Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I am several months into eating strict Paleo and I am having a great time. (I am 21 year old Male) I have always had low BF% but eating Paleo has helped me get in even better shape, while eating the foods I love and not spending hours in the gym!

My Mom (50 years old) has been trying to lose weight for the last 20 years and she keeps going up and down on the scale. She is in very good shape but she really wants to lose those last 10 pounds and look and feel leaner and fitter.

She does chronic cardio, some weightlifting, and calorie restriction. Currently she wakes up at 4:30-5 am and goes to the gym (without eating) to run for an hour, spin, or lift weights. She goes to the gym 6 days a week for an 1 hour to hour and a half each day. Her eating used to be low fat calorie restriction.

Recently I have persuaded her to try adding some fats into her diet and cut a lot of the grains. She still eats a lot of vegetables, has cut all of the grains except Ezekial (Sprouted) Bread and has added Almond butter and a little bit of olive oil and some more protein in the form of chicken (non pastured) and fish.

Since she has made these changes about two weeks ago she has lost a few pounds and looks much leaner. I am concerned though that she will stop seeing progress soon. Even though she has improved her diet a lot, she is only including mostly PUFAs, complains that she is hungry much of the time and and is hesitant to add any Butter, Coconut Oil, Red meats etc because it goes against everything she ever learned.

How can I convince her to eat MORE paleo? Or what suggestions can I give her to try? She is good with small steps and I don't want to force this eating style on her all at once. Any advice would be much appreciated! : ).

flag	asked Aug 31 2011 at 15:17 JS Paleo 945●1●10

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Focusing on improving her leptin sensitivity is probably the best thing. Paleo will help with that.. the quilt's recommendations are good for this. Mainly, 1) no snacking (only 3 meals a day), 2) plenty of protein (50g+) at breakfast, and 3) don't eat 4 hours before bed. Paleo plus these three should definitely give good results. For more detail see: jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription and wellnessresources.com/weight/articles/… – Payam Aug 31 2011 at 16:36

The Loon · Answer 1 · 2011-08-31 15:55:32Z UTC

Dear Mom, Welcome to the paleo world! Yes, there are some of us here that are old enough to remember dials on phones. There is really something to this paleo diet, but it is much different from what you have been hearing from the so-called experts.

How do you start? Go get a copy of Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat". Warning: this book will make you mad. Then, invite your son over for movie night and enjoy Tom Naughton's "Fat Head" on hulu. It is very funny. Your son will bring over some paleo snacks. They probably have a bunch of fat in them. Go ahead and eat them, its OK!

Next, head on over to Mark's Daily Apple and read the journals of other women in a same situation as yours. Stop by the leptin reset thread and see what a bunch of other ladies have done with Dr. K's leptin reset. You might enjoy reading the Drs. Eades books, especially Protein Power. Their books aren't strictly paleo, but they contain lots of good information. And, Dr. Mike is cuter than Dr. Oz. They're a bit older than we are, but I can't wait to look like Dr. Mary Dan Eades when I am her age. Check out her blog and see what she eats!

Reading Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf is also good, but sometimes they don't get it completely correct for older women. Mark's blog contains lots of information tailored just for you. If you follow the recommendations, you might not lose weight immediately. But, you will start to look and feel better. And isn't that what really matters?

sherpamelissa · Answer 2 · 2011-08-31 15:35:19Z UTC

I had a really hard time adding fat to my diet when I found Paleo. Go with baby steps on that. Buy her a good coconut oil and some Kerrygold. Have her move up her percentages by 5% a week or so until she's comfortable. (Or just add 1 tablespoon of each per day, then increase as she is comfortable if she doesn't want to track ratios) I ended up at 50% fat from a starting point of about 20/25% fat. The joy of eating real butter is very convincing!

Can you get to the gym with her? Maybe try to switch two days a week to lifting or HIIT for 30 minutes each of those days. Don't just suggest things, give her a routine to do. Generalizations of "you need more weight lifting" or "you need less cardio" are hard to follow.

If you can cook, make something with grassfed ground beef once a week for her to eat with you. No mom can refuse something her kid made for her with love!

When you have been doing a conventional wisdom low fat, low calorie thing for a long time it is actually SCARY to change it. Be patient. Let her see that each change doesn't make her weight balloon back up. The things you are suggesting defy the rules she has been taught and that have worked for her.

Sue R. · Answer 3 · 2011-08-31 18:13:40Z UTC

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I am a 57 year old woman and started with low carb first (Protein Power) for about 6 months, then switched to Paleo which I have been at for about 7 months, I had hit a plateau though, and for the past 3 months I had not lost a pound, Though I am wearing smaller jeans so my measurements have changed! But I still need to lose about 20 pounds. So I have been doing Jack Kruse's Leptin prescription for about the past week. So far I have lost 3 pounds, so apparently it's working. BTW I only eat 2 meals a day but do get all my calories in just those 2 meals.

Also I think your mom may be working out too much!

edited Aug 31 2011 at 18:13

answered Aug 31 2011 at 17:23

Sue R.
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I think you may be right about the overtraining. I will look into the Kruse's Leptin prescription. Thank you. – JS Paleo Aug 31 2011 at 17:51

Woo hoo!!!!!!!!! – The Loon Sep 1 2011 at 1:34

Also I forgot to mention that I had lost 50 pounds in the past year which is great. At my age I do not want to do the yo-yo thing ever again so I intend to stay Paleo for life, My husband, also age 57, is Paleo too and he feels great. We both feel so much younger and have tons of energy. When people ask us what we are doing we basically tell them we avoid processed food, rather than try to explain the whole Paleo concept. If they show an interest, then we loan them Robb Wolf's book and the Fat Head movie! – Sue R. Sep 1 2011 at 3:43

vdh1979 · Answer 4 · 2011-08-31 15:40:59Z UTC

I had my mom start on regular Atkins style low carb to ease her into it. Then once she got used to that, I started slowly easing her into eating the proper fats and cooking certain things for her. She saw immediate results just going low carb so it encouraged her to push things further. I consider Atkins low carb sort of the training wheels to going Paleo. Let them get used to cutting out the big things like grains and sugar and then take them the rest of the way.

What advice can I give my Mom who is looking to lose weight?

4 Answers