Paleo Eating- Who does it?

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  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
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    most Paleo dieters are not following the diet Paleo man ate, not even by macronutrient proportions

    Agreed, but today people eat refined grains and sugary foods which are the main source of carbohydrates. It's not fair to put fruits and vegetables in the same catagory of sugars and refined grains.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    most Paleo dieters are not following the diet Paleo man ate, not even by macronutrient proportions

    Agreed, but today people eat refined grains and sugary foods which are the main source of carbohydrates. It's not fair to put fruits and vegetables in the same catagory of sugars and refined grains.

    i would partially agree, in terms of health i agree, in terms of body composition i don't think food choices matter as much
  • laurad1406
    laurad1406 Posts: 341
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    Anyway..........can we please stop debating about whether Paleo/Primal is garbage or not and let this be a discussion for people who support and love this lifestyle and for those curious about it?

    I've been following this thread and dont worry! I am not getting discouraged by all of the negative opinions and "information" (which to be honest, I don't understand why it gets so heated, even critics of Paleo agree it works well for SOME PEOPLE and not for others....so just let everyone see if they're one of those "some"! )

    To the people who follow Paleo and are providing guidance and their experience, it's much appreciated! I'm excited to find out more, thanks for the info so far!
  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
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    i would partially agree, in terms of health i agree, in terms of body composition i don't think food choices matter as much

    Also, paleolithic man would've eaten fruits and vegetables unrefined and most of the time uncooked. I'd guess that a huge percentage of their CHO was fiber.
  • jamk1446
    jamk1446 Posts: 5,577 Member
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    I've been eating this way for 5 years now, eating real, whole foods is very sustainable- whether you agree with eating grains or not. I don't think they need to be part of my diet and they don't treat my body well, I don't eat them. My body seems to do well with a somewhat lower range of carb intake, but I still eat starches. There are many other paleo-ers that eat quite a bit of starch. Overall, we just try to avoid a bunch of processed, chemical laden, low quality food.

    There were a wide variety of actual paleolithic diets- it was a long period of time and people have ranged all around. Some diets were high fat, some high carb. And some peoples did eat grain- but it wasn't a staple of their diets until agriculture came into play and the grains that were around were very different than the versions we have today.

    But I consider this a way of eating or lifestyle than just diet or a quick fix. There's so much more to good health than just the food we eat.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    i would partially agree, in terms of health i agree, in terms of body composition i don't think food choices matter as much

    Also, paleolithic man would've eaten fruits and vegetables unrefined and most of the time uncooked. I'd guess that a huge percentage of their CHO was fiber.

    i beleive one of the studies said they estimated a min of 70g of fiber a day from the fruit and veggies, which is waaaaay too much for me lol

    FYI: i have nothing against the Paleo diet or dieters and glad we can have an intelligent debate on Paleo man's diet, the health benefits etc
  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
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    i beleive one of the studies said they estimated a min of 70g of fiber a day from the fruit and veggies, which is waaaaay too much for me lol

    FYI: i have nothing against the Paleo diet or dieters and glad we can have an intelligent debate on Paleo man's diet, the health benefits etc

    Definetely good info here... I'm not paleo myself, but I can see understand their POV.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    I love it. Since I started I've been sleeping better. For me this is huge.
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    I'm glad this is actually been an intelligent discussion on the subject rather than a bunch of people hating on it.


    My friend was the one that got me to try it. He's been trying for years, but I always said "I can't give up bread.....I love it too much." Or "that means no more pizza." Some of the same excuses that I hear all over the place.....on forums......websites.....etc. After I finally got sick of saying "tomorrow I'll change" I finally changed. And after two days of eating "healthy" I decided to try doing this the paleo way. I finally get what my friend has been talking about this whole time.

    I don't know if i'll be 100% strict after I reach my goals, but there is no denying the results I have seen in not even 2 months. And by results I mean, physical, physiological, and mental. I don't even feel like the same person I did 2 months ago.
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
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    .... there is no denying the results I have seen in not even 2 months. And by results I mean, physical, physiological, and mental. I don't even feel like the same person I did 2 months ago.

