The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: Bob W on July 02, 2014, 12:06:20 PM
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Dear Friends,
I started the Paleo eating plan a week or so ago.
Curious if anyone here has incorporated this into their conscious living methods and what success they have.
I really like the concept -- eat lots of veggies, eat healthy unprocessed fats, stay away from processed foods and have a moderate amount of animal protein. All the studies of people who have done it look great and the success stories are awesome.
Please tell us if you have had success of problems?
Thank you in advance,
Bob Werner
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Your description of it is just common sense for a healthful life. I don't see how you can go wrong. Keep us posted!
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We went "mostly Paleo" almost a year ago. It's been great for us.
One thing that really stuck out for me recently is that I have not gotten sick once since we started eating better. I never got sick all that often, but now it's just not something I even think about.
It can be expensive though. But there are ways to hack it down to a less-obscene cost. We spend less now than plenty of people that seem to live on Pop Tarts and Dr. Pepper.
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I'm not following any strict guidelines, but I've done something similar for about 9 months. Basic principles for me are:
-tons of veggies.
-some fruit.
-tons of protein (quinoa, eggs, nuts, fish, a little bit of meat, etc.)
-tons of good fat (olive oil, dairy, etc.)
-virtually no processed crap.
-virtually no sugar (other than natural sugars from stuff above). Fill in with a bit of dark chocolate or honey as needed.
-virtually no carbs (other than natural carbs from stuff above) other than liquid ones from a few beers here and there.
It might be paleo, but I really just used previous knowledge, the book superfoods, and this MMM post as my guideline: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/18/the-amazing-waist-slimming-wallet-fattening-nutrient/
It was hard at first, but within 2 weeks I felt like a new/younger man and those feelings made it very easy to keep going. Went to the doctor for a general checkup 7 months in. Weight was down, blood pressure was down, and overall everything was great.
No problems other than some waste in the household since I'm the only one doing it. It's tough to cook separate meals and we do end up with a higher grocery bill/waste component because of this. It's worth it.
Good luck!
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We mainly do paleo too and it has worked for us.
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I've been paleo for about 11 years, long before it became popular. I'm nowhere near strict, though I go through some times where I buckle down. Overall, I'm in excellent health at 37. I'm lean, strong, look pretty decent for my age, and feel better at 37 than 20.
It can be done fairly cheaply, especially if you start to introduce some form of starch back in your diet. I find that after 11 years of doing this, I can go off the wagon pretty badly and not feel the ill effects like when I first started this lifestyle and went off the wagon.
I ordered a 1/2 grassfed beef, a whole pastured lamb, buy whole chickens from the same farmer (and make my own homemade stock from each chicken), belong to a CSA, etc. Meal planning is very important.
I do now include rice, potatoes, and oats now and then.
Any increased costs I think gets outweighed on the very little you will spend on your healthcare. I'm on no meds, and pretty much never get anything more serious than an occasional cold.
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I tried it but couldnt keep it up due to the planning needed and also one other reason. I need a lot of carbs for exercise. Bought a book on Paleo for the athlete but it was pretty complicated. My new thing is sort of a modified version, where I generally just try to avoid processed foods when possible. I'm also not a big meat eater so that made it a little tough too. I wish someone would publish a book of paleo type meals and foods with little or no preparation, spoilage, and ready on the go. That would help me.
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I'm not following any strict guidelines, but I've done something similar for about 9 months. Basic principles for me are:
-tons of veggies.
-some fruit.
-tons of protein (quinoa, eggs, nuts, fish, a little bit of meat, etc.)
-tons of good fat (olive oil, dairy, etc.)
-virtually no processed crap.
-virtually no sugar (other than natural sugars from stuff above). Fill in with a bit of dark chocolate or honey as needed.
-virtually no carbs (other than natural carbs from stuff above) other than liquid ones from a few beers here and there.
It might be paleo, but I really just used previous knowledge, the book superfoods, and this MMM post as my guideline: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/18/the-amazing-waist-slimming-wallet-fattening-nutrient/
It was hard at first, but within 2 weeks I felt like a new/younger man and those feelings made it very easy to keep going. Went to the doctor for a general checkup 7 months in. Weight was down, blood pressure was down, and overall everything was great.
No problems other than some waste in the household since I'm the only one doing it. It's tough to cook separate meals and we do end up with a higher grocery bill/waste component because of this. It's worth it.
Good luck!
+1! CheddarStacker, you should come over for dinner! We eat an almost identical diet, which is our frugal version of Paleo. We were doing Paleo, but the cost of meat and dairy is just too high--so, we've opted for the vegan(ish) version. We eat cheap frozen salmon from Costco and other meat if it's on super sale, but otherwise we find it cheaper to stick with the non-meat or dairy proteins and TONS of veggies.
We've got our grocery bill down to about $35/week (some weeks higher, some lower) for two adults with occasional runs to Costco to stock up on bulk quinoa, rice, lentils, dried fruit, and dark chocolate (yum). And, our food waste is almost nil because we buy our fresh fruit and veggies in small quantities each week.
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
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I've been doing paleo with varying degrees of strictness for over 7 years now. Overall I feel great and continue to make athletic gains throughout the years. It can get expensive, particularly if you're a pretty active person who needs a lot of calories just to maintain every day. I have found the most frugal option for an excellent source of protein and fat is eggs. I eat five eggs for breakfast every morning and another two hard-boiled as a snack in the afternoon. Combine that with meat usually for lunch and dinner, a couple of non-paleo protein shakes before and after workouts, and a ton of vegetables, fruits, and nuts and it seems excellent for me.
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
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I eat all the paleo stuff but I also eat rice, potatoes, and some other carbs. I tried going very low carb but it felt off and digestion wasn't so good. Now I try to do carb cycling: some days eat very low carbs and some days as much as I want.
I'm kinda skeptical of the grain and carb hating part of the paleo diet, 'cause without that you just have plain old healthy food diet. I think it's good for people to experiment and see what works for them though.
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I've been eating paleo/ancestral/evolutionary diet for a few years now and have gradually incorporated stuff from GAPS, Weston Price, Perfect Health diet and others. I still avoid almost all grains, processed food, sugar and seed oils. I feel great but our grocery bill last month was $1,400 and that was AFTER dropping a lot of organic produce. I can't honestly blame it all on paleo, a lot of it is convenience foods, but the greater emphasis on meat means $11.99/lb wild salmon, $5.99/lb grassfed ground beef, and bacon ($4.99/12oz) or sausages ($2.99/12oz) every morning for breakfast. I realize this is just how I've done it and there are much cheaper ways and I need to learn!
My goal for this month is to drop groceries to $150/wk, $600/mo. Here was my day today:
Breakfast
decaf coffee with whole milk
homemade whole milk yogurt with cranberries and a drizzle of honey
1/4 cup oatmeal with grassfed butter
2 soft-boiled eggs
2 strips bacon
1 strawberry
Morning snack
decaf coffee black
Lunch
salmon salad (canned pink salmon, celery, corn, 1 egg, olive oil, salt, black pepper, vinegar)
green leaf lettuce
Afternoon snack
decaf coffee black
Dinner
2 pork italian sausages with marinara sauce
steamed diced beets and carrots topped with red wine vinegar
corn on the cob with grassfed butter
Evening Snack
homemade whole milk yogurt with a drizzle of honey
I'd love to see what people are actually eating meal to meal.
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I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
There are not too many wild game animals that have high fat content. Further to that, catching game animals was very difficult and hunts often ended unsuccessfully. It is unlikely our ancestors ate a lot of the type of high fat red meat many people today choose to eat whilst on the paleo diet.
Fish, mussels and crustaceans were obviously easier to catch and collect but many ancient peoples did not even have access to bodies of water sufficient to support sustained fishing and would have therefore eaten very little of this type of food. Add to that the fact a lot of seafood today like mussels, sardines, etc are factory farmed and have higher levels of fat than their ocean brethren and it isn't hard to make the argument that too much of todays' seafood isn't a great thing either.
I'm not saying the paleo diet is bad, I follow the basic idea myself, but I do find that most people today tend to eat way way too much meat in the belief that our "hunter gatherer" ancestors gorged themselves daily on meat so it must be a good thing. That belief is just plain wrong.
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My wife and I just recently stopped doing strict paleo after about 3.5 years of being on it. It seems to have become more prevalent now that CrossFit has become a bigger name in the fitness industry. The Paleo principle isn't that you're eating fatty, red meats all the time; more that you're not eating dairy or processed grains and legumes. Meat, veggies and fruits are essentially what's left over and therefore what you're eating.
Meal planning is key to success in Paleo, and you're going to find yourself spending a long time prepping and cooking your food (probably more so than you're currently used to). We used to have problems coming up with new side dishes for the proteins actually; there's a ton of meat recipes out there. If you're not exercising regularly you can still lose weight by going on Paleo (through a similar concept to Atkins), however once you go off Paleo, odds are you're going to feel terrible initially and the weight will come right back. If you're going to follow the program then you need to stick with it as a life style change as opposed to a "diet".
Paleo's not worth the expense IMHO, clean eating (mostly) coupled with exercise and you can achieve good results as well. Unless you're a peak athlete who depends on being in peak shape for performance based goals I'd skip the Paleo and just commit yourself to eating lots of fruits and veggies, cut out the pop & junk food, and get as much exercise as you can (this doesn't mean going to the gym all the time, but being active).
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I eat low carb which ends up being similar to Paleo but with dairy. I started because my blood sugar was consistently a little high - sort of pre-pre-diabetic. At that point I had been eating a "healthy whole-grains diet" which was not doing me much good. A year later I had great blood values, my elevated uric acid (i.e. gout) was back to normal, my triglycerides were way down, my GERD was gone, my sore joints (first thing in the morning) were gone.
I don't find it that expensive, and my health is worth the investment. A lot of most people's food costs is junk food. I doubt most people on the Forums are spending much on junk food anyway, so we won't see the costs go down as much as those going from the Standard American Diet will. I eat lots of non-starchy vegetables (right now sugar snap peas and broccoli from the garden), moderate amounts of meat, eggs and cheese and fat, and a bit of fruit. The only real change was cutting out starches, especially grains, but mostly I don't miss them. I do miss ice cream in the really hot weather. Stir-fry is just as yummy without the rice, chili is just as good without the kidney beans. Soft drinks? Lemonade (home-made, not the store-bought full of sugar) is much more thirst-quenching, or cold water.
I have lots of energy, and as a gardener I do a fair bit of heavy physical labour - I am moving large quantities of soil around right now, just me and my shovel. When I stop each day it is because of the heat, not because of fatigue.
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
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I've been paleo for several years now. That combined with Eat Stop Eat has kept me in six pack condition at 40 years old when most of my peers look like they are 8 months pregnant.
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Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
Most of our ancestors didn't eat what's touted as paleo today. Hunting was a lot smaller portion of the food source than vegetation. If you want to know the long term effects of the paleo diet on people, don't try to look to our ancestors or the modern Inuit, look at the Inuit tribes from 100 years ago. The conclusion about the modern weight and health issues being linked to the modern diet is partially right, but the problem is the processed foods, not the rejection of the old diet. Before the introduction of the Western diet, the average lifespan of those people who lived on a high protein high fat diet was maybe 60 years with greatly accelerated aging. These people also had plenty of health problems, including such severe constipation that culturally they created the most powerful spirit in their mythology: Matshishkapeu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matshishkapeu) - which literally translates into English as "fart man." Their lifespan and aging process actually got longer with the introduction of complex carbohydrates, even if the processed crap started hacking it back down.
Gout is the least of the long term problems with paleo. There's also a longer term increased risk of kidney stones, gall stones, atherosclerosis, and stroke. My father essentially ate paleo for the past decade in a very rigid and disciplined manner to manage his diabetes without using insulin or drugs. He's currently recovering from a stroke that was directly linked to his diet.
The theory of paleo isn't wrong. We should be eating closer to what our ancestors ate (including no refined sugars and minimal refined carbohydrates), but that diet was mostly vegetarian and had a lot of natural complex carbohydrates, not meat. Look at the health and lifespan studies of the Seventh Day Adventists. Look at the pre-industrial Inuit (there's plenty of research). Look at the recent findings of the Neanderthal (https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/did-neanderthals-eat-their-vegetables-0625). Look at the Amazonian Yanomamö and the Trobriander of PNG. Look into the limited studies regarding the difference between regular and (properly) kosher meats. We as a species have had varying degrees throughout the people to adapting to and managing the digestion of meat, but that just means we suffer fewer ill effects. There's still ill effects. Our digestive system is primarily geared for mostly vegetarian foodstuffs, but just as we've adapted to meats, we're not strictly amylase producing starch-eaters either. My problem with paleo is the conclusion, as it's inconsistent with the general data.
Modern, processed foods and refined sugars are a source of early death in our diet, but so is heavy meat intake. Our ancestors sprouted or fermented their grains before cooking, there's your first major difference. There were no huge food refineries to produce processed foodstuffs, there's your second major difference. I have no doubt that there's a variation of meat to carb ratio amongst people. I myself do poorly on a pure vegetarian diet. However, the key is moderation in all things, and avoiding processed foods - not swinging hard into carnivore or herbivore territory. The immediate positive effects of paleo eaters are linked to just eating better and less refined crap in the diet. It's the same sort of reinvigoration that whole-food eating vegetarians get initially. Rejection of the Standard American Diet is the common link.
Ignore the fad diets and just eat simple, healthy foods. We're omnivores who need both carbohydrates and protein to properly function. Eat as such.
