Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Question: is there a period of "detoxing" when you begin the Paleo lifestyle, including uncomfortable body aches and other symptoms? How long should it last, and will it eventually go away completely?

Hubby and I are on day 14 of our 30 day strict Paleo diet, looking forward to what was assured would be a dramatic change in how we look, feel and perform. Instead, my body is complaining about the smallest workout that wouldn't have even fazed me two months ago: hamstring injury that won't go away, aching body all over from just 2 hours of yard work, uncommon skin blemishes, and a general feeling of heaviness. We feel that we are following what we read about appropriate amounts of fat, protein, veggies and sleep, but maybe we're missing something?

flag	asked Aug 14 2011 at 15:32 Kelly 21●1

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What foods are you eating / avoiding? – Eric Aug 14 2011 at 15:37

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Are you eating enough? – No more. Aug 14 2011 at 16:03

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perhaps it's the dreaded "low carb flu". here's the tag search for that: paleohacks.com/questions/tagged/… – g. Aug 14 2011 at 16:11

what was your diet like before paleo? i had a very healthy diet aside from the grains and legumes before attempting LC paleo. initially i had significant low carb flu, so i added carbs back in but never saw a boost in performance. – sage_ Aug 14 2011 at 23:52

cliff · Answer 1 · 2011-08-15 11:57:45Z UTC

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Eat more starchy carbs, ditch the nut butter and nuts or eat very minimally and make sure you get adequate calories. These tips should help.

Buttering up your meat is a good way to increase cals.

answered Aug 15 2011 at 11:57

cliff
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Karen · Answer 2 · 2011-08-15 17:12:20Z UTC

You may have better luck if you start your day with some protein rather than a huge hit of fat and sugar. Not that either coconut milk or fruits (provided you don't over do it or have BG issues) are bad, but many people do better with a protein/fat breakfast. Also try taking out the coconut milk for 3 days or so - some people react to just the coconut oils in large amounts, even without the additives. Most can then build up to coconut gradually.

Try the traditional egg/meat breakfast (minus the heavy refined carb accompaniments of course) for a few days. I've had good luck with greens topped with hot meat, eggs and avocado. If you have fruit with breakfast, keep it something fairly low sugar like berries.

Try entering your foods into Cron-o-meter or FitDay for a few days to see if their are any things that stand out - low/high calories, sugars, nutrients....

Let us know how it goes.

maurile · Answer 3 · 2011-08-14 17:00:53Z UTC

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I don't think most people go through a period like that. Post a few days' worth of food intake so you can get people's comments on it.

answered Aug 14 2011 at 17:00

maurile
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	I am happy to expand. Every morning, I have a coconut milk-tropical fruit-banana-almond butter smoothie and a cup of coffee. Each lunch and dinner include a meat (chicken, pork, steak, eggs, salmon or shrimp) and a veggie dish, steamed in olive oil. Occasional snacks in between include dried or fresh fruit and nuts, and on average one avocado per day. – Kelly Aug 14 2011 at 20:00
	Is the emphasis on coconut milk something new for you? Some people react horribly to the BPA or the guar gum in canned coconut milk. Everything else looks pretty clean, but think of specific foods you've added or substantially increased your consumption of recently. People can get weird allergies to pretty much anything. (Does your husband have any of the same issues as you, or has he taken to the new diet well?) – maurile Aug 14 2011 at 20:39

mari · Answer 4 · 2011-08-15 13:13:49Z UTC

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It sounds like you need more carbs. Not everyone does well on low carb, particularly active people. Id suggest adding 100-150g from sweet potato, potato, or evene some white rice.

answered Aug 15 2011 at 13:13

mari
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miked · Answer 5 · 2011-08-15 18:51:25Z UTC

I had a big pre-paleo sweet tooth and it took me about 3 weeks to convert from a sugar burner to a fat burner. Just for some numbers: pre-paleo I was doing 1:40/500m rows. During my paleo transition a 2:30/500m would get me out of breath (to where I had to sit down) for 10 minutes. Then near the end of that third week a switch flipped and I was down to 1:30/500m and felt great. Depending on how much of a sugar burner you are it can take a while to switch to become a fat burner. Just give it time.

I disagree with the other answers here about increasing your carb intake. That's fine AFTER you're switched over to a fat burner, but doing it too early will just make it harder to make the transition.

Looking for the promised boost in performance

5 Answers