One more thing...will I gain weight if I eat a banana?
brenbrenm
Posts: 81
I don't really mean this super literally, but I remember when Atkin's first came out.....I talked to my aunt, who is a dietician. She said that they were finding as soon as someone ate carbs again, the weight would come back on SUPER fast! I will probably end up being a 80/20 paleo, and as I've said before, although weight loss is not my primary goal, it would really stink to lose 10 lbs, have a special treat, and gain 5 back!
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I'm confused...bananas are paleo. Also, paleo is not "technically" a low carb way of eating (I refrain from using the term "diet" because ppl tend to have a negative connotation to that word)...I'm following Paleo for Athletes (runner and budding triathlete) and they recommend like 50% of cals from carbs. I think the only issue with carbs is that they aren't as satiating as fat and protein, so you have to watch your total cals more than you would otherwise. That said, eat the banana.0
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Also, I'm 80/20 too...but 80 paleo and 20 primal, working toward 100% paleo.0
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I have no science degrees but it strikes me as physically impossible for one to input sometihng of less than a pound (say, a banana for instance) into their body, and then gain five pounds of weight from it, regardless of nutritional profiles.
Sure, if you're constantly metabolizing more calories than are leaving, you will gain weight as excess calories are stored. Some foods in varying amounts, for some people, will cause this sort of thing to happen. Will it happen to you with 'X' number of bananas? Maybe. Maybe not.0 -
Any time you to back to eating as you did before a "diet", you'll go back to gaining weight, IMO.
And it's normal to gain some "weight" after you've indulged in something not in your normal way of eating. For me, most of it is water and is gone in a day or two. And as PrimalRunner said, it doesn't technically need to be low-carb, but most are lower carb.
If you eat A banana, you'll probably be fine (I know there are some exceptions, some people do need lower carbs). If you're eating bananas all day long, that's another story. If you're really worried, save the carb-ier foods for post-workout.0 -
A banana was a bad example...Let's say something nasty like an ice cream....I know it takes 3500 calories to gain an actual pound, but I've heard once you go low carb and add any carbs back in, the weight comes on REALLY quick! I have a vacation coming up next month, and we are using our camper as our hotel room. Although I will do the best I can,, I know there will be times when I have pizza, ice cream, etc...... I'm just fearful I will come home 15 pounds heavier, because it will be such a change! I suppose that is unrealistic! Has anyone fallen off the Paleo wagon and gained a ton of weight quickly without overeating horribly?0
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If you gain that much weight I guarantee a vast majority of it will be water retention. I doubt that it's physically possible to gain that much over a vacation (assuming a typical one- or two-week long vacation).0
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A banana was a bad example...Let's say something nasty like an ice cream....I know it takes 3500 calories to gain an actual pound, but I've heard once you go low carb and add any carbs back in, the weight comes on REALLY quick! I have a vacation coming up next month, and we are using our camper as our hotel room. Although I will do the best I can,, I know there will be times when I have pizza, ice cream, etc...... I'm just fearful I will come home 15 pounds heavier, because it will be such a change! I suppose that is unrealistic! Has anyone fallen off the Paleo wagon and gained a ton of weight quickly without overeating horribly?
I eat ice cream probably more than i should. I haven't gained a ton of weight. But, depends on activity, amount consumed, what else you are eating, how insulin sensitive/resistant you are, etc. In December of 2011 I fell off the wagon, ate what I wanted, and gained back 10lb in about 2 weeks (my pants didnt' fit!). Also bear in mind, however, I had greatly reduced my activity level (just finished rugby season then no exercise), kept eating like I was still that active, made excuses it was the holidays and ate extra, etc. Yeah, it sucked, but I also learned my lesson. The following year, I dropped 10lb in December instead.
I say, enjoy your vacation and make small adjustments where you can - drink water and not sodas/sugary drinks, walk as much as you can, and pizza I just eat toppings and skip the crust. Sandwiches, I eat the insides and skip the bread. While it's not 100% paleo, it's better than eating grains for me (I'm gluten sensitive).0 -
The way my dietitian put it, tropical fruits are high glycemic index carbs. As such, they can spike insulin (which is designed to help the body store fat, and retard fat burning). Eating a single piece of high GI fruit is not a big issue (especially if you have some protein with it). But if you allow your diet to include a lot of high GI foods, you won't see as much weight loss as you would have otherwise. Sticking to a paleo model with low GI foods, keeps your pancreas producing lower levels of insulin and your body more regularly taps your fat as a sustained energy source.0
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I’ll give you a real life example of what I have experienced when I have “cheated”.
