Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Hi there, I have been eating 75% paleo for about 3 years, and now my husband is for the most part on side too. We have been running 4 to 5 nights a week with a long slow run on Sundays. Was sitting at 141 the last 3 weeks or so, my old "spare tire" has reappeared. I have been eating normally ( pre spare tire) and the only new stuff has been experimenting with almond meal crackers, eating more pumpkin and squash..tis the season...It would seem rather suddenly the "tire" came back - if not a radical change in diet or activity, what else could it be and what "change-ups" are recommended out there in Paleohack world?

flag	asked Oct 3 2011 at 15:05 Laurel 21●3

Sounds like "chronic cardio" syndrome to me.. – Amanda Oct 3 2011 at 15:56

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Eating 75% paleo is like being "a little bit" pregnant and makes it harder to assess what's going on. However, if you're eating a lot of nuts (almond meal) and a lot of starch (pumpkin/squash) you may have accidentally exceed your natural carb balance. In my case, I can eat a lot of non-starchy carbs but I'm amazed at how quickly high-starch foods stop my weight loss. You'd think it would be 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other but it's just not that way for me. – Nance Oct 3 2011 at 16:28

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Edit this post to include a typical day's worth of food. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 3 2011 at 19:17

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Age? Everyday stress levels? Sleep? Exercise history? – Rhubarb Oct 4 2011 at 0:23

Age: 43 Female sleep 6.5-7 hours runner/whitewater paddler - injured and awaiting arthroscopic shoulder surgery in Nov. Days worth of food: coffee x2 2 eggs/mixed up with some coconut milk and scrambled + some salsa on side snack - handfull of brazil nuts tea + coconut milk or cream Lunch veg and fish or chicken (sometimes a sesame bar/ or snack bar -pecan) supper: kale/stir fry veg +olive oil/ steak 6 oz -8 oz. snack nectarine/pear – Laurel Oct 6 2011 at 13:13

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JS Paleo · Answer 1 · 2011-10-03 17:32:12Z UTC

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May be cortisol from the long hours of cardio. Other posters here have spoken to an increase in fat accumulating around the belly when their cortisol went up.

answered Oct 3 2011 at 17:32

JS Paleo
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Plus one....... – The Quilt Oct 4 2011 at 0:20

The Quilt · Answer 2 · 2011-10-04 00:20:13Z UTC

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Cardio plus 75% paleo is faileo.......if you do mediocre you get mediocre.

The more you OWN your power to make choices, the power your choices become.

Your choices have given you the expected result.

answered Oct 4 2011 at 0:20

The Quilt
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I don't know about the first two lines but I'd agree with his third line. The results are what I'd expect from not eating well a quarter of the time and running that much. You're probably just eating too much food in general. – ben61820 Oct 4 2011 at 1:21

Jeff · Answer 3 · 2011-10-03 23:48:58Z UTC

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Yeah it could be all the cardio. Not sure how you're training but if you haven't checked out crossfit endurance it is a great way to train.

http://www.crossfitendurance.com/

answered Oct 3 2011 at 23:48

Jeff
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	Plus one........ – The Quilt Oct 4 2011 at 0:20
	Yes - I have checked it out, but need some training on the wods. Best thing to buy - digital big clock? timing makes you push harder. Or some key equipment..have to check out the crossfit site to see what is meant by some of the abbreviated terminology for the actual exercise. – Laurel Oct 6 2011 at 13:09
	Yeah the terminology can be tricky at first, I'm happy to help explain it to you. Big clock? eh. its not really useful when you're outside running. – Jeff Oct 6 2011 at 13:56
	here's such a great testimonial from their site... “…Thought being a busy mom of 4 would be noteworthy. My average weekly training time for my 40 weeks of training was only 5 hours! I took over an hour and half off from my first Ironman in ’08 when I trained an average of 14 hours per week. I never swam much more than a mile, 1.5 miles x2. I biked only one 100 mi ride back in May, one 56 mile half-ironman ride and all other rides were under 42 miles. I did one long run of 16.5, one 13 mile during half-ironman, one 10 mi prior to that, the rest under 7 miles.” – Deb Iovoli – Jeff Oct 6 2011 at 14:04

FED at LiveCaveman.com · Answer 4 · 2011-10-04 01:38:07Z UTC

Long-distance running, cycling, swimming, etc. places a preferential pressure on the body to store energy as fat.

This is in accord with the SAID principle (specific adaptation to imposed demand).

As others said, dietary laxness and excessive cortisol (4-5 nights a week of running) are very likely contributing as well.

You can train for long distances by running 1/4 mile sprints, which also has the benefit of increasing muscle mass and shifting the metabolic impetus to the storage of energy as muscle glycogen.

This would also allow you to decrease your overall training volume and stress-induced cortisol elevation.

eating paleo and training for 1/2 marathon.. tummy tire returning!!

4 Answers