Does anyone have success with the paleolithic diet? It's based on meats, roots and vegetables and excludes grains, dairy and refined sugar/salt. I'm very curious though I don't know if I can give up all grains!!
Last edited by Palestrina; 10-05-2012 at 08:11 AM.
I've never done it but lots of crossfitters do it. Some of them told me they feel great while on it.
Personally, I thought it was a bit nutty as I once overheard two of them arguing about which beans are allowed because they were before or after the agricultural revolution. I don't have a problem with the diet, but it's not for me. I thought the bean thing was super-weird though. Beans are so good for you!
I've been doing the Paleo, about 75% of the time, for the last three years. I had hit a very long plateau and was trying to figure out why. I systematically tried different diets, then narrowed my problems down to food sensitivities compounded by type 2 diabetes and PCOS. So I had to eliminate all processed foods from my diet, grains and legumes, etc. Basically, I had to go Paleo.
I didn't lose weight from eating the Paleo way. I lost weight from eating less food. However, eating Paleo meant I had much greater control over my blood sugar and insulin levels. And then I had more control over my appetite.
Within a couple weeks of starting Paleo, I started feeling much better. Eventually I added intermittent fasting, eating within an eight-hour window, and the weight started coming off.
I'm not perfect. I get distracted while eating out with friends or on vacation and I lose ground and regain a little weight. I'm there again right now, so I'm putting myself back on track, cleaning out my diet. It's not difficult for me, because I know I'm going to feel better and start losing weight again.
I suggest you Google Mark Sisson's blog, The Daily Apple. It's very informative.
There are many different paleo diets. Some exclude beans and dairy, some do not. Some drastically limit carbs, some do not. Not all paleo diets try to recreate the paleo menu, but rather try to mimic the general nutritional/lifestyle pattern (sometimes using nonpaleo foods).
I don't remember whether it was Neanderthin or The Paleo Solution, or some ofther paleo diet that I read in the 1980's, but I was greatly influenced by one that included dairy on the grounds that it's palatable alternative to insects (which would have made up a significant part of the diet for most paleo peoples).
One thing about the paleo diet though is that it's much like veg*nism and other ways of eating that don't in themselves cause weight loss. You can eat a paleo diet and fail to lose weight. You can even gain weight on a paleo diet, because it's still quite easy to eat to excess on paleo foods.
Even paleo peoples knew what obesity looked like (as reflected in many of their goddess figures), so the paleo diet is not obesity-proof. Calorie restriction still has to play an important role to lose wieght.
I will say though that the fewer modern foods I eat, the better I feel. When I'm trying to eat paleo, I juse an exchange plan and do eat some grains, but moslty the higher protein ones (like quinoa and wild rice - which some paleo diets include and some do not).
Thanks for the info! It's an interesting diet mostly because it includes things I love to eat such as meat and potatoes. Obviously it's possible to over do these things and gain weight but it certainly does sound interesting. I will have to check out that blog.
Mainly I want to know if it's something that has to be full force or can you do just a little bit of it. Are eggs allowed?
You can do any diet (with the exception of some of those extreme diets that I really don't think are healthy) with the percentage that you want to do it.
But Kaplods is incredibly right about one very critical thing -- it's in respect to calories. At the end of the day you do have to restrict your calories in order to lose weight and some diets will do that without having you count them (i.e. Atkins or South Beach) but they will find ways to get you to eat smaller portions or satiate you so that you are effectively eating less calories.
The books on Paleo (or websites) will show you that. If you're eating whole foods, the theory goes, your body will feel less hunger because theoretically, you're eating more nutritious food (and your cravings or "hunger" are really signs of lack of nutrition). Or you will be eating more protein, which tends to be more satiating than carbohydrates for some people, for example. Or more fiber, which theoretically fills you up... and so on and so forth.
And in the case of some of the biggies in the Paleo community, they believe that a lot of the issues modern humans have is that we have introduced foods we're not really able to eat or digest well and therefore, that's causing all kinds of problems in our bodies.
But fundamentally, calories DO matter.
I'm eating Paleo, but I also count my calories and I stay in the range of 1500, unless I've been particularly active. I think that range is probably keeping me at my current weight (I've been at 161.4 to 162.4 for the last month!) so I will probably have to decrease the calories since I can't possibly exercise more than what I do now (6 times a week) or start weight lifting (I keep saying I will, but I don't!).
So, you can adhere to Paleo 50% of the time or 99% of the time, but you have to figure out what works for you, your current health situation, your current lifestyle situation, etc.
When I am faced with a cupcake that I know will be very delicious, I will eat it. I know it won't get me on a binge (I don't really binge), I know that my next meal will be Paleo (because I feel better eating this way than eating any other way) and because this is a lifestyle change, more than a "diet" (i.e. a restrictive way of eating for a limited time).
