Paleo
 

Does it work? I've read and am curious!

It working for me, but I must admit the first time I did it 3 years ago I got terrible headaches and fatigue, etc.

Then I did a modification where I ate legumes and the occasional bread and cheese. Which was great but the weight loss was really slow. But in hindsight probably a lot better for me.

I have been Paleo for a week and I have lost weight. If you do get headaches perhaps you can slowly eliminate gluten and dairy like I did (which was totally accidental).

I will still eat gluten and cheese about twice month when we go to restaurant that I really love. Like going out for sushi but surprising most restaurants will accommodate you but you can never be for sure that a marinade or sauce doesn't contain gluten or dairy but you can't be super strict about that stuff!

Any diet where you reduce your calories will work including paleo.

I just want something for long term use that shows results

Paleo eating doesn't guarantee weight loss, nor does it even prevent weight gain. It's a food philosophy that affects your food choices. Without an added element of calorie-reduction, you may lose little or no weight.

If you eat a lot of processed foods, switching to paleo might result in weight loss without any other behavior changes. However, if you already eat mostly whole foods, converting to paleo may not help with weight loss unless you add calorie reducing strategies.

Honestly, Paleo is hard. This is the hardest I have had to plan out my groceries and meals. I mean you can't have frozen meals because that isn't allowed so cooking becomes a little more necessary. Everything is clean eating and whole foods. And while nice restaurants will cater to your dietary needs it is hard to find a nice cheap fast food restaurant that will when you forgot your lunch at home or you need a meal on the go.


Now I am really lucky that I have an 8:00 to 4:00 job Monday through Friday. But the first time I did Paleo I was working and in school, an extremely erratic schedule. I ate a lot of raw vegetables and fruit with chicken and it got so boring but it was the easiest thing to make. I cheated a lot, adding the legumes back helped but I think gave up 4 months later and I only lasted that long because I had a three month summer break from school.

Sorry probably not the answer you want. But I am big advocate of picking a diet that works with your lifestyle and personality.

I usually do Atkins it's my favorite.

I suggest experimenting with Paleo - it's not dissiilar from Atkins, I believe, but really emphasises quality food.

Check out www.whole9life.com
I just did their Whole30 program where eat strict paleo for 30 days and it has literally changed my entire lifestyle with food.
Read up on their site and it gives you more than enough resources. I Love it.

Paleo is amazing though. It makes you feel better and just takes away ALL the junk that goes in to your body.

Is there an off day on this diet?

Paleo is an eating philosophy, not a diet, so there are no rules regarding how strict you need to be, or whether you can take a day off.

If you take days off from a vegan diet (say to eat meat or even cheese) some will argue that you aren't following a truly vegan diet, and the same can be argued about paleo.

However, just as there are self-identified veg*ns who occasionally eat fish, dairy, or other animal foods (either intentionally or by mistake), there are also paleo eaters who eat some non-paleo foods regularly or occasionally.

However, unlike veg*nism, there is some debate over which foods are and aren't paleo.

One form of paleo (Mark Sisson's Primal Bluepring) specifically allows offplan foods. He recommends an 80/20 split - no more than 20% non-paleo foods, and that those np foods be chosen carefully.

Because paleo tends to be low-carb, off days are likely to cause significant water retention, so if you weigh daily, be prepared for a significant gain on the scale. Returning to Paleo should rapidly resolve the temporary weight gain, but it can be disturbing to see such a gain on the scale if you're not prepared.

Hi Sarah; paleo is really more of a lifestyle and set of values, as opposed to a diet (like kaplods said).

It has to do with eating whole foods (and specifically avoiding 'agriculture' based products, such as grains, legumes, etc.) and moving every day. It also has to do with paying attention to how YOUR body responds to different foods, and how to create a diet that works for you.

I would absolutely recommend checking out Marks Daily Apple - he is obviously very biased towards paleo principles; but he also talks about current nutritional sciences, offers some interesting recipes, and is highly supportive of doing what you CAN (progressing into more advanced stuff as you go).

Paleo eating tends to be VERY challenging for people who don't usually cook or who aren't familiar with whole foods. That could be a good thing - forcing you into paying attention to what you eat, and providing guidelines of where to start/aim. That can also be a bad thing, if it's SO hard that you just give up.

