Paleo Diet?

Did it for 5 weeks, lost around 4kg. Problem is performance just rapidly declined (endurance).

Gone back to standard diet now (check me diary) and performance has massively improved, weight has only increased by .6kg.

I studied Anthropology, and I learned about the palaeodiet while studying food throughout human evolution. In short, I wouldn't really recommend it as a weight loss tool.

It means you can pretty much only eat foods that you can hunt and/or gather. Nothing processed, including grains, dairy, most oils, etc.

Such restriction is fine if you have such dedication towards it as a lifestyle - driving to the store to buy your foods pre-hunted and pre-gathered for your convenience and patting yourself on the back for being just like a caveman - but it is a lot to go through just for weight loss, and the fact that you may lose weight may reflect how difficult it is to obtain calories rather than through a structured calorie deficit that you will be able to maintain over your lifetime.

So if you were already deciding to go for it for the rest of your life, sure, but as a temporary diet? I'd say it's just like any other fad - as soon as you eat 'normal' foods again, you may pile it back on.

I don't think Paleo is necessary...it gets too much into looking at food quality vs the shear mathematics (food quantity, macros, calories, etc.). With that, I eat plenty of frozen, canned, preserved food with ideal macro nutrient ratios. I can't afford and don't have access/time to obtaining high quality foods (maybe after I'm done with school).

Just don't think that performance has to suffer with Paleo, often this can be seen when people simply don't include enough salt or carbohydrates when going on a Paleo diet. Sometimes, you just need to include cheap, high carb foods like bananas into the diet - we can't all afford enough blueberries to meet this high energy requirement.

Ignoring the fact that the whole basis of the Paleo Diet is absolutely ridiculous, just Wiki "Paleo Diet" and an entire list of health concerns follows. I have lost 40 lbs since I started MFP (165-123) and my last 10 pounds was after becoming vegetarian, which now research concludes has multiple health benefits and is a reasonable and relatively easy lifestyle (unlike the Paleo Diet).

You lost weight because of a calorie deficit, not from being vegetarian. There are plenty of health detriments in being vegetarian for sustained periods of time and getting adequate macronutrient ratios is highly problematic without heavy supplementation. Getting balanced portions of macronutrients, micronutrients, water, and adjusting calories to meet your body's optimal weight goal is more responsible for optimal health than any particular diet. Again, balance

Ignoring the fact that the whole basis of the Paleo Diet is absolutely ridiculous, just Wiki "Paleo Diet" and an entire list of health concerns follows. I have lost 40 lbs since I started MFP (165-123) and my last 10 pounds was after becoming vegetarian, which now research concludes has multiple health benefits and is a reasonable and relatively easy lifestyle (unlike the Paleo Diet).

Sooooo by being vegetarian I would assume the bulk of your protien sources come from Soy? If so, have you read about the possible detrimental effects of to much soy on a body...espeically when you add in finding non GMO soy is hard....If you don't get the bulk of yoru protien from soy by being a vegetarian I apologize, it's just what i have read about vegetarianism...

Any eating style can have detrimental effects because every person is different...Personally, for myself eating a Paleo way has increased my energy and had a positive impact, including lowering my overall cholesterol, increasing my HDL and getting all blood test results (except my Vitamin D) in the normal range

Anyone ever try it? Weight loss or any health improvements? Just curious.

Tried it, doing it, love it.

Weight lost and losing on the same or more calories as a 'low fat' diet (as evidenced by my MFP logs) and my mental (hunger) and physical health is much improved.

It is NOT just about creating a calorie deficit, it is about eating Real Food that our bodies need and not being afraid of consuming fat/cholesterol.

Yes, but Real Food doesn't have to be farm raised, organic, rainbows and puppy dogs, all that other crap...pristine quality. There are many good foods that are technicially considered "processed": canned tuna, frozen meat, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, sauerkraut, ripe fruit, etc...

My HDL>100mg/dL, BP 106/68 because I know what I am doing. Food quality doesn't have to be perfect to make you healthy

Anyone ever try it? Weight loss or any health improvements? Just curious.

Tried it, doing it, love it.

Weight lost and losing on the same or more calories as a 'low fat' diet (as evidenced by my MFP logs) and my mental (hunger) and physical health is much improved.

It is NOT just about creating a calorie deficit, it is about eating Real Food that our bodies need and not being afraid of consuming fat/cholesterol.

Yes, but Real Food doesn't have to be farm raised, organic, rainbows and puppy dogs, all that other crap...pristine quality. There are many good foods that are technicially considered "processed": canned tuna, frozen meat, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, sauerkraut, ripe fruit, etc...

My HDL>100mg/dL, BP 106/68 because I know what I am doing. Food quality doesn't have to be perfect to make you healthy

Nobody says that the food has to be all organic and full of rainbows as you put it...yes that would be the ideal - it would be ideal for ANY eating style and yes it is touted by some of the more "strict" paleo people...but you have to remember the "faces" of Paleo - the bigwigs as it were - like Mark Sisson make their lifestyle thier living...so of course they are going to have their own set of guidelines and tout it to the extreme.

I eat canned tuna all the time...and frozen veggies, meat, fruit, etc...

to me processed isn't neccessarily "fresh" but rather - what goes into preserving or is added to it...what are the ingrediantes because not everything is the same...i.e. I eat a lot of almond butter - my preferred is fresh ground almonds...on occassion I resort to buying a jar...at my local store there are about 10 different brands - some have 1-2 ingrediants...others have 6-7....I stick with ones that say Almonds, salt.....