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I've been Paleo for over 2 years now. I was always a "healthy eater" and super-active (weights, cardio, rock climbing, snowboarding, martial arts, etc, etc), but my cholesterol numbers, while not crazy bad, were concerning. Year over year since I went Paleo (I follow the SealFit/Mountain Athlete mantra of " be strict 85% of the time, the other 15% cheat like a mofo") my bloodwork numbers have improved dramatically. Bad cholesterol down, good cholesterol up, trigyclerides in the barely detectable range. I also got far leaner than I was. I was always pretty buff, but in a "puffier" kind of way (not excessively). Paleo eating has made me a solid frame of lean muscle mass. I sleep better than I ever did.
I'm a believer. I know there are naysayers who question the "science" and the evolutionary biology underpinnings of Paleo, but it doesn't matter one bit to me because the proof, as they say, is in the (sugar-free, preservative-free) pudding.
There are several variants of Paleo/Primal eating adherents. Probably the biggest divide is the dairy vs. non-dairy. I follow Mark Sisson's "if you can tolerate it, eat/drink it" rule so far as dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc) goes, and I choose only full fat offerings (no lowfat, skim, etc), and try to get raw where I can (easy for cheese, not so easy for milk).
I also opt for organic when it comes to the "Dirty Dozen" fruits and vegetables, and only buy pasture-raised grass-fed beef (it's much harder - and more expensive - to get the same for pork and chicken, so I go for organic when I can, and free-range on the birds -- Trader Joe's has organic, free range chicken that is reasonably priced).
It costs me more than if I just went with conventionally raised meat and produce, but (a) I can afford it, and (b) I think it's worth it.
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Most of our ancestors didn't eat what's touted as paleo today. Hunting was a lot smaller portion of the food source than vegetation. If you want to know the long term effects of the paleo diet on people, don't try to look to our ancestors or the modern Inuit, look at the Inuit tribes from 100 years ago. The conclusion about the modern weight and health issues being linked to the modern diet is partially right, but the problem is the processed foods, not the rejection of the old diet. Before the introduction of the Western diet, the average lifespan of those people who lived on a high protein high fat diet was maybe 60 years with greatly accelerated aging. These people also had plenty of health problems, including such severe constipation that culturally they created the most powerful spirit in their mythology: Matshishkapeu - which literally translates into English as "fart man." Their lifespan and aging process actually got longer with the introduction of complex carbohydrates, even if the processed crap started hacking it back down.
Gout is the least of the long term problems with paleo. There's also a longer term increased risk of kidney stones, gall stones, atherosclerosis, and stroke. My father essentially ate paleo for the past decade in a very rigid and disciplined manner to manage his diabetes without using insulin or drugs. He's currently recovering from a stroke that was directly linked to his diet.
The theory of paleo isn't wrong. We should be eating closer to what our ancestors ate (including no refined sugars and minimal refined carbohydrates), but that diet was mostly vegetarian and had a lot of natural complex carbohydrates, not meat. Look at the health and lifespan studies of the Seventh Day Adventists. Look at the pre-industrial Inuit (there's plenty of research). Look at the recent findings of the Neanderthal. Look at the Amazonian Yanomamö and the Trobriander of PNG. Look into the limited studies regarding the difference between regular and (properly) kosher meats. We as a species have had varying degrees throughout the people to adapting to and managing the digestion of meat, but that just means we suffer fewer ill effects. There's still ill effects. Our digestive system is primarily geared for mostly vegetarian foodstuffs, but just as we've adapted to meats, we're not strictly amylase producing starch-eaters either. My problem with paleo is the conclusion, as it's inconsistent with the general data.
Modern, processed foods and refined sugars are a source of early death in our diet, but so is heavy meat intake. Our ancestors sprouted or fermented their grains before cooking, there's your first major difference. There were no huge food refineries to produce processed foodstuffs, there's your second major difference. I have no doubt that there's a variation of meat to carb ratio amongst people. I myself do poorly on a pure vegetarian diet. However, the key is moderation in all things, and avoiding processed foods - not swinging hard into carnivore or herbivore territory. The immediate positive effects of paleo eaters are linked to just eating better and less refined crap in the diet. It's the same sort of reinvigoration that whole-food eating vegetarians get initially. Rejection of the Standard American Diet is the common link.
Ignore the fad diets and just eat simple, healthy foods. We're omnivores who need both carbohydrates and protein to properly function. Eat as such.
This is one of the most balanced and reasonable discussions of diet I have read in a long time. It seems like lately that there is a vegan vs. paleo war going on - it all sounds like religious dogma with no definitive science to back it up.
"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" - That pretty much covers it IMO.
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Meal planning is key to success in Paleo, and you're going to find yourself spending a long time prepping and cooking your food (probably more so than you're currently used to).
I don't understand this at all (not just you, as others have said this as well). I find it utterly simple and no more work at all than conventional cooking. I suppose if you're not used to cooking your own meals (or eating out of boxes), then it could seem like more work. I've found no difference in "planning" Paleo meals than non-Paleo meals. It's pretty simple to cook a protein (meat, chicken, fish), and steam/sautee/roast a veggie or two. If weight loss isn't a concern, then white rice (in many forms - fried, couscous style, risotto, etc), sweet potato or cassava/yucca as a carb. It's really friggin' easy. Also, curries are your friend. Buy cans of red, green, yellow, masaman curry paste and cans of coconut milk and keep a supply in your pantry. You can make ridiculously good curries with these starters and virtually any ingredients (I also use fish sauce and rice wine vinegar and tamari for extra depth of flavor) in less than a half hour.
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In my pre-healthy eating days, plenty of my "meals" were a peanut butter sandwich or pasta with ketchup squirted on top. I can definitely say that meal planning has become critical. It takes 30 seconds to make a PB sandwich, and less than 10 minutes to make pasta, and ingredients for both are rather shelf-stable and you can buy a month's supply every month without blinking. The same cannot be said for making maple chili pork chops or roasting a chicken or even firing up a stir-fry.
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In my pre-healthy eating days, plenty of my "meals" were a peanut butter sandwich or pasta with ketchup squirted on top. I can definitely say that meal planning has become critical. It takes 30 seconds to make a PB sandwich, and less than 10 minutes to make pasta, and ingredients for both are rather shelf-stable and you can buy a month's supply every month without blinking. The same cannot be said for making maple chili pork chops or roasting a chicken or even firing up a stir-fry.
I have to push back on the stir-fry.
Buy frozen veggies. Buy eggs. Buy olive oil and soy sauce. Cook veggies in olive oil, add eggs, add soy sauce. Healthy 10 minute meal. All the ingredients keep for a long time and it is a cheap as hell meal that takes 10 minutes.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
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In my pre-healthy eating days, plenty of my "meals" were a peanut butter sandwich or pasta with ketchup squirted on top. I can definitely say that meal planning has become critical. It takes 30 seconds to make a PB sandwich, and less than 10 minutes to make pasta, and ingredients for both are rather shelf-stable and you can buy a month's supply every month without blinking. The same cannot be said for making maple chili pork chops or roasting a chicken or even firing up a stir-fry.
I have to push back on the stir-fry.
Buy frozen veggies. Buy eggs. Buy olive oil and soy sauce. Cook veggies in olive oil, add eggs, add soy sauce. Healthy 10 minute meal. All the ingredients keep for a long time and it is a cheap as hell meal that takes 10 minutes.
Hot damn, I love to be proven wrong. What frozen veggies do you use? I think we only ever really buy broccoli or cauliflower frozen.
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My wife said she tried this years ago and it mostly just made her moody and irritable.
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Primarily paleo (modified i suppose) since September....I've lost 60 lbs, come off multiple medications, sleep and move easier/better, and the gerd and chest pain are essentially gone.
typical daily intake:
Breakfast, more often than not its 2 whole eggs and 4-6 pieces of bacon.
Lunch, Either a Salad with vinegar/coconut milk dressing or a serving of meat with whatever sauteed vegetables are offered (company cafeteria).
Dinner, is usually a big portion of cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower cooked in coconut oil and a protein.
Snacks are a no sugar added greek yogurt, nuts, 70% dark chocolate, and maybe 1-2 pieces of fruit (I have a thing for frozen bananas covered in dark chocolate, but try to control this).
My diet is more about the control of Insulin by NOT eating sugar/wheat/processed carbs.
Since beginning to lose the weight and with the improved feeling of health I have started walking...a lot. At least a mile or two every night and much more when time allows. It is showing on the whole family and has started to change our outlook.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
I don't do paleo so I can't comment specifically about that. Here's what I would suggest though:
-Skip the bread for the most part. You need carbs, but there are better delivery systems than bread. Rolled oats are great, and plenty of fruits have carbs.
-Avoid nearly all sugars that don't naturally come with good food. There is sugar in almost everything now days - take a look at a peanut butter label. It's scary. Buy natural peanut butter or make your own.
-If you need the crunch provided by carb type foods, go with almonds or carrots. Celery with natural (sometimes homemade) peanut butter is perfect.
-Eat tons of protein, nuts, vegetables, high fat dairy and oils.
I'd love to see what people are actually eating meal to meal.
Habilis, my ideal day which happens 3-4 times a week is this:
Breakfast - Omelet made with heavy coconut/olive oil, broccoli, orange/red peppers, onions/celery, a bit of sausage/bacon, 2 eggs, cheddar cheese melted on top.
Lunch - HUGE salad. Instead of crutons and other crap, I add sunflower seeds and raisins/craisins on top.
Dinner - Stir fry. Peppers, onions, oils, cinnamon, honey, quinoa, whatever. (and I agree this shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to prep)
Snack - Oatmeal made with rolled oats, milk, peanut butter, honey, dark chocolate. Or Yogurt with blueberries.
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Primarily paleo (modified i suppose) since September....I've lost 60 lbs, come off multiple medications, sleep and move easier/better, and the gerd and chest pain are essentially gone.
typical daily intake:
Breakfast, more often than not its 2 whole eggs and 4-6 pieces of bacon.
Lunch, Either a Salad with vinegar/coconut milk dressing or a serving of meat with whatever sauteed vegetables are offered (company cafeteria).
Dinner, is usually a big portion of cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower cooked in coconut oil and a protein.
Snacks are a no sugar added greek yogurt, nuts, 70% dark chocolate, and maybe 1-2 pieces of fruit (I have a thing for frozen bananas covered in dark chocolate, but try to control this).
My diet is more about the control of Insulin by NOT eating sugar/wheat/processed carbs.
Since beginning to lose the weight and with the improved feeling of health I have started walking...a lot. At least a mile or two every night and much more when time allows. It is showing on the whole family and has started to change our outlook.
Good for you! Glad to hear this as I am hoping to get in shape.
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In my pre-healthy eating days, plenty of my "meals" were a peanut butter sandwich or pasta with ketchup squirted on top. I can definitely say that meal planning has become critical. It takes 30 seconds to make a PB sandwich, and less than 10 minutes to make pasta, and ingredients for both are rather shelf-stable and you can buy a month's supply every month without blinking. The same cannot be said for making maple chili pork chops or roasting a chicken or even firing up a stir-fry.
I have to push back on the stir-fry.
Buy frozen veggies. Buy eggs. Buy olive oil and soy sauce. Cook veggies in olive oil, add eggs, add soy sauce. Healthy 10 minute meal. All the ingredients keep for a long time and it is a cheap as hell meal that takes 10 minutes.
Hot damn, I love to be proven wrong. What frozen veggies do you use? I think we only ever really buy broccoli or cauliflower frozen.
I use an asian/oriental mix. My local shops happen to have it. I think it's like 2.99 a bag. I use half a bag for one serving with two eggs. Cook the vege's covered for about seven minutes then add your eggs, once they start firming add your soy sauce and remove from heat. If you can get it get a sweet soy sauce, it goes well with it.
All else fails you can get individual ones and mix them up in a separate bag and put back in the freezer. Broccoli, peppers, water chestnuts, snow peas, carrots...etc.
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Most of our ancestors didn't eat what's touted as paleo today. Hunting was a lot smaller portion of the food source than vegetation. If you want to know the long term effects of the paleo diet on people, don't try to look to our ancestors or the modern Inuit, look at the Inuit tribes from 100 years ago. The conclusion about the modern weight and health issues being linked to the modern diet is partially right, but the problem is the processed foods, not the rejection of the old diet. Before the introduction of the Western diet, the average lifespan of those people who lived on a high protein high fat diet was maybe 60 years with greatly accelerated aging. These people also had plenty of health problems, including such severe constipation that culturally they created the most powerful spirit in their mythology: Matshishkapeu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matshishkapeu) - which literally translates into English as "fart man." Their lifespan and aging process actually got longer with the introduction of complex carbohydrates, even if the processed crap started hacking it back down.
Gout is the least of the long term problems with paleo. There's also a longer term increased risk of kidney stones, gall stones, atherosclerosis, and stroke. My father essentially ate paleo for the past decade in a very rigid and disciplined manner to manage his diabetes without using insulin or drugs. He's currently recovering from a stroke that was directly linked to his diet.
The theory of paleo isn't wrong. We should be eating closer to what our ancestors ate (including no refined sugars and minimal refined carbohydrates), but that diet was mostly vegetarian and had a lot of natural complex carbohydrates, not meat. Look at the health and lifespan studies of the Seventh Day Adventists. Look at the pre-industrial Inuit (there's plenty of research). Look at the recent findings of the Neanderthal (https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/did-neanderthals-eat-their-vegetables-0625). Look at the Amazonian Yanomamö and the Trobriander of PNG. Look into the limited studies regarding the difference between regular and (properly) kosher meats. We as a species have had varying degrees throughout the people to adapting to and managing the digestion of meat, but that just means we suffer fewer ill effects. There's still ill effects. Our digestive system is primarily geared for mostly vegetarian foodstuffs, but just as we've adapted to meats, we're not strictly amylase producing starch-eaters either. My problem with paleo is the conclusion, as it's inconsistent with the general data.
