I gave this a read this afternoon: http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/0...paign=20130613

It brings up a few interesting topics, but the main point is that diet rather than exercise is more responsible for obesity (as many of us here can attest to, diet for weight loss, exercise for total fitness). It's also interesting to read the comments section after the article. I much prefer to discuss things like this with my 3FC peeps!

I've been reading a lot about this since I started Paleo diet and this is exactly why I don't do pure Paleo forever.

I think the way most of us function in life removing certain food completely is dangerous, I mean it is good for weight loss. I won't question that, but permanently removing them can have lasting negative affects. Especially when people tell me they eat no fruit or beans.

The truth is we do not hunt for our food nor do we forage for it. We buy it, we also do not walk around looking for food.

Our relationship to food is different than it was in Paleolithic times and to think we can copy that diet without the lifestyle is sort of silly.

I think Paleo is great for weight loss and I will continue to do it but once I lose the weight I definitely will be revamping my everyday diet for maintenance.

Considering Paleo people walked for miles and miles and miles and recent evidence shows they did eat grains and legumes (which modern Paleo diets eschew), I think the answer is we are searching for answers in the wrong places. I think movement in general has hindered us. We rely on cars for transportation largely, we sit in offices all day, we use air conditioning or heat to control temperature and all this has a detrimental effect on us.

i know a husband and wife that are completely into Paleo and have been for i think at least a year and he's complaining how neither of them have lost much weight (although they feel better) and i told him it is STILL calories in and calories out and portion control and i'm amazed at how many people don't know that or want to know that.

I am not doing it now, but Paleo will be my maintenance diet. I felt better on it like never before. I didn't stop eating fruit, but wheat and legumes make me sick so I will stay away from them. I also did go whole hog on fat like I've seen some people. I just added coconut oil to my diet and my body loved it. I think sometimes it's best to take from a diet the parts that are best for you. No eating plan can fit everyone.

The best thing the paleo movement has done is make clean eating more popular/mainstream and get people to really re-consider the "Standard American Diet" of overprocessed food-like items. The rest of it, eh, we can debate - and definitely going too far with the whole "hunter-gatherer" thing is silly. But if more people are eating more real food, that's good.

I think a lot of the principles are pretty sound aspirational ones - more veggies, healthy fats, adequate protein. I am a pretty big fan of guiding principles if you don't expect perfection but instead "shoot for the moon, then at least you land among the stars" - which is a much more pretentious way of saying 80/20.

Portion control is ultimately the answer for weight loss, but how do we achieve the portion control and why portion control is so difficult, those are the important and interesting questions.

When I drastically reduce high glycemic foods (virtually all carby modern foods), portion control is quite manageable. However when I eat high carb foods (especially when combined with salt and fat) my hunger and appetite rage out of control. I become obsessed with food and I feel like I'm starving, even when my stomach is uncomfortably full.

When I choose plant-heavy paleo, I find it easier to comfortably control portions, almost without thought, and my autoimmune and other health symptoms improve tremendously.

When I revert to high carb (even a while food diet like South beach Phase II), the symptoms return

Yesterday, I ate far more carby foods than my norm. Even though most were healthy (sweet potato, baked beans, popcorn), and my calorie intake was was only a bit over my 1500 calorie target, I'm up a pound today. Now, I know from experience, that the water weight is temporary, low-carb diets have a diuretic affect, so the gain is water and may even be disguising a loss.

I'm not concerned about the weight fluctuation, but the change in the mirror is dramatic and creepy. The skin is puffy, making the pores very visible. I look old and exhausted, and my face, hands, and scalp itch.

Those were once so common, I thought they were normal, but on a carb-controlled diet, the oiliness, the puffiness, the itching... they all magically disappear.

If I eat "junkier" carbs, the symproms are even more troubling. The itching becomes worse, and my face and hands don't just itch, they burn and turn red. Sometimes a butterfly rash appears across my face (I do not have lupus), and my arthritis and fibromyalgia pain gets much worse.

So much emphasis is put on weight loss that health, fitness, and even physical comfort get cast by the wayside. Even if I weren't interested in weight loss at all, I still would need to avoid the foods that aggravate my symptoms.

In the USA and much of the rest of the world, we eat to much, especially of nutrient-lacking food, and eat too few fruits and vegetables, we move and sleep too little, and we stress, and worry too much.

Learning to eat foods that help us feel and perform better isn't easy. It may not even be possible for many people, especially in certain parts of the world, but for those of us who have that luxury, it pays to experiment.