update, please?

still sleeping a ton?

What you describe sounds almost precisely like me before my multiple food allergies were diagnosed (lucky for me, mine are wheat, corn and soy, so paleo is a perfect fit!). You've got most of the major allergens gone already. If I were you, I would ditch the eggs for 2 weeks to a month, then re-introduce. If that doesn't help anything, maybe try the nuts. I am also allergic to nuts, but it is an anaphylactic-type reaction, so for me, it wouldn't produce those symptoms. I don't know if it might in others though!

I realise that when you become interested in a diet and lifestyle like paleo it is tempting to view everything healthwise as related to it. While it is true they is very important, particularly for mordern western health problems, it is far from the only influence on your health. I am not saying don't change things in an attempt to feel better but be cautious and remember that diet is not the only cause of health problems and so it cannot cure everything.

How are you doing now? I would add FAT FAT FAT. Coconut Butter is good. I still use some dairy- cheeses, Greek Yogurt for the Fat and Protein. Get sleep and allow your body detox. Let us know how you are doing. I'm diabetioc and a Primal/Paleo diet with Low carg High fat has been the best thing Ive done for myself.

I might be completely wrong about this, but I'm picking up a very faint signal of mild manic-depressiveness; this is normal in young people who didn't grow up in a family/culture that is psychologically aware, and exacerbated by the SAD of sugar highs and lows.

If you were a sous vide cooker run by a PID controller, I would suggest that the mood swings look a lot like too high a derivative (D) setting -- a lot of overshoot in either direction. Diet can help damp those oscillations, but so can a bit of cognitive-behavioural self-therapy.

Have you tried meditation?

To those suffering from depression I can recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Noonday-Demon-Atlas-Depression/dp/0684854678/

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Patterns-Depression-Michael-Yapko/dp/0385483708/

http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Optimism-Change-Your-Mind/dp/0671019112/

Good luck, and remember: happiness = reality – expectations

Congrats on ditching the milk. You could try ghee to see if casein is an issue.

Are you certain you tolerate eggs? Be sure to check the whites and yolks separately.

overtraining is a definite possibility. love the dark room for sleeping idea.

You're taking D, but have you had your levels checked?

Epsom salt baths and/or magnesium supplements (bone broth idea is best for this)

I don't agree that your body is healing. Extended ketosis is known to cause "mental fog" for some people, especially if doing a lot of endurance related activities. Definitely up your fruit consumption. Also, switching to goat's milk isn't good enough. I recommend dropping all dairy completely.

@Ryan

You might have a thyroid issue. Search here on PaleoHack for thyroid, also check out Diana Hsieh's blog and her experience with thyroid and iodine.

I'm inclined to think overtraining and adaptation to a normal diet might be issues here, as well as treating the Paleo diet like a typical American fad diet with calorie counting, wacky supplements, weigh-ins, angst, and unbalanced food choices, etc.

It's a diet in the sense of stuff you eat. Think of it as simply eating the foods you evolved to eat, when you feel hungry, drinking when you're thirsty, getting some fun exercise, and letting your body self-regulate without micromanagement, not a diet in terms of a calorie deprivation-driven controlled starvation regime. It's about eating like a human being, not anorexia lite or some unnatural purpose-specific bodybuilding nutritional regime.

As you can probably tell, my personal experience eating Paleo has been that just eating real food (i.e. Paleo foods) to sate your hunger, without messing around counting calories or supplementing, works just fine. By way of an N=1 experiment, how about taking a week or two break from the weight training, stop taking the supplements, replace your fish oil with actual fish, hide the scales and calorie charts, eat enough Paleo food to sate you when you're hungry, drink when you're thirsty, sleep when you feel like it, and check back in and let us know how you're doing?

All good points. Someone once told me 'it's impossible to be depressed if you are moving forward" it's as simple as emptying the dishwasher, polishing your shoes, or clearing out your attic. Since you are unemployed for now, make sure your are doing something every day. if the house is clean enough...volunteer somewhere. But keep moving forward.

And like Art Devany has stressed so often (as did the last commenter)...be patient, be gentle and let it come...it will in time.

Good luck stay strong and keep us posted.

Marc

I am just going to add something about sleep, as it seems most of the nutrition and exercise elements have been covered by the above answers.

You say:

Been sleeping more than ever. Used to sleep 9 hrs a night now sleeping 9.5 to 10.5. Go to bed around midnight and get up around 9-10:30 (I was laid off from my finance job about 6 months ago, I know I sound depressed and I may be a little but depression runs in my family, hence I always have bouts of depression).

I think in addition to trying the diet and exercise changes above, you should try to go to bed when it gets dark and wake up naturally with the dawn, then get up when you first wake up (do not lie in bed once you are awake). Just try it for a week, that's all, and see how it changes the groggy feeling you have. If you have nothing to do in the morning, try some tai chi or yoga perhaps or spend time making a good protein and fat rich breakfast (don't cut out the eggs!).

Sleep in a completely dark room all night and this may help 're-set' your circadian rhythms. If you need to get up in the night, use a candle to see by (or very low lighting)....sounds kinda 'caveman like' doesn't it?

To keep in balance with this, get plenty of sunshine during the day...this may help remedy the bouts of depression you sometimes get.

You say you are waking up stiff, this maybe because you body is still de-toxing from your SAD diet, which can leave the muscles stiff upon waking. If you have a stiff neck you may also have candida (paleo is a natural anti-candida diet but see here for more details of tried and tested anti-candida foods/remedies). In addition, your muscles may be stiff because they are releasing heavy metals into your system, again from your recent diet improvements - here are some protocols for heavy metal detox.