Modern, processed foods and refined sugars are a source of early death in our diet, but so is heavy meat intake. Our ancestors sprouted or fermented their grains before cooking, there's your first major difference. There were no huge food refineries to produce processed foodstuffs, there's your second major difference. I have no doubt that there's a variation of meat to carb ratio amongst people. I myself do poorly on a pure vegetarian diet. However, the key is moderation in all things, and avoiding processed foods - not swinging hard into carnivore or herbivore territory. The immediate positive effects of paleo eaters are linked to just eating better and less refined crap in the diet. It's the same sort of reinvigoration that whole-food eating vegetarians get initially. Rejection of the Standard American Diet is the common link.
Ignore the fad diets and just eat simple, healthy foods. We're omnivores who need both carbohydrates and protein to properly function. Eat as such.
Unfortunately, your post is a mix of totally incorrect information, and valuable facts. I don't know how you derived your concept of "what is touted as Paleo today" but it is totally wrong. A quick glance at the work of one of the founding fathers of the movement, Loren Cordain, would make it quite clear that the science behind the idea DOES NOT support consumption of huge amounts of meat. in fact, he specifically recommends an increase in meat consumption from the typical western intake of 15% of daily caloric intake to 19-35%. He also promotes modestly increased intake of quality, mono and polyunsaturated fats with good Omega ratios, high consumption of non-starchy fruits and vegetables, high fiber intake, and low sodium intake. The other side of this formula is the elimination of dairy, grains and processed foods.
Since the actual definition of a Paleo diet is in fact quite close to what you recommend, I find your suggestion that it is a carnivore diet to be a bit odd. I would love to hear how following a true, scientifically based Paleo diet can lead to all the diseases you attribute to it? Like hundreds of thousands of others who are lucky enough to have access to the resources, both informational and financial, to understand and adhere to the lifestyle, I am a Paleo follower who has seen a drastic improvement in the quality of my life. The constantly evolving body of scientific evidence supporting Paleo is a lot more convincing than your claims that Paleo is nothing more than a fad based on excessive meat consumption, and one only needs to look at pre-modern Intuit culture to see the expected outcome.
Obviously, there are varying degrees of adherence to a true Paleo diet, as evidenced by posters here. When it comes to the continually evolving understanding of why our pre-agricultural ancestors were often healthier than modern western culture folks are, at no point does the science point to the key being that the healthy ancient ones gorged on meat, and avoided all the other food sources available to them. They were called "hunter-gatherer" societies for a reason.
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Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
Seriously? Using the word "evidence" when linked to that worthless slop, is akin to holding a press conference to announce that you can prove the existence of bigfoot based on having watched every episode of the "finding bigfoot" series on reality TV.
Somehow the presenter was given time to drone on, lamely attacking a straw man, while wasting bandwidth and degrading the entire concept of TED presentations. In the end she wastes twenty minutes criticizing a carnivore style diet that she erroneously labels as "Paleo", while inadvertently approving of the actual scientific evidence of what Paleo man consumed, the diversity of such, and why it created a healthy species.
I pity the audience who sat politely and suffered through that waste of time. It would of been more valuable to watch an idiot explain how Noah accommodated dinosaurs on his arc.
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Lots of different opinions on here.
Try it, and see how your body feels. Do it for at least a week to give it time.
The best thing anyone can do for their nutrition is to to up their veggie intake. Try farmer's markets or a csa to save on veggies and fruit. Also, frozen is often as good or better than fresh in the grocery store, and often cheaper. Texture may be different, but it's fine as long as you cook it.
I tried paleo, and it was too restrictive. I was absolutely exhausted-like first-trimester pregnancy exhausted. I do have some genetic (we think) insulin resistance, and have noticed some freaky things happen when I eat too many sweets: joints ache, body swells, gain 1-2 lbs water weight etc. So I still eat complex carbs and fruit most days, just limited amounts, and sweets/refined carbs every once in a while. Moderation is key.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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A quick glance at the work of one of the founding fathers of the movement, Loren Cordain, would make it quite clear that the science behind the idea DOES NOT support consumption of huge amounts of meat. in fact, he specifically recommends an increase in meat consumption from the typical western intake of 15% of daily caloric intake to 19-35%.
I'd love to see the actual evidence(as opposed to supposition and speculation) that shows paleo humans got anywhere near 35% of their caloric intake from meat.
When it comes to the continually evolving understanding of why our pre-agricultural ancestors were often healthier than modern western culture folks are, at no point does the science point to the key being that the healthy ancient ones gorged on meat, and avoided all the other food sources available to them. They were called "hunter-gatherer" societies for a reason.
For starters, whilst I would agree that pre-agricultrual peoples were generally healthier than someone living on the usual modern western diet of crap, they did have their fair share of health problems too.
Secondly, it is becoming increasingly evident to those in the field that the name "hunter-gatherer" is a sort of misnomer. It certainly rolls off the tongue better than "gatherer-hunter" but it puts the emphasis on the wrong part. Most paleo people got the overwhelming majority of their caloric intake from nuts, veg and fruit and very little from meat. It is very likely they went for long periods of time without meat at all. I'm yet to see any true scientific evidence that most paleo people got anywhere close to 35% of caloric intake from meat.
Having said all that, the Maasai of Kenya are evidence that a meat diet can be just as healthy. Their traditional diet consisted almost entirely of meat, blood and milk and very rarely was supplemented with small amounts of fruit and vege. Some tribes basically never ate fruit or veg at all. Yet traditionally they were almost free of any serious disease.
My point is, there is still a heck of a lot that we don't understand about the relationship of diet to health. I'm all for cutting out grains, processed foods and refined sugars and eating more naturally occurring foods. However, lets not turn this into a semi religious debate about dogma.
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I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
Your link doesn't say that anywhere - it doesn't even discuss the incidence of gout in the past, much less demonstrate that our ancestors ate much rich, fatty meat. It just handwaves away the notion that meat-eating causes gout with "maybe the epidemiological controls were insufficient in this entire branch of literature".
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Seriously? Using the word "evidence" when linked to that worthless slop, is akin to holding a press conference to announce that you can prove the existence of bigfoot based on having watched every episode of the "finding bigfoot" series on reality TV.
Somehow the presenter was given time to drone on, lamely attacking a straw man, while wasting bandwidth and degrading the entire concept of TED presentations. In the end she wastes twenty minutes criticizing a carnivore style diet that she erroneously labels as "Paleo", while inadvertently approving of the actual scientific evidence of what Paleo man consumed, the diversity of such, and why it created a healthy species.
I pity the audience who sat politely and suffered through that waste of time. It would of been more valuable to watch an idiot explain how Noah accommodated dinosaurs on his arc.
Do you have any actual criticisms of the talk other than that you didn't like it?
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Do you have any actual criticisms of the talk other than that you didn't like it?
If you take the time to actually read Cordain, Sisson, Ballantyne, and others, it become quite clear that the presenter has not. She literally focuses on a basic diet idea of decades past, the cave man diet, and attacks a much different concept, that being the latest available science that forms that basis for the Paleo diet. Instead of discussing the facts regarding things like western diets and there relationship to intestinal impermeability, inflammatory diseases, diabetes, obesity, and other health crisis's devastating our culture, she incorrectly babbles on about how it is a predominately red meat based diet that appeals to men, while showing slides that suggest that the diet recommends raw red meat consumption.
There is a massive amount of recent, high quality science behind Paleo, including the cellular biological behind why it has helped many of us totally control previously unmanageable diseases. To stand on stage as a anthropologist, attempting to discredit this whole movement based on nitpicking over stupid shit like discrediting the diet since currently available fruits and vegetables are the product of modern agriculture, makes one thing clear to me. This is a presentation by an attention whore with nothing to add to the debate. I would much rather listen to a poster here who question things like if 35% of caloric intake is in fact excessive meat consumption, and spent the time researching the concept, than waste time with somebody who discredits a current and healthy way to live by offering her opinion on bizarre and tangential concepts, such as the hierarchy of pre-modern African man and if their dominance over Jaguars was impacted by the availability of water sources.
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Like many of the other posters I do modified paleo diet most of the time. Lots of veg some fruit. Was doing a more strict version but its cheaper and more efficient for us to add back a few legumes, potatoes and occasional rice. My husband particularly was not satisfied when I was using less starches. It doesn't make sense to me to eat sweet potatoes but totally blacklist white potatoes. It takes some tinkering to figure out your best personal macronutrient levels. I think animal calories could have been a decent percentage of paleo diets but we aren't eating organs, bug and rodents for instance so its kind of disingenuous to claim that modern paleo diets really approximate anything from the stone age.
I just finished reading Death by Food Pyramid and would highly recommend it to pretty much everyone. Its the most even handed review of the science that got us to our current SAD state of affairs.
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Paleo here too. We recently added back in potatoes and white rice. We spend a good bit on groceries every month, but I figure eating healthy now will hopefully keep us healthy later.
Costco has great bulk frozen fish and pantry items. We get the Mahi Mahi and Salmon there. Coconut oil, tomato paste/sauce, almond butter, maple syrup, and some other stuff. I'll probably pick up a big ol' bag of rice there after we finish the small bag we have now.
We don't buy produce there though. Or most meats. We did get a boneless leg of lamb though for $4.99/lb! We're going to get a half beef here shortly.
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Man like meat! Meat help man lift heavy things! Lol
We got tired of the "well that's not paleo"line. So we just try and limit processed foods and simple carbs as much as possible. Most of our meals can be classified as paleo but if I feel like throwing some cheese or homemade bread with my meal I don't feel bad about it. We do probably eat to much beef but when you family raises cattle and owns a processing plant that's just how it is.
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I did paleo for a summer. I went from 6' 180 lbs with about a 43.5" chest and a 32.5" waist, to about 175 lbs with a 44" chest and a 32" waist. Then I got bored and went back to eating very moderate amounts of things like bread and pasta. Now I fluctuate between 175 to 180 lbs and my chest and waist are about the same. My paleo shorts are slightly tight, but I can still wear them.
I think diets like paleo are really good for people that are severely out of shape and need something really specific to follow. For instance, I have a severely overweight aunt that also has a gluten allergy I tried to explain paleo to her, she just said "I can't eat eggs everyday..."
They're also good for people that are already in too good of shape and need something to annoy their friends and family with (I probably fell into this category). Really though, if you're not mentally deficient or have some severe eating problems I imagine you already eat well sourced meat, lots of vegetables, and say no to most of the carbs and sugars. You're 90% there, just enjoy real bread and craft brew once in a while.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
This is a little off topic, but I want to suggest trying sprints and intervals at high intensity if you are not already. I've been reading that burns fat much better than long duration cardio stuff. The Primal Blueprint Fitness Plan ebook has some good stuff in it; you can get it from the Mark's Daily Apple website for free. Eating less is the obvious answer; most people are not good at that because they can't stand being hungry. I'm no doctor, but some people have medical conditions, like thyroid problems, that make it hard to maintain an ideal weight. Good luck!
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My paleo shorts are slightly tight, but I can still wear them.
... I thought loincloths were one-size fits all.
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My paleo shorts are slightly tight, but I can still wear them.
... I thought loincloths were one-size fits all.
Oh, but you should see my loins. Carbs really make them swell...
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I did Paleo and lost 40 Lbs. I sitll eat a modified Paleo Diet
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The fiancee and I went Paleo in January and have loved the results. I've lost ~30 pounds without adding any extra exercise and feel WAY healthier physically and mentally. She hasn't lost as much but feels much sharper, alert, healthier, and high energy. I'm back to my active duty military weight and feel like I have 2-3x the energy I used to when I ate a lot of carbs (6'4" 250 -> 220)
We'd actually tried it 2 years ago but quickly fell off the wagon since we didn't really have a plan for how to cook/eat that way in a sustainable way. The 2nd time seems to have taken just fine though and we love the way eating this way makes us feel. Key ingredients for success have been meal planning and also leaning heavily on the grill for easy meals. Sooo many meals are basically "slap x meat on the grill, slap y veggie on the grill" or "slap x meat on the grill, roast y veggie in the oven" since we don't want to spend tons of time making dinner on weekdays. I also don't stress too much about being perfect now that I feel we've adopted it into our lifestyle, perfect is the enemy of good for sustaining it imo.
Main pet peeve though is that people assume paleo => eat lots of red meat. We definitely eat meat but so do lots of americans, the big difference is eating lots of vegetables and "real food" rather than "food like substances". Dairy has always messed me up so cutting it out has had a very nice impact as well. Coconut oil has been one of my favorite discoveries as I FAR prefer it and that was one thing we kept from our first attempt at paleo because we liked it so much more.
I strongly suggest giving it a try. Everyone I know who has gone paleo has experienced noticeable improvements in their health and energy levels.
Note: there are other diets that are close that are also reasonable imo. I'm not familiar with the names and such, but as long as it basically boils down to "eat food, mostly vegetables" I think you'll get most of the benefit. Edge cases like legumes and such seem less clear how bad they are. We still eat lentils occasionally - again aiming for good rather than perfect.
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Been on and off (mostly on) Paleo since late 2010, lost around 50 lbs since then. Wife joined me when we moved in together in 2012. Backed off the low carb (added in more fruit and sweet potatoes) when we started Crossfit. Currently taking a break from Crossfit (adding running and lifts at home) and back on low carb (Whole 30) to try and lean down a bit more.
