I used to count calories, until the husband and I decided to try Paleo. We both loved the result so we are now sticking to it for good. We still go out to eat at restaurants every once in a while, but we just make sure we're making the right choices with what we eat.

We eat bacons and eggs every morning with sides of mixed avocado and tomatoes. We're mostly eating veggies, fruits and protein. Its a little more costly than before and I spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen preparing our food, but if anyone in maintenance wants an eating lifestyle that would work and help them maintain, I would definitely recommend Paleo.

My weight hovers between 100-102 (heavier during that time of the month lol). But my 102 now than my 102 before Paleo looks so much different. I am now 102lbs with muscles lol. I thought my flabby belly was hopeless until Paleo. On a good day, I can actually see the definition of a hidden 6 pack, most days its not a 6 pack but its flat and toned enough for my liking.

Since I no longer count calories, I cant say how much I really eat in terms of calories, but I eat more than when I used to count. I used to eat between 1600-2000 calories. I do zumba once or twice a week, cardio-strength training 3-4 times a week at the gym and I do go to yoga everyday when I can, or at least 4-5 times a week. Just cruching numbers on top of my head, with the same physical activities I've been doing for the past year (been maintaining close to a year now) I eat about 2000-2500 calories a day since March.

To those maintaining and who are in search for an eating lifestyle that works well for weight loss, I honestly would recommend trying Paleo. It worked for me and worked really well with my husband (he already lost close to 30lbs since March and putting serious muscle weight, he is looking very lean and seems happier now that he's feeling better health wise.)

The best part of this diet is being able to enjoy bacon everyday AND desserts. It involves a lot of food preparation though. But that's the price of good health, you gotta put a lot of work into it.

I'm glad it works for you. I attempted Paleo despite my better judgment and wasn't at all shocked to find what I expected - that the starch load was simply too high for my body. So it's low carb for me.

But every body is different - my inlaws ate Paleo before there was a fad and name for it and it works beautifully for them. They're normal bodyweight individuals who are highly active but prone to the middle age spread, and it's just enough quality control on food that it helps their weight. Plus their food budget is unlimited, mine isn't. Not that Paleo had to be expensive, but it can be.

Keep on doing what works for you, congratulations on your successes!

That's the only downside of this lifestyle. It can get quite costly, but it doesnt really have to be. We try to watch out for "sales" and collect as much coupons to get discounts.

Any diet you can stick to for life is a good thing. I say be kind to yourself and adjust your plan as you see fit.

I used to belong to a gym that encouraged Paleo and although many of the participants were fans of it, most of them found it difficult to follow through with. Even the most dedicated advocates could only stick to it for a couple months at a the time, then they'd give themselves a break, and then go back to it.

Personally, it wouldn't work for me but if you find it works for you, good for you. There are also many who have reported gaining weight on Paleo so if you start finding that you are being a bit creative in your recipes, you may need to cut back.

I have started Paleo at the recommendation of a friend.
I need to lose quite a bit and for the past 2 years have been trying HCG, Ideal Protein, Atkins. I do well on any diet for 3-6 weeks then I just give up, tired of the hunger and restrictions and weighing measuring, etc.
Paleo seems to be a way of eating I could live with. I already feel so free - no packets, not starving all the time, and the food tastes GOOD!
I am looking for some basic information - if you search Paleo diet you get a million results and I am already confused - some places say any fruit, others just tart fruits. I see peanuts are not allowed, but I saw one place restricted cashews as well. I am trying to fill up mostly on vegetables with meat the second, followed by fruit and maybe some nuts and seeds if I need a snack. Does anyone have a book or website they recommend?
Not only do I want to eat the right foods, I want to eat the right amounts, so I will lose weight, hopefully at a steady pace. I am getting more exercise this week as well - swimming, walking on the treadmill and a pilates class.

Thanks for any info!

I"m not planning to go paleo but i will get a book out of the library on it. I have tried but they are all always out.

But i'm wondering why do you have to spend so much time in the kitchen. Are you only comparing it to when you could buy so much food out before. Is that the only thing. Is it that you are actually having to prepare meals at home. Or are you cooking something unusual.

I cook all my meals at home, but its not an issue because my lifestyle doesn't need me to eat out. I"m nearly always at home anyway.

I'm just curious/confused about this aspect of paleo.

I wonder why you can't eat peanuts or cashews?

to kcandponies, its quite possible to lose weight without getting stupidly hungry. Its what i do and have been doing for five months. I keep hunger to an absolute minimum. I try to be vegetarian, but eat fish sometimes, more now that i'm trying to keep my protein up. Rarely i eat red meat but prefer not to. I don't like the way pigs and other farm animals are treated. A lot of it is very very cruel. Especially for pigs (bacon) and chickens.

The thing is you don't need to and are better off not starving yourself to lose weight. What i mean by starving here (for the benefit of certain lurkers) is not starvation mode as such but just getting hungry often so that the thread of breaking your diet is never far away. Sorry OP I wasn't really planning to hijack the thread but i wanted to counteract some common misconceptions about ordinary dieting that have surfaced in kc's post.

You don't need to buy products, spend money on coaches or do any other tricky or unpleasant things to lose weight. You don't even need a gym membership or to exercise that much. If you eat whole foods like fruit veg, dairy, moderate amounts of whole grain bread, pasta, rice, meat of any kind but make your diet varied, you can enjoy delicious food, avoid hunger be happy and get slim.

