Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

1

OK- I've been paleo for a while, but I would really like your take on my nutrition and goals.

My goals: To be a great CF athlete, and to get leaner

Workout Schedule: CF 4-5 times a week, I have no prob resting when my body needs it

Sleep: 7-8 hours each weeknight, 9 on the weekends

Nutrition (on average):

 Breakfast- 2 Cups of cabbage, cooked in olive oil, with 6-8 oz of ground turkey

 Lunch- 1-2 cups of greenbeans, cooked in EVOO, 6-8 oz of fish (tuna, salmon, cod,      flounder), some almonds; often I have some mayo in place of tartar sauce.

 Dinner- 6-8 oz of chicken, beef or fish, and about 2 cups of green veggies, drizzled in evoo

Supplements: 1/2 of a performance multivitamin, 4000 IU of vit D, 10 mg Zinc, 300 mg magnesium at night

Thoughts? Critiques? Encouragements?

flag	asked Nov 30 2010 at 14:40 Ben 4,101●1●9●29

	What does "great CF athlete" mean to you? Also, age, weight, height? What are some of your benchmarks and goals? – JJ Nov 30 2010 at 21:05
	Getting to regionals, 25, 210 (about where I like to be), 6'. Grace-2:50, Filthy 50-21:41, CFT-890. Just want to get faster, stronger, etc. – Ben Dec 1 2010 at 1:33
	Personally, I would worry less about leaning out and worry more about gaining more strength. But maybe that's just my bias. Look at some of the other guys who made it to regionals last year in the middle of the pack -- what are their CFTs nowadays? I would guess it's in the 1,000 range, but I'm not really in the CF community any more so, I'm not sure. A good coach should know, if you have access to one. Best of luck! – JJ Dec 1 2010 at 18:30

David Moss · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-30 15:36:18Z UTC

Looks fine to me.

I would repeat the suggestion to switch to some sort of animal fat/coconut rather than olive oil, since these are far more akin to what we'd be consuming in a paleo context and (unless you go for lard) lower in omega-6.

I'd also eat more red meat than chicken/turkey, which contains less omega 6 and far more micronutrients. If you really want to avoid the animal fat, for some reason, you can always buy lean meat and at least benefit from the extra nutrition.

I'd not eat the almonds, since they're 12g o-6 per 100g and will contain some antinutrients reducing their nutritional benefits anyway. I'd also be wary of the mayonnaise (unless it's homemade).

Green beans have gotten the Robb Wolf seal of approval, but there's probably still a better vegetable rather than a legume out there to replace them with.

Also given that you're exercising so frequently, you might find that you need to add some more paleo-acceptable carbs at some point after workouts, but depends how intense your training it.

frankifries · Answer 2 · 2010-11-30 14:51:49Z UTC

1

Not an expert like some of these folks but that looks super bland to me and basically missing out on the opportunity to get some good fat intake

Do you have any source for good grass fed animal fat or even coconut oil? Why so much EVOO(n-6)? Can you add cod liver oil to your diet? Can you crumble some bacon on those green beans? Can you add pastured liver for the nutrients once a week?

But the endgame is do you feel fine after crossfit on this type of diet regimen? I personally would be wasted after a couple of serious rounds of kettlebells and sprints without more fat and maybe some potato.

answered Nov 30 2010 at 14:51

frankifries
984●5●12

	EVOO provides n3 after a conversion process. I DO need to get some fish oil in, though. I don't eat a ton of sat. fats anymore. My body doesn't crave them like I used to. I also stay away from pork. There aren't many high quality pork sources around where I live. This is about 2200-2400 kcal a day. I feel good! Thanks for the feedback! – Ben Nov 30 2010 at 14:58
	Oh! And it's totally bland, but I really like simple tastes :-) – Ben Nov 30 2010 at 14:59
	How does olive oil get converted to omega 3? I could understand the claim if it contained appreciable amounts of ALA (it's about 0.7%), but even this isn't converted to the EPA/DHA in significant quanities? – David Moss Nov 30 2010 at 15:12
	No, the converted quantities aren't large. – Ben Nov 30 2010 at 15:20
	A quick google search came up with the denton wapf group which could help you find some great pastured pork sources. not that pushing you to eat pork, but seriously you need more fat. period. homesweetfarm.com/WAPF%20Chapters.htm – frankifries Nov 30 2010 at 15:21

show 1 more comment

MikeD · Answer 3 · 2010-11-30 15:03:21Z UTC

You are getting less than 2000 kcals from what I can tell and this seems really low fat. The protein sources are your main calories and that is just over 800 cals so on bad days you are probably not breaking 1000 calories.

160~ grams of protein on the upper end seems good but really depends on your weight class i suppose.

The main think I see missing here is fat. Olive oil is not the best choice. You should be cooking that meat in lard or coconut oil. Taking fish oil by the tablespoon. Maybe add some nuts to your diet or a few more fatty protein snacks.

Quik77 · Answer 4 · 2010-11-30 18:53:06Z UTC

I mostly used grass-fed butter + sustainable organic non-hydrogenated palm oil for cooking etc (oh and bacon fat is wonderful stuff too!), EVOO is ok for things under its smoke point but I do not know enough about how fast it can go rancid/bad, and if its smoked its bad, if you absolutely have to cook with it mixing it with butter can raise the smoke point, but again high temp applications like stir -fry are out.

for the really quick primers on Fat and Oils MDA has some decent overviews.

for the most part looks good but more fat especially saturated would be good figuring out your omega 6:omega 3 ratio and intake might be an area to optimize.

Please Hack My Nutrition!

4 Answers