We keep costs down by cooking everything. Our maximum prices are chicken at $2/lb, ground beef and pork at $3/lb, and steaks at $6/lb. When they have big sales we stock up and freeze. We go to the store a couple times a week so our veggies are always relatively fresh. We stick with what's cheap, often cabbage, kale, and mustard greens. Always have bacon, eggs, onions, garlic, and sweet potatoes on hand. Slapping together a good half dozen meals takes 15 minutes of prep and 45 minutes in the oven / on the stove, so there's no excuse for going out to eat. We spend around $400 a month in groceries for 2, which often inclues a six-pack or two and a bottle of wine or two.
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I used Paleo as a springboard to a healthier lifestyle about 3 years ago. The amount of free information available for it helped me put together a plan that I followed religiously for a few months. I actually wrote the specifics of the plan out and re-read it religiously for a while. It was basically a set of lists: Good to Eat, Bad to Eat, OK to Eat, and a sample daily menu. I still have it somewhere and will try to remember to post it, but really the specifics aren't important. Just having the structure of the written "rules" that I'd set for myself and making it routine was crucial to getting it all stuck in my head. I lost a chunk of weight and felt great. After a few months, life happened (as it tends to do) and I went through a couple of years of fluctuating weight and varying levels of dedication to my nutrition and fitness. Eventually the motivation to get back on the wagon hit and I've now incorporated many of my good routines back into my life with a paleo-esque diet. Here's at the sample menu from when I was first starting:
Breakfast: Banana + 2 egg omelet with bell peppers, onions, and ham or sausage. (I know a lot of people use bacon but I've found that ham for breakfast can be almost as delicious and seems just a smidge healthier to me.) Added in other things as I had them (finely chopped apple... yum!) and occasionally drizzled with maple syrup.
Lunch: Salad - Spinach, carrots, cherry tomatoes, nuts and some sort of berry/grapes/dried fruit. I typically have this without dressing since I pack it in the morning before work and hate soggy salads that have been sitting in dressing all day. However, when I make it at home I add a little balsamic vinegar. Also, I find eating it dry means I can treat it like a snack and just eat with my fingers which takes away a little of the salad feel and makes it seem more like "fun" food (maybe I'm just weird.)
Dinner: Like many others have said, some sort of meat with some sort of veggie. I ended up really liking my broiler for chicken. Got a cast iron pan to sear steaks then throw in the oven. Asparagus ended up being an easy veggie to prepare a lot of nights and sweet potatoes can always just be thrown in the microwave. Used lots and lots of olive oil. Many nights I served everything over a bed of spinach.
Snacks: If I got hungry in between any of the above meals I would add a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts to tide me over. I carry one or two of these with me most of the time now, almost regardless of where I'm going.
Like I said, this is what I did to set my foundation. If it seems pretty strict that's because that's what I needed at the time. You might be the same. I absolutely agree with everyone who's said "Eat food, mostly veggies..." and "Try it. See how you feel."
One last note: my roommate attempted the paleo thing with me 3 years ago. She was off it in a matter of a week or 2. It is definitely not for everyone. From my observation the things that we did differently was that I had a specific written plan and I was willing to spend more time prepping day to day (waking up to make breakfast, packing lunch/snacks, making sure I had meat thawed for dinner.) Basic stuff but I think it made all the difference.
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I used Paleo as a springboard to a healthier lifestyle about 3 years ago. The amount of free information available for it helped me put together a plan that I followed religiously for a few months. I actually wrote the specifics of the plan out and re-read it religiously for a while. It was basically a set of lists: Good to Eat, Bad to Eat, OK to Eat, and a sample daily menu. I still have it somewhere and will try to remember to post it, but really the specifics aren't important. Just having the structure of the written "rules" that I'd set for myself and making it routine was crucial to getting it all stuck in my head. I lost a chunk of weight and felt great. After a few months, life happened (as it tends to do) and I went through a couple of years of fluctuating weight and varying levels of dedication to my nutrition and fitness. Eventually the motivation to get back on the wagon hit and I've now incorporated many of my good routines back into my life with a paleo-esque diet. Here's at the sample menu from when I was first starting:
Breakfast: Banana + 2 egg omelet with bell peppers, onions, and ham or sausage. (I know a lot of people use bacon but I've found that ham for breakfast can be almost as delicious and seems just a smidge healthier to me.) Added in other things as I had them (finely chopped apple... yum!) and occasionally drizzled with maple syrup.
Lunch: Salad - Spinach, carrots, cherry tomatoes, nuts and some sort of berry/grapes/dried fruit. I typically have this without dressing since I pack it in the morning before work and hate soggy salads that have been sitting in dressing all day. However, when I make it at home I add a little balsamic vinegar. Also, I find eating it dry means I can treat it like a snack and just eat with my fingers which takes away a little of the salad feel and makes it seem more like "fun" food (maybe I'm just weird.)
Dinner: Like many others have said, some sort of meat with some sort of veggie. I ended up really liking my broiler for chicken. Got a cast iron pan to sear steaks then throw in the oven. Asparagus ended up being an easy veggie to prepare a lot of nights and sweet potatoes can always just be thrown in the microwave. Used lots and lots of olive oil. Many nights I served everything over a bed of spinach.
Snacks: If I got hungry in between any of the above meals I would add a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts to tide me over. I carry one or two of these with me most of the time now, almost regardless of where I'm going.
Like I said, this is what I did to set my foundation. If it seems pretty strict that's because that's what I needed at the time. You might be the same. I absolutely agree with everyone who's said "Eat food, mostly veggies..." and "Try it. See how you feel."
One last note: my roommate attempted the paleo thing with me 3 years ago. She was off it in a matter of a week or 2. It is definitely not for everyone. From my observation the things that we did differently was that I had a specific written plan and I was willing to spend more time prepping day to day (waking up to make breakfast, packing lunch/snacks, making sure I had meat thawed for dinner.) Basic stuff but I think it made all the difference.
Thanks for that reply -- Love the term "paleo-esque!" Since there is no real clearing house for the Paleo rules, I pretty much eat this - No fake wheat (what is now erroneously referred to as wheat), No beans, no dairy, no nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes). I eat no breakfast usually but maybe eggs (runny) sometimes. For lunch a big man salad with a large variety of veggies -- mushrooms, onions, spinach, kale, broccoli, berries, sunflower seeds, carrots, cut meat. For dinner a protein meat (no processed stuff such as bacon, sausage, ham) and more salad. Snack in the evening might be more veggies, popcorn.
I have cheated myself several times but have pretty much avoided wheat. So over two weeks, I am feeling pretty darn good and belt loops are going down.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
This is a little off topic, but I want to suggest trying sprints and intervals at high intensity if you are not already. I've been reading that burns fat much better than long duration cardio stuff. The Primal Blueprint Fitness Plan ebook has some good stuff in it; you can get it from the Mark's Daily Apple website for free. Eating less is the obvious answer; most people are not good at that because they can't stand being hungry. I'm no doctor, but some people have medical conditions, like thyroid problems, that make it hard to maintain an ideal weight. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply --- I am substantially overweight currently. My plan is to drop 30 pounds and gradually work up to HIT exercises and heavy weights. I am not doing that now out of fear of dying. Heart problem in recent past.
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My wife and I did Whole30 for 30 days (Paleo on crack) - Meats, fruits, veggies, nuts. NOTHING ELSE added. They even try to limit some of your nightshades and other stuff. Tough to stay up to date because they come out with a new version every so often to keep the money.
Sustainable? Probably but it would be very hard.
Fun? Nope, but the first 2 weeks were much harder than the last 2. Routine and planning were key.
Did I find out that I get the shits from a glass of milk but am fine eating ice cream? Most definitely.
Biggest takeaway is that I still only drink my coffee black.
When started the Whole30, I was working out 3 times a week, playing volleyball 3 times a week, and was stagnant at 185. With that workout regimen, I ATE ALL THE TIME. I still ended up losing 10 lbs. I didn't feel malnourished, I just needed to get used to eating 6-10 eggs a day.
I think I might do it again, just to re-calibrate. It's definitely a neat experience, and overall, I eat healthier because of it. I'm a little off the wagon now though, but still have by baby (cough cough toddler and I'm a dude cough cough) weight. Oh, and I'm not working out or playing volleyball regularly. Oh and I'm driving an hour and 20 minutes each way to work for the past month (IT WILL BE ENDING NEXT WEEK THOUGH!).
So long story short, I think it's fun to do but setting a reasonable time frame (like the above 30 days) to try it makes it much more viable.
Don't be the annoying friend who whines about not being able to have fun with everyone else but restricts everyone's options to the point where no one wants to hang out. If you go out, be picky and drink your water but don't make a big deal about it.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
If you're doing all of that, I'd check out your gym routine. Lift heavy things. It takes a TON more energy to do that than to jog on a treadmill for a half hour. You want your body to be as inefficient (fuel-wise) as possible. You want to be a Hummer, burning fuel like crazy. Do not be a Prius jogging along forever, very efficiently.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
If you're doing all of that, I'd check out your gym routine. Lift heavy things. It takes a TON more energy to do that than to jog on a treadmill for a half hour. You want your body to be as inefficient (fuel-wise) as possible. You want to be a Hummer, burning fuel like crazy. Do not be a Prius jogging along forever, very efficiently.
He he he. Be a hummer, not a prius. I love it!!
Personally, I've been "paleo" since December of 2012. Actually found MMM through Marks Daily Apple. I love it. I'm not uber strict, and I don't consider it a diet, definitely more of a lifestyle. Dropped about 40lbs with the nutrition part alone. I usually just try to follow the ratios of fat protein carbs. Beer is a bit of a weakness for me, but merely cutting out processed stuff has made a huge difference. Also, there are a whole lot of resources out there. I didn't have any issues with the planning, since I usually cooked anyway. My biggest challenge was finding a 'staple' to replace my black and brown rice. I use cauliflower a lot now, but have moved away from needing some type of base for my meals.
If you're going to follow the program then you need to stick with it as a life style change as opposed to a "diet".
This. I haven't had experience going back because I feel crappy once I eat almost any processed foods, so I fall back on what is now my default.
Also, I know someone up thread mentioned they missed ice cream. I highly suggest using frozen bananas and cream and making your own. It's perfect for those hot days, and depending on what else you put in it, the banana flavor can be almost completely covered up (although I like bananas).
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
If you're doing all of that, I'd check out your gym routine. Lift heavy things. It takes a TON more energy to do that than to jog on a treadmill for a half hour. You want your body to be as inefficient (fuel-wise) as possible. You want to be a Hummer, burning fuel like crazy. Do not be a Prius jogging along forever, very efficiently.
My current routine is weight lifting Mon, Wed, Fri for 30 min (and I'm not skimping either, I'm really sore afterwards). I bike commute to work, about 8 miles round trip.
In High School I had to have surgery on both my knees and my foot, so I cannot run or jog at all Sidenote, I tried Crossfit for a month and a half, and it was too hard on my knees. By the middle of the second month by knees felt like they were being stabbed with an ice pick every time I took a step. Biking doesn't hurt my knees at all, so it and rowing are pretty much the only cardio I can do.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
If you're doing all of that, I'd check out your gym routine. Lift heavy things. It takes a TON more energy to do that than to jog on a treadmill for a half hour. You want your body to be as inefficient (fuel-wise) as possible. You want to be a Hummer, burning fuel like crazy. Do not be a Prius jogging along forever, very efficiently.
My current routine is weight lifting Mon, Wed, Fri for 30 min (and I'm not skimping either, I'm really sore afterwards). I bike commute to work, about 8 miles round trip.
In High School I had to have surgery on both my knees and my foot, so I cannot run or jog at all Sidenote, I tried Crossfit for a month and a half, and it was too hard on my knees. By the middle of the second month by knees felt like they were being stabbed with an ice pick every time I took a step. Biking doesn't hurt my knees at all, so it and rowing are pretty much the only cardio I can do.
Yucko for the surgery. Biking is very low impact on the knees so I can see why that would be your cardio of choice. The only thing I can ask is if you can do any strengthening exercises so the muscles around the knees take on more of a load? And coming from a CF background too, try to stick to some high intensity interval stuff (sprint rest sprint) whether on the bike or the rower. Much harder and burns a lot more. Plus it'll increase your long distance capabilities too if you're into that.
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I've been trying to eat a lot more veggies and go to the gym 3x a week plus bike commute to work. I'm overweight and have had zero luck loosing any of the excess weight.
I don't buy junk food, none, at all. I do still eat bread (no pasta really, I've found it doesn't fill me up). Maybe that is my problem.
Any recommendations on how to get started trying paleo?
If you're doing all of that, I'd check out your gym routine. Lift heavy things. It takes a TON more energy to do that than to jog on a treadmill for a half hour. You want your body to be as inefficient (fuel-wise) as possible. You want to be a Hummer, burning fuel like crazy. Do not be a Prius jogging along forever, very efficiently.
He he he. Be a hummer, not a prius. I love it!!
Personally, I've been "paleo" since December of 2012. Actually found MMM through Marks Daily Apple. I love it. I'm not uber strict, and I don't consider it a diet, definitely more of a lifestyle. Dropped about 40lbs with the nutrition part alone. I usually just try to follow the ratios of fat protein carbs. Beer is a bit of a weakness for me, but merely cutting out processed stuff has made a huge difference. Also, there are a whole lot of resources out there. I didn't have any issues with the planning, since I usually cooked anyway. My biggest challenge was finding a 'staple' to replace my black and brown rice. I use cauliflower a lot now, but have moved away from needing some type of base for my meals.
