Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Howdy Folks,

Okay, but seriously. I'm 6'1" 22 year-old male who just started CrossFit a month ago. I was relatively lean upon starting, probably between 13-11%, I don't really know. I used the Tanita machine at my schools gym and it said 13.5, but those are pretty prone to error. With proper lighting I could see some abs, but also tons of rib-cage action. My parents and everyone else thought I was emaciated. This was mostly due to the fact that I was VLC and ate about 1200-1700 calories a day. I really do not know why I did this to my body. I started CrossFit weighing about 170.

The first week and half of CrossFit training, I was still VLC, but eating loads of protein and fat. I never really counted calories, but some days I would probably top 4000. My box does a lot of O-lifts, in addition to WODs. My coach told me that I was too skinny and I needed to put on muscle and get stronger. Ok, fair enough. So, I asked him what to do and he said add in some starch. I go to the grocery store and buy a lot of sweet potatoes and Name root and try to eatthem around my workouts. I try not consume more than 200g of carbohydrate per day.

Anyways, a month later, on February 27th, I weighed 191 pounds. I can't see my ribs and I'm not quite as lean as I was before, but I'm really not complaining because I'm quite a bit bigger. I'm a lot stronger as well. However, the Tanita scale at my gym reads closer to 18% when I put it on regular and (given that I train 6 days a week) when I put it on athlete, it is between 12-13%. So what the hell? I really hate that machine and this stuff kinda messes with my head and I guess I'm just looking for some pointers on what to do next. One indicator is that my pants are a little tighter. My coach has not given me clear instructions about where to go and I love this site, so I figured I could ask my question and figure out what's up.

Has anyone lost a bit of their leanness from reintroducing carbohydrates? If I want to lean out what should I cut first, sweet potatoes or calories? I kind of think it might be time to try to get lean. At the same time, I do not want my performance to suck in the gym. Any tips from anyone about any of these concerns would be helpful.

Also, I'm late for class and wrote this in a hurry, so please forgive me for any typos or grammar error.

Thanks, Nick

flag	asked Mar 6 2012 at 22:05 nikkib 1●1

	A better way of measuring changes in body fat is to use your eyes. If you see flab, you are flab. Also, 170 lbs at 6'1" doesn't sound emaciated - you'd have a BMI of 22.5 which is in the upper range of "normal", so it sounds like something's weighing you wrong. I don't think you could see ribs at that weight either. – dav Mar 7 2012 at 9:32
	Don't know what to tell you. They were definitely there. I wasn't the only one who saw them – nikkib Mar 9 2012 at 1:00

Mazer · Answer 1 · 2012-03-06 22:18:57Z UTC

I would stop listening to the machine, for a start. As for leaning out, I would try reducing calories overall. How you do this is up to you; I prefer using 24-hour fasts, while eating my normal caloric load the rest of the time. I find I drop body fat easily with two fasts a week, and maintain easily with one. Your results may vary. Above all, be patient, and see what works for you- in the big scheme of things, taking a few months (or more than a few months, even) to figure out how to best achieve your goals is a drop in the bucket.

pbo · Answer 2 · 2012-03-06 23:03:51Z UTC

Sounds like you might finally be overconsuming which is probably helping you gain some muscle and makig some gains, however with those gains come fat. It's very hard to just gain muscle and not any fat. If you are worried, I would really start logging and monitoring your food intake to really see where you are at. You can take a look at leangains.com for protocols on trying to add gains with as little fat as possible. You could carb cycling, and add the extra starch only around your workouts. Rest days go back to lower carb.

Personally I would keep the starch to help fuel your Crossfit workouts and help replenish your glycogen, but maybe cut down on the fat/protein a bit. This is all depending on your food log of course. It's very hard to estimate your calories when you haven't logged them before.

RobE · Answer 3 · 2012-03-07 06:21:22Z UTC

If you go from VLC to ~200 carbs a day, you're going to carry water weight. That alone can account for the body fat % disparity. Don't let a little water weight mess with your head. You can go back to VLC and lose that water weight in less than 3 days.

Putting on mass doing VLC, is also an option. If you want to research it, do a search on Cyclical Ketogenic and Targeted Ketogenic Diets (CKD and TKD). Basically, in CKD you gorge on carbs every 3-5 days and on TKD you eat your carbs around workouts (which is kind of what you're already doing). CKD worked great for me, but everybody is different and I'd recommend you try different things to see what approach works best for you.

cocobean · Answer 4 · 2013-02-02 02:36:25Z UTC

First of all, I think that machine is ridiculous. Don't let it mess with your head. It could be way off. I would go by measurements with a tape measure, how your clothes fit, and how you look in the mirror. Concerning your "fat gain," I would also consider your salt intake. I notice on days that I consume saltier foods like bacon, I look a little "puffy" from water weight. This can hide muscle definition and easily be confused with fat. How I look each day really depends on how much water I have retained based on what I have eaten the day before.

Size, Muscle, Paleo, CrossFit, Carbs and Me.

4 Answers