Anyone either PALEO or WHOLE30 experience?

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  • lks802
    lks802 Posts: 65 Member
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    You will also find many paleo bloggers out there aren't strict paleo as originally designed. Some will occasionally use grains and legumes. It's really about finding whole healthy unprocessed foods that you feel good after eating.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lks802 wrote: »
    Whole 30, paleo and primal are not "diets" for the purpose of weight loss.

    They are often sold as such, and people sure do choose them with the intent of losing weight.

    Also, a "diet" is just a way of eating.
    They are nutritional styles of eating that focus on eating whole unprocessed foods.

    No, they are styles of eating that eliminate grains, legumes, and dairy, as well as added sugar (except from some sources like honey and maple syrup, sometimes, depending on whose paleo plan you like), and even more things for Whole 30, used to be potatoes, for example), and some even limit fruit quite a bit.

    That there are millions of "paleo treats" and "paleofied foods" (with almond flour and coconut oil and the like -- they are usually extremely tasty) also demonstrates that it's NOT about unprocessed foods, as is the fact that many into paleo (NOT Loren Cordain, however) are all about processed meats (and I don't mean only meats they processed themselves).
    Some people experience weight loss bc it's a healthier style of eating.

    No, it's not inherently a "healthier style of eating" -- I do not think my diet was healthier when I excluded legumes, for example. Some people experience weight loss (many do not), because they eat fewer calories or, like me, they also count calories.
    Whole 30 is a 30 day elimination diet to help you identify which foods you may be reacting to. It is NOT for weight loss or long term.

    As someone said above, it's not a real elimination diet and if you need an elimination diet Whole 30 is a bad choice.

    I see no harm in trying out how you feel without something, though -- I did that myself, as I said -- but I wouldn't call it an elimination diet and Whole 30's rationales are quite bad and not well reasoned (yes, I read the book).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2017
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    lks802 wrote: »
    It's really about finding whole healthy unprocessed foods that you feel good after eating.

    This isn't what paleo is. It's fine, I'm all for it, but it's not how paleo is different than other diets. Lots of people do this (especially if you invoke the Sisson 80% thing) and aren't paleo and don't claim they are.
  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
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    I'm doing Whole30 this month but let me be very frank - I think the whole thing is woohoo. I'm doing it for shiz and giggles. For the challenge. To be honest again though, I'm not finding it challenging at all. It's actually kind of taking the fun out of it. It's just... Easy. My diet was already filled with whole foods, fruits and vegetables. I'm basically just not eating popcorn or putting creamer in my coffee.
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    I love paleo and I think it's the best way to eat. Personally I find it difficult to stick to, but then again I'm extraordinarily lazy and undisciplined.

    I think if you can go paleo/primal and stick to it consistently, that would be a wonderful thing and I doubt you'd regret it.

    As far as Whole30s go, the idea of it bugs me. You'll see the same people again and again saying Who Wants To Do A Whole30 With Me?! I Never Felt Better Than When I Was Doing Whole30!! They pop up every few months or so. Thing is, they never say what happens when they're not doing Whole30s. I suspect whatever it is, it's not wholesome.

    I think paleo/primal was designed for the ultra committed hardcore people who can do it and can stand it. Whole30s are marketing gimmicks for everyone else who can only do it for a little while, stop, start feeling lousy again and then hop on the Whole30 bandwagon again. And again and again.

    I confess I haven't read the whole30 book, so I can't tell why this happens (I suspect that people use the plan improperly, just to speed up weight loss), but in general I don't think it is a bad idea to see paleo as an elimination diet, aimed to reintroduce foods, to see how they affect you (at least in the short term).
  • megbugs
    megbugs Posts: 107 Member
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    I'm doing whole 30 now because I went back to my poor eating habits over the holidays and needed to cut out the sugar completely in order to get over my addiction. I personally am not affected my dairy and grains, but sugar and alcohol (since it lowers my inhibitions and I prefer sugary alcohol drinks) affect my weight loss efforts.

    I'm back to feeling more in control, not being down on myself every evening when once again I ate stuff I told myself I wasn't going to eat, pre planning and sticking to my meal plans, exercising daily, and only having nutritious food in the house. I did it last year and then ate clean for 9 months and then the holidays started and I found myself buying cookies, sneaking candy bars, and feeling overly full in the evenings. I hope reading labels to avoid added sugars and pre planning my menu (even pre planning nights out when I might eat more than my allotted 1300 calories) will stay with me through 2017 and beyond. I just need to stay in the zone, and even if I have a weekend when I overindulge, I need to get better at coming right back. I definitely think whole 30 has taught me valuable information about how to do that. It emphasizes reading labels, pre planning, cooking quantities so you always have something to grab and aren't stuck with the only option being convenience over nutrition, and discovering what your negative triggers are.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    megbugs wrote: »
    I'm doing whole 30 now because I went back to my poor eating habits over the holidays and needed to cut out the sugar completely in order to get over my addiction. I personally am not affected my dairy and grains, but sugar and alcohol (since it lowers my inhibitions and I prefer sugary alcohol drinks) affect my weight loss efforts.

    I'm back to feeling more in control, not being down on myself every evening when once again I ate stuff I told myself I wasn't going to eat, pre planning and sticking to my meal plans, exercising daily, and only having nutritious food in the house. I did it last year and then ate clean for 9 months and then the holidays started and I found myself buying cookies, sneaking candy bars, and feeling overly full in the evenings. I hope reading labels to avoid added sugars and pre planning my menu (even pre planning nights out when I might eat more than my allotted 1300 calories) will stay with me through 2017 and beyond. I just need to stay in the zone, and even if I have a weekend when I overindulge, I need to get better at coming right back. I definitely think whole 30 has taught me valuable information about how to do that. It emphasizes reading labels, pre planning, cooking quantities so you always have something to grab and aren't stuck with the only option being convenience over nutrition, and discovering what your negative triggers are.

    Well, as you've seen, restricting so much usually leads to binging. If you follow WinoGelato's thread "Who gained weight over the holidays? I have a solution" you will see that you can do this without eliminating foods.

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