Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

2

Alright here it is, my life laid out for everyone to see... haha...

My entire life I was the "heavy kid" tipping the scales in high school at a solid 300 lbs. Now 24, I'm at 195 and around 16% body fat... I'm pretty competitive at CrossFit these days and tend to sometimes take my training to extremes sometimes (2 - 3 workouts daily sometimes, different intensity levels of course, but I always have that "do more, be better" attitude, I think that attitude comes with losing weight)...

My problem is, and always has been, my eating habits. It's not that I eat terrible foods at all the wrong times. In fact, I eat pretty clean paleo, I just would like some tips and advice on when to eat and what to eat.

I've dabbled in zone, hated the constant measuring. Done strict paleo, tend to overeat albeit healthy foods and have tried Leangains, but I'm not sure I'm eating enough on that... I can't force huge meals upon myself to supplement (again maybe the heavy mindset)...

If my goal is to cut body fat, show some abs, and still have a 3 minute Fran (which is obviously possible, looking at the rest of the above average Crossfitters) where do I need to be, what do I need to do?

Any advice on how to eat, when to eat, and when to train would be so awesome and appreciated!

Sidenote - I work the typical 8-5 desk job... I tend to train after work with whatever my local CrossFit gym is doing for the day, and then I'll supplement something else around that (whether it's lifting or metcon)... This also affected my leangains, as I couldn't really do fasted training...

PLEASE HELP! THANK YOU!

flag	asked Aug 21 at 17:03 Connor 23●2

miked · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-21 17:12:27Z UTC

I'm pretty competitive at CrossFit these days and tend to sometimes take my training to extremes sometimes (2 - 3 workouts daily sometimes, different intensity levels of course, but I always have that "do more, be better" attitude, I think that attitude comes with losing weight).

There's your problem. CrossFit is good, and it's fun. It's very easy to overtrain which causes cortisol and insulin problems that keep you a bit chubby.

If you want to lean out, no more than 1 workout a day. Keep the metcons to maybe 2-3 times a week max. No silly hero workouts or long chippers, those are just dumb anyway. Lift heavy weights and relax.

My schedule is 4 metcons/week, 4 lifting days/week (yes, that means a few two-a-days). But I fully admit to overtraining because I enjoy it, and if I wanted to lean out, I know the solution is to cut the metcons. (I have a just over 3 Fran, so you don't need that two-a-day nonsense to get your Fran time down.)

I don't weigh or measure my food, it's 100% strict paleo (whatever that means) and I always eat to satiety.

Order of operations that I always give people looking to lean out:

1 - 8-9 hours of solid sleep in a DARK room

2 - remove other stressors from your life

3 - dial in a strict paleo diet

4 - lift weights, walk slowly

Leea · Answer 2 · 2012-08-22 10:18:32Z UTC

1

One thing that has worked for me and is letting go of the post-wod protein shakes...not sure if you are doing this or not?? Try just a lean meat and a LITTLE potato or squash post-wod. And sleep is absolutely detrimental if you're training that much!!

answered Aug 22 at 10:18

Leea
66●2

Yes! Don't drink your calories. – miked Aug 22 at 14:42

james barlow · Answer 3 · 2012-08-21 17:16:45Z UTC

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"it's 100% strict paleo (whatever that means)" Absolutely love that line.

answered Aug 21 at 17:16

james barlow
682●1●7

Hack My Plan, Please! :)

3 Answers