Where to begin with paleo?
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fakeittomakeit
Posts: 48 Member
I have been doing crossfit for almost six weeks and love it!! I have seen results in my arms being more toned, my mid section slimming down and my legs getting stronger. However, if I want to see even better results I know that I need to change my diet. I don't know that I'll be able to completely change what I eat and I'm not going to have my kids/husband do it with me, but there's no harm in trying. For those of you who eat paleo, did you start with little changes and do it gradually or did you jump right in? My appetite has actually decreased quite a bit since starting crossfit, but I am still making bad choices when I am hungry and pick a meal/snack. Thanks in advance for any help or insight you may have.
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I jumped right in. I'm very all or nothing.
There's a pretty active Paleo group here on MFP!0 -
i jumped right in... but i think that most people who fail at paleo fail because: too many cheats, too little fat, too few overall calories (when you nix the grains you need to eat a lot more "stuff" to take up their place.) that being said, i think people also can fail at paleo if they eat too many fruits and nuts or become too reliant on paleo snacks or "paleo baked substitutes"
i went strict paleo for 3 months, but reintroduced dairy with no ill effects- I have been primal for a year now 0 -
I started out as Primal and then moved into Paleo a little more gradually. I found Primal easier to adjust to because it allows for some dairy, dark chocolate, red wine, etc. Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint 21 Day Total Body Transformation was a book that was full of good info on how to get started. It was still a big change from a regular SAD diet, though.
I recommend getting a couple of good Paleo cookbooks or bookmarking some good recipe websites (for example, PaleOMG and Nom Nom Paleo), so you can have some good recipes on hand. Best of luck!!0 -
Jump right in- but plan ahead. Get rid of everything in your house that might tempt you. Plan all your meals and go shopping for the first week's food. If you have any situations ahead of you (dinner plans, a party, lunch with co-workers) decide ahead of time what you are going to do to accomplish eating what you need to eat. I jumped right in and never looked back, but friends who have tried it ended up being like 50/50 and saw no results. Some even gained weight because they did higher fat/ higher protein for 2 meals and then ate a bunch of crap for dinner.
The other thing is you need support. Whoever you eat food with the most needs to understand that you are serious about this and that you don't want them to sabotage you with guilt. I learned to make some really good Paleo dishes and my boyfriend is 100% on board with it. If we eat together, it's Paleo or it's at a restaurant where I know ahead of time that they have food to meet my needs.0 -
I am still not seeing great body transformation results and my diet is pretty good (I think) and I WOD 3 days a week. I would do 5, but it's $200/month...that's just more than I am wanting to put out.
Example of my eating...
Breakfast Mon-Fri is always 3 eggs and a salad--most often with olive oil/vinegar
Snack macadamia nuts
Lunch salad and this week a homemade, lean burger patty
WOD protein is a bag of organic beef jerky from Whole Foods (yes it has cane juice and soy in the ingedients)
Dinner salad and again... a good protein....
This week has been rough (son fell and needed stitches...ER, doctors appts,etc) So last night I didn't have time to cook so we picked up food. I got ribs (yes BBQ sauce) and a baked potato.... Normally if we have to get something fast it might be grilled chicken on a crossaint (less bread than a huge bun)...or a gyro without the pita/sauce... I try to be extremely mindful and make the "cheat" a small one.
The only thing I drink is water. I don't do much fruit. Mostly veggies in the form of a salad with olive oil/vinegar.
Part of my frustrated is b/c I want to see things slimming down. At the same time, I am seeing my muscle gains. So... all in all, I'm not too worried about it...but it is frustrating to change your diet so dramatically and not see the results.
I have lost over 100# on my own eating the way you hear to eat... Whole grain/brown rice, lean meat, 1200 cals, low fat/sugar...blah blah blah.0 -
I jumped right in and I'd say I'm about 80/20 in terms of sticking to it. I try to put together 5 days of good eating during the week and allow a bit of slippage on the weekends.
I find the key for me is eating the same meals and preparation.
Breakfast is usually eggs (a couple whole, a couple whites) two slices of bacon and a 100 calorie pack of guacamole.
Lunch is either a big batch of chili that I make and froze into portions or a grilled chicken salad. That is usually a couple of handfuls of spinach with two grilled chicken breasts and some olive oil and vinegar.
Dinner is a meat with green leafy vegetables. Maybe a protein shake added if I have CF or another workout.
You will fall off the wagon, especially with others in your family not doing it. Don't beat yourself up if you do. Just put it behind you and do better for the next meal.0 -
I've been doing crossfit since April. I am 44 and I have a good 50 pounds to lose. For the first 2.5 months I saw some changes in my body composition but I had not lost a lb. I decided to really clean up the diet. At the end of June I started doing a Whole30 (30 days of strict paleo - google whole30 for site and rules). I completed it yesterday and I am down 15 lbs. in a month, more than I expected (I was aiming to lose 10lbs). They say exercise for health and wellness but to lose weight the diet is the most important thing. I guess this month proves it to me.
Dave0 -
I jumped right in. The rest of my family doesn't follow paleo, but I don't mind fixing things for them that aren't paleo. It takes willpower to do it, but I've also slowly replaced a lot of things that are non paleo (margarine to organic cultured butter for example) and they seem to like the alternatives just as well if not better. I believe in living by example and not forcing changes on others. At first I caught a lot of grief about what I don't eat, now I'm asked why I don't eat them or even better, asked for advice about what is healthy because of my visible results.0
