Weight loss with Paleo diet?

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Replies

  • linnebooc
    linnebooc Posts: 84 Member
    Interesting post. I've been considering Paleo diet for a number of reasons as well.

    1) My father was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and his nutritionist suggested that he try the Paleo diet. I've been cooking his meals for him so that meant I had to learn what it was all about. He's lost a ton of weight as a result of the diet (not so much because of the chemo remarkably enough).

    2) I was just diagnosed as having the early stages of diabetes (sad face) and the doctor feels that if I am able to loose weight and cut some carbs out that I'll be able to not be diabetic. So there's that.

    I feel that it is a bit of a challenge to do but if it has the desired effects it'll be well worth it.

    Either way, I've also always noticed that I am super tired after eating breads even though they are so yummy.
  • maryerhardt
    maryerhardt Posts: 1 Member
    I think that if you were diagnosed and you already know how to cook paleo you should go for it. Try the Whole30 and see how you feel. What do you have to lose? You will definitely feel better and may loose a few pounds. :)
  • amyquinton
    amyquinton Posts: 1
    I've been eating a Paleo diet for about a month now. I have lost 5 pounds and ideally would like to lose 10 more. My favourite resource is http://www.marksdailyapple.com. I have tried other diets in the past, but I find this works the best for me. What it does is put me in a simple mindset to eat real, single ingredient foods. I shop the outside of the grocery store almost exclusively. I don't have to think about Calorie counting because if i'm eating lots of veggies, proteins, and healthy fats, I find it very difficult to go over my daily goal. To be honest it's mis-named, the Paleolithic peoples had very diverse diets globally and were certainly not eating domesticated animals, scientifically altered high yield vegetables or even pressed oils. I saw a recent TED talk on this that was very informative. But regardless of the name, the foundations of the diet are good. Reduce your intake of chemicals and empty carbs and treat yourself with rich, natural, healthy foods. The best part is that I used to be starving at certain times of the day and eat whatever I could get my hands on. Since going Paleo I feel satiated most of the time which helps me make the right choices, not snack too much, and take the time to cook proper meals.
  • melissarina
    melissarina Posts: 113 Member
    1) I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and after trying many different elimination diets, I found that dairy and wheat both consistently cause me stomach aches and digestive issues. It sucks but the pain and fear of eating as a result is even worse... so I started cutting them out of my diet.

    Hello!
    I'm lactose intolerant (and have been my whole life) and also have fructose and sorbitol malabasorption (for about 12 months), which my dietician translated as I have IBS. She suggested I eat a mostly wheat free diet and avoid high-fructose foods, and to avoid legumes and soy.
    I tried that for a while, and felt better, but didn't really lose weight. I'm not the best at calorie counting - I do it religiously for 2 weeks and then start to forget, and then have a cheat meal, or two, etc.
    Recently, I decided to try paleo, after reading about Whole30. I've really enjoyed it, and I feel heaps better. I'm pretty much following paleo diet now, except I'm still drinking lactose-free milk in my coffee, but I'm thinking about giving up dairy as well as I still get a grumbling stomach after having milk.
    From someone who suffers from IBS, I recommend trying paleo. But I also recommend seeing a dietician and seeing if they can help you with your IBS issues :)
  • greena
    greena Posts: 36 Member
    I second the other poster - go to www.marksdailyapple.com for insight into the Paleo (Primal) way of eating. Or better yet, read Mark Sisson's great book "The Primal Blueprint." It's not really about getting all wacko and eating exactly what a caveman ate. It's about eliminating toxic foods. And, you don't have to go into ketosis to eat Primal. I believe Mark recommends the 50-100 g of carbs a day for weight loss - I love sweet potatoes, bananas, sometimes some rice for a carb boost.