    Same here. My mild depression is gone. My "stomach issues" that I didn't even realize I had (because I just thought they were normal) are gone. I have seen an extreme increase in my ability to focus. I don't NEED to eat every 2-3 hours. I don't obsess over food.... the list goes on and on and I was already pretty healthy!
  • kmvp08
    kmvp08 Posts: 59 Member
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    I actually stumbled onto Paleo by accident almost a year ago because of what appeared to be an allergic reaction to grains/gluten, etc. For several weeks I cut all grains and in the process felt so much better and lost weight without really trying.

    Then for 6 months or so I went back to eating rice, pasta, breads, etc. Felt the same as I always had in the past and still very difficult to lose weight. Then I started to research the Paleo/Primal lifestyle and decided to give it a try.

    For me, it was amazing. I could eat around 1200 calories a day and feel completely satisfied, my sugar cravings are gone, I don't have that "3pm lack of energy", sleep better, feel less bloated, etc.

    In the last 5 months I've lost 43 lbs, cholesterol has dropped from 200 to 134 (although read through the sites where they discuss these numbers may not mean anything anyway) and my fasting glucose from 97 to 84. Certainly the numbers were a result of the weight loss and could I have lost weight while still eating grains? Yes, probably. Is the Paleo/Primal way more conducive for my lifestyle and am I more satisfied using it as a way of life? YES and YES!

    For me it's not an absolute strict diet, more of a guideline, template, lifestyle which I enjoy adhering to.

    This is mostly what I eat:

    Grass fed beef
    Organic lamb
    Range bison
    Fish & seafood (mainly sardines, any Alaskan wild caught fish)
    LOTS of vegetables (no corn, peas, small amount of potatos, mostly sweet potatos)
    Couple of servings of fruit daily - berries, apples, seasonal fruits
    Larabars - yes, I'm addicted!
    Creamer for my coffee (once daily usually)

    Eat Sparingly:
    Chicken
    Pork (loin, bacon)
    Dark Chocolate
    Greek full fat yogurt

    As much as possible I stay completely away from anything with soy (unless fermented), processed food, artificial sweetners, chemically enhanced foods or anything I can't really pronounce/spell. :) Sometime we're in situations that cannot be helped...

    All I can say is try it for yourself and see if works. Research, read through the materials, form your own opinions and do what you think is best for YOU.

    Here are some great sites to check out. This should get you started - there are a LOT more sites out there. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me directly.


    http://paper.li/dotnetcowboy/paleo-times
    http://robbwolf.com/
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
    http://everydaypaleo.com/
    http://chriskresser.com/ (very balanced approach to Paleo)
    http://thepaleodiet.com/
    http://nomnompaleo.com/ (paleo recipes and a funny blog)
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 732 Member
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    I've been doing paleo/primal since the end of March and have been happy with it. I've lost a lot of fat, retained muscle mass and have enjoyed a lot of other benefits. This way of eating/exercising is a lifestyle, not a diet and certainly not a "fad".
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    For me, it was amazing. I could eat around 1200 calories a day and feel completely satisfied, my sugar cravings are gone, I don't have that "3pm lack of energy", sleep better, feel less bloated, etc.

    I do NOT miss my 3pm "OMG I DON'T WANT TO BE AT WORK ANYMORE I'M GOING TO FALL ASLEEP WHERE IS MY REDBULL"


    Pretty much the whole day I can't sit still and want to be out doing something. I also have to remind myself to eat some days.
    This way of eating/exercising is a lifestyle, not a diet and certainly not a "fad".

    I hate it when people ask why i'm on a "Diet." It's not a diet........it's MY DIET. Everyone has a diet.
  • Melis25Fit
    Melis25Fit Posts: 811 Member
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    Thank you everyone! One thing my trainer told me is for the first week when you start transitioning out of carbs, you feel kinda sluggish with minimal energy. Have you experienced this?