I think you should try it, just to see if you like it. But if you don't feel better when you eat like this, then maybe you don't need Paleo. For me, it forces me to eat more vegetables and fruits, I don't waste calories on foods like brown rice (which I ate because it was "healthy" grain) and I've learned new recipes out of the Paleo cookbooks I invested in.
Thanks Rana. What do you mean that you feel better on this diet? To me the idea of "feeling better" means not feeling hungry which is how I seem to feel all day long. I'm either very hungry or I'm so full I feel ill.
I do believe that food has a physiological effect on our bodies that grains, starches, and sugars become very addictive. I don't know how to break that addiction but any idea that can keep me from craving these things would be the right diet for me.. if I can find it and then stick to it.
I started this way of eating 1 month ago. The first week I lost nothing. I didn't gain anything either. My second week I lost 5 lbs, water weight. My
3rd week I lost 5lbs. I am on week 4 and lost an ounce! So ya, I'm thinking this may be a good way to eat after I lose weight? It's hard to stay positive when you work so hard exercising and eating right, especially while you have to endure your family members all eating what they want in front of you, and still not lose a full pound.
I do feel better. It's weird, I actually feel "lighter". I don't get as worn from exercising, that could also be because I am building endurance.
I went from being a vegetarian for many years, to eating meat. I didn't lose weight at all when I was vegetarian until I removed the grains, sugar and fruit.
As for being full, yes, I can say that I am full from one meal to the next! I am not however not so full I feel ill. I don't snack in between meals like I used to do. I can go from one meal to the next very content and satisfied without eating a lot in one sitting. But again, this is just me. I have read blogs where people say the get light headed and dizzy and have to snack on nuts. I can't eat nuts, they make me gain weight.
But I think also you have to work out by weight lifting which I haven't added yet. Right now since I am just learning and getting used to this new way of eating, I only use my elliptical for 60 minutes then later in the day I walk the treadmill for 30 - 60 minutes, I do this everyday. Going from sedetary to active takes some getting used to.
Rana has it down! I love the info you provided!
Sometimes I want to give up, but I plan on sticking it out and continue this plan for a few more weeks. I was told it takes 4-6 weeks to rid your body of all the junk you put in it.
Don't know how old you are, Skinny, but since I'm all caught up in menopause and feeling quite 50+, feeling good is very broadly defined for me.
Energy levels - Am I waking up refreshed and ready to take on the day? When I stay away from all the processed foods and grains, I can get EVERYTHING done that I want to accomplish in a day. But if I indulge, I so easily lose focus and ambition. I don't even have the energy to change TV channels with the remote control. Those are terrible days for me.
Bloating - When I am off Paleo, I carry around as much as 11 lbs of excess water. I feel it in my lower gut, inner thighs, sausage fingers.
Immobility - When I'm really faithful to my Paleo diet, I can move! But within 20 minutes of eating soy, my joints start aching and I experience severe lethargy. It takes several hours for that feeling to go away and I am pretty useless for the remainder of the day.
Satiety - I can't achieve satiety if I eat grains, even whole grains. That's my insulin levels going nuts. And it takes some time cutting all that carby stuff out of my diet, like a good week, before I can find it again. And during that week, I eat nuch more protein and fats, plus lots of greens, just to make myself feel full and to try to manage the munchies. I might even gain weight during that time, but the following week I can eat less and the little bit of gain comes right off.
I used to love to overeat. It was how I managed boredom, anxiety and stress. When things get really bad for me (I have some very trying people in my life) I still resort to it when I panic. I don't like to do it any more. It just leads to losing ground on my goals and takes time for me to stop myself and turn things around. I have a great support system, I exercise, I check out with TV, I go clean something (always plenty of that to do!), I journal, I spend hours online to distract me.
It all helps 80% of the time. I'm not perfect, but my goal isn't to be perfect. It's to be healthy and live my life with vibrancy and passion. And eating carbs does NOT buy me that!
Thanks for the info! It's an interesting diet mostly because it includes things I love to eat such as meat and potatoes. Obviously it's possible to over do these things and gain weight but it certainly does sound interesting. I will have to check out that blog.
Mainly I want to know if it's something that has to be full force or can you do just a little bit of it. Are eggs allowed?
Most paleo diets do not allow, or severely limit potatoes - especially ordinary starchy potatoes (some allow more sweet potato than white potato). Smooth skinned (waxy) potatoes are preferable to starchy potatoes (red potatoes, new potoes, and yukon gold would be better than russet and other rough-skinned, starcy potatoes. You also should be eating the skins (as paleo peoples would never throw away the skin).
As to eggs, most paleo diets allow them, but many do not. The rationale for disallowing eggs is the claim that because eggs are a common allergen, this suggests that eggs are not a natural part of the human diet and must not have been a food paleo people ate often (because most allergens tend to be foods added only recently - relativley speaking - to the human diet).
Rice for example is a hypoallergenic grain, and food anthropologists believe that rice has been in the human diet much longer than grains that are common allergens.
