Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I'm human.

Therefore, I am prone to error.

I follow paleo fairly strictly but fall off the bandwagon here and there despite the discomfort these "cheat" meals or days cause me. For the past 6 months or so whenever I spend a day eating food I shouldn't (gluten filled, sugar packed deliciousness) like pizza and beer, I pay for it that same night and usually for a few days afterwards.

Yesterday I volunteered at a golf tournament and was given a complimentary lunch of chili dog w/ slaw and a bag of doritos. Not wanting to be rude (but mostly just wanting to eat that stuff since it's been a longgg time) I chowed it down. I also had some chocolate chip cookies, a bagel w/ cream cheese and a couple protein bars (non-paleo) throughout the day.

It was a magnificent cheat day.

Like I said before, I do this here and there completely expecting my bowels to blow up and to feel like complete crap for a day or two afterwards. I know I shouldn't but I'm just not that strong yet.

Anyways, last night I felt great. Lean and strong and I fell asleep nice and quick (which I could never do before eating paleo) and slept through the night. I woke up feeling awesome this morning after only being in bed for 6.5 hours and I'm still feeling pretty great. Right now I feel like I could crush my WOD this evening.

I know that the devastation might just be delayed and I could be in for a world of hurt sometime soon but this time just feels different than any post-cheat time has in the recent past.

I don't plan on cheating more often or anything, went right back to bacon and eggs this morning, but I'm just wondering what might be the cause of my feeling good. Normally, one meal of what I ate yesterday would destroy me but for some reason I seem to escaped the wrath of gluten and sugar this time.

Down to the question. Am I just lucky this time (doubt it), did the amount of Vitamin D I got yesterday have something to do with it (about 6 hours in the NC sun 10am-4pm, 70 degrees), or was it simply because I had a very stress free day (lots of meeting new people, laughing and loving the outdoors)?

Just interested to see what people might think about this anomaly.

flag	asked Oct 24 2011 at 15:34 Nutritionator 5,306●1●8●39

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I know some people say they get more sensitive on paleo, but whenever I have a single isolated cheat day I feel fine and maybe get a zit the next day. Maybe it's the fact I have honey in my tea every morning. I heard Peat has some idea that this makes a difference. If I do this several days in a row I feel bad though. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 24 2011 at 15:41

@Melissa do you consider any whole food to be a cheat? Or do you get zits from anything too sugary? – Korion Oct 24 2011 at 15:50

Well this cheat was fried chicken + beer, so it's mainly gluten I consider the cheat. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 24 2011 at 15:52

Hey Melissa, did you have a link for the Peat honey thing? I couldn't find an article on his site talking about it but I did start incorporating more local honey into my diet after reading Chris Masterjohn's thoughts on it. Honey seems to be a pretty incredible substance and I'd like to read more about it. – Nutritionator Oct 24 2011 at 16:14

No, it's actually just hearsay from Danny Roddy from his FB page. This blog post of his has some info dannyroddy.com/main/2011/10/17/… I mean I am going to put honey in my chai either way though :) – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 24 2011 at 16:59

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Terry · Answer 1 · 2011-10-24 17:59:57Z UTC

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It was probably the added carbs that made you feel so good. Perhaps you are not eating enough carbs in your regular Paleo plan.

answered Oct 24 2011 at 17:59

Terry
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Interesting thought, I am fairly low carb when I'm strict paleo. Still trying to perfect sweet potato fries dammit. – Nutritionator Oct 24 2011 at 20:04

Cory151 · Answer 2 · 2011-10-24 18:38:50Z UTC

I came in 2nd place in fight gone bad in a group of 19 navy SEALS the day after drinking all night long, and spnding the night in a jail cell. I know people that have set PR 2 days after recovering from the flu. I doesnt make sense but I believe if you did those things constantly your performance would degrade.

Travis Culp · Answer 3 · 2011-10-24 15:48:32Z UTC

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I would guess that the actual gluten load with these choices was less than it would be with pizza & beer. Bagels don't need to rise, so perhaps the flour is less glutenous.

Additionally, as we replete various minerals, we improve our mitochondrial function and can handle sugar a lot better. I used to get really bad reactive hypoglycemia, even from eating bananas, but I can eat as much fruit as I want and even sweetened things with no ill-effects now.

answered Oct 24 2011 at 15:48

Travis Culp♦
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Bagels are supposed to be quite chewy, so they're traditionally made with high-gluten flour. Though typical commercial bagels are basically just supermarket bread with a hole in the middle. – Olivia Oct 24 2011 at 15:54

Your second point hit home, I'm definitely better off on my vitamin status these days thanks to liver and probably absorbing things better with a functioning gut. Very interesting. – Nutritionator Oct 24 2011 at 16:18

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AFAIK, bagels do need to rise. – Beth-WeightMaven Oct 24 2011 at 17:39

I'll admit, I'm fairly ignorant about bagel production. Even so, I think the gluten load was less. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 24 2011 at 18:03

Olivia · Answer 4 · 2011-10-24 16:09:43Z UTC

It sounds like you didn't eat a huge volume of food. I wonder if that's part of it. Of course I don't know what the portion sizes were, so maybe I'm wrong. Plus not to discredit anyone's personal experience but I think that sometimes people totally psych themselves out and expect to feel wretched after eating one non-paleo thing and they fixate on it and guess what happens? So maybe your suggestion that the stress-free day played a part is accurate too. Personally I'd chalk it up to luck.

Also, regarding the difference between this cheat and pervious ones: with beer as a cheat, is it possible that mild hangover symptoms might account for some of the physical discomfort the day after? I don't know how much you drink, but it's a thought. Alcohol + high sodium junk food is a great recipe for fairly significant dehydration which can make you feel pretty bad. And alcohol consumption can cause diarrhea.

grace · Answer 5 · 2011-10-25 00:28:33Z UTC

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I think you have a BAD*SS gut lining and hormone signature!

answered Oct 25 2011 at 0:28

grace
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Harlekini · Answer 6 · 2011-10-25 08:47:54Z UTC

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Maybe your body has healed and become leptin sensitive again? in that case, big congrats! :)

answered Oct 25 2011 at 8:47

Harlekini
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pixiedyke · Answer 7 · 2011-10-25 11:31:32Z UTC

Before I started Paleo, I knew that certain things like beer and coffee screwed with my system. I normally avoided those things but indulged in them while I was on vacation. The weird thing was that those foods didn't affect my RA and inflammation nearly as much when I was on vacation. I usually felt great! Since becoming Paleo, I've kinda decided that stress is actually a much larger factor than food in my inflammation. Of course, having the two together: bad food and lotsa stress, will take me down, but if I can manage one better, the other can be a little out of whack.

Right now, stress gets all the slack because I'm in school and working. On vacation, if I eat one of my gramma's homemade biscuits, it won't kill me.

Phazo · Answer 8 · 2011-10-25 01:06:08Z UTC

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It seems like the more strict I am with Paleo, the more cheats hurt me mentally. Gotta stop giving myself extra cheat days.......... aye.

answered Oct 25 2011 at 1:06

Phazo
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Why didn’t my “cheat” day hurt this time?

8 Answers