I find that when I gain weight/feel lousy while trying to "be paleo," I'm not being as paleo as I think I am. I'll assume I'm 80% there, but when I keep a food log and track my exercise and sleep, I'm really only 40% there. That other 60% is really holding me back.

You are correct that each individual needs to experiment on themselves to find what works. Use Mark's book or Robb's book as a guide, but make it work for you.

Many newbies also need to understand that years and years of SAD and wreaking metabolic havoc on your body may not be undone in a few weeks or months. Stick with it, learn from other's experiences, and trust that the results will happen - it just may take more time than you like.

Absolutely, I don't think we've been invaded by the raw vegans yet, but whole foods is still really broad and really easy to misbalance.

Technically the raw vegans would be a sub category of paleo, however unsustainable long term.

What we hope to achieve here I think, is aiming people towards the education of good meats, good fats, which carbs are friendly. Lectins, antinutrients, hormones and a better understanding o how our bodies and digestive systems work.

There is no Red Pill. There is simple self experimentation, and when you find your personal n=1 that works long term, it's a great weight.

There are however some broad things that seem to affect the majority short or Long term, those are what I believe we should focus on correcting.

I don't think there's any one book or plan that is going to work perfectly off-the-shelf for everyone. I also tend to think that when someone says a paleo diet "doesn't work" that they're doing it incorrectly. I, for one, started out going gluten-free--and it didn't work. Not perfectly, at least. So, I include myself in that category of one who was doing it incorrectly. Then, I eliminated soy and it was much better but not perfect (of course, eliminating gluten and soy works wonders because it gets rid of most processed foods).

Later, I tried the SCD plan (Specific Carbohydrate). Eliminating "illegal" foods on that plan helped even more. I believe this eliminated small intestinal overgrowth and allowed me to better utilize food. Only after about two years of self-experimentation did I hear about "paleo." By this point I was already 95% there. That additional 5% was huge, incidentally.

My self-experimentation continues, but only within the parameters that I know are effective. It so happens that these parameters are all paleo. But this isn't dogma for me. I don't know why I can't eat starchy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, or nightshades. I have my theories (involving lectins and my celiac and cystic fibrosis genes) but they're pretty vague.

Bottom line is that this takes work and some degree of discipline. It it's not worth it to someone to put the time in, then the results can't be guaranteed. This goes for anything, really.

I'm happy that they are coming here, it could mean that we are a good source of information.

I'm unhappy that few of them seem to be searching the prior questions, it could lead to much repetition.

Some results come quickly, the rest come slowly.

Welcome to Real (paleo) Life, it ain't always easy, but it always beats Fantasy (processed food) Land.

Welcome to January. Similar things are happening with every diet and at every gym all across America. Happy New Years.

Speaking on behalf of myself only, I think the problem is that on all of the paleo blogs out there, you're told time and time again that calories don't matter. Just eat this, this, this, and avoid dairy, wheat, legumes, rice, etc... and you'll magically lose weight, regardless of how much you eat. Sadly, for me, I've learned the hard way that you still need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight, even when eating strict paleo.

I think the most beneficial part of eating paleo is that you're never as hungry as when you have grains in your diet, so it makes it much easier to eat less. Wheat and grains make you hungry. I was never able to go more than 3-4 hours without being ravenous on a diet with grains, but there are times now when I haven't eaten for 8 hours during the day and I have nary a hunger pang. To me, that's the trick. Eating copious amounts of bacon and beef drenched in paleo-approved fats did nothing but make me have to go out and buy a new (bigger) pair of pants...

It's not a quick fix. It really depends on how long your body needs to rid itself of the toxins and reboot. I switched to the Paleo diet for allergy reasons and while I noticed an improvement within weeks, it took 6 months for my symptoms to reprieve completely. Think about how long it took for our bodies to develop problems, be it weight gain, illness, acne, etc. It wasn't overnight! Years worth of buildup caused medical problems. Our bodies need time to adjust, so be patient and trust that you will see incredible results. The proof is in the online Paleo community. Just look at the before & after photos!

Cara primroseandpaleo.wordpress.com

I agree that there is an influx of new people with very "diet-oriented" questions: can i eat this? Is this paleo? Etc. I think its part of the process of this way of living just getting more popular, more media attention, etc.

While in the beginnings it may have been a lot of people who were already fairly involved in their own health: crossfitters, former WAPers, etc. As the concept of this way of life gets more popular it will attract, and is attracting, more laypeople who may not have any health-orientation in their lives before.

On Paleohacks specifically, i feel like since Robb Wolf's book came out the numbers of (I hate to say it but) somewhat silly questions has dramatically increased. Please know that I am in no way blaming his book or this forum. I own his book, have given two copies to family and friends cuz i think its a terrific, well-written intro to the concepts, and continue to be present on these boards cuz this is simply the best forum for our discussions.

This, in my experience, has been an adjustment that was found after continued reduction in health and wellness following conventional wisdom. Discovering that the standard operating procedure wasn't doing it for me my curiosity and willingness to guinea pig myself with new ideas led me to try paleo and find success, much like a lot of folks who have been involved over the years. With more mainstream attention curious people are doing the standard American thing: asking to be told what EXACTLY they need to do to achieve a very specific goal, lose weight. As with any other nutritional concept, to fully achieve success there is an exceptional amount of experimentation necessary and a true adaptation of a different way of LIFE, not just a few different things to stuff in your pie whole. The only thing that annoys me more than people being unwilling to to do more than just ask questions and not research for themselves and experiment is the drive to "define" paleo in some tight and specific definition. This packaging of a concept seems effective only in offering a label to give oneself and to compare others efforts to, IE "I'm a REAL paleo" type comparisons. The general concept of following a more evolutionarily based life is NOT an ideology, it is a practice. If you want ideology, go VEGAN.

There's a lot of room to screw it up while technically adhering to the principals. I think nut butters are a common pitfall.

That being said, I think it's nearly impossible to eat meals comprised primarily of meat and green veggies with a piece of fruit here and there and somehow not lose excess fat.

When I talk to people I am very surprised at how relatively little people know about nutrition in general. And the people who take the time to inform themselves usually end up referencing hacks like Gary Null. It's no surprise. Humans, like any animal, adapt to what they eat without thought. No one told a tiger that eating whole antelope was his most nutritional choice. He evolved to the available resources. The only major difference is that humans have the foresight now to opt out of natural selection to a degree by purposefully choosing foods that we have previously evolved to be nutritionally maximal.