Went to a wedding over Memorial Day. Friday and Saturday I kept strong, only introducing Sangria as the non-(as much as possible when you’re not in full control over the food preparation)-paleo item. Sunday and Monday, however, I did not do so good. Sunday started out with a philly-cheese-steak omelet (yes, it was as good as it sounds) with some breakfast potatoes, followed by sangria and chips & dip (there was leftover sangria from the wedding – don’t judge ;-) ). Monday consisted of Chick-Filet breakfast sammich and hashbrowns for brunch and pho with noodles for dinner (and I think popcorn). Terrible. Completely off the wagon (knowingly so, and with dedication to get back on it Tuesday).
Tuesday rolled around and EEK! I was up by two pounds!! NOTE: I dropped 1.5 lbs by the next day, and ultimately was down a full pound from the Friday beforehand… even after those two days.
Moral of the story: Much of the gain is related to water weight and added sodium for bloating. Did I actually gain two pounds? I doubt it – it was probably more in the neighborhood of <1lbs. Had I continued on that path, sure… I would gain a whole bunch. Just don’t fret if you cheat.0 -
Hmm how many bananas equal 3500 cals? Eat that many, and you may gain =P0
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commenting on the original question - really to the Aunts comments.
Absolutely if someone goes "low carb", loses weight, then eats carbs again like before they were dieting - the absolutely will gain back the weight very quickly and probably some extra for insurance.
stating the obvious here for the casual readers:
1. paleo is not necessarily low carb - but can be especially no processed carbs.
2. often when people eat atkins or general low carb without looking at the quality of their food - they aren't really healing the body for long term health.
3. paleo isn't a diet - Its a methodology for fueling the body - done correctly most people lose weight though - fortunate side effect.
4. quit eating crap -> feel better (lose weight). eat crap again -> feel bad (gain weight). Simple equation and the power is in our hands0 -
Back to the banana thing, I'm just going to rant about this a bit, because I did a paleo challenge at my CF box, and didn't see dramatic losses in weight, body fat, or inches (well, I always eat paleo so I didn't expect any big changes). But when I told my coach I didn't lose any weight, the first thing he asked is if I was eating fruit. After being low carb for 4 months, miserable during workouts (CF and running), and not losing any weight, I decided to up my carbs, and yes, god forbid, eat an occasional banana on my really active days.
I'm tired of people demonizing whole foods like fruit, because then people avoid them and lean towards other choices, that while technically paleo, might not be as good for them. Sure, I get it, insulin spikes and what not. But it's gotten to the point where I actually feel guilty for eating a half a banana before running.
Maybe these are just my hang-ups with food, but I just had to get this off my chest.
Carry on! 0 -
Back to the banana thing, I'm just going to rant about this a bit, because I did a paleo challenge at my CF box, and didn't see dramatic losses in weight, body fat, or inches (well, I always eat paleo so I didn't expect any big changes). But when I told my coach I didn't lose any weight, the first thing he asked is if I was eating fruit. After being low carb for 4 months, miserable during workouts (CF and running), and not losing any weight, I decided to up my carbs, and yes, god forbid, eat an occasional banana on my really active days.
I'm tired of people demonizing whole foods like fruit, because then people avoid them and lean towards other choices, that while technically paleo, might not be as good for them. Sure, I get it, insulin spikes and what not. But it's gotten to the point where I actually feel guilty for eating a half a banana before running.
Maybe these are just my hang-ups with food, but I just had to get this off my chest. Carry on!
OMG, Kerrek... you absolutely should NOT feel guilty for eating bananas. And you didn't lose weight because you're a lean mean WODing machine already! With the amount of exercise you do, you clearly can have more carbs because you're doing it and not gaining, and PRing like it's your job. Carry on, guilt-free.
To the OP... eat the banana or whatever. Just remember to keep an eye on your total cals, and increase carbs slowly. Any fluctuations in lbs from 1-3 lbs or so is water weight or bloating. If you continue to increase carbs and cals, aka "going back to overeating crappy food", you will surely gain weight for real. This is a lifelong eating plan. Once you find the carb/cal level that is right for your level of activity for maintenance... stick to it.0 -
Back to the banana thing, I'm just going to rant about this a bit, because I did a paleo challenge at my CF box, and didn't see dramatic losses in weight, body fat, or inches (well, I always eat paleo so I didn't expect any big changes). But when I told my coach I didn't lose any weight, the first thing he asked is if I was eating fruit. After being low carb for 4 months, miserable during workouts (CF and running), and not losing any weight, I decided to up my carbs, and yes, god forbid, eat an occasional banana on my really active days.
