Thoughts on paleo....and potatoes.

stargazgal · January 2015

Hi,

Just returning to MFP. I've tried every gimmick fad yo yo diet trend out there. I would like to focus on eating a clean whole foods plan and have re-started an exercise plan whic involved TRX 2x weekly; core and cardio 3x weekly and heavy weights 2-3x week.
My question is this....my TRX coach promotes paleo lifestyle and says it's the only way I will lose weight

Now, while I have no problem skipping the bread basket and I've never cared for pasta. But, I enjoy quinoa, rice and potatoes occasionally! He says No! No grains. No potatoes. No corn. No legumes...No to certain fruits
I feel cranky and hungry if I cut out everything. He says to eat only seeds, nuts, meat and veggies. He says think caveman...
But don't potatoes grow in the ground. I have a hard time saying no to certain foods that are good for me...anyhow, open to opinions....
I do have 40 lbs to lose.....

Any thoughts?
I

festerw · January 2015

Tell him to stuff it. You can lose weight find eating all of those things in moderation, I should know I've lost 35 by eating them.

psuLemon · January 2015

Paleo is no different than any other diet fad. I think its overly restrictive and completely unnecessary.

Get a food scale, log your calories and try to find balance with foods that you like and foods that are nutrient dense.

getstrongkaylen · January 2015

I don't believe in anything that restricts certain food groups. It's all about moderation, and calories in vs. calories out! I lost 45 lbs, and eat some sort whole wheat bread/ brown rice/ whole wheat pasta every day! It helps feel and stay full for longer periods of times (with protein too!) It is a fad diet, most people just don't want to hear that losing weight takes time!!

Also, while idea behind is pretty good (although I never met an actual caveman so I wouldn't know their body size), it would a be diet that is hard to replicate. And I pretty sure, that cavemen probably went a couple days without eating interspersed with huge meals when they were able to hunt and get food.... But ehhhhh, I wouldn't really know!

BWBTrish · January 2015

Eat everything! Count your calories. Portion control and moderation (deficit) makes you lose weight. and dump the coach.

Or ask him about his shares in the Paleo organisation.

missiontofitness · January 2015

Tell him to take his restrictions and shove it down his meat chute.
If you don't want to restrict those things, don't. Balance them into your diet. Take the advice above, it's good input.

vismal · January 2015

Your coach is full of it. Plenty of people lose weight without eating paleo. It's just a bunch of arbitrary restrictions. It isn't exempt from calories in vs calories out, no diet is. No matter what you eat, no matter what you don't eat, you will not lose weight if you arent in a calorie deficit. On the same hand, regardless of what you eat, you won't gain weight unless in a surplus.

Kimberlyann68 · January 2015

Hello I'm paleo - it's not a diet it's a lifestyle way of eating just like a vegetarian etc... Yes potatoes are a veg but high in sugar starch best to avoid. Best to have sweet potatoes and you can toss them in many natural oils like sesame or olive and sea salt. There are cheat days but for the most remember if made in a plant don't eat - if grown on a plant all good! It's food you can harvest. Again a cheat day is allowed. Good luck to you !!!

Alluminati · January 2015

I hope you're not paying him for that lame *kitten* advice. Use MFP for its intended purpose and count them cals, gurl!

vismal · January 2015

Kimberlyann68 wrote: »

Hello I'm paleo - it's not a diet it's a lifestyle way of eating just like a vegetarian etc... Yes potatoes are a veg but high in sugar starch best to avoid. Best to have sweet potatoes and you can toss them in many natural oils like sesame or olive and sea salt. There are cheat days but for the most remember if made in a plant don't eat - if grown on a plant all good! It's food you can harvest. Again a cheat day is allowed. Good luck to you !!!

There is simply no science whatsoever behind avoiding a white potato and embracing a sweet potato. Both are carbs, eventually end up being broken down to the same things by the body.

SergeantSausage · January 2015

I'm calling shenanigans on your coach.

You will lose with or without potatoes, as long as your calories are AOK.

I have potatoes twice a week, and sushi ( white rice ) pretty much every other Friday. It's all about keeping portion sizes to the appropriate calorie quotas.

savvyfantastic · January 2015

*kitten* advice.

Not nutritionally accurate at all.

Potatoes are awesome.

That is all.

Alluminati · January 2015

Kimberlyann68 wrote: »

Hello I'm paleo - it's not a diet it's a lifestyle way of eating just like a vegetarian etc... Yes potatoes are a veg but high in sugar starch best to avoid. Best to have sweet potatoes and you can toss them in many natural oils like sesame or olive and sea salt. There are cheat days but for the most remember if made in a plant don't eat - if grown on a plant all good! It's food you can harvest. Again a cheat day is allowed. Good luck to you !!!

Is wooly mammoth ok?

arditarose · January 2015

Oh my word. Do not listen to him.

eric_sg61 · January 2015

I thought some of the top level paleo guru masters were including potatoes because of resistant starches

obscuremusicreference · January 2015

Paleo bugs me from a historical/archaeological standpoint, but if it works for someone, great! I'm doing my thing over here with the potatoes and the grains and the legumes.

That said, this is clearly not the diet for you and as everyone else has pointed out, only CICO matters. Ask your trainer if he has those crazy blue-light-filtering goggles next time you see him checking his phone. May as well go full paleo, right?

neanderthin · January 2015

Kimberlyann68 wrote: »

Hello I'm paleo - it's not a diet it's a lifestyle way of eating just like a vegetarian etc... Yes potatoes are a veg but high in sugar starch best to avoid. Best to have sweet potatoes and you can toss them in many natural oils like sesame or olive and sea salt. There are cheat days but for the most remember if made in a plant don't eat - if grown on a plant all good! It's food you can harvest. Again a cheat day is allowed. Good luck to you !!!

Sweet potato has 3 or 4 times the sugar of a regular potato and that took me 2 minutes to find out.....maybe you should not buy into the low carb dogma of paleo when in fact paleo is not necessarily a low carb lifestyle, but it's clear why you might think so.

stargazgal · January 2015

Thanks everyone! I'll focus on calories and eating whole healthy foods.

sheahughes · January 2015

Kimberlyann68 wrote: »

Hello I'm paleo - it's not a diet it's a lifestyle way of eating just like a vegetarian etc... Yes potatoes are a veg but high in sugar starch best to avoid. Best to have sweet potatoes and you can toss them in many natural oils like sesame or olive and sea salt. There are cheat days but for the most remember if made in a plant don't eat - if grown on a plant all good! It's food you can harvest. Again a cheat day is allowed. Good luck to you !!!

Sorry - that bolded part makes no sense whatsoever.
Bananas - grown on a plant.
Potatoes - grown on a plant's roots
Sweet potatoes - are the tuberous roots of the plant itself
Pumpkin - grown on a plant
Fruit - grown on a plant

How do you grow something in a plant?

mezeade · January 2015

I think she means factory/manufacturing plant.

lemurcat12 · January 2015

Unless you have your own reasons for wanting to do paleo (and lots of versions of the diet seem to be fine with potatoes), I'd ignore it. Obviously people lose weight without paleo and lots of people do paleo and don't lose weight.

I've had a trainer give me diet advice that I disagreed with. I just listened and thanked her and ignored it, and all was well. (She was a good trainer other than that.)

Thoughts on paleo....and potatoes.

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