This is a great time for you to experiment and figure out what makes YOU feel good, healthy, and happy. Your best bet for long-term fat loss, and maintaining a healthy weight, will come from choosing a LIFESTYLE that works, that you can keep up with, and that you can enjoy for the rest of your life. If you choose a crash diet, or any approach that's too extreme for you, you'll eventually just end up right back where you started.

So....short answer: give it a try, and you tell us?! :p

Is there another forum that is paleo active?

I did paleo/primal a several years ago. It did work for me, but once I started eating Non-paleo, the cravings were through the roof. I do have an issue with gluten, dairy, and soy which has developed over the past couple of years. My weight went up after I broke my foot during an Xterra Run on Oahu (that's ironic). I was about 160 lbs and I didn't workout for several months...and within that time I put on another 20 lbs. I tried going paleo and I just couldn't stick to it long enough to make much of a difference.

Another year and a half later...I'm 195 and pre-diabetic. Nothing was working...and I tried diligently to lose this weight. I just started Ideal Protein almost 3 weeks ago and have felt great. Lost 7 lbs in the first week...yes...water weight thank goodness because I had so much water retention in my hands and feet! It's sort of paleo...but it's more of a ketogenic diet which paleo does try and get you there with moderate protein and low calories.

Good luck!

There is also Primal which is closer to what I do because I have dairy. They are very similar in both emphasize whole foods and no grains. Paleo is no dairy, Primal allows dairy.

The no grains is a lot more than just low carb. Both believe humans are not designed to eat grains. They have anti-nutrients and lead to a whole host of health problems.

I also do have some beans.

But the whole foods no grains had been spectacular for my weight loss and overall health. Because of no grains and I don't eat many potatoes, my appetite is naturally controlled. Haven't had to count any calories over the weight loss.

I agree with Kaplods and Nelie. I follow a primal style of eating, which is basically paleo but I allow cheese and I aim for 80% compliance, which means I cheat occasionally. I do this for HEALTH. I also watch my carbs and count calories so that I can lose weight too. Keep in mind that finding grass fed meat can be challenging or costly. (Although I found my costs stayed about the same when I quit buying processed food and eating out).

If you are interested in how paleo/primal may be a tool for weight loss, I suggest reading here: This will give you some idea of how to build a paleo style diet and how to tweak your macros and calories for weight loss. I also highly recommend reading his book The Primal Blueprint. It has helped me immensely in thinking of my health first, making good choices about the food I put in my body & dealing with stress.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/press...rint-diagrams/

My fiancé adheres to Paleo's close relative, the Primal diet. Because of the amount of red meats, I frequently have to limit myself to a small portion of the meat on the dinner table at night. Through diet and exercise, I cured myself of high blood and have no intention of getting put back on that medication. The Paleo/Primal diets allow too much consumption of red meat, in my humble opinion. And, as others have stated, I wouldn't consider it a way to actually lose weight. My fiancé swears by this diet, though.

There are many days where I happen to eat primal since I'm gluten free, but we don't eat much meat or grains. An omelette, a bowl of soup, and a stir fry are a good example of one day's meals for me (sans snacks, which are usually one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables).

I don't think that paleo or primal necessarily makes people eat more meat, but some may increase their meat intake instead of increasing their vegetable intake to make up for the "loss" of grains.

Sounds about right to me.

Paleo has been working for me. I have lost 20 pounds while on it and I feel great. Yes it was hard at first but now it is second nature.

Last May I was headed for disaster. Extremely overweight and a history of diabetes in the family. I hadn't gotten it yet, but it could not have been that far away. It isn't an exaggeration to say Primal eating not only saved my life but has been a key to my being hunger free, full of physical and mental energy, basically the best quality of life and the strongest I have ever been at 48 years old.

So does it work for me: yes. Not a strong enough word but yes it does.

Primal varies from Paleo in that Primal includes dairy. If you can process dairy, there are many healthy dairy products. I don't drink milk but have high fat low card dairy like hard cheeses, cream, sour cream, grass fed butter, cottage cheese.

