Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Hello! I just discovered the Paleo Diet within the past two days, and I have been doing a considerable amount of research on it. I found it while looking into the Wheat Belly diet, and I have been coming to like the ideas of the Paleo Diet the most. I feel sort of bombarded with information, though, and have a few questions!

First off, I am a 20 year old college student (aka I don't have a large amount of money that I can spend on food), I'm a female, and I am very active. I do HIIT (with bodyrock) usually about 4 days a week, 2 days a week I do about an hour of various things (either running, or intervals, etc), and once a week I do an hour and a half of Krav Maga. I am about 5'5" and 120 lbs, and I am definitely not looking to do some serious weight loss. My main goal is to get rid of some extra fat and tone up. I have some pretty good muscle definition, but I've hit a sort of plateau and stopped seeing results, so I have been trying to experiment with my diet so I can hopefully see some change. The thing is, I eat healthy usually (and by healthy I mean what I thought was healthy before, like big bowl of oatmeal in the morning etc) but I do like to give myself splurges a couple times a week (I'll go out to eat with friends and get something less than healthy). I am also a complete dessert addict. This is unlikely to change :) .

My first question is this: Will switching to a Mainly Paleo diet (like eliminating grains, eating more meat and vegetables, etc) still give me results if I am not perfect with it? Since I am not looking to lose much weight, just a little bit of fat, I don't feel like it is worth it for me to give up the things that I love doing (eating dessert, splurging on something "bad" with my friends). Will I actually GAIN weight if I try switching to Paleo most of the time?

My second question: Most of the stuff I have been reading says it's ok to eat stuff like nuts and coconut... I am a little worried that if I start to eat more of these I will actually gain weight. Is this likely to happen? Or am I just paranoid because I have been taught to avoid fats? How much of these things should I aim for, so I'm not getting too much of them?

Last one! : I eat a lot of fruit... is this likely to make me gain weight on this diet?

Any other tips on toning up on this diet would be greatly appreciated, as well as some cheaper options for food! Thanks so much, and sorry about the length!

edited Feb 26 2012 at 19:46

asked Feb 26 2012 at 19:35

ceebs42
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Nance · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-26 19:46:15Z UTC

Strict rule: have fun with this! That's actually pretty important. It's not supposed to be a new academic challenge or source of anxiety.

The good news: switching from an eating regimen high in processed foods/grains/sugars to one with only a few is likely to support the "leaning out" no matter which whole foods you eat.

Now, a dose of reality. Switching to an 80% whole foods diet (see what I did there? I left room for a few of your favorite foods/desserts) won't produce immediate results since you're pretty close to an optimal weight already. If you have any true gut issues and need to heal, 80% may not be enough to heal fully in a reasonable time.

I strongly believe in a relaxed, comfortable relationship with food. If you're thriving and you're in a weight-neutral or slow-loss mode that's perfect.

After a few months, you may find yourself less hungry for processed treats and more hungry for whole-food, "paleo-friendly" treats and that's a good thing.

If I were going to suggest you avoid 2 things completely it would be wheat and HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup.)

Regarding your fruit, some here on PH will recommend you ditch it--personally, I would ditch the lifestyle before I'd ditch fruit but I do try to average no more than 2 whole pieces (such as a banana and a grapefruit) per day and I rotate from week to week so I don't over-consume any one fruit.

Eric · Answer 2 · 2012-02-26 19:54:16Z UTC

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Start here:

http://www.archevore.com/get-started/

Do what is easy and skip/modify those things which are more difficult. There will be benifits to starting. You will want to add soem weight lifting. It won't bulk you up but it may be the thing you need to get to the next level.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 19:54