If you're going to follow the program then you need to stick with it as a life style change as opposed to a "diet".
This. I haven't had experience going back because I feel crappy once I eat almost any processed foods, so I fall back on what is now my default.
Also, I know someone up thread mentioned they missed ice cream. I highly suggest using frozen bananas and cream and making your own. It's perfect for those hot days, and depending on what else you put in it, the banana flavor can be almost completely covered up (although I like bananas).
Thanks for that reply! I also am a reader of MDA. I woke up this morning feeling pretty damn good and dropped a belt notch. I also fell like my muscles are toning even though I'm not currently working out. I'm being a wussy at age 54 and waiting until significant weight loss until I get into heavy lifting and sprint training.
I am so thrilled to hear about your 40 pound weight loss success! I'm currently 220 ish with about 30% BF. So a sorta dancing goal is to be around 10% BF. That means losing 40+ pounds of fat.
I'm hoping to pick up some muscle as I progress, so that total weight loss might only be 20 lbs by picking up 20 lbs of muscle.
I find it very easy to avoid wheat. My wife made stir fry with Raman's under it last night. I almost grossed out on the Raman's and picked the veggies and meat out of them.
For me, I really think that the wide variety of veggies I eat at almost every meal add lots of antioxidants and micro nutrients throughout my day.
My "Man Salad" today contains -- spinach, kale, broccoli, radishes, dried cranberries, mushrooms, onions, carrots, cucumbers and sunflower seeds. Chicken is the topping with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That is a pretty typical mixture with some things added or some taken away, depending on what is in the fridge.
I have read where some folks seem to think this is hard to cook? The meat is cooked and sliced a couple of times per week. Then it is just a matter of opening the fridge and throwing together the salad. 10 minutes maybe?
Dinner will be a similar deal and maybe stir fry it or have the meat on the side. Sometimes it is salmon or halibut.
It is so easy!
I generally skip breakfast "Eat Stop Eat" style as I have never really been hungry in the morning. But if I am I might have a small 3 ingredient salad or some runny eggs. So my window of fasting is generally something like 14 - 15 hours. I think the high amount of nutrients and decent amount of fat keep me satiated? As for protein, I don't think I am eating anymore than I have in the past. I don't count calories, I don't measure, I don't portion control. Munching the raw veggies in the salad takes longer to eat that sucking down cooked pasta. Weirdly, I even find myself not finishing my plate. This typically didn't happen in the past with wheat based meals.
Did I mention I feel so good!
Thank you to everyone posting on this thread.
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Did I mention I feel so good!
This is the hardest part for me. I always feel amazing when I'm eating clean, but then I get lazy or have parties to go to or excuses excuses excuses. Then boom, I'm up 10 lbs and probably have lost some muscle too. Just gotta work on getting back into that mindful state! Little cues like keeping the kitchen scale on the counter right where plates go (instead of in the cabinet) help me a bit.
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Thanks for that reply! I also am a reader of MDA. I woke up this morning feeling pretty damn good and dropped a belt notch. I also fell like my muscles are toning even though I'm not currently working out. I'm being a wussy at age 54 and waiting until significant weight loss until I get into heavy lifting and sprint training.
I am so thrilled to hear about your 40 pound weight loss success! I'm currently 220 ish with about 30% BF. So a sorta dancing goal is to be around 10% BF. That means losing 40+ pounds of fat.
I'm hoping to pick up some muscle as I progress, so that total weight loss might only be 20 lbs by picking up 20 lbs of muscle.
I find it very easy to avoid wheat. My wife made stir fry with Raman's under it last night. I almost grossed out on the Raman's and picked the veggies and meat out of them.
For me, I really think that the wide variety of veggies I eat at almost every meal add lots of antioxidants and micro nutrients throughout my day.
My "Man Salad" today contains -- spinach, kale, broccoli, radishes, dried cranberries, mushrooms, onions, carrots, cucumbers and sunflower seeds. Chicken is the topping with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That is a pretty typical mixture with some things added or some taken away, depending on what is in the fridge.
I have read where some folks seem to think this is hard to cook? The meat is cooked and sliced a couple of times per week. Then it is just a matter of opening the fridge and throwing together the salad. 10 minutes maybe?
Dinner will be a similar deal and maybe stir fry it or have the meat on the side. Sometimes it is salmon or halibut.
It is so easy!
I generally skip breakfast "Eat Stop Eat" style as I have never really been hungry in the morning. But if I am I might have a small 3 ingredient salad or some runny eggs. So my window of fasting is generally something like 14 - 15 hours. I think the high amount of nutrients and decent amount of fat keep me satiated? As for protein, I don't think I am eating anymore than I have in the past. I don't count calories, I don't measure, I don't portion control. Munching the raw veggies in the salad takes longer to eat that sucking down cooked pasta. Weirdly, I even find myself not finishing my plate. This typically didn't happen in the past with wheat based meals.
Did I mention I feel so good!
Thank you to everyone posting on this thread.
Glad it's working well for you. I don't do the Salads too often, but I do use the Nutribullet to make shakes that have Kale, Spinach, Cabbage, Broccoli, Greek Yogurt, Chia Seeds, Fruit, and all of my vitamins I take. It is super fast, super easy, and it's pretty damn delicious too. I haven't done the intermittent fasting thing yet, I just eat when I'm hungry...except at the end of the day, where I will try to take some oil to get my ratios back up after having a few beers. :-)
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My "Man Salad" today contains -- spinach, kale, broccoli, radishes, dried cranberries, mushrooms, onions, carrots, cucumbers and sunflower seeds. Chicken is the topping with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That is a pretty typical mixture with some things added or some taken away, depending on what is in the fridge.
That sounds good!
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I've been paleo/primal since MMM posted about MDA http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/07/mr-money-mustache-vs-marks-daily-apple/ (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/07/mr-money-mustache-vs-marks-daily-apple/). Actually I did Atkins back in the early 1980s, (which is pretty similar in the early version without all the weird bars and stuff) and found it useful to lose weight. I stopped because of all the bad press, felt guilty eating this "unhealthy" diet.
I'm a big fan, but have had a lot of trouble with digestion and fatigue, which standard Primal did not fix. And this time around I didn't lose weight despite doing intermittent fasting and most of the other things recommended.
I'm now on SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) and low FODMAPS and finally starting to make some progress. I guess I have leaky gut and small intestine bacterial overgrowth. SCD is tough work but I was getting pretty desperate and if my health improves it'll be worth it. My medical colleagues have been patting me on the head for about 3 decades saying I "just" have irritable bowel syndrome (eat more fibre), and more recently, if I lose weight I won't be so fatigued. The penny finally dropped when I realised I was not only vit D deficient but also Mg and Zn and GOK what else.
I'm not so interested in the caveman romanticism and anthropology, but eating real clean food, not processed crap is logical to me. Sharing my experience in case anyone else is having trouble feeling good on paleo. Its worth reading round the key proponents, there are quite a few variations and keep on trialling until you get it right for you.
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I've been paleo/primal since MMM posted about MDA http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/07/mr-money-mustache-vs-marks-daily-apple/ (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/07/mr-money-mustache-vs-marks-daily-apple/). Actually I did Atkins back in the early 1980s, (which is pretty similar in the early version without all the weird bars and stuff) and found it useful to lose weight. I stopped because of all the bad press, felt guilty eating this "unhealthy" diet.
I'm a big fan, but have had a lot of trouble with digestion and fatigue, which standard Primal did not fix. And this time around I didn't lose weight despite doing intermittent fasting and most of the other things recommended.
I'm now on SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) and low FODMAPS and finally starting to make some progress. I guess I have leaky gut and small intestine bacterial overgrowth. SCD is tough work but I was getting pretty desperate and if my health improves it'll be worth it. My medical colleagues have been patting me on the head for about 3 decades saying I "just" have irritable bowel syndrome (eat more fibre), and more recently, if I lose weight I won't be so fatigued. The penny finally dropped when I realised I was not only vit D deficient but also Mg and Zn and GOK what else.
I'm not so interested in the caveman romanticism and anthropology, but eating real clean food, not processed crap is logical to me. Sharing my experience in case anyone else is having trouble feeling good on paleo. Its worth reading round the key proponents, there are quite a few variations and keep on trialling until you get it right for you.
Thanks for the response. Will look into the SDC. Sticking with lots of veggies, fat and moderate protein; without wheat, white carbs seems to be working for me for now. I was curious about the long term effects i.e. decreases in testosterone on low carb intake, so I will be looking at adding some healthy sources of carbs in the future. IMHO fake wheat (marketed as real wheat) is pretty bad, so I doubt I ever add that back in.
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Did I mention I feel so good!
This is the hardest part for me. I always feel amazing when I'm eating clean, but then I get lazy or have parties to go to or excuses excuses excuses. Then boom, I'm up 10 lbs and probably have lost some muscle too. Just gotta work on getting back into that mindful state! Little cues like keeping the kitchen scale on the counter right where plates go (instead of in the cabinet) help me a bit.
Yeah, I get that --- I'm afraid that I'll revert back to the SAD at some point. But for right now I am finding it easy to stay the course. I stray a little as it is, so I'm not super strict. For example, I haven't even considered reducing my weekend adult beverage quota. But I may decide to go strictly for vodka based veggie drinks this weekend. I think beer probably is a big part of why I gained weight these last 25 years. You know, gaining 2 lbs per year on average doesn't seem like much! (the math is pretty simple -- 500 beers per year at 150 cals = 75,000 annual cals.)
I'm hoping to be looking at my "before picture" in a year or so and celebrating a 50 lb return to health.
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Just wanted to second the SCD suggestion, or it's close cousing GAPS (Gut and Physiology/Psychology Syndrome), not as a lifelong diet but as atherapeutic diet to heal and seal the gut.
It's remarkable the number of illnesses that are all connected by an unhealthy or unbalanced gut, and you can treat the symptoms with medicine or by elimination diets, which do help, but healing the gut is getting to the root cause, IMO.
Here's a list of conditions/symptoms that have been helped by GAPS according to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who developed the therapy in her clinic for autistic children (http://www.doctor-natasha.com/).
acne
ADD
ADHD
aggressive behaviour
Allergy
anaemia
angina
anorexia
arrhythmia
Asperger's disorder
asthma
atherosclerosis
attention deficit
Autism
Autoimmunity
baby problems
behaviour problems
bipolar disorder
bloating
blood pressure
bottle feeding
brain dysfunction
breast feeding
bulimia
chest infections
childhood disease
cholesterol problems
colic
colicky baby
colitis
constipation
Crohn's disease
cystitis
depression
diabetes type two
diarrhoea
digestive problems
dysbiosis
dyslexia
dyspraxia
ear infections
eating disorder
eczema
epilepsy
failure to thrive
flatulence
food allergy
food intolerance
feeding problems
fussy eating in children and adults
GAP Syndrome
GAPS
gut flora abnormalities
gut infection
heart attack
heart disease
heart problems
hyperactivity
IBS
indigestion
irritable bowel
learning problems
learning disability
manic disorder
mastitis
memory problems
menstrual problems
migraines
mood swings
neurological problems
nutritional deficiencies
obsessive-compulsive disorder
OCD
oppositional-defiant disorder
peripheral vascular disease
PMS
psychiatric problems
psychosis
reflux
tummy pain
schizophrenia
stroke
underweight
ulcerative colitis
urinary infections
weight problems
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@Habilis, yes I agree, GAPS is also of significance. When you read around there is a group of these programs with a lot of similarities and some minor variations. The leaky gut/SIBO thing is interesting and ties together a lot of problems that fundamentally there's not much deep explanation for.
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Just wanted to second the SCD suggestion, or it's close cousing GAPS (Gut and Physiology/Psychology Syndrome), not as a lifelong diet but as atherapeutic diet to heal and seal the gut.
It's remarkable the number of illnesses that are all connected by an unhealthy or unbalanced gut, and you can treat the symptoms with medicine or by elimination diets, which do help, but healing the gut is getting to the root cause, IMO.
Here's a list of conditions/symptoms that have been helped by GAPS according to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who developed the therapy in her clinic for autistic children (http://www.doctor-natasha.com/).
Hate to say it, but my pseudoscience detector is screaming from this one. Any doctor whose website has more christmas CDs than peer-reviewed studies isn't selling science or anything that came from science.
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The paleo diet is only loosely connected with the way our ancestor ate ten thousand years ago. Meat was usually available year round, but the hunters would have good days and bad days. Tubers, fruit and nuts are only available for part of the year.
I remember the ‘peasant food’ movement, which started, I think, in the late seventies. The idea was to eat stews and casseroles, with real vegetables, rather than processed food. Here again, the real peasant diet a century ago was only possible at the time of harvest festival, late summer or early autumn. Flour keeps well, so bread was available year round, but vegetables and fruit were preserved and bottled.
The peasant diet is healthy, but is only possible year round with cool rooms and cheap transport. The peasant diet can be thought of as the paleo diet with grain and dairy. Cool rooms and cheap transport makes it possible to eat paleo or eat peasant year round. This is new.
I agree with I P Daley that we are omnivores.
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The paleo diet is only loosely connected with the way our ancestor ate ten thousand years ago. Meat was usually available year round, but the hunters would have good days and bad days. Tubers, fruit and nuts are only available for part of the year.