    Also what is the best way to transition out of a regular eating routine into primal eating?
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
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    Thank you everyone! One thing my trainer told me is for the first week when you start transitioning out of carbs, you feel kinda sluggish with minimal energy. Have you experienced this?

    Also what is the best way to transition out of a regular eating routine into primal eating?


    I'm curious about this as well.
  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
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    You don't have to completely cut out carbs. You can get them from berries and sweet potato. You should also make sure to get enough fats for energy. EVOO, CO, and nuts are good sources.

    Edit: Also, yes it's normal to initially feel sluggish if you cut carbs. Your body has been using them as its main fuel source. It takes up to 2 weeks for your body to fully transition to using fats.
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
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    I'm attempting to do pretty low carb (sub 50g/day) and a friend suggested I take 200mg 5-htp to help get through what is called the "low-carb flu." So far, it's worked great! I don't feel nearly as bad as I did at first. It's definitely like going through withdraw - but it's totally and completely worth it!

    Other than that, fill yourself up with healthy fat and protein - you won't be hungry you will just feel a bit gross.
  • jamk1446
    jamk1446 Posts: 5,577 Member
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    I've heard of many people experiencing low carb flu, but this never happened to me. But I was borderline diabetic and eating a high carb meal was making me sick, dizzy, heart palpitations, anxious and a lot of other things. It was a relief to eat a meal and not feel those things. So for me, cutting the carbs had an immediate positive impact on how I felt.
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    I never had the low-carb flu either, and I quit carbs cold turkey. I did notice that I was a little hungry for 2 days though while my body was getting used to no carbs and started switching over to using fat.......but that's about it.
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
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    Paleo is bunk!!! You're asking your body to devolve thousands and thousands of years and what? You think that the caveman didn't eat corn, or grind grain on a rock? Look at primitive natives, they definately did both. Paleo is just the new Atkins and the results are the same...eventual return of whatever weight you lost.

    What is bunk, exactly? No one is asking our bodies to "devolve" at all. It is a framework from which to ask questions about nutrition and form hypotheses. And yes, from that, some people have some ideas of what might be optimal for humans to eat. I am going to cite Dr. Lorain Cordain to explain what is meant by that (http://www.cathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=50)
    In mature and well-developed scientific disciplines there are universal paradigms that guide scientists to fruitful end points as they design their experiments and hypotheses. For instance, in cosmology (the study of the universe) the guiding paradigm is the “Big Bang” concept showing that the universe began with an enormous explosion and has been expanding ever since. In geology, the “Continental Drift” model established that all of the current continents at one time formed a continuous landmass that eventually drifted apart to form the present-day continents. These central concepts are not theories for each discipline, but rather are indisputable facts that serve as orientation points for all other inquiry within each discipline. Scientists do not know everything about the nature of the universe, but it is absolutely unquestionable that it has been and is expanding. This central knowledge then serves as a guiding template that allows scientists to make much more accurate and informed hypotheses about factors yet to be discovered.

    The study of human nutrition remains an immature science because it lacks a universally acknowledged unifying paradigm (11). Without an overarching and guiding template, it is not surprising that there is such seeming chaos, disagreement and confusion in the discipline. The renowned Russian geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (12). Indeed, nothing in nutrition seems to make sense because most nutritionists have little or no formal training in evolutionary theory, much less human evolution. Nutritionists face the same problem as anyone who is not using an evolutionary model to evaluate biology: fragmented information and no coherent way to interpret the data.

    And no, it isn't about macronutrient ratios. It maybe was at one point, and many in the community still find that they do better on relatively low carbohydrate intakes (key word "relatively"), but the majority of the paleo community is not so macro-centric (e.g. the first link in my signature). There is really no one "paleo diet" and no one doctor with one book handing down decrees, but rather a paleo framework or template (e.g. second link in my signature) and a large and growing community of practitioners, researchers and other health professionals (and "regular" people, like me) that are shaping the movement. I would encourage anyone actually interested in it to read voraciously and listen to podcasts because it isn't just about "eat this in these amounts."

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