It really is totally possible if you:
get plenty of sleep, (lack of causes hunger)
avoid stress or at least deal with it quickly, (stress and mood dips can cause binges)
stay away from your trouble foods as much as possible (for me they are the biggest threat to my weightloss story), ( eating them chips away at your/my resolve and leads to giving up completely)
mentally work on your commitment frequently,
make time for food preparation and eating it (so the your food is yummy, satisfying and there when you need it)
and above all avoid getting hungry due to overly restricted calories and refined carbs. (getting hungry causes over compensatory eating or bad choices).
avoid too much alcohol (leads to bad judgment)

Most of which you probably have to do on paleo anyway.

Pattience - I have done the above for the past 10 years and will maintain my weight wonderfully (all 235# of it). I cannot lose without giving something up. I do not drink soda, I eat less and less dairy each year - I tend to be lactose intolerant. I don't eat much red meat - maybe 2-3 times per week. I only have bacon occasionally. I cannot be vegetarian because I end up getting most of calories from grain, and even whole grain keeps me fat.

I CAN lose from low carb, and by a structured diet - like Ideal Protein. I cannot keep with it long term, and I have lost and regained the same 20 pounds EVERY YEAR for the past 6 years. I am tired of the yo-yo. The normal "just eat healthier and get more exercise" does not work for my body. I have to be hungry AND workout to see any weight loss.
I am hoping that by cutting out everything artificial and going Paleo, I can lose steadily. It's ok if it is slow loss, although I would LOVE to lose 2# per week. I just can't keep trying and failing "diets".

Peanuts are a legume (and paleo types don't like legumes)
Cashews are a nut that that is poisonous unless treated so some paleo people don't eat it because it isn't something someone would normally eat if they were a hunter-gatherer. It depends though because things like bacon, coconut sugar, coconut flour, animals/plants that have been hybridized over centuries are also things that a normal hunter/gatherer would not eat. And the early forms of paleo were low fat in that they only included things like skinless chicken breast and 'lean' meats.

From my take as an outsider, there are a bunch of different versions and they each make their own concessions. As long as you don't believe it is truly a diet that paleolithic man ate, you will be fine.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen because I like cooking "just enough" for the day, so every day meals are freshly made. I try to come up with different dishes every time, mainly for my husband. I love making him look forward to what's being served for dinner. I like knowing what's in my food as well so I make everything from scratch, salad dressing included.

Like I said in my OP, I've been at 102lbs forever and despite losing so much weight I've never seemed to get rid of my pudgy belly. Until we changed our eating lifestyle, and finally see some results. I have not changed any of my physical activities, just the way we ate. I never had toned abs even when I was a lot younger and at my lowest weight of 85-90lbs. I've always had that annoying belly. That's gone now. Thanks to Paleo LOL.

Lots of cooking i guess the problem of all diets) paying great attention on what you eat makes you to understand that you need to cook from fresh ingredients all the time. but i love to cook and for me it is not a problem! And yes you spend more money on food, but the result of having great body is worth it) I am very glad that you have found the best diet-lifestyle for you! This is probably the hardest thing.

Yes, that is true. You cant really put a price tag on your health, the looking good part is just a bonus.

So its probably the same re cooking. I do lots of cooking because i do almost everything from scratch and including salad dressing which is not a big deal, but i use bottled tomato sauce. But the cooking i do i do not consider anything particularly unusual. I just consider it normal because the way i grew up cooking your meals is normal. Packet meals and frozen dinners have always been a bit of a side issue until very recently here. And as far as i can tell, they are almost all of too poor quality to eat on a regular basis. I mean seriously bad tasting.

But frankly, i think if more people cooked more of their own meals, this obesity issue could thin out considerably.

Good to hear about your belly fatnomore. Maybe talk to the lady who posted about her stubborn belly fat. But clearly she would have to increase her exercise regime because you do a real lot of exercise. Far more than i could do for more than a week or two, however much i wish i was doing more. I think its a link with the word celebrity in the title. She'd love to hear from you.

So let me get this straight paleo is whole foods, animal protein, vegies and fruit but not complex carb vegies and legumes. True nuts but not cashews. That's the in group.

I guess rhubarb should be out too. But hang on, in paleo days, they wouldn't have cooked their vegetables. Anyway never mind.

kcandponies, it sounds like you must be insulin resistant? Is that right?

Anyway diamondgeo swears black and blue by this paleo approach like the OP so i hope it works for you too.

As a trying to be vegie person, i guess i get a fair bit of my calories from grain foods, but i don't eat great quantities of them. Fruit and veg and dairy seem to be the the greater quantity of what i eat.

You know, sometimes it crosses my mind that dairy might be implicated in the higher numbers of breast cancer in western countries but my GP said no studies say not. But when i read the other day again that the Japanese don't get much breast cancer and prostate cancer, i wondered again about it. Still, i'm not going to quit my dairy because its my rock even though i understand the cows can get a hard time.

I have never been diagnosed as insulin resistant, but I suspect I am, to some point.

I don't eat dairy for several reasons. First - It grosses me out, the thought of milk coming from a cow's udder. Two - the longer I go without dairy, the more lactose intolerant I become. Third - I just don't believe people need dairy. I won't go into a whole conspiracy theory, but in nature, no animal drinks milk past infancy. Cow milk was designed to raise a 150 pound calf to 600 pounds in a year. I believe that the only reason cow milk is even marketed is they can produce the most of any animal. If dogs were the heaviest milkers, would you drink their milk?
I don't have a problem with others using dairy, but I just can't do it. Almmond milk and coconunt milk/cream are amazing anyway