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Hi all, im kinda new to paleo but have read an absolute ton on paleo diet and IF. Now im around 14-16% body fat. I work out 3 times a week and my goal is muscular hypertrophy, however i want to reduce my body fat to healthier levels or even single digit levels. The thing is every time i do go paleo i find it extremely difficult to maintain such a diet with out having outrageous sugar cravings which last hours and ultimately lead me to binging. This normally happens about 5 hours into the day if i attempt paleo. Now my goal is to gain lean muscle mass and lose Body fat. Can anyone give me some tips or advice on how properly go about this? I really want to lose fat to reduce inflammation, increase health and look good naked etc. I absolutely love paleo and working out but the diet part i find incredibly difficult to stick to. PS i can fast for 24 hours no problem.

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For a second I thought you meant boyfriend ;) – YoungPaleoLover May 29 2012 at 11:50
hahaha no sorry, i knew this might have happened lol :) – Michael May 29 2012 at 12:44
Google Leangains and you don't have to go low carb or sugar free. I'm currently at 12% bf (started at 25%), and I eat 30+ grams of sugars (mostly honey) and 400g of total carbs PWO. – Wisper May 29 2012 at 14:00
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I thought breast feeding when I saw BF. – Happy Now May 30 at 6:27
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I saw brain fart – Korion May 31 at 16:23
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4 Answers

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"my goal is muscular hypertrophy, however i want to reduce my body fat to healthier levels or even single digit levels"

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IMO, you seem to get the order of things somewhat backward: increasing the volume of muscle tissue per se to the point of achieving any "hypertrophy" to speak of is a rather difficult issue: either in terms of effort or how the body functions and reacts to various stimuli (exercise/diet)::: what most people usually take for bulking up (which in most cases is a derivative of getting a more clear muscle definition)is in reality 95% leaning out and only 5% actual 'hypertrophy'

i'm in no way to discourage you from aspiring to get a decently lean and muscular physique, just an advice to view things as pragmatically as possible and set priorities right

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Thanks Igel, so you saying that looking bigger is more about losing fat rather than just muscle hypertrophy? – Michael Aug 15 at 6:02
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First provide us with a typical day of eating. In the mean time with the level of workouts your doing you will need to incorporate carbs. Don't be carb-phobic as you need them to repair muscle glycogen. I would make sure to try safe starches like sweet potato: I eat 2 on workout days covered in coconut oil (helps with inflammation too!). In addition make sure you are eating high-protein. This includes fresh fish, grass-fed meats, and lamb (chicken and turkey are fine but low fat). In the beginning of starting paleo again you may want to eat 3 large meals a day with a good portion of fat, protein, and carb. The only caveat is fruit. If you have BF loss goals you need to limit or completely cut it out at least until you are at your goal. Once at your goal You can play with IF for maintenance of your body fat (I think it's too hard to do it all at once when starTing out again)