The thing they have in common is, as mentioned before, no grains. The viewpoint is that humans were low carb and no grain or very sparingly grains up until 10,000 years ago. We aren't fully adapted to eat grains (and any diet high in carbs in general, although carb tolerance does vary from person to person), they contain 'anti-nutrients' and they have a high glycemic index and glycemic loading.

Carbs including grains spike insulin so many of the calories consumed are stored as fat. When you go low carb HIGH fat your body produces ketones on a regular basis and those are used as fuel and your body burns your stored fat. It wasn't theory for me, it was reality. The belly fat and fat everywhere (my wedding ring fits my forefinger now) just melted away. Also the brain can run just fine on ketones. In fact many people experience increased mental clarity, energy, mood, vigor on low carb high fat.

Also of note, most researchers believe the calories in calories out are much too simple. Bodies just do not work that simply. I am going to link an article by Sam Feltham. He did 28 days of 5,700 calories each day on a low carb high fat and then a low fat high carb diet. Calories still DO matter to low carbers of all kinds. They simply know from their experiences say 2,500 calories a day of high carb food versus low carb food will see vastly different impacts. Also note these are high fat approaches not high protein. Whole foods and non starchy vegetables are at the base of all the WOEs.

He lost waist size on the low carb high fat and gained less than 3 pounds. On the high carb low fat he gained more than 3 inches in his waist and over 16 lbs. Almost no researcher or practioner believes the body responds to calories the same. It is a core belief, a core statement of Paleo/Primal/ low carb no grainers in general. People may disagree that is fine. I know what I've experienced. This is what I think. If people disagree then they need to find a way to explain Sam's results. And the results of thousand, hundreds of thousands, probably millions of people on some kind of low carb way of eating.

Another thing a lot of people find on Paleo and variants is their appetites just plummet and whereas they may have struggled with 'set point' like experiences before that doesn't happen on the no grains low carb way of eating. Also my experience. Virtually effortless weight loss once eating this way.

http://live.smashthefat.com/why-i-didnt-get-fat/

I just happened to find this on Twitter just now. It is very short but another study showing people eating more calories but on low carb high fat lost more weight than people eating fewer calories on high carb low fat.

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/stu...nic-diet-wins/

Note people on low carb had ketones levels between 0.5 and 3. This is not slightly dangerous. It is called being in ketosis. Now there is something unique to type 1 diabetics called ketosisacidious (spelling). The ketone levels for that are over 10, usually 11-14.

Virtually impossible to get there unless type 1 diabetic.

I've become 'fat adapted' now and my body and brain use ketones. It is great for the body but unbelivable for the brain. You feel good, great actually. And never get the afternoon blahs. So Primal/Paleo for me became way more than weight. The weight loss just kind of happened.

More important but related of course is just how much my overall well-being improved. No more sleep apnea, back pain, allergies, and lots of energy and vitality and great moods all the time now.

Sorry I realized in the post above this one I said Sam did 28 day expirements, they were 21 days each. My earlier post was also before he did the low fat high carb. He has also recently done 21 days 5,700 calories on vegan if anyone is interested it is on his site. And her is his post after finishing day 21 of the low fat high carbs:

http://live.smashthefat.com/5000-cal...llenge-day-21/

I haven't tried Paleo, but my sister-in-law swears by it. She had terrible migraines and hasn't since she's done the Whole30 thing a few times. The funny thing is, she was a vegetarian and I was really surprised when she started Paleo because of the meat; but, she's really happy with how much better she feels. She did say that the first few days were tough to adjust to, but it was worth it in the long run.

When I first started paleo I lost 46 kilos (100 lbs) but I went off it and started eating crap and gained 12.5 kilos (27 lbs) back. But now I am back on track and have lost 6.5 (14 lbs) of those 12 kilos. My ultimate goal I never reached but this time I will there is no question about it.

I must say that I feel so good and never ever hungry eating paleo, I eat normal meals high in healthy fat content.

Paleo is really working for me. I actually want to exercise and be active. I'm losing weight and never hungry. Everything else made me starve myself or sustain on veggies alone. This is the easiest and most effective diet I have ever tried.