Eric
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	Thanks, this was a very helpful link! – ceebs42 Feb 26 2012 at 20:35
	You are very welcome! – Eric Feb 26 2012 at 20:45

jodi · Answer 3 · 2012-02-26 20:26:40Z UTC

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I strongly recommend doing paleo. I have seen a lot of women in you same boat totally tone up after even just one month of following paleo. I have been pretty good paleo for about 8 months now and was also looking into toning up and found that some fasting also works for me and has helped me tone up a lot. Not to mention its great for someone on a budget and with a busy schedule. You can find more information about that on www.leangains.com. Hope this helps

answered Feb 26 2012 at 20:26

jodi
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	I have read about Intermittent Fasting from seeing it in some Paleo blogs and such. I want to try it, I just am skeptical because I usually have to eat every couple hours or so, or I get really hungry and sometimes light headed. Maybe once I cut out grains that will go away. Thanks for the advice! – ceebs42 Feb 26 2012 at 20:38
	@ceebs42, exactly! Those frequent cravings are normal for grain addiction. You can learn to distinguish between withdrawal cravings and true hunger. At the moment I go 40-44 hours between meals and I have no cravings at all. And no lags in energy either. – Nance Feb 26 2012 at 20:54
	@ceebs, the frequent hunger and light head will more than likely go away. I used to experience just the same thing before going paleo. I was also very grumpy when the hunger set in. What has worked best for me is high fat paleo. – Warren D Feb 27 2012 at 7:28
	I actually did the intermittent fast today, where I "fasted" from 9pm-11am. It wasn't as bad as I had expected! I still managed to freak myself out on my food intake, however. :/ – ceebs42 Feb 28 2012 at 3:11

ceebs42 · Answer 4 · 2012-02-28 03:09:55Z UTC

So I am probably still overanalyzing this, but that's sort of my nature... So I have another question! :/

Today I stuck to all Paleo (Aside from the meat I ate, I don't think it was Paleo approved but when I run out of it I will buy some kind that is better). I tracked my foods online, and came up with these results:

1809 calories 141g carbs (30% of calories) 98g fat (49%) 75g protien (17%) 55g sugar (12%)

From what I was looking up, I should try to eat less carbs, more protein, a lot less sugar, and I'm not quite sure on the fat (I feel like that is really high!).

The thing is, I mainly got the sugar from fruits or veggies (I had no other carb source (I had a banana, a few grapes and a few blueberries ... and a half a sweet potato). I was very excited and thought I was doing so well by not having the Ben and Jerry's in the freezer (haha)... But looking at the high amount of sugar I still managed to consume, I am very frustrated.

Also, the main source of carbs I had was vegetables and the aforementioned fruit... I thought that veggies were more or less "unlimited," but according to the things I have been reading, I should push for 50-100g if I want to lose weight.

Tomorrow I am going to push for eating more meat, and hopefully get more protein. Do you recommend trying to cut down on some vegetables and limit my fruit even more (I only had about 2-2.5 servings today)? Should I try to cut down on fat?

Or do these numbers look OK for my goals (getting toned and losing a little bit of fat) and I am overanalyzing this like my pre-Paleo mindset thought I needed to?

Thanks in advance! :)

henny · Answer 5 · 2012-02-26 19:52:35Z UTC

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If you have been eating fruits and desserts and are a healthy weight you can likely just scale that back a bit and get results.

Try to eat more 'Paleo approved' desserts with whipping cream and less with pie crusts and cakes.

A lot of things can be made with ground meats and they cost less than steaks and roasts. And liver and heart are also inexpensive options.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 19:52

henny

	Thanks! I will definitely look into Paleo desserts, and I am going to try to implement a lot more ground beef. I sort of cut that out before because I thought it was unhealthy! – ceebs42 Feb 26 2012 at 20:07
	Good luck ceebs42- you don't have far to go. – henny Feb 26 2012 at 20:40
	I have been loving cooking up ground beef with some coconut aminos, garlic, fish sauce, maybe some lime juice, maybe some hot sauce, and dumping it on top of salad. Sometimes I go more Thai-ish, other times more Vietnamese, sometimes Mexican flavors. It's all about the condiments and seasoning. I get decent ground beef by waiting for the one day a week my local food coop marks down the meat for quick sale. – syrahna Feb 28 2012 at 3:39
	I'm definitely going to look into buying some high(ish) quality beef, because I am basically only eating fish right now. It's daunting to me how to cook it though, so thanks for the advice! – ceebs42 Feb 28 2012 at 12:13

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Newbie to Paleo… Questions on fat loss!

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