Every time you stray from Paleo a kitten dies. Fact.

As long as I consume cheat foods in calorically sane quantities and not on a regular basis, nothing at all happens to me.

Acute exposure to neolithic foods has no effect in my experience.

I've been straying way too much the last few months into crap, bread, chips, etc. due to the influence of a girlfriend. I have been feeling older and creakier thru that same time period, and gained a few LBs. got her moved out last week, now I am back to eating right, even lifted weights last night. I bet i will start to feel much better/younger in the next few weeks. none of it is instant is my point, getting better OR getting worse, it sneaks up over a few months.

After 30 strict days (no grains or dairy), we had a friend in town visiting, celebrated our anniversary, and I had major PMS cravings (which I think were spurred on by the previous events/cheats) all in a little over a week.

I felt pretty okay eating the steak burrito (covered in an amazing cheesy sauce), chips and salsa, other than guilt. Then I woke up the next day and noticed some stomach pains and icky poops, as well as feeling moderately "hung over." Headache, lethargy, foggy, etc.

Two days later, I succumbed to Blue Bell Strawberry ice cream. A generous bowl. Felt high after eating, intense sugar rush, sort of panicky and jittery. Followed by instant headache and just feeling like shit. The next day, I was craving ice cream so bad, I went to the store and bought 3 pints. Ate them all over the course of the day with some beer. Felt like total shit while doing it and the next day. Stomach pains, hung over feeling (not enough beer for that), etc. Bloated tummy throughout all this.

I was surprised by my reaction because I was initially skeptical when starting Paleo for my boyfriend. Am now a Paleo CocoNUT. :-) I've also been losing weight for months and have quite high willpower, the ice cream binge was very very unusual for me. I think it was spurred on by the cheating. Taking away from this...non paleo really messes with me and also leads to intense cravings for crap food. I had wanted to add in some dairy again but am now kind of scared to. Obviously, eating pints of ice cream and restaurant cheese sauce were not the way to try it but the results were pretty bad.

For me, wheat generally results in fogginess, intestinal pain, gas and bloat culminating about 48hrs from ingestion with lovely diarrhea. Small amounts (like a couple of bites of well buttered roll or a beer or two) can sometimes escape unnoticed. Most other things have no immediate effect for me, though I do appear to be sensitive to nightshades too (which sucks 'cause I love them) and these cause intestinal issues within hours for me.

Sustained exposure makes me feel weak, crabby and totally unmotivated. Best described as if I am constantly swimming in jello - it takes tremendous force of will to get moving and do anything and I am pissy with everyone. This generally makes family supportive of me staying away from this stuff...

Hi Nemesis, I hope you are OK? I am also suffering today. I think I have sucumbed to the flu unfortunately. Since going paleo a year ago, this is the first time I have fallen properly ill and I think it is because I have been being naughty in the last month. I've eaten birthday cake, too much chocolate and the odd biscuit here and there at my bf's house. I am pretty sure that the sugar has undermined my health so, like you, I have resolved that cheating is not worth it! I am determined to keep this virus short though and am eating loads of fresh garlic, taking elderberry tincture and elderflower teas. I hope you feel better soon!

Sometimes I feel great, filled with joy and loads of energy for days. Sometimes the same food gives me a big shot of energy and quickly after shoots me down.

The past two days I had some cheats (400g chocolate, 350g pancakes, two eclairs and some bread) and I actually feel better than when eating Paleo (doesn't mean it IS better). Maybe it's the endorphine/carb rush? My lowered stress? Higher vitamin D levels? Better gut health? Carb refeed due to lack of carbs in my usual diet?

I'm actually waiting now for my face to break out. Normally this would have happened already and maybe it won't this time. But what I do know from the past is that a couple of extra days eating this crap will surely result in feeling like crap. It can start differently but always ends the same way.

Sometimes I can get away with small amounts of bready stuff & grains, but then it leads to larger amounts and that's bad news. Tummy trouble galore, puffiness, etc.

In general, when I stick to a diet primarily of good meats, good fats, fresh herbs from the garden, and pastured dairy (butter, cheese and cream), etc., I feel and look much better.

However, I have noticed that I do not suffer from occasional "non-paleo" foods such as baked goods if I have them once in awhile, and only in the morning right after a good breakfast (as a "dessert"). Anything I eat in the morning seems to be burned off completely by the afternoon, thanks to bike commutes or other necessary activities of the day.

Eating those same types of things near the end of the day, however, can cause a great deal of gastrointestinal distress and even a lack of sleep.

Has anyone else noticed this? I've decided that my occasional (quality) pizza slice or doughnut will be in the morning after eating a full breakfast of meat or eggs and some fats.

One word: Heartburn.

I always get a terrible gas, intestinal cramps, vaginal problems (candida) and feel like a crap in general. Can't cheat with gluten and milk.

I get fat.

But seriously, since I went paleo, I've really started to notice the bloat that eating wheat gives you. When I cheat with wheat my belly grows something ridiculous and it takes a couple weeks for it to go away. I used to know this vegetarian girl who was as skinny as could be, but still had this belly on her. I wish I still was in contact with her so I could suggest she give up wheat and see what happens.

I was fiending HARDCORE for a primal smoothie last afternoon...Since I was stuck in a high-speed metal tube (amtr@k train, I work in the cafe car) I had no options, so I opened a Snickers bar. A lot of sugar is far more preferable to wheat in my opinion. Anyhoo, I couldn't even eat it, it tasted disgusting. So then I tried a small bag of (sweetened) dried fruit, and that helped to quell the cravings.

Weird 'full but empty' feeling in the stomach, water retainment, and acne breakouts. Damn the ice cream.

When I go off paleo, I don't get an major side effects, but inconsistency in the way I feel is what drives me nuts. Sometimes I'll feel fine, other times I'll feel heavy and sluggish. I occasionally get migraines and retain water. That's the main reason I stick with paleo, just to have a solid consistent feel.

When I eat SAD this team of guys show up in a black SUV, black jackets, sunglasses with walkie talkie ear pieces...they take me into this van...after that, I don't remember...I just always seem to find myself sitting at the table eating a filet mignon with root veggies covered in butter...for dessert there is a small silver adorned plate with two pills...a red and a blue...but I don't know which one to take...

Truth.

A yeti punches me when I stray too far. Same location too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3OYRFk9PSs

My husband has been paleo/primal for about 6 weeks now and he strayed to a piece of pizza 2 days ago and was laid up the whole afternoon with intestinal problems (intestinal problems is what made him decide to start going strictly paleo, although he ate fairly well prior)

I get lazy. And if in include grains I get the shits (gluten sensitivity now?)

Going off paleo makes my joints flare up like balloons of pain.

flu-like feeling, bad fatigue

It depends on what I eat when I cheat. I can have something with a little wheat in it maybe once a week. More than that, and I reliably get tummy issues, "seasonal" allergies, and back aches.

Aside from the wheat, eating too many carbs almost always makes me break out with acne, anywhere from one zit to a whole faceful. Too many carbs also usually give me a bit of an energetic or euphoric boost for a few hours (up to as long as a day or so) followed by lower energy levels for a longer time (maybe 2-3 days).

Edit. Oh yeah, somebody reminded me: HEARTBURN.

I get gut rot, diarrhea, and pimples - all fun stuff! :) I've been paleo for about 6 months now, but I'm pregnant and I've been having so many food aversions, that I've strayed from paleo a lot! But my 'cheats' are mostly rice-based, which doesn't affect me as much. I feel bad for my husband and daughter though because I was the main food-maker, so now that I'm not strict paleo, they are suffering too.

My workouts get more intense.