    If you have irritable bowel syndrome (or skin problems, or any number of other inflammation-related health issues) definitely, absolutely try cutting out wheat. There are so many people discovering they have adult-onset food sensitivities to wheat. And, in my experience, it's also addictive. For me to lose weight, I have to cut bread out almost entirely because not only is it very high in calories, but my brain wants to keep eating more, more, more of it. Once I adopted 80/20 Primal, staying at my target daily calorie count was EASY, and I don't feel deprived of great foods like avocado, eggs, meat, butter, etc. Since the birth of my second kid, I've lost 25 pounds, with about 12 more to go.
  • hmg90
    hmg90 Posts: 314 Member
    Hi y'al! :flowerforyou:

    I just decided to try the paleo diet. I'm 23 years old, 5"9 and around 141 lbs (haven't weighed recently but guessing around that). I want to get down to around 128, which I have been before, but still - weight loss is not my only concern.

    I'm pretty much a carb junkie - my favorites are pizza, all cheese, pasta and white bread. While I was living in France I consumed these things regularly and had no problems staying very slim - my lifestyle allowed me more regular meals and more activity. I was also a few years younger.
    Junk food or ready made-meals are not a problem, never eaten those.

    1. I have cut out sugar of my diet - now I don't crave it at all. This might be optimistic, but has anyone experience a decrease in craving carbs over time?

    2. What do you eat for snacks?

    3. Anyone experienced better skin, other than less acne?
    I had severe acne when younger, went on Roaccutane and got rid of most of it. I still have clogged pores and some zits, although the problem is more combination skin. I had atopic eczema as a child and get really dry areas of skin. I also have rosecea (redness). Are these things I can hope to change with another diet?

    4. I don't know if I have IBS, but I often feel bloated after eating carbs and I have extremely low tolerance for artificial sweeteners. Anyone doing the paleo feel like it is easier to get a flat stomach?

    Thanks in advance! :wink:
  • hmg90
    hmg90 Posts: 314 Member

    ^ This.

    Paleo is based on pseudoscience, cherry picking, mumbo jumbo and a good dose of the "noble savage" mythos.

    If it makes you feel good, then eat that way. But don't expect it to be any kind of magic bullet for weight loss. If you eat too many calories, your body is quite capable of making it's own glucose from sources other than carbs (look up gluconeogenesis) and then storing that as fat.

    Like I said, if it's not for you, that's fine, but our way of life is not without it's own research to back it up. No need to get nasty. As I stated earlier, yes, the body is capable of making it's own glucose. This is why we don't need to eat as many carbs as we tend to do on the SAD. No one claims it's a magic bullet for weight loss, by the way. Most Paleos don't switch to lose weight, it just happened to work for me, which I also stated. The original question asked if anyone had experience with the lifestyle. I simply gave my personal experience.

    Actually, the OP asked if it was good for weight loss. The answer is that, if you are in a calorie deficit, then you will lose weight. Whether you eat Paleo or any other way.

    Statements (by yourself) such as "When you don't eat enough carbs to fully fuel your body's energy needs, it turns to the fats and proteins as fuel instead, so fat gets used, not stored away" are simply wrong. Excess calories are converted to glucose, which is then converted to fat and stored. You can get fat over eating paleo, just as you can over eating on any diet.

    Since I stated that calorie intake did in fact matter, although most Paleo eaters don't bother to count because they do fine without counting, I assumed that the OP was able to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that she would still have to be at a certain level of intake to lose weight, even on Paleo. Obviously you don't intend to give her that much credit... TBH, I don't much care if you think I'm wrong or not. You've obviously not taken the time to read through all the material in my comments before making your statements. Now that I've turned snarky, which I try never to do, I think I'll head back over to the Paleo/Primal forums. Much less aggressive over there...

    - Did you always count the calories after starting paleo?

    - How long until you noticed a difference?