I'm tired of people demonizing whole foods like fruit, because then people avoid them and lean towards other choices, that while technically paleo, might not be as good for them. Sure, I get it, insulin spikes and what not. But it's gotten to the point where I actually feel guilty for eating a half a banana before running.
Maybe these are just my hang-ups with food, but I just had to get this off my chest. Carry on!
Yes, it does come down to personal choice and self management/self control. The diet my doctor gave me also told me to avoid carrots. When I sat down with the dietitian that worked for him, she said she thought I should eat carrots due to all the other positives associated with them. But she recommended I eat them with a protein to buffer the insulin affect.
When you choose to eat paleo, you're basically experimenting on yourself. If you like the results (how you feel and how you look) then you're onto something. When you reintroduce foods that you previously ate and you don't like the results, hypothesis confirmed (avoid that going forward). One banana or bowl of ice cream won't make you fat, but your body will react to what you eat and if you keep eating it, the changes will become noticeable.0 -
I have a working theory about fruit intake as a whole:
As I see it, modern day fruit is likely much higher in sugar content than any of the fruit Grok ever found. Fruit has been selectively bred for hundreds, even thousands, of years to get the biggest, sweetest yields. I suspect that truly paleolithic-era fruit was less sweet, maybe even more vegetable like to our eye/tongue than what we would recognize as fruit today. Bananas are actually a particularly good example of the artificial manipulations fruit has undergone. Check this interesting (that is, DAMN interesting) article out: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-unfortunate-sex-life-of-the-banana/
So, having said all that, I think there is something to be said about limiting fruit intake if weight loss, or just mitigating sugar intake, is your goal. That doesn't mean eating fruit is bad. It also doesn't mean it's going to sabotage you. And, it doesn't mean it's bad for you. It just means that fruit may not be as "natural" as we may consider it.
I'm no expert, though. I just like to kick around strange ideas like this... consider all possibilities and what not.0 -
The Paleo lifestyle does not have to be low carb, though usually it is much lower than SAD, which is a GREAT thing.
Yes, if you limit carbs, you need to be cautious/gradual when you increase them. However, if you currently eat bananas and other fruit and have no problem from them such as hunger, craving, low energy, resistance to fat loss,etc, then you may be fine. Me, not so much. Half of a banana messes me up for DAYS; no kidding. However, before I changed my lifestyle I was almost diabetic and was basically the walking dead (name an illness-I had it or was on my way to getting it). Not everyone is like me so not everyone has to eat like me. Fortunately, I've never been super crazy about fruit so no biggie. I will increase carbs some day, but my goal will never be over 50 grams per day.
However, after saying the above, I have to acknowledge that today's fruit is certainly not the same as what our ancestors were eating, and yes, that matters. Also, anyone who is over-weight does have a metabolic disorder, so limiting fruit would probably make the weight loss/health journey a little easier.0 -
I don't really mean this super literally, but I remember when Atkin's first came out.....I talked to my aunt, who is a dietician. She said that they were finding as soon as someone ate carbs again, the weight would come back on SUPER fast!
Define "carbs".
Many people seem to have a misconception of "carbs", and they are painted as some big, evil demonic thing. People seem to classify such things as cakes, muffins and ice cream as "carbs", when in fact if you break it down nutritionally, a larger portion of their calories in fact come from fat. And "carbs" (which is now an evil word) encompasses everything from ice-cream cake to apples, which - honestly - are totally incomparable.
Basically what this means is it's about the calories. Surplus of calories = weight gain. Deficit of calories = weight loss.
Carbs =/= Evil fat gaining pixies.
Personally, I'm sick of this whole "carbs are evil" nonsense, both in real life and the Paleosphere; Paleo people like to go "We are so different in our approach to dieting", yet arbitrarily restrict perfectly healthy foods such as potatoes and fruit (FRUIT FOR GODS SAKE) and eat salads. Salads.
Yes, people can rave on and on as o how we're not eating the same fruit our ancestors were, but similarly we're not eating the same animals our ancestors were - or their eggs, or butter/coconut oil by the spoonful.
Or chocolate.
By all means, yes, eat your banana and bloody well enjoy it; it's a nutritious whole food, regardless of it's macronutrient content, and that is - IMHO - what Paleo is about: eating nutrient dense, whole foods in their least processed form.
/endrant0