Remember, it has only been a month; 'be gentle to yourself' is probably the best advice you can hear right now. Time is a great healer.

I think part of the issue may be over-training for your current diet.

I know some people who won't train deadlifts more than once a week and the same for squats, but again the other parts of the equations are your goals and your diet intake

If you are trying to recover/build muscle, you'd need to up your calories at least 1000 a day, or add more carbs on weight training days (only in the morning and right arround when you train) if you don't want to feel so out of it, it that is the issue, but than it depends on your specific situation how much you are doing and whats affecting your progress.

Which kind of training are you on? If you are doing something like the Colorado experiment/Tim Ferris/ Body by Science stuff (lift 90% or > of your 1RM 1-6 times per lift 1x-2x per week 5 seconds up 5 seconds down) you should be able to hack it with enough recovery.

If you are doing Olympic lifts, fast cross fit stuff or large amounts of lower weight, than you are going to need carbs. (5x5, 5-3-1, 20 zillion reps of lower weight etc)

also, foam rolling/stretching/yoga/ anything with the lifting?

Maybe post a diet log /training log at sherdog.net forums in the training section, lots of lifters, and lots of low carb/paleo combat athletes there they may be able to point you on the right path more than I can. Only other things aside from the below links I could suggest are check your deficiencies (MG, K, D, ZMA + D helps me a ton with recovery, I see you are taking D and MG, taking them together can help their absorbency, while MG and calcium can block each other apparently).

Oh and hows your water intake? lots of lifters I know of try for 1 gallon or more of water a day, it can also help a ton with recovery.

but yeah like the above posters, more real food, more fat, you don't really need as much fish oil as robb wolf goes for but the athlete studies had it at about 3-4g of combined EPA/DHA per day I think, other things to check are for molecularly distilled fish oil (removes PCB/mercury etc which can be and issue in low quality ones, also fish oils like all PUFA can go bad so keep it in your fridge and bite into one to make sure its not rancid (which can be dangerous!) once in a while, yes this can be a vile experiance)

I also think marks daily apple posted on over-training a while back yup found it, hope some of this helps and good luck!

How to deal with over-training

8 signs you are over-training

Ryan, I think your body doesn't know what to do with all the real food you are now eating. It will take some time for your system to keto adapt.

Have some chicken livers fried in bacon fat along with fried onions. Have some beef heart slice thin and pan fried med rare in coconut oil along with a little thyme and basil.

I mention organs because they are loaded with vitamins. Eat real eggs fried in coconut oil or butter or medium chain fatty acid oil. Ditch the whey protein.

Eat real food. Eat your veggies slathered in butter so you will absorb the nutrients better. And microwave a small yam until soft, slice lengthwise and slather with butter. Eat with your meat and fat.

Go for a walk for 30 min everyday day barefooted on real grass. Connecting with the earth does wonders for depression. Do not participate in depression. It serves no purpose. Barefoot on grass is like a massage. Take time to enjoy the experience everyday.

You hang in tough.

This community of paleos all have been in your shoes to one degree or another and we all made it and so will you. Patience and perserverance to power on.

If your body is healing I think the last thing you need to do is stress it with excessive protein. Here is my "healing paleo" shopping list:

• lacto-fermented (that means traditionally prepared) pickles and/or sauerkraut, kombucha, and/or a good probiotic from the refrigerated section of the health food store. Fish oil should also be from that section.
• coconut oil, cream, milk, and water. Young thai coconuts are perfect for this.
• a crock pot
• bone-in meats (lamb shanks are a great choice), bone marrow, and use the bones to make bone broth. Bone broth should also be made with apple cider vinegar, kombu, which is a seaweed that can help heal the gut and provides valuable iodine
• FATTY fatty meats. I particularly like pastured pork belly, this REALLY helped my depression. I also think chicken thighs are great.
• Pumpkin puree, which can be mixed with broth to make a gut healing soup
• Hijiki or arame for salads

Once you are eating grass fed you can ditch the fish oil I think. That stuff can suppress the immune system and much of it is of dubious quality. L-lysine might also help you.

Some thoughts, none specific to low-energy.

Low carb: You don't have to go very-low carb or low carb at all. Some people consider potatoes to be paleo. Do whatever makes you feel the best. When you feel good, then experiment more. Adapting to low-carb can be difficult and take a lot of time.

Vitamins/supplements: Multi-vitamins are generally considered bad here and elsewhere. Try and figure out what you actually need from it. B-complex and some of the other supplements may not be necessary either.

Egg white protein powder: Protein powder is a protein-rich junk food (nutrients have been processed out of it). Egg whites don't have many nutrients either, the yolk is where it is at.

Dairy: Try letting your milk ferment if it is raw milk. Try not consuming dairy.

Gut health: Try eating more fermented foods.

Update from question clarifications:

Do you enjoy your lifting a lot? Think about doing a sport that you think is really fun. Peforming just the big compound movements can create a lot of tension (and possibly muscle imbalances). Make sure to get rid of tension with opposing exercises, cool-down, stretches, etc.

It is great to see you have been improving. Keep it up! If pure paleo can't get you the rest of the way there, try something else.

Ryan (this is the same Ryan that posted before but had to re-register?) Hang in there buddy. Your body is adjusting to some pretty radical changes. I had the same thing. I do some pretty intense workouts, and my training turned to sh-t for several weeks, but it came back. Stay on track.
Don't obsess. Eat real food, relax, sleep, exercise. Repeat. Let us know how you are doing in a few weeks.