I remember the ‘peasant food’ movement, which started, I think, in the late seventies. The idea was to eat stews and casseroles, with real vegetables, rather than processed food. Here again, the real peasant diet a century ago was only possible at the time of harvest festival, late summer or early autumn. Flour keeps well, so bread was available year round, but vegetables and fruit were preserved and bottled.
The peasant diet is healthy, but is only possible year round with cool rooms and cheap transport. The peasant diet can be thought of as the paleo diet with grain and dairy. Cool rooms and cheap transport makes it possible to eat paleo or eat peasant year round. This is new.
I agree with I P Daley that we are omnivores.
Thanks for chiming in!
There are differing examples of the paleo style of eating but some commonalities run through. Avoid processed foods, avoid "fake wheat," (that would really be any wheat currently commercially available as these high glycemic plants simply didn't exist 50 years ago), avoid other grains, avoid inflammatory foods, avoid antinutrient foods, eat lots of veggies, eat some healthy protein, eat lots of healthy unprocessed fats and go for grassfed products when possible.
I'm not sure where the term paleo eating style originated. It is probably a catchy phrase. The diet is very, very, science based unlike the USDA pseudo corporate drivel. The paleo references the idea that our bodies are adapted to foods over numerous generations. An example of this would be that the Japanese cannot tolerate dairy but the Swiss generally can.
I'm certainly no expert on this but I do have a background in the public health sector and have done a reasonable amount of research on the paleo style of eating. It pretty much beats any of the top contenders for best style of eating, including the much touted Mediterranean style.
We are not trying to mimic the diet of a caveman. We are trying to see what we are historically adapted to and then bring that up a notch. My guess is that many paleo peoples ate worms, bugs, bats and just about anything possible.
For me it also uber easy to follow. No cal counting, measuring or over thinking.
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Just wanted to second the SCD suggestion, or it's close cousing GAPS (Gut and Physiology/Psychology Syndrome), not as a lifelong diet but as atherapeutic diet to heal and seal the gut.
It's remarkable the number of illnesses that are all connected by an unhealthy or unbalanced gut, and you can treat the symptoms with medicine or by elimination diets, which do help, but healing the gut is getting to the root cause, IMO.
Here's a list of conditions/symptoms that have been helped by GAPS according to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who developed the therapy in her clinic for autistic children (http://www.doctor-natasha.com/).
acne
ADD
ADHD
aggressive behaviour
Allergy
anaemia
angina
anorexia
arrhythmia
Asperger's disorder
asthma
atherosclerosis
attention deficit
Autism
Autoimmunity
baby problems
behaviour problems
bipolar disorder
bloating
blood pressure
bottle feeding
brain dysfunction
breast feeding
bulimia
chest infections
childhood disease
cholesterol problems
colic
colicky baby
colitis
constipation
Crohn's disease
cystitis
depression
diabetes type two
diarrhoea
digestive problems
dysbiosis
dyslexia
dyspraxia
ear infections
eating disorder
eczema
epilepsy
failure to thrive
flatulence
food allergy
food intolerance
feeding problems
fussy eating in children and adults
GAP Syndrome
GAPS
gut flora abnormalities
gut infection
heart attack
heart disease
heart problems
hyperactivity
IBS
indigestion
irritable bowel
learning problems
learning disability
manic disorder
mastitis
memory problems
menstrual problems
migraines
mood swings
neurological problems
nutritional deficiencies
obsessive-compulsive disorder
OCD
oppositional-defiant disorder
peripheral vascular disease
PMS
psychiatric problems
psychosis
reflux
tummy pain
schizophrenia
stroke
underweight
ulcerative colitis
urinary infections
weight problems
Thanks for that thoughtful input!
My wife and her adult kids all have autoimmune issues. Her son's wife is 31 and allergic to beef and pork, which is most definitely a derivative of leaky gut syndrome.
I am slowly weaning my wife off of wheat. She used to get eggs and a wrap or toast for breakfast -- now just the eggs. I used to prepare her wraps for lunch. Now it is the big salad with some meat. Last night it was steak and lots of Brussels sprouts -- hold the pasta.
I'm being a little sneaky, but I can see that within 2 months there will be no wheat in our house and lots of very healthy stuff.
If you think about it - "There is no more pervasive of an environmental input into humans than food."
So yes, I agree that all disease is impacted by the food (food is a drug after all) we eat. You wouldn't drink chemically laden water and expect to be healthy. So why eat chemically laden food?
Thanks again for you sharing!
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So yes, I agree that all disease is impacted by the food (food is a drug after all) we eat. You wouldn't drink chemically laden water and expect to be healthy. So why eat chemically laden food?
Thanks again for you sharing!
Water itself is a chemical... Are you somehow drinking non-water water? :)
Chemically laden food is a redundant statement. There is/are water, salt, sugars, alcohols in the foods and drinks we consume. Using chemical as a scare word is not a useful thing. In fact it is meaningless. I definitely drink chemically laden water every day, as do you and anyone else who drinks water.
I agree with the whole eating well thing. Sticking primarily with vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and meats. But when we start attributing this sort of diet to curing almost every disease known to man without actual science and proof to back it up I start getting twitchy.
Plus that list is hilarious. Chest infections! Childhood disease! The sheer amount of pseudoscience that is needed to justify one thing helping a list that big...
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I agree with the whole eating well thing. Sticking primarily with vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and meats. But when we start attributing this sort of diet to curing almost every disease known to man without actual science and proof to back it up I start getting twitchy.
Plus that list is hilarious. Chest infections! Childhood disease! The sheer amount of pseudoscience that is needed to justify one thing helping a list that big...
And tummy pain. ;)
"Follow my diet, and you'll add 2 inches to your bust, win the lottery, and meet the man of your dreams!"
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I am a skeptic at heart so I have to agree it could all be pseudo-science.
After reading Natasha Campbell-McBride's work I'd have to say this: she doesn't appear to be motivated by money or self-promotion, she is not a research scientist conducting research, she is a clinician reporting on her anecdotal clinical experience. And her experience as reported is interesting and connects many dots for me that other research has touched on but not connected.
While that's not science of the same kind as a randomized controlled double-blind trial, it still has the potential to be meaningful observations that could lead to testable hypotheses and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.
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I am a skeptic at heart so I have to agree it could all be pseudo-science.
After reading Natasha Campbell-McBride's work I'd have to say this: she's not interested in money or self-promotion, she is not a research scientist conducting research, she is a clinician reporting on her anecdotal clinical experience. And her experience as reported is interesting and connects many dots for me that other research has touched on but not connected.
While that's not science of the same kind as a randomized controlled double-blind trial, it still has the potential to be meaningful observations that could lead to testable hypotheses and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.
Well let me rephrase it to I'm doubtful until I see evidence. You know what they say about extraordinary claims. We all have a tendency to accept the things which support that which we already believe. I certainly do. It's why I'd like things to pass scientific standards. Including repeatability. I would just like to make sure people don't start believing that not eating bread will cure their dyslexia. It's no different from any other fad diet out there in the claims of nearly magical results. I think it's good food advice to eat healthy but I'm not going to raise it on some sort of pedestal alongside the Shroud of Turin.
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Well let me rephrase it to I'm doubtful until I see evidence. You know what they say about extraordinary claims. We all have a tendency to accept the things which support that which we already believe. I certainly do. It's why I'd like things to pass scientific standards. Including repeatability. I would just like to make sure people don't start believing that not eating bread will cure their dyslexia. It's no different from any other fad diet out there in the claims of nearly magical results. I think it's good food advice to eat healthy but I'm not going to raise it on some sort of pedestal alongside the Shroud of Turin.
Who's Turin?
I agree that a lot of the claims are sensational, and I eagerly look forward to future trials with diets, especially if we can get someone to fund them. Pharmaceutical companies, food companies, and government organizations all have disincentives to fund those trials though, so I won't be holding my breath. I follow a diet based on Paleo, definitely in the best shape of my life.
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Well let me rephrase it to I'm doubtful until I see evidence. You know what they say about extraordinary claims. We all have a tendency to accept the things which support that which we already believe. I certainly do. It's why I'd like things to pass scientific standards. Including repeatability. I would just like to make sure people don't start believing that not eating bread will cure their dyslexia. It's no different from any other fad diet out there in the claims of nearly magical results. I think it's good food advice to eat healthy but I'm not going to raise it on some sort of pedestal alongside the Shroud of Turin.
Who's Turin?
I agree that a lot of the claims are sensational, and I eagerly look forward to future trials with diets, especially if we can get someone to fund them. Pharmaceutical companies, food companies, and government organizations all have disincentives to fund those trials though, so I won't be holding my breath. I follow a diet based on Paleo, definitely in the best shape of my life.
The Shroud of Turin is a piece of linen cloth held at a church in the town of Turin in Italy. Some believe that it is the shroud Jesus was buried in. A portion of those people also believe it can cure diseases and the like with the power of miracle.
The problem with funding diet trials is not disincentives for Pharma, food, or government. It is the same disincentive that is there for everyone. Too expensive, too difficult to control, and ethically iffy.
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There's truth in that. Luckily one can test the Paleo ideas n=1 without all those issues, putting it a step ahead of the Jesus delusion.
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There's truth in that. Luckily one can test the Paleo ideas n=1 without all those issues, putting it a step ahead of the Jesus delusion.
n=1 has its valid points and iffy points. I'm hesitant to accept self reporting as actual n=1 because there is no rigor to it. Self confirmation and placebo can play a big roll in these informal n=1 scenarios. But at the heart of it I agree with you. Do what works for you. I'd include the caveat of not spreading miracle cure claims though.
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True, and the placebo effect is one too-often ignored, but it definitely borders on not-ethical to deny a cancer patient a treatment to test for it. There's also the healthy mindset issue at hand, whereas those who try Paleo are probably more likely to work out and avoid other risky behaviors.
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True, and the placebo effect is one too-often ignored, but it definitely borders on not-ethical to deny a cancer patient a treatment to test for it. There's also the healthy mindset issue at hand, whereas those who try Paleo are probably more likely to work out and avoid other risky behaviors.
Here are some nice studies on the paleo eating style - http://authoritynutrition.com/5-studies-on-the-paleo-diet/
I especially like the Mediterranean vs. Paleo. Since the Med diet is often noted as one of, if not the best, it is nice to see paleo beat it out substantially. Probably the reason is that the version of the Med diet used is wheat dependent. If you have just a moment the studies are covered in a short format.
I also like the pig study mentioned at the bottom. Very nice numbers there. Yes, I know that pigs aren't humans, but they are one of the best analogue species for these type of inquiries.
It is a given in the paleo guide books that exercise should occur. Typically someone like Sisson suggests some walking, occasional sprinting and occasionally lifting heavy things. He also suggests active play.
On the surface this may not seem like much exercise but I would bet that less than 5% of US residents over age 35 currently do those activities.
In fact, I am eating Paleo style but I have not worked lifting heavy things or sprinting into my regime. I have been a very decent weight lifter and sprinter in the past. (like over 10 years ago) But I am currently waiting for some weight to dissipate before easing into those very intense activities. So I walk about 30 minutes a day. Whimpy? I know, I just don't want to rush it and hurt myself. Recovery at my age can take a very long time.
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The wife and I do mostly Paleo. She is asian and loves rice, so its hard.
Its either omeletes (denver usually) or mexican or bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Lunch is salad or leftovers
Dinner is whatever I can make out of whatever meats are on sale.
Frequently we do:
Chicken Breasts - as Grilled with a bit of bbq sauce, grilled on salads, shredded in chicken noodle scratch soup, sometimes as shicken tacos, or as a curry with coconut milk, kale, sweet potato and bean sprouts over rice.
Whole Chickens - baked (rubbed with sesame oil liquid smoke garlic and a seasoning blend) usually with a salad or broccli
Chicken quarters - Grilled over charcoal with same above seasoning with green beans
Pork chops - maranated with fruit juice (lemon, lime, oranges, and pinapple are all good) and grilled served with grilling peppers
Pork roast - baked in a cast iron skillet with carrots and parsnips (rubbed with olive oil lemon zest and rosemary)
Brats with mustard no bun.
Steak - grilled with musrooms oinons in butter and asparagus
Other beef - as kabobs with onion and peppers
Hambrugers - sometimes eat a bun but I do as a lettuce wrap when I muster the strength.
Salmon (its cheap in the pacific NW) - grilled or baked in a dozen different ways, usually with broccli or a salad, Also I smoke a whole salmon whenever I can get it for $4-5 per pound
My favoriate is salmon cubed and tossed in the wok with broccli in garlic oil with a sauce
Cod, rock cod, or mahi mahi - I use for fish tacos, I do on corn tortillas with guac and my special slaw (cabbage, purple cabbage, shreaded carrot, mayo, spicy mustard, siracha, apple cider vinerger, pepper, celery seed)
Tilapia *(not Asian) I fry and drizzle with sweet and sour sauce and serve with brussel sprouts cooked with bacon (in bacon grease) with mushrooms and onions.
Shrimp - scampi, or on salad or kabobs with fresh pinapple.
We spend $500-800 a month for groceries including wine (we both drink red wine). And that includes entertaining, which we do regularly, but recieve such as well. We eat out on friday nights at our favoriate local spot.
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The wife and I do mostly Paleo. She is asian and loves rice, so its hard.
Its either omeletes (denver usually) or mexican or bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Lunch is salad or leftovers
Dinner is whatever I can make out of whatever meats are on sale.
Frequently we do:
Chicken Breasts - as Grilled with a bit of bbq sauce, grilled on salads, shredded in chicken noodle scratch soup, sometimes as shicken tacos, or as a curry with coconut milk, kale, sweet potato and bean sprouts over rice.
