fermented fruits, but without organized agriculture (since we're thinking cave-folk), it's unlikely that it was a major factor before civilization. I LOVE a good beer though, I should have mentioned that! Haha, alcohol was one of the first things that I brought back into my diet after the Whole...23 I did. Might not be the best idea, but having a glass of wine or beer is something that makes me happy.

I'm all about the happy
I'm trying calorie counting for the first time in years, mainly because I realized I overdo it... I could see people going nuts with, well, nuts, and gaining weight on "paleo" (it's happened), but thankfully I stuck with the veg. SO SO happy to hear that others are having success with whatever type of clean eating works for them! Thanks so much for the discussion, all!

You're awesome. Everything should be all about the happy.

and girl, drink that beer and don't give it a second thought. I've been "Paleo" for about a month now, but mine still includes peanut butter because I like it. It also includes a bit of parmaggiano reggiano and kefir. It also includes sweet potatoes. Do what makes you happy and gives you the results you want - end of story.

Thanks for starting this thread and your great post!

i started an elimination diet in mid january 2013, cut out soy, sugar, eggs, corn, gluten, dairy, and peanuts. i did that for 3 weeks and liked how i felt and what i saw and was a little too comfy to add things back to see if i had food intolerances.

i did though, and found that gluten makes my WHOLE mouth itch!!!! lips, cheeks, tongue..... and sugar, it gives me a raging headache that lasts about an hour, and is always localized to one spot in my head.

so, i just kept eating the way i was. i was FINALLY losing weight, after over a year on MFP, trying every single style of diet and work out, two rounds of p90x, months of stronglifts, trying the cardio bunny route........ then jen ( the_dizzle) started talking about whole30. it sounded very similar to what i was doing, only NO rice or beans were allowed, and you're allowed eggs.

so, i tried out eggs whites, no reaction, and i decided to follow her....... it's been 68 days now. i'm down over 13+ inches and almost 17 lbs. i feel great. i like watching the scale go down, and i like not having cravings or being hungry and thinking about food all day, LOL!! i like not keeping track of calories, though on occasion i will record what i ate to check macros.

over spring break i am slowly going to switch my kids eating as well. they will be allowed more carby foods/ snacks, but i want them off the sugar/ gluten train too!!!

The best part of my experience was that there was no calorie counting involved, and everything was measured in your hands-- a serving of protein was the size and thickness of your palm, and fill the rest of your plate with as many veggies as you want.

As long as you're in a deficit, yes. You can eat as many veggies as you want. If you're eating veggies in such an amount that results in a surplus, you'll gain weight (just like any other foods in a surplus). The number of calories you're consuming DOES matter.

I don't believe in restricting any foods that I don't have an allergy or intolerance to. I think it's unnecessary for weight loss and extreme.

That being said, here's some groups that will have like-minded people:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-group

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/37-primal-paleo-support-group

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/621-the-primal-life-tips-from-the-cave

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/438-primal-paleo-challenges

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/852-paleo


Edit: Typo. :grumble:

I don't mean to disagree with you but my husband who spent lots of time researching maintains that no you do not need to be worrying about calories, "deficits" and the like. This is part of my frustration/fear of it. Unclear rules and people seeming to be in direct contradiction with one another?

Can you help me understand why one paleo person would say one thing and another would say what seems to be the complete opposite?:flowerforyou:

There does seem to be an incongruity here. I tried primal for about 3 or 4 months. When you go on the Primal web forum, there are lot's of posts about people still having to count calories or they gain. This was also my experience. Meats, nuts and seeds are all calories dense as are some fruits.

In the end, I didn't find a major advantage to eating this way and found it somewhat restrictive and it didn't give me the advantage of eating without counting, as so much of what's written claims. So, I went back to IIFYM.

I'm so pleased to see so many responses, and especially all of the ones that talk about your own weight loss and nutrition journeys. I especially loved the post about us all being an N=1 for our health and wellness-- so true. I know folks who are "paleo" (or their version of whatever that means) and in phenomenal shape, and I also know strict vegans who are in phenomenal shape. It's pretty amazing what our bodies can do.

Along the alcohol vein of conversation, I'm sure that our ancestors must have dabbled in fermented fruits, but without organized agriculture (since we're thinking cave-folk), it's unlikely that it was a major factor before civilization. I LOVE a good beer though, I should have mentioned that! Haha, alcohol was one of the first things that I brought back into my diet after the Whole...23 I did. Might not be the best idea, but having a glass of wine or beer is something that makes me happy.

