Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I've been Primal/Paleo for about a year and a half -- about 80-90%. I lost almost 90lbs on diet alone. I started at 309, and now I'm 224. I'm 28 and male.

Over a 5 weeks ago, I got a personal trainer (2x's a month) with total-body workouts (75% weight/body work and 25% moderate cardio). When I started I was 332lbs and 30% body fat. I'm now 224-225lbs with 24%ish body weight. I also do about 30 minutes of moderate interval walk/run/jump rope 2x's a week.

Here's my question: am I gaining MUSCLE faster than I would if I weren't eating Primal or Paleo? The reason I ask is that while I like that my body fat percentage went down, I'm wondering why the scale isn't moving as much as I expected, given the workouts. I've been stuck at this weight for about 2 1/2 weeks now.

Am I doing something wrong or does this timeline make sense? Am I losing the right amount of fat and is my scale not moving much because of the muscle gain?

My main goal is to lose weight and get down to 185-190. My diet remains high protein, low carb, very low sugar.

What can I do to start burning more fat? Do I need to? Ack! :)

Thanks, Jason

flag	asked Jan 31 2011 at 22:18 Jason 289●2●6

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I think you need to check your math, measurements, and typos. From 332 to 224 in 5 weeks? Even if that's a typo for 232 to 224, that's probably not 30% body fat (232 * 70% lean == 164lbs lean mass) to 24% body fat (224 * 76% lean == 172). Even an absolute beginner (who tend to have better luck packing on the pounds) would have trouble gaining 8 lbs of pure muscle in a little over a month. – Casey Feb 1 2011 at 1:13

he has been paleo for a year and a half, that's how he drop all that weight. he got a personal trainer 5 weeks ago. – MikeD Feb 1 2011 at 15:41

Correct Mike. It took over a year to lose the 85lbs on diet alone. After 5 weeks of working out, I lost a little less than 10lbs and my body fat percentage as described by my Omron, is consistently between 24-24.5% body fat (yesterday it showed 23 but I figured that was an error so I tried again today and was back to 24. It fluctuates but it's consistent to 24). I can FEEL the muscles developed in my legs, arms, so I know the muscle is building. But the scale isn't budging one bit. – Jason Feb 1 2011 at 20:10

Kruno · Answer 1 · 2011-01-31 23:17:00Z UTC

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Don't look at the scales, look into the mirror. If you see more muscle and less fat you are on the right track.

answered Jan 31 2011 at 23:17

Kruno
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Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-01-31 23:38:20Z UTC

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A high fat diet is incredibly anabolic, but not so much so that it would account for your lack of weight loss. That is probably due to fructose in your diet.

answered Jan 31 2011 at 23:38

Travis Culp♦
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	Where is the fructose coming from? I eat almost exclusively meat, fowl, fish with some vegetables (cauliflower or broccoli) and a low-carb protein shake after workouts. – Jason Feb 1 2011 at 20:12
	does the protein shake involve dairy? – MikeD Feb 13 2011 at 3:05

Eva · Answer 3 · 2011-02-01 04:10:13Z UTC

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Me and my mother swear that we gained muscle on paleo even though,she especially, did not change her lifestyle in any other way. Could be imagination but I think my family just does really well on protein and fat.

answered Feb 1 2011 at 4:10

Eva
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It's very likely that there is a particular saturated fat intake threshold that we all cross that causes a noticeable increase in anabolism. It's thought that the body preferentially stores excess energy as muscle rather than fat as it is far more likely to aid in survival than inert adipose tissue. Indeed, muscle is comprised of as much fat as protein. – Travis Culp♦ Feb 1 2011 at 5:12

Do I/we build muscle faster on Paleo?

3 Answers