Some of the dietary anthropologists believe that there are genetic predispositions toward (and preventing against) allergic tendencies. For example suggesting that people of South American descent are less likely to be allergic to corn and potatoes, whereas Europeans would be more likely to be allergic to corn and potatoes than to wheat... That is you may have a genetic predisposition towards having difficulty digesting foods that weren't in your ancestor's diet until relatively modern times.
I'd recommend that you read several of the paleo diet books to get a feel for the basics. Start by eliminating the foods that virtually all the paleo diets agree should be avoided. If you can't or don't wish to eat mostly wild-caught fish, grass-fed meats, and quite a bit of organ meats, consider an omega-3 supplement (a vitamin D supplement isn't a bad idea either).
Experiment with the "gray area" foods (those that the paleo diet gurus disagree over).
I'd also recommend highly that you keep a detailed food journal. If you have health issues of any kind it can be especially important, because you may find some surprises (as I did). I found that many of my health issues improved dramatically on a paleo diet. My skin was perhaps the most dramatic. I thought for decades that I had very sensitive skin and assumed the redness on my face was due to rosacea. When I gave up wheat and cut back even natural sugars, the redness and bumpiness of "rosacea' disappeared almost completely. My IBS, asthma, arthritis, fibromyalgia.... all have responded well to paleo eating. My energy level is much better as well.
Don't know how old you are, Skinny, but since I'm all caught up in menopause and feeling quite 50+, feeling good is very broadly defined for me.
Energy levels - Am I waking up refreshed and ready to take on the day? When I stay away from all the processed foods and grains, I can get EVERYTHING done that I want to accomplish in a day. But if I indulge, I so easily lose focus and ambition. I don't even have the energy to change TV channels with the remote control. Those are terrible days for me.
Bloating - When I am off Paleo, I carry around as much as 11 lbs of excess water. I feel it in my lower gut, inner thighs, sausage fingers.
Immobility - When I'm really faithful to my Paleo diet, I can move! But within 20 minutes of eating soy, my joints start aching and I experience severe lethargy. It takes several hours for that feeling to go away and I am pretty useless for the remainder of the day.
Satiety - I can't achieve satiety if I eat grains, even whole grains. That's my insulin levels going nuts. And it takes some time cutting all that carby stuff out of my diet, like a good week, before I can find it again. And during that week, I eat nuch more protein and fats, plus lots of greens, just to make myself feel full and to try to manage the munchies. I might even gain weight during that time, but the following week I can eat less and the little bit of gain comes right off.
I used to love to overeat. It was how I managed boredom, anxiety and stress. When things get really bad for me (I have some very trying people in my life) I still resort to it when I panic. I don't like to do it any more. It just leads to losing ground on my goals and takes time for me to stop myself and turn things around. I have a great support system, I exercise, I check out with TV, I go clean something (always plenty of that to do!), I journal, I spend hours online to distract me.
It all helps 80% of the time. I'm not perfect, but my goal isn't to be perfect. It's to be healthy and live my life with vibrancy and passion. And eating carbs does NOT buy me that!
Hi thanks for sharing your experience with paleo. Satiety is my nirvana, I find it so hard to be sated. Part of that is my ED which makes me want to eat and eat and eat. But I have no doubt that what I am eating has a physiological effect on my body as well. I know this because I used to not care for sweets. I had what I called a "normal relationship with sugar" for my entire life. Occasionally I would order dessert but I could never finish it. I never reached for cookies, I was never tempted by the cookie aisle and saw sugar as a small occasional treat. I never thought about sugar, I never fought cravings or anything.
And THEN, I had my son and started breastfeeding. While my whole pregnancy was incredibly healthy (I lost 10lbs during my pregnancy I swear it) I immediately started craving carbs when I was breastfeeding. I would wake in the middle of the night searching for cookies. I would indulge myself because the cravings were intense and I thought it was related to breastfeeding. I had an unusual boast of confidence that I was healthy during my pregnancy and for my body to crave the sugar must be healthy too. Over time I started to gain weight, I now weigh more than I did during my 9th month of pregnancy and the sugar addiction is like nothing I've ever encountered before. It's almost like a panic attack and I succumb to it almost every day.
Anyway, that's how I know that it isn't just me, that it isn't just a weakness inside of me. Sugar has a terrible effect on our bodies and minds and it's no wonder so many people are suffering from diabetes and sugar-related diseases. I know this because I've never had a sugar habit before and I have one now. So like you I am sure that grains plays a part in this too.
By the way, how does a paleo diet differ from a gluten-free diet?
A gluten free diet is a diet for Celiacs. Paleo is not structured to be for Celiacs although there are some Celiacs who respond to it really well. Some of the bigger names in the Paleo community were/are Celiacs and found their way to Paleo because of it.
Edited to add: The thing is, a lot of foods are "gluten" free but NOT Paleo. I agree with Kaplods that you should take some books out of the library or read some of the sites to get a feel for what Paleo is and you'll see the difference, I think, once you understand what Paleo is.
Paleolithic diet
