Has anyone else tried the Paleo route??

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MonkeyMari55
MonkeyMari55 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm curious to see what other peoples experience and results are with the paleo diet.

If you aren't familiar with it, here is a good article:

http://weightlossdietingplans.com/everything-to-know-about-staying-healthy-with-paleo.html
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    That article seems like a weird failure of Google Translate.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    "The" Paleo route suggests there's only one approach, when it seems a lot looser than that to me. I'm not following Paleo as I use a fair bit of dairy produce, which I think is excluded, but other than that I'm not a mile off Paleo.
  • thrashscara
    thrashscara Posts: 72 Member
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    Paleo is difficult, best way is to follow 'spirit of paleo', it is pretty much eating clean without additives and processed food, my rule of thumb is to have whole foods, no prepackaged food where possible, limit dairy and gluten/refined carbs and your laughing! :)
  • Majahonke
    Majahonke Posts: 14 Member
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    My family and I have been participating in the 2016 Lurong Challenge for about a week now. The diet is primarily Paleo. This makes sense since the challenge involves Crossfit and the two go hand in hand. I am also a Crossfit box (gym) member. Back to Paleo. In one week I already feel better and have lost 1.5lb. I do not feel bloated or feel the gastric heaviness prior to the start of the challenge. I do not miss bread or pasta and have no cravings for either. Sure it's only been a week but consider please that I love pizza and am a pretty good home baker. The main difficulty so far is coming up with recipes and shopping for ingredients. There's plenty of on-resources and a very strong Paleo community ready to help. Like anything else that's new I expect recipes, shopping and cooking will become easier in time. Of all the Paleo followers I know none are so devout as to not eat pizza occasionally or pass up a good barbecue. The key is making these deviations occasional. I can definitely see myself sticking with Paleo after the challenge is over in about 5 weeks. I have tried WW with some success but got tired of figuring out points. I will also stick with MFP because I feel keeping track is still important though probably less so with Paleo.
  • srfjeld
    srfjeld Posts: 1 Member
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    I love the paleo way lifestyle. It's worked for me and I never ate or felt better. The first time I did it in lost 20 lbs in 4 months... and I never worked out. I'm not saying you shouldn't work out, I just didn't. I tried to maintain the 80/20 rule but had some life changing events get in the way and I wasn't disciplined enough to stick with it. I have a horrible sugar addiction!!! I found that after a week or 2 eating paleo I didn't miss it. If I ever craved anything sweet I had one square of 85% dark chocolate and that was all I needed. We're currently in the process gearing up to start living the paleo lifestyle again but we need to make a plan and prepare. That's over half the battle. Get rid of processed crap in your kitchen, make a weekly menu, be sure to include survival snacks for work, car, on the go then go shopping and start living! I just don't know how I'd log it in MFP since it isn't a lifestyle that counts calories. I don't want to log it and then feel bad if it says I'm over in calories.
  • srturco
    srturco Posts: 4 Member
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    The premise on which the Paleo diet is based, is false. The Paleo dieters conception of a Paleolithic human is based more in fiction then they'd like to admit
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked [Interactive & Infographic]

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    That article seems like a weird failure of Google Translate.

    Totally agree. Bizarre article.

  • Mavrick_RN
    Mavrick_RN Posts: 439 Member
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    MonkeyMari55 wrote: »
    I'm curious to see what other peoples experience and results are with the paleo diet.

    If you aren't familiar with it, here is a good article:

    http://weightlossdietingplans.com/everything-to-know-about-staying-healthy-with-paleo.html

    No comment on Paleo diet, but this is NOT a good article. Definite Google Translate Fail.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
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    Yes, I have tried to follow the Paleo lifestyle. I lost a bit of weight, but I only did it for a month. I don't believe carbs are teh ebil. I love dairy. I have a sweet tooth. And I love me some wine. CICO works best for me.
  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 623 Member
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    It's a means to an end. Calorie deficit is what matters. If you decide to eat Paleo and it helps you stick to a calorie deficit, then by all means. But I'll continue to eat and love the "evil" carbs and whatever else I like in moderation. It's worked for losing 155 lbs and regaining perfect health so far.
  • Stanley1903
    Stanley1903 Posts: 73 Member
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    srturco wrote: »
    The premise on which the Paleo diet is based, is false. The Paleo dieters conception of a Paleolithic human is based more in fiction then they'd like to admit

    ^^^ this. So much this. It's easy for many people to overeat on "Paleo" as well. There are so many misconceptions.
  • kdogni
    kdogni Posts: 124 Member
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    I followed it when getting ready to compete a few years ago. It was good ad stripped-down loads of weight. My cardio and strength did pretty good too.
    Unfortunately after 8 months I stopped following it and put weight back on.
    Totally kicked myself for not being disciplined
  • jordyngiulio
    jordyngiulio Posts: 157 Member
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    I follow the 80/20 paleo guidelines and have been for almost 2 years. It certainly isn't a magic bullet for weight loss, but it can help by removing food that just isn't good for you - e.g. processed foods, added sugars, etc. What I do like about it is I feel like I get my calories from more nutritious sources overall, as opposed to just looking at calories, opting for 'diet food' with a bunch of fillers and not fueling my body as well as possible, but it all depends on how you choose to eat within the paleo confines. You can still eat pretty crappy on paleo.