I'm all about the happy
I'm trying calorie counting for the first time in years, mainly because I realized I overdo it... I could see people going nuts with, well, nuts, and gaining weight on "paleo" (it's happened), but thankfully I stuck with the veg. SO SO happy to hear that others are having success with whatever type of clean eating works for them! Thanks so much for the discussion, all!

You're awesome. Everything should be all about the happy.

and girl, drink that beer and don't give it a second thought. I've been "Paleo" for about a month now, but mine still includes peanut butter because I like it. It also includes a bit of parmaggiano reggiano and kefir. It also includes sweet potatoes. Do what makes you happy and gives you the results you want - end of story.

Thanks for starting this thread and your great post!

Totally agree! (whut??lol) Find a good zone of healthy food for optimal nutrition that you can enjoy and stay with. If it feels like it's too restrictive and like a penance, you won't stay with it. Of course, this is barring any tolerance or sensitivity issues. I'm am fortunate as I don't have any.

There does seem to be an incongruity here. I tried primal for about 3 or 4 months. When you go on the Primal web forum, there are lot's of posts about people still having to count calories or they gain. This was also my experience. Meats, nuts and seeds are all calories dense as are some fruits.

^this is not surprising

Can you help me understand why one paleo person would say one thing and another would say what seems to be the complete opposite?:flowerforyou:

^because one of them is wrong

eta: If the implication of "you don't need to count calories" is that you will lose even in a surplus on this diet, then that is incorrect. However, it may be that people view calorie counting is not needed because you will naturally be eating at a deficit due to a higher proportion of your diet being low in calories. This may be somewhat true, but counting calories would likely still be needed for many people. Calorie deficit is needed to lose weight regardless of the food choices.

i'm almost positive our paleo ancestors drank alcohol. just sayin

Fermenting fruits and grains (making beer out of it) is one of our oldest means of preserving food. Last I knew, archeologists had found beer-making stuff in the middle east 1000's of years before the Egyptians, whose commoners drank beer as the largest calorie source in their diet (built the pyramids on the stuff).

like it

I don't mean to disagree with you but my husband who spent lots of time researching maintains that no you do not need to be worrying about calories, "deficits" and the like. This is part of my frustration/fear of it. Unclear rules and people seeming to be in direct contradiction with one another?

Can you help me understand why one paleo person would say one thing and another would say what seems to be the complete opposite?

So if I eat 10,000 calories per day of clean paleo food I won't gain weight.

Cool.

See what i'm getting at?

I don't know how you could eat 10,000 calories of Paleo food. That would be about 5 gallons of food. I know I can easily eat 10,000 calories of high carb food.

If I eat 2,000 cal / day of Paleo like stuff, I lose weight. If I eat 2,000 cal / day of high carb, processed food. I gain weight. I don't have to explain it, I just know it.

Look I actually, on the whole, approve of paleo but the idea that total calorie intake isn't important is just horse poop.

if my body can identify and know what to do with things like veggies, fruit, and animals ( protein) i'm gonna stick with that. i haven't counted calories at all in the past 70 some days and i've lost over 16 lbs and as of today over 17 inches....... ( in 68 days of eating like this)

Because you are in a calorie deficit, double your food intake but stay paleo and see if you still lose weight......................

Im glad it's working for you but calories matter, telling someone they don't is irresponsible.

Why even use my fitness pal if you don't need to count calories?

I don't mean to disagree with you but my husband who spent lots of time researching maintains that no you do not need to be worrying about calories, "deficits" and the like. This is part of my frustration/fear of it. Unclear rules and people seeming to be in direct contradiction with one another?

Can you help me understand why one paleo person would say one thing and another would say what seems to be the complete opposite?

So if I eat 10,000 calories per day of clean paleo food I won't gain weight.

Cool.

See what i'm getting at?

I don't know how you could eat 10,000 calories of Paleo food. That would be about 5 gallons of food. I know I can easily eat 10,000 calories of high carb food.

If I eat 2,000 cal / day of Paleo like stuff, I lose weight. If I eat 2,000 cal / day of high carb, processed food. I gain weight. I don't have to explain it, I just know it.

Or 3 pounds of nuts....

You still have to watch cals.

Good luck!