Whole Chickens - baked (rubbed with sesame oil liquid smoke garlic and a seasoning blend) usually with a salad or broccli
Chicken quarters - Grilled over charcoal with same above seasoning with green beans
Pork chops - maranated with fruit juice (lemon, lime, oranges, and pinapple are all good) and grilled served with grilling peppers
Pork roast - baked in a cast iron skillet with carrots and parsnips (rubbed with olive oil lemon zest and rosemary)
Brats with mustard no bun.
Steak - grilled with musrooms oinons in butter and asparagus
Other beef - as kabobs with onion and peppers
Hambrugers - sometimes eat a bun but I do as a lettuce wrap when I muster the strength.
Salmon (its cheap in the pacific NW) - grilled or baked in a dozen different ways, usually with broccli or a salad, Also I smoke a whole salmon whenever I can get it for $4-5 per pound
My favoriate is salmon cubed and tossed in the wok with broccli in garlic oil with a sauce
Cod, rock cod, or mahi mahi - I use for fish tacos, I do on corn tortillas with guac and my special slaw (cabbage, purple cabbage, shreaded carrot, mayo, spicy mustard, siracha, apple cider vinerger, pepper, celery seed)
Tilapia *(not Asian) I fry and drizzle with sweet and sour sauce and serve with brussel sprouts cooked with bacon (in bacon grease) with mushrooms and onions.
Shrimp - scampi, or on salad or kabobs with fresh pinapple.
We spend $500-800 a month for groceries including wine (we both drink red wine). And that includes entertaining, which we do regularly, but recieve such as well. We eat out on friday nights at our favoriate local spot.
Thanks for the input! I started salivating at your dinner menus. lol
I'm afraid my palette is not as rich in fish as yours. I will try adding some canned salmon to my "man salads."
The big news is that after I put my pants on this morning I noticed that I was down another notch! That is 3 or 4 notches sense adopting a veggie, meat and healthy fats program. No grains, beans, dairy, or nightshades.
So I'm at it maybe a month. I don't really track or count anything and am doing very little except walking and gardening.
So I pretty happy to notice the belt loop this morning. So far the paleo style is effortless and very satisfying. I feel pretty good most of the time and just don't get very hungry.
I often skip breakfast but this week have started eating 3 runny fried eggs or a small man salad.
I think the vitamins and nutrients I'm receiving everyday from about 10-15 different veggies is a big plus.
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Check out http://www.gnolls.org/index/ and http://digestivehealthinstitute.org/. Got started when I developed stomach problems, and have sense eliminated most of my prescriptions.
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Check out http://www.gnolls.org/index/ and http://digestivehealthinstitute.org/. Got started when I developed stomach problems, and have sense eliminated most of my prescriptions.
Thanks for those links. I briefly scanned the Eat Like a Predator site and liked it. At the digestive health site I ran across an article on Resistant Starch "resistant starch (RS), raw unmodified potato starch, or RUMPS."
I was wondering if you or another kind reader has had experience with RS. I have read a few other interesting articles about it.
As I progress on this path I will surely be more interested in my gut microbs and keeping them in health proportions. I'm familiar with leaky gut syndrome and have a wife and children that are autoimmune, probably due to wheat and unhealthy gut fauna makeups.
Thanks
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
When I did my Whole30 I didn't notice anything. Caveat - I was 25, peak condition (working out 3 times plus playing vball 3 times a week), eating all the time (had at least 2 snacks at work consisting of hard boiled egg, some fruits or veggies, and some nuts. I felt better than I ever had, had tons of energy, and my wife was in a similar state. As I said earlier, I lost 10 lbs even though I was pretty good prior to it. No loss of sex drive.
I'm thinking the reason was that I was working out a good amount. I was tired, but not in a the "I ate too much at Thanksgiving" sense.
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
I didn't do anything as far as caloric restriction, and actually both my SO and I noticed a slight increase in libido. We do the primal flavor of paleo, and the results I've heard of have been more on the side of increasing libido. Granted, there are reports about the increase in fertility, so it might be a response to that rather than a direct result. I saw a couple of studies the SO and I had some...ahem...interesting symptoms show up, so I was focused more on fertility. I'll try to find some time and locate them, but I've only got anecdotal stuff as far as libido.
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You guys are saying eating too much red meat will make me more of a man?
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You guys are saying eating too much red meat will make me more of a man?
I don't believe anyone said that...
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
GF and I definitely noticed the opposite. But we don't restrict calories. We just eat until we're full at meals and don't snack.
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You guys are saying eating too much red meat will make me more of a man?
No. Since you said "too much red meat", there is little that we can do to help. :P
Isn't red meat in and of itself kind of a man thing? I don't really pay attention to that kind of thing...
In all seriousness, we're not talking red meat, just paleo/primal.
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Thanks for that thoughtful input!
My wife and her adult kids all have autoimmune issues. Her son's wife is 31 and allergic to beef and pork, which is most definitely a derivative of leaky gut syndrome.
Bob, Take a look at an amazing, and huge body of work on this topic, that was just published recently. It is "The Paleo Approach, Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body" By Sarah Ballantyne, PHD.
I have nearly disabling issues with Asthma. Since the beginning of this year, I am down 48lbs, and 8" on the waist, by following a strict Autoimmune Paleo protocol. I can totally control my asthma based on diet, to the point that I can pin minor episodes to recent (within hours to a day, or so) and very low consumption of " not recommended" irritants. I haven't been this healthy in years, and my BP and blood sugar levels are way down, and in the low end of the healthy range. The first half of the book is an exhausting review of current science concerning leaky gut, and other factors that lead to these diseases. The other half is a how to guide to getting your health back.
Having spent seven years heading down the road of trying to find a cure using traditional experts, I can safely say that Ballantyne's research is not only life changing for me, but that typical modern medicine is totally lost when dealing with autoimmune diseases. I ended up wasting years of my life listening to those that are both clueless, and useless in providing anything but temporary symptom relief. Good luck.
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To add just a tiny note of levity here, brought on by the several mentions of red meat consumption and manhood, I suggest we go full on for the RON SWANSON diet. I have found his character absolutely fucking hilarious, especially on all matters meat. If you don't already have a good read on Ron Swanson, try this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/18-of-the-best-ron-swanson-quotes-a078
And, for what it's worth, I too have pretty much adopted the low carb diet, lots of veggies, meat, fish, and a little fruit, no grains. I agree that I feel best on this way of eating. While I am tempted by beers (being a brewer), my biggest downfall is my passion for baking. It's not that I love to eat what I bake, so much as I love making the stuff that I am pretty sure is dreadfully bad for us, breads, tarts, etc.. I'm trying to replace the baking with fine tuning my barbecue skills. Any other (reforming) bakers out there with other ideas that are more consistent with the low carb life style?
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my biggest downfall is my passion for baking. It's not that I love to eat what I bake, so much as I love making the stuff that I am pretty sure is dreadfully bad for us, breads, tarts, etc.. I'm trying to replace the baking with fine tuning my barbecue skills. Any other (reforming) bakers out there with other ideas that are more consistent with the low carb life style?
I can relate; I'm the "baker" in my extended family. I understand you're trying to find a more LC outlet.. but wanted to chime in that it's possible to make paleo-ified baked goods and some of them are FANTASTIC. (To be fair, they're grain/dairy free but still have plenty of sugar and other potential high carb additions such as tapioca or starches.) My favorite website for this is elanaspantry.com also see zenbelly.com.
I was able to fool all of my family this past holiday season by subbing in recipes. In particular this one for biscotti went over huge: http://www.elanaspantry.com/cranberry-orange-biscotti/ as did this recipe for brownies: http://www.elanaspantry.com/espresso-fudge-brownies/
I did still make traditional apple and pumpkin pies.. but they seemed to like the paleo-ified goodies better. And these are pretty picky people.
Treats like these have kept paleo fresh and fun for me after two years. Still, they are treats. ;)
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my biggest downfall is my passion for baking. It's not that I love to eat what I bake, so much as I love making the stuff that I am pretty sure is dreadfully bad for us, breads, tarts, etc.. I'm trying to replace the baking with fine tuning my barbecue skills. Any other (reforming) bakers out there with other ideas that are more consistent with the low carb life style?
I can relate; I'm the "baker" in my extended family. I understand you're trying to find a more LC outlet.. but wanted to chime in that it's possible to make paleo-ified baked goods and some of them are FANTASTIC. (To be fair, they're grain/dairy free but still have plenty of sugar and other potential high carb additions such as tapioca or starches.) My favorite website for this is elanaspantry.com also see zenbelly.com.
I was able to fool all of my family this past holiday season by subbing in recipes. In particular this one for biscotti went over huge: http://www.elanaspantry.com/cranberry-orange-biscotti/ as did this recipe for brownies: http://www.elanaspantry.com/espresso-fudge-brownies/
I did still make traditional apple and pumpkin pies.. but they seemed to like the paleo-ified goodies better. And these are pretty picky people.
Treats like these have kept paleo fresh and fun for me after two years. Still, they are treats. ;)
Chocolate chip bacon cookies for the win! Wife makes these occasionally. Made with almond flour they are awesome!
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To add just a tiny note of levity here, brought on by the several mentions of red meat consumption and manhood, I suggest we go full on for the RON SWANSON diet. I have found his character absolutely fucking hilarious, especially on all matters meat. If you don't already have a good read on Ron Swanson, try this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/18-of-the-best-ron-swanson-quotes-a078
Ron's the best. Thanks for thelink frompa.
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To add just a tiny note of levity here, brought on by the several mentions of red meat consumption and manhood, I suggest we go full on for the RON SWANSON diet. I have found his character absolutely fucking hilarious, especially on all matters meat. If you don't already have a good read on Ron Swanson, try this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/18-of-the-best-ron-swanson-quotes-a078
Ron's the best. Thanks for thelink frompa.
+1
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Samala and Hedge_87 - Thanks for the tips. I also have to work around my sweetie's nut allergy -- no almond or other nut flours or milks -- but I'm looking forward to checking out your recipe suggestions.
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Oh boy, that does present a challenge. I've had good luck with coconut flour in some recipes, but a tree nut issue ups the difficulty level considerably (and sometimes tree nut and coconut allergies go hand in hand as I understand). If you really loved baking before though you might find the challenge fun. I often have a friend who has a serious egg allergy over for dinner.. always interesting trying to come up with treats both he and I can eat! :) There are some nut free recipes out there - brittanyangell.com and againstallgrain.com come to mind as being a bit more nut-free-friendly.
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Thanks for that thoughtful input!
My wife and her adult kids all have autoimmune issues. Her son's wife is 31 and allergic to beef and pork, which is most definitely a derivative of leaky gut syndrome.
Bob, Take a look at an amazing, and huge body of work on this topic, that was just published recently. It is "The Paleo Approach, Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body" By Sarah Ballantyne, PHD.
I have nearly disabling issues with Asthma. Since the beginning of this year, I am down 48lbs, and 8" on the waist, by following a strict Autoimmune Paleo protocol. I can totally control my asthma based on diet, to the point that I can pin minor episodes to recent (within hours to a day, or so) and very low consumption of " not recommended" irritants. I haven't been this healthy in years, and my BP and blood sugar levels are way down, and in the low end of the healthy range. The first half of the book is an exhausting review of current science concerning leaky gut, and other factors that lead to these diseases. The other half is a how to guide to getting your health back.
Having spent seven years heading down the road of trying to find a cure using traditional experts, I can safely say that Ballantyne's research is not only life changing for me, but that typical modern medicine is totally lost when dealing with autoimmune diseases. I ended up wasting years of my life listening to those that are both clueless, and useless in providing anything but temporary symptom relief. Good luck.
Thank you for that book lead! My wife had an episode this weekend. She knows about the anti wheat idea and has started to adopt my salad and meat lunches, eggs no toast breakfast and bunches of veggies and meat dinners. But we were on vacation and that all pretty much went out the window.
I'll buy her a copy of the book as some of my family looks at me like I'm crazy when I mention the connection between what we eat and our health. They don't get how wheat can make you allergic to beef and pork.
We will be reinvigorating our healthy paleo eating now that we are off the beach buffet plan.
Thanks so much!
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
Sorry for the delay.
I have never had a high sex drive, in fact I would say I have a low sex drive for a man of my age, so I can't say I've noticed any change. Not married, not currently seeing anyone, so this isn't a problem that anyone else has to deal with.
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So I started this thread about 2 months ago. I'm down around 8 pounds on80% paleo. Feel good and pants fitting nice. Staying with it!
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Didn't follow the thread 100%, but got a feel for it. Any input on this: http://www.raptitude.com/2014/08/what-happened-during-my-30-days-on-a-liquid-superfood/
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
You're absolutely right. I find it immensely amusing that so many people think our ancestors ate a "low carb" diet1. At least one of the major theories about early human foraging is that it was mostly based on the consumption of tubers, with meat as an occasional supplement. Modern human foragers are all over the place on the animal foods consumption spectrum: the most obvious thing about human foraging is that its about eating rich, complex, hard to extract calorie sources wherever they are found, and it is necessarily opportunistic, not ideal.
Also the thing about fructose is bizarre: we are the descendants of primarily fructivorous animals, one of whose main calorie sources is fructose. We have a beautiful, complex, specialized fructose digestion pathway that screams "adaptation for eating fructose". The problem is there is no ideal food: all diets in ancient history involved massive tradeoffs between starvation and toxins or other digestive or health issues. Even if eating meat turns out to have been our primary calorie source, this may have involved an adaptive tradeoff of the form "stay alive now, eat lots of (dense) calories from fat because by the time you die of heart disease your genes will already have been passed on". Not necessarily a tradeoff that modern humans should accept.