    I am lactose intolerant so part of what I love about paleo is the dairy substitutions that are a hallmark of the plan. I also struggle with cystic acne which is tied to me eating dairy when I'm not supposed to and I definitely see an improvement in my skin on Paleo (although I admit it could probably be achieved through just avoiding dairy lol).

    To do it right it, it will be fairly cooking-intensive, but I find it's nice to know exactly what's going into your food and it tastes that much better knowing you made it yourself. There are several great blogs out there with recipes and general tips - much better than the article! Check out Paleomg, Nom Nom Paleo, Civilized Caveman and Against All Grain. I know some people really love it and swear by and it and others who detest it. Try it out for a while
  • lisaconklin957
    lisaconklin957 Posts: 17 Member
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    Paleo stresses NOT counting calories, which didn't work for me at all. I gained weight on a strict paleo diet because I kept reading to "listen to your internal cues" and "tracking calories is destructive to your relationship with food." Well my internal cue kept telling me since I was hungry I could eat more and more because the foods were on the approved list. I consistently gained around a pound a week on paleo and learned I need something more structured to keep my weight off, just my experience.
  • Marnie140
    Marnie140 Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm going paleo mostly because I have a lot of food sensitivities including wheat, all dairy, corn, potatoes, sugar etc. I'm so glad I found it because there are a ton of recipes online that help me and I don't have to modify them for my health concerns. I really don't care what cavemen did and I do plan to count calories because it is possible to over eat meat and veggies, but mostly the meat.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
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    Paleo is far too restrictive. I make treats fit into my daily calory allowance. And I can't wait to go onto maintenance!! An extra 400 to 500 calories to play with!!!!
  • kaylajane11
    kaylajane11 Posts: 313 Member
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    srfjeld wrote: »
    I love the paleo way lifestyle. It's worked for me and I never ate or felt better. The first time I did it in lost 20 lbs in 4 months... and I never worked out. I'm not saying you shouldn't work out, I just didn't. I tried to maintain the 80/20 rule but had some life changing events get in the way and I wasn't disciplined enough to stick with it. I have a horrible sugar addiction!!! I found that after a week or 2 eating paleo I didn't miss it. If I ever craved anything sweet I had one square of 85% dark chocolate and that was all I needed. We're currently in the process gearing up to start living the paleo lifestyle again but we need to make a plan and prepare. That's over half the battle. Get rid of processed crap in your kitchen, make a weekly menu, be sure to include survival snacks for work, car, on the go then go shopping and start living! I just don't know how I'd log it in MFP since it isn't a lifestyle that counts calories. I don't want to log it and then feel bad if it says I'm over in calories.

    1. Sugar addiction is not a thing. Maybe you really really really like sugar, but you are not addicted to it.
    2. If you are over in your calories you will gain weight. It doesn't matter what kinds of food you're eating. Caloric surplus = weight gain.
    3. If a "paleo lifestyle" works for you, great. But please understand it that if you are losing weight, it is simply a means to a caloric deficit. You can also lose weight eating all the foods you enjoy, but within your calorie limit.
  • ModernRock
    ModernRock Posts: 372 Member
    edited January 2016
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    lisaconklin957 wrote: »
    .....kept reading to "listen to your internal cues" and "tracking calories is destructive to your relationship with food." Well my internal cue kept telling me since I was hungry....

    Same here. If anything, counting calories has improved my relationship with food in the same way developing a budget and tracking cash flow improves one's relationship with money. If I listen to my internal cues, then I eat too much. That's because at some point I was no longer interpreting those cues correctly. Listening to my "internal cues" does no good if I interpret them to mean "I need to eat now because I don't feel full". Getting myself on a regular calorie intake, and having that calorie count PROVE I am getting enough to eat, is helping me learn that the goal of eating is not to feel full all the time. How to identify actual hunger. How to recognize that feeling full is actually kind of uncomfortable. That what at first feels like "emptiness" is not the same as hunger--it's closer to how you should feel between meals. Sticking to a daily calorie goal has improved my relationship with food.

  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    "The" Paleo route suggests there's only one approach, when it seems a lot looser than that to me. I'm not following Paleo as I use a fair bit of dairy produce, which I think is excluded, but other than that I'm not a mile off Paleo.

    You should check out Mark Sisson's The Daily Apple site if you don't already. He calls his approach "Primal" and in essence it's Paleo+dairy.

    I eat Paleo 90% of the time but I'm not crazy about it. I just find it to be easy, I tend to stay full longer and tend to be on a more even keel energy-wise.

    It's also allowed me to play around with portions a bit, which taught me that oftentimes we eat what we eat just because we always have. I just dropped my breakfast down maybe 100 calories to see if I'd feel a difference. I don't, so that will become permanent. I'll either just not eat the calories or eat them later in the day (I work out at night) when they will benefit me more.)

    I suggest trying it, but for me that involves clearing the house of carb-heavy foods. Especially when you do it the first time, you will have sugar cravings that you will not even believe.

    It's not for everyone, but it does work for some people.

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