Should I go paleo or just eat clean?

mostlypaleo
mostlypaleo Posts: 21
in Food and Nutrition
So, I've been thinking about going paleo at least for the summer and seeing how that goes. But considering I'm a long distance runner it might not be that ideal for me to limit my carbs. I'm also not sure that I'll be able to sustain a completely grain-free diet for the long term, so I was wondering if I should just try to eat as cleanly as possible instead of cutting out grains, dairy, and legumes like the paleo diet says to? What do you guys think?

Replies

  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
    Perhaps begin with eating clean, then drop dairy. See how you go ...it's a personal experiment.
    Then work out which foods you can leave out if you want to follow Paleo.
    Root vegetables are pretty carby for fuel.
  • naturesbliss
    naturesbliss Posts: 3 Member
    I am currently doing a 30 day a strict paleo challenge, and have just learned the hard way that while the paleo diet is great, it does not support long distance running. On some level your body needs some higher carbs to support replacing the glycogen in your muscles while you are recovering. Last weekend, 7 days into my challenge, I ran in a 10 mile trail race and was really feeling drained for days afterwards. I just couldn't get enough to eat and ended up adding some whey powder in to help with the recovery process.

    I have been eating grain and legume free for over a year and have never felt better. It usually takes a couple of weeks to get over the cravings before you really start feeling better. The real question is, how strict do you want to be with this paleo thing? Sweet potatoes are a great way to get some higher carbs in, as well as bananas and other fruits. Some folks even allow honey or maple syrup.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    neither... eat what youve always eaten, just eat less... most should probably add more fruit and vegetables to their existing diet as well
  • erin4609
    erin4609 Posts: 131 Member
    Read this article before you go paleo.http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat

    The paleo diet is not really how people in paleolithic times ate. It's good because it cuts out lots of processed foods, but there's no science behind it. "The Paleo diet not only misunderstands how our own species, the organisms inside our bodies and the animals and plants we eat have evolved over the last 10,000 years, it also ignores much of the evidence about our ancestors' health during their—often brief—individual life spans" People in the paleolithic times were really unhealthy and didn't live very long.

    Like most things, the diet is bullsh*t.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Objectively define clean eating.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:
  • erin4609
    erin4609 Posts: 131 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    The "generalist" diet. Or the "opportunist" diet.
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
    Diets fail. If you can't spend the rest of your life eating this way, then it doesn't work.
  • erin4609
    erin4609 Posts: 131 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:

    what's that?
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
    only buy things on the outside of your supermarket; fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy, eggs, fish and some carbs in the form of rice and beans if you want. End of story. I get most of my carbs from fruit and vegetables on weekdays. This week I cooked some beans though so will have a small helping of them each day too :)

    If you want to really restrict yourself then go for it, but I personally couldn't just cut out things like the few cooking sauces I use, daily chocolate or dairy. Just doesn't work for me, so I prefer to eat as clean as possible! Do what works best for you!! :flowerforyou:

    Just don't look at my diary on the weekend. This city has too many delicious restaurants :cry:
  • jojojo909090
    jojojo909090 Posts: 205 Member
    There are some good books on Paleo for Athletes. I change my eating for endurance stuff....the rest (daily workouts) I just eat normally.
  • astrovivi
    astrovivi Posts: 183 Member
    So, I've been thinking about going paleo at least for the summer and seeing how that goes. But considering I'm a long distance runner it might not be that ideal for me to limit my carbs. I'm also not sure that I'll be able to sustain a completely grain-free diet for the long term, so I was wondering if I should just try to eat as cleanly as possible instead of cutting out grains, dairy, and legumes like the paleo diet says to? What do you guys think?

    There is no sound reason to exclude any food group, unless you have a medical condition/allergy/food intolerance to a particular food or substance.

    If your aim is fatloss, just switch to a calorie deficit and stick to your macros each week.

    Eat healthy most of the time, as a health goal, good idea.
    But other than that ...
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:

    what's that?

    If it fits your macros. Set yourself a macro nutrient target (carbs, protein and fat are the macros), a lot of people including myself do 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. Then eat any foods as long as you are meeting your macro and calorie target. Generally you will find that in order to do this you need to eat pretty healthy anyway but it has the advantage of not restricting any food groups or "dirty" foods. In my opinion it's more sustainable and most people no matter what plan they follow end up only sticking to that plan 80% of the time anyway
  • moondawg14
    moondawg14 Posts: 249 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:

    what's that?

    If it fits in your mouth?
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:

    what's that?

    If it fits in your mouth?

    Bwahaha, that works too.
  • babydiego87
    babydiego87 Posts: 905 Member
    paleo is a fad. just like all the rest.

    how about...eat what you want and make sure it fits your macros??? SHOCKING I know.
  • kazsjourney
    kazsjourney Posts: 263 Member
    Personally I find the most success when I eat as little unprocessed foods (as in packaged foods etc) as possible.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    Up to you really.

    Pick one, give it a go. See if it suits your goals and preferences. Keep what works, throw out what doesn't. Profit.

    Paleo does not necessarily mean low carb although a lot of people choose to marry the two. You could use particularly sugary fruit sources rather than berries etc to fuel your long runs and be fine (dried mango would work well for example if you need something during rather than before exercise.)

    You could of course try eating at a calorie deficit and so forth. I'm sure that never crossed your mind though...
  • SurfyFriend
    SurfyFriend Posts: 362 Member
    Go paleo! You'll lose heaps of weight and destroy your kidneys at the same time! Hooray!
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    My vote is for NEITHER.

    Unless you have a metabolic disorder or an allergy, there's no reason to limit or eliminate things from your diet. You can try either one if you want to and if you have a high compliance rate for trying new things, but otherwise, why bother? You don't need paleo or clean eating to be healthy and lose weight. And if you choose either one and then have a cheeseburger and fries, you'll just feel bad, tell yourself you failed, and be more prone to binge.

    So, why not just eat at a moderate calorie deficit, making sure you get healthy foods to fill up your macros and nutrients, and still enjoy things you like to eat?

    can you at least give that a cool name so I can feel trendy?

    It has a name already. IIFYM. :drinker:

    what's that?

    If it fits in your mouth?

    :bigsmile:
  • alwayskungfu
    alwayskungfu Posts: 92
    So, I've been thinking about going paleo at least for the summer and seeing how that goes. But considering I'm a long distance runner it might not be that ideal for me to limit my carbs. I'm also not sure that I'll be able to sustain a completely grain-free diet for the long term, so I was wondering if I should just try to eat as cleanly as possible instead of cutting out grains, dairy, and legumes like the paleo diet says to? What do you guys think?

    Here's the thing, some may say 'experiment' well thats cool once or twice, but many people are on this site because they have f***ed up thier metabolisms by that very process, Paleo is all about evolution, but ask yourself, What is your personal evolution? what has shaped you and made you? what worked and what failed? understand yourself, train hard and eat well...I can't tell you what...it's your body I invite you to research YOURSELF!...to find out what you need to fuel yourself with, don't just do another diet, find out what your diet is...look to yourself. Good luck.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I vote for shifting towards eating clean. Once you see how much more energy you have you can decide whether to keep going or find a level you are Ok with.
  • zankc11
    zankc11 Posts: 7 Member
    I started with clean eating, which was an easy transition to Paleo. I found myself getting sick of grains and dairy products as it was, and I had already cut out all processed foods. Going Paleo is one of the best decisions I've ever made! I've been at it for about four months now; I feel better than ever and I've seen some major results. My suggestion would be to start with clean eating, then gauge how you feel about it and decide from there if you want to do Paleo/Primal. Feel free to add/message me if you want any other information! :)

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