Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

5

2

I come from a competitive bodybuilding background where I ate every 2-3 hours, 6-8 times a day, consisting of low fat, mod protein, and high carbs. After I realized my health was on a downward spiral, I decided to stop competing and jumped on the Paleo Solution. The transition was tough at first, but I have completely cut out all grains, legumes, and only have a little cream in my decaf in the morning. I am only eating 3 meals now with an occasional snack of nuts/seeds. My energy is definitely better, and my health has made significant improvements over the past 3 months that I have been strict Paleo. However, my fat loss has been a bit disappointing. I am by no means fat, 5'5", 148lbs, but I do not have the six pack I expected when I started the diet. I know I am definitely eating less calories than my bodybuilding diet, so I know I am not over-consuming. The bodybuilder in me says that my portions are too large, but with only eating 3 meals, how else would I get sufficient calories to support recovery from exercise?

So my question is, how do I know if I am eating enough or eating too much? With only eating 3 meals and a snack now, by the time my meal comes around I am pretty hungry, so I usually eat 8oz of meat with a ton of veggies. I eat a minimal amount of fruit, 2-3 servings a week, and 1-2 tuberous carb servings a week. I never understood the concept of "eat until you are full" because I never know if I am full until at least 40 minutes after I eat. I still want to be able to perform during exercise, but I want to be as lean as possible.

edited Nov 16 2010 at 20:57

Ed♦
12.5k●2●17●43

asked Nov 16 2010 at 14:21

hemanvt
8,715●2●17●72

1

Really great question! Well asked with all the pertinent details included. – Dave S. Nov 17 2010 at 19:48

Stephen-Aegis · Answer 1 · 2010-11-16 14:32:06Z UTC

The best way I've found to control how much I eat and honestly know when I need more is intermittent fasting.

Drop the snacking if weight loss is your goal, snacking keeps you in storage mode.

Exercise fasted. This rips fat off you!

Nuts stall most people. Try going without them for a bit.

Keep your tubers and higher carb intake as a post workout meals so the storage goes preferentially to muscles

I eat 1-2 times a day only when hungry. If you eat too large a meal the previous night, you won't get hungry as soon. If your lunch I too big, you won't be as hungry for dinner. The difficulty here is breaking the tradition of eating and realizing it's ok to only eat when you feel like it.

If you aren't fat adapted yet, your blood glucose will drop a little and induce a mild hunger, if it's not severe, suck it up. If it's strong, only feed it a little. A couple weeks and you'll be adapted and really won't get hungry often and never overpoweringly.

And because it needs to be said more: with today's stresses of life, sleep more. Poor sleep stalls weightloss like nothing else, especially that last little bit hiding beastly abs!! Shoot for 10hrs

Alison · Answer 2 · 2010-11-16 14:56:07Z UTC

Look up the Cross Fit nutrition model. Their site goes into more detail but the breakdown is based on your lean body mass and follows a 30-30-40 fats-proteins-carbs model. There's also Mark Sisson's model that's more 50-25-25 fats-proteins-carbs. Hopefully these will get you feeling on track, good luck!

Crossfit.com - look for the "getting started" tab; Marksdailyapple.com - "definitive eating guide" or sim. titled article

TheCommonSenseWarrior · Answer 3 · 2010-11-16 15:08:29Z UTC

0

In adding to Alison's comment's I'd look up Mark Sisson's Carb Curve on www.marksdailyapple.com It's a great place to start.

Exercise - What are you going beside lifting? I'd recommend 2-3 METCONs a week as well as some walking (walking doesn't sound cool but it works for burning fat....much better than running).

Sleep - Make sure that you are getting at least 8 hours of QUALITY sleep ( sleep in a dark room with NO light from alarm clocks, etc) Lack of sleep can destroy your fitness! Check out the book - "Lights Out - Sleep, Sugar and Survival" by TS Wiley

answered Nov 16 2010 at 15:08

TheCommonSenseWarrior
712●1●5●10

	I am definitely under 100 carbs. My workouts are 2-3 days with weights, 1 day of tabata sprints, and 1 day of walking. Its hard from me to get uninterrupted sleep with an infant and toddler. I'm happy if I am only interrupted once a night. I get 7.5 hours and I know that is an area of improvement, however, with the kids some things I cant fix. – hemanvt Nov 16 2010 at 15:16
	The carb curve can be deceiving. Sure, if you're following the Primsl exercise plan to a T, 150g of carbs will probably be enough. Lots of people,however,work a lot harder than that, and tank their performance trying to mix two different strategies. Robb Wolf has some good writings on carbs and exercise. If you're worried about exercise and performance,try positioning your carb-dense foods around workouts and following a lower-carb model the rest of the time. – Corbab Mar 14 at 12:57

Alan · Answer 4 · 2010-11-16 23:50:49Z UTC

Maybe 3 months isn't long enough to judge results. It can take up to a month to switch the metabolism around and adjust to the new nutrient ratios. Fat loss is a very personal and variable thing. Track calories on fitday.com for a while but don't stress about it. You are doing the best thing for your body, it will shed the fat when ready.

haig · Answer 5 · 2010-11-17 02:16:13Z UTC

I still want to be able to perform during exercise, but I want to be as lean as possible.

You might need to sacrifice performance for weight loss, at least temporarily. It sounds strange, but my own fat loss stall was remedied partly by exercising LESS, concentrating more on lifting really heavy and sprinting quickly throughout the week with enough recovery and rest time. Overtraining is as much a detriment to achieving leanness as overeating.

Portion Size question and fat loss?

5 Answers