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Desperate assistance with BF 0 Hi all, im kinda new to paleo but have read an absolute ton on paleo diet and IF. Now im around 14-16% body fat. I work out 3 times a week and my goal is muscular hypertrophy, however i want to reduce my body fat to healthier levels or even single digit levels. The thing is every time i do go paleo i find it extremely difficult to maintain such a diet with out having outrageous sugar cravings which last hours and ultimately lead me to binging. This normally happens about 5 hours into the day if i attempt paleo. Now my goal is to gain lean muscle mass and lose – Michael May 29 2012 at 12:43
Woops sorry i accidently copied and pasted. I would get up at about9-10pm, usually not eat unti a couple of hours after waking due to not being hungry. So for breakfast i would eat a reasonably large salad with cos lettuce and 2 carrots, 2-3 fried eggs or omelet and half can of sardines. Couple hours after this meal my enormous grain and sugar cravings will come and a feel like binging on such foods. However when i do i usually notice i have a short temper and get angry quiet easily and frsutrated. For dinner 5-7pm, Steak eating all the fat and a large salad. Trying to keep fruit to a minimum – Michael May 29 2012 at 14:23
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Your breakfast seems low in fats depending on what dressing your using for a salad. Do you cook your eggs in lots of coconut oil or butter? Starting off the day with lots of fat helps cravings immensely. Also you could pair breakfast with a healthy avocado! You may be waiting too long between your meals. Maybe eat at 11 and then eat dinner at 5-30-6 being done by 7. This could help a lot. If this still isn't working you can still tweak by adding carbs like sweet potato. Any questions? – YoungPaleoLover May 29 at 17:33
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I know everyone blames everything on candida these days, but when sugar cravings are that strong it might be something to look into, it might be less about what you are eating and more about treating a gut biome imbalance. – Happy Now May 30 at 6:34
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Like YoungPaleoLover said it seems low in fats but it certainly is very low in carbs too. And not many calories too. No wonder you get huge sugar cravings while doing those workouts on top of it. That diet made me constantly check opening hours of supermarkets to know how long I still had to rush my ass over there to satisfy my cravings. 22 days is the longest I kept to it and it only gave me hypothyroidism, extremely dry skin, dandruff, libido disappeared like a fart in the wind, extreme fatigue, etc... on this Cordain template. Now I sometimes have cravings due to stress but mostly none. – Sam May 31 at 18:20
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If you truly are desperately in need of assistance with your boyfriend, I suggest you contact the appropriate authorities. I frankly do not see the point of posting this on a forum devoted to paleo eating.

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Read the post...BF is body fat, not boyfriend. – juju Aug 26 at 9:18
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Maybe you should reevaluate this whole paleo thing. IMO the best way to get lean and what has worked for me is to eat enough sugar and protein to maintain muscle/healthy metabolism with foods that are hard to overeat on such as low fat milk and orange juice. Keeping fat low is the key, if you do that you can pretty much eat as much as you want and you will lean out.

Sure a low carb(ketogenic) diet could work if you already have a ton of muscle mass but it will also probably tank your metabolism(which will cause health problems) and prevent muscle gains.

Here's a blog post I wrote outlining my ideas on losing weight. http://co2factor.blogspot.com/2012/04/practical-ways-to-lose-fat.html

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I'm sorry, but low fat milk and orange juice are hard to over eat? The body does an abismal job of sensing liquid calories, especially when the intake is predominantly sugar. Recommending liquid food to someone attempting to lean out is absolutely ridiculous. And I read your blog post. My favorite bit of nonsense is, and I quote: "Eating frequent small meals that always contain some sugar and protein will keep stress hormones low and metabolism high." --The frequent small meals to "rev-up metabolism" has proved nonsensical. The thermic effect of food is based on meal size, not frequency. – Potato Avenger May 29 2012 at 13:57
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I'll read the studies in a bit, but see, here's the fun part: I have tried it. I'm not speculating on the effects of orange juice on satiety. I used to be an orange juice fiend, drinking about a quart a day. Impact on satiety? Minimal. 500 cals or orange juice doesn't touch 12 ounces or so of beef. – Potato Avenger May 29 2012 at 14:55
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Now that I've read through the studies, it's clear that all they state is that the impact of liquid calories on satiety is "inconclusive" -- not the best supporting evidence either way. Further, the studies in which people do lose weight on liquid diets are generally attributable to a relatively unpalatable shake fasts. What aspect of metabolism are you attempting to affect with orange juice and low fat franken milk? – Potato Avenger May 29 2012 at 15:00
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Wait, last comment, I swear: If you'd like, I can also reference quite a bit of studies that show macronutrient composition of a meal to be more highly correlative with satiety than the solidity of the food. Protein is where it's at for satiety; not sugar. – Potato Avenger May 29 2012 at 15:05
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I am so confused by the logic of this concept, maybe I'm a different metabolic type or something, but I can easily drink a good 4-5 cups of orange juice and still be hungry. One steak with fewer calories leaves me indifferent to food for the better part of the day. – Happy Now May 30 at 6:31
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