    :flowerforyou:
  • Ithina1
    Ithina1 Posts: 93 Member
    from personal experience, i disagree that caloric deficit is the sole contributor to successful weightloss - the circumstances that result in that caloric deficit are important too. I find sticking to a caloric limit much more restrictive than limiting certain foods - so for me personally, paleo is the better option mentally. now i just track days here and there to see if i'm getting an ok macro balance. I like the food i am eating and don't feel the urge to cheat it. i am having more success eating this way than in an 'everything in moderation' style.

    edit: also, i'm eating a lot more calories now than EIM-diet, and as stated before, paleo is not low carb (but some people choose to make it ketogenic) so your comments comparing it to atkins are quite inaccurate. :(

    This touches an import point in weight loss. The psychological processes that lead to adherence and consistency are essential.
    We are social animals that adhere by association to common understood belief clusters. When that association is strong we will tend to adhere better to some basic principles. So belonging to the paleo tribe or the IIFYM tribe or cabbage soup cleanse tribe and supporting the tribe principles leads to better adherence. But at the end of the day, in terms of actual loss, the key foundational element is that there can not be weight loss without a calorie deficit. How you chose to go about that, and how it influences your long term adherence are actually more important that the science behind it (says the scientist).

    Paleo is cool, it's an in-cult, has lots of structuring belief systems and fast initial results due to carbohydrate/water loss - much like Atkins, Dukan diets (they are less "in" now), Paleo is lower (if not necessarily low) carb than the standard American diet by what it excludes.
    Some of the tribes actually adhere to practices that are intrinsically unhealthy and fail to take a global, long term, if I may use the word "holistic" approach.
    Richard's post is on the money. Paleo can be fine and healthy. It isn't necessary. Consistency and a deficit are necessary. But of course I agree with him, I'm part of the IIFYM, Science (capital S), train for fitness, love to eat tribe. We have cookies and beer, do you? :laugh: :drinker:

    I third this. Calories are what matter for weight loss, not so much where they come from. Paleo may be a tool that helps you stick to your calorie goals. If it does, awesome :). You won't know if it works for you until you try it sadly. Try it for a month and see how it goes. Good luck. I never tried it personally because I love milk, cheese, and beer too much. I also found its lack of understanding evolution a bit distasteful.
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Hey everyone, I'm a new poster here. Been using the website for a while but never chatted with anyone! :)

    I'm curious about the paleo diet and have heard a lot of good things about it. Has anyone on here used it and lost weight with it? I would imagine that at the very least cutting out the wheat and gluten would bring weight down a little. Any feedback?
    Many thanks!
    /wt

    I'm eating this crazy balanced diet. But I'm sure avoiding most foods on the planet is better.
  • zombiechic45
    zombiechic45 Posts: 4
    I <3 Paleo and use it as a guideline for my diet. Mainly I am just cutting out all processed foods and if I want a little cheese I will have some and I still give myself a cheat meals. Paleo makes me feel mentally and physically amazing. I follow it about 80/20. I, drop weight fast when I am on it, just be aware of the Paleo flu if you really stick to it. I basically spent 3 days in bed b/c it felt like I had Vertigo from the toxins being flushed.
  • Ker310
    Ker310 Posts: 2
    I have been on Paleo for one month. I was told to start eating this way by my Neurosurgeon (to help with my recovery) because I will be having brain surgery in the near future. The Paleo way of eating is good for someone who would like to remove inflammation in the body and for me more importantly the brain. I started at 176 lbs. I have not counted any calories. I have made muffins, cookies, fudge etc. I have lost 12lbs. I think removing the refined sugar alone has helped me with this weight loss. I can also tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that the inflammation in my body is going down. I know this because I had quite severe Rosacea on my face when I started eating this way and now my face is very clear and much more olive (which I have not seen in years). I am very pleased with this lifestyle of eating. The first two weeks were difficult learning a new way of living (especially with 2 young children) but it has gotten so much easier. I will have to sustain this lifestyle because I have an incurable neurological disorder but with the pain reduction from this diet it won't be too difficult. :) I recommend this way of eating if it works for you.

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