1. I realize that some Paleo-ers are more subtle and talk about grains and legumes as bad carbs, and maybe tubers are good. But how the hell your body tells the difference is beyond me. Both food sources give you complex starches; natural forms of both are loaded with toxins which generally require processing (modern grains and tubers have had this bred out of them).
TL;DR: Actual science about what is good to have in your diet FTW!!
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
I was on strict paleo diet for years. I looked good but my libido/sex drive almost vanished. And I'm an athletic man under 30. I also got some other health problems that was most likely related to this. I found out it was do to eating too few carbohydrates. I switched to a diet called "The Perfect Health Diet" which is basically paleo with some safe and healthy carb sources in limited amounts (mostly white rice and sweet potatoes). My sex drive came back in 14 days, and I sleep and perform better in general. Some people seem to be doing fine with low carb paleo eating, but a lot of folks also seem to experience problems like the one you mention. If you experience low sex drive and is generally healthy and not over 80 that means the diet is obviously not working for you, no matter how much good stuff you read about it online. You can read more about the diet here. They also wrote a book which is one of the best books on health I've ever read: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
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I was on strict paleo diet for years. I looked good but my libido/sex drive almost vanished. And I'm an athletic man under 30. I also got some other health problems that was most likely related to this. I found out it was do to eating too few carbohydrates. I switched to a diet called "The Perfect Health Diet" which is basically paleo with some safe and healthy carb sources in limited amounts (mostly white rice and sweet potatoes). My sex drive came back in 14 days, and I sleep and perform better in general. Some people seem to be doing fine with low carb paleo eating, but a lot of folks also seem to experience problems like the one you mention. If you experience low sex drive and is generally healthy and not over 80 that means the diet is obviously not working for you, no matter how much good stuff you read about it online. You can read more about the diet here. They also wrote a book which is one of the best books on health I've ever read: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
To put a positive spin on it, we're all trying to stash lots of cash here, and wives/girlfriends/floozies/mistresses/hookers aren't cheap! Maybe we should all shun carbs, lose our drive to fornicate, and become a master race of wealthy, non-procreative layabouts.
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Generally speaking I follow a low carb diet similar to Paleo (more like keto). Started over a year ago and dropped 40 in about 9 months. I could lose a few more, but I'm feeling fine now. It's more satisfying, easier, feels better, and my blood work is great. Session lager is my secret. And by eating fatty meats, and green veggies, groceries are pretty cheap.
Sounds very similar to my approach. Would love to be down 40 in 9 months.
This question may be too personal but have you or any readers experienced drops in testosterone or libido after being on a paleo like program. I see in the literature that this is pretty common and especially if the diet is calorie restricted to lose weight with little or no carbs.
If so, what did you do to address this?
Thanks
I was on strict paleo diet for years. I looked good but my libido/sex drive almost vanished. And I'm an athletic man under 30. I also got some other health problems that was most likely related to this. I found out it was do to eating too few carbohydrates. I switched to a diet called "The Perfect Health Diet" which is basically paleo with some safe and healthy carb sources in limited amounts (mostly white rice and sweet potatoes). My sex drive came back in 14 days, and I sleep and perform better in general. Some people seem to be doing fine with low carb paleo eating, but a lot of folks also seem to experience problems like the one you mention. If you experience low sex drive and is generally healthy and not over 80 that means the diet is obviously not working for you, no matter how much good stuff you read about it online. You can read more about the diet here. They also wrote a book which is one of the best books on health I've ever read: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
Thanks for that reply and link. I believe I have read the perfect health approach a few months ago. I will reread. For what it is worth, I don't follow what may be considered "strict paleo" I do avoid most GMO grains and focus on wheat. I still carbo load with rice and potatoes and try to be aware of eating enough carbs. My drive seems a little higher than when I started, although it was a little low then. And I seem to have some morning wood occasionally that I notice.
So for now, I am making good progress toward my weight goal while being aware of the potential pitfall of too low a carb. I'm checking the perfecthealthdiet.com today!
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
You're absolutely right. I find it immensely amusing that so many people think our ancestors ate a "low carb" diet1. At least one of the major theories about early human foraging is that it was mostly based on the consumption of tubers, with meat as an occasional supplement. Modern human foragers are all over the place on the animal foods consumption spectrum: the most obvious thing about human foraging is that its about eating rich, complex, hard to extract calorie sources wherever they are found, and it is necessarily opportunistic, not ideal.
Also the thing about fructose is bizarre: we are the descendants of primarily fructivorous animals, one of whose main calorie sources is fructose. We have a beautiful, complex, specialized fructose digestion pathway that screams "adaptation for eating fructose". The problem is there is no ideal food: all diets in ancient history involved massive tradeoffs between starvation and toxins or other digestive or health issues. Even if eating meat turns out to have been our primary calorie source, this may have involved an adaptive tradeoff of the form "stay alive now, eat lots of (dense) calories from fat because by the time you die of heart disease your genes will already have been passed on". Not necessarily a tradeoff that modern humans should accept.
1. I realize that some Paleo-ers are more subtle and talk about grains and legumes as bad carbs, and maybe tubers are good. But how the hell your body tells the difference is beyond me. Both food sources give you complex starches; natural forms of both are loaded with toxins which generally require processing (modern grains and tubers have had this bred out of them).
TL;DR: Actual science about what is good to have in your diet FTW!!
Thanks for those ideas.
It's not a religion or belief system for me. I merely reviewed some very positive studies and looked at lots of people who had amazing results from paleo like eating.
There is probably a reason this style of eating is the most popular "diet" "trend" the last few years. I think it is because it works so good on so many levels.
So my main thing isn't to prove or disprove any science but to see personal positive results. Yes, it is working for me!
Mainly I avoid wheat like the plague and stick to a large variety of lots of veggies, standard meat/fish portions and added fats such as olive oil. I do eat some rice and potatoes to keep carbs up when the whim hits me.
So far I can report --
I am satiated with this food palate
I don't have cravings
I don't count calories
I can skip meals without effort or remembering to eat (actually happens a bit)
I'm dropping fat
I feel pretty darn good
I'm not having weird side effects like insomnia
My craving for beer has diminished to the point I shun it
I can pass up bread, pasta, and most wheat products easily, although my 7 year old son has been forcing me to have a nightly warm brownie and ice cream. Apparently those aren't paleo approved! lol
I'll keep checking in here with my N1 reports as time passes. I'm thinking about shooting for a Whole 30 sprint starting around Sep 9th. Would love to have a 5-9 lb monthly fat drop if possible.
Anyone up to joining me for a Whole 30 challenge starting in September, let me know.
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I tried something very close to paleo about 2 years ago. I got terrible gout on that diet, due to all the meat (the purines in the meat caused my gout). I probably have a genetic predisposition for gout but all the same I would be careful if you have anyone in your family that suffers from it. After seeing 3 different doctors I was referred to a rheumatologist who helped me control the gout through diet alone (no gout since controlling for diet). I now diet using calorie restriction maintaining sensible carb/protein/fat proportions and all essential micro nutrients which works for me.
I'd be willing to bet it was excess fructose that was causing you gout problems. Our ancestors ate rich, fatty meat and didn't get gout.
http://chriskresser.com/will-eating-a-paleo-diet-cause-gout
Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOjVYgYaG8) that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
You're absolutely right. I find it immensely amusing that so many people think our ancestors ate a "low carb" diet1. At least one of the major theories about early human foraging is that it was mostly based on the consumption of tubers, with meat as an occasional supplement. Modern human foragers are all over the place on the animal foods consumption spectrum: the most obvious thing about human foraging is that its about eating rich, complex, hard to extract calorie sources wherever they are found, and it is necessarily opportunistic, not ideal.
Also the thing about fructose is bizarre: we are the descendants of primarily fructivorous animals, one of whose main calorie sources is fructose. We have a beautiful, complex, specialized fructose digestion pathway that screams "adaptation for eating fructose". The problem is there is no ideal food: all diets in ancient history involved massive tradeoffs between starvation and toxins or other digestive or health issues. Even if eating meat turns out to have been our primary calorie source, this may have involved an adaptive tradeoff of the form "stay alive now, eat lots of (dense) calories from fat because by the time you die of heart disease your genes will already have been passed on". Not necessarily a tradeoff that modern humans should accept.
1. I realize that some Paleo-ers are more subtle and talk about grains and legumes as bad carbs, and maybe tubers are good. But how the hell your body tells the difference is beyond me. Both food sources give you complex starches; natural forms of both are loaded with toxins which generally require processing (modern grains and tubers have had this bred out of them).
TL;DR: Actual science about what is good to have in your diet FTW!!
Thanks for those ideas.
It's not a religion or belief system for me. I merely reviewed some very positive studies and looked at lots of people who had amazing results from paleo like eating.
There is probably a reason this style of eating is the most popular "diet" "trend" the last few years. I think it is because it works so good on so many levels.
So my main thing isn't to prove or disprove any science but to see personal positive results. Yes, it is working for me!
Mainly I avoid wheat like the plague and stick to a large variety of lots of veggies, standard meat/fish portions and added fats such as olive oil. I do eat some rice and potatoes to keep carbs up when the whim hits me.
So far I can report --
I am satiated with this food palate
I don't have cravings
I don't count calories
I can skip meals without effort or remembering to eat (actually happens a bit)
I'm dropping fat
I feel pretty darn good
I'm not having weird side effects like insomnia
My craving for beer has diminished to the point I shun it
I can pass up bread, pasta, and most wheat products easily, although my 7 year old son has been forcing me to have a nightly warm brownie and ice cream. Apparently those aren't paleo approved! lol
I'll keep checking in here with my N1 reports as time passes. I'm thinking about shooting for a Whole 30 sprint starting around Sep 9th. Would love to have a 5-9 lb monthly fat drop if possible.
Anyone up to joining me for a Whole 30 challenge starting in September, let me know.
If it works for you, then that's great. No worries.
The only issue I have is with people who claim it "must" work or that it is the "ideal" diet because it's how our ancestors ate. They didn't, necessarily, and in fact, I'd be very surprised if humans in any environment ate any one way. Modern foragers, for example, range from about 20%-95% of calories from meat/fish (cited by some Paleo-ers as an average of 60%, of course, LOL).
Part of the issue here is defining "works" - for you, "works" means it helps you lose fat - that's great. But any ancient diet must have been the opposite, since the primary issue for ancient people was not starving, not avoiding heart disease or building acres of toned muscle. :D
This is another part of the fructose wierdness. There's been this big hoo-hah about the possibility that fructose makes you gain weight, and by-passes your "fullness" signaling system. Of course, if you are an ancient primate, putting on weight was fantastic, and eating loads of fruit was probably necessary for getting enough calories into your diet. That doesn't mean that fructose is "bad" and non-paleo (in the real sense of paleo) - it means it precisely is paleo, and that might be a reason to watch how much you get!
So anyway, it's everyone's right to choose whatever diet seems right to them, of course. I'm just saying that given the disconnect between what modern western people and ancient foragers need from their diets, I suggest not looking to the past to figure out what that diet should be. Current dietary science might give folks a better answer.
Enough paleo-anth nerdiness from over here.
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Thanks Ambergis!
I think that most of us can agree that super processed food is probably not an ideal diet component. So "works for me" probably has a lot to do with avoiding processed food and adding lots of veggies and healthy oils. I forgot to mention I also shun processed oils like Canola (didn't know there was a canola plant?) and vegetable oil which isn't even made from veggies but from super highly processed soy. "Vegetable Oil" is probably easier to sell than "Super Chemically Processed Soybean Oil?"
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I forgot to mention I also shun processed oils like Canola (didn't know there was a canola plant?)
Smartass fail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola).
But seriously - I stay pretty far from that stuff too. I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
. Olive. Walmart extra virgin pretty cheap on a per calorie basis.
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Peaceful warrior. I looked at the perfect health diet and like their interpretation of the paleo concept. It is very close to my desired pattern. Thanks
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
. Olive. Walmart extra virgin pretty cheap on a per calorie basis.
I've found myself really enjoying the avocado oil that Costco sells. It's high heat, which is nice, but mostly it has great flavor.
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
. Olive. Walmart extra virgin pretty cheap on a per calorie basis.
I've found myself really enjoying the avocado oil that Costco sells. It's high heat, which is nice, but mostly it has great flavor. Thanks for that tip. Didn't know about that.
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
. Olive. Walmart extra virgin pretty cheap on a per calorie basis.
I've found myself really enjoying the avocado oil that Costco sells. It's high heat, which is nice, but mostly it has great flavor.
Thanks for that tip. Didn't know about that.
If you like browning your stuff, it's amazing. It's smoke point is > 400F. It has slightly more flavor than EVOO, so it works great as a dressing too. I'm not home right now, but I'm almost certain it's this particular brand (http://amzn.com/B00CYMF1CO), although I thought it was organic...
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Love the high smoke point!
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I'm trying to figure out a neutral oil to use when I don't want coconut or olive oil and don't want to pay the big bucks.
Try grapeseed.
. Olive. Walmart extra virgin pretty cheap on a per calorie basis.
I've found myself really enjoying the avocado oil that Costco sells. It's high heat, which is nice, but mostly it has great flavor.
+1 on the avocado oil. It is pretty neutral tasting, and has a better Omega 3:6 ratio than grapeseed. $10 for a big bottle at CostCo, which lasts quite a while.
Also, it's really easy to make ghee and it is awesome for cooking.
NOT A FAN of the red palm oil. Blech.