Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I'm 20, 5 feet and 175 pounds. I was pretty skinny as a kid, but started gaining weight without realizing it and once I got a little older and weight became something that I thought about, it was too late.

It's time for a change, this is my first attempt at losing weight and I don't want to drive myself crazy worrying about what I should or shouldn't eat, so my question is; can you eat anything, in moderation, work out hard everyday, and still lose weight and be fit?

I currently drink pop sporadically, barely ever water. My sleep hours are not normal at all, and I don't eat breakfast. But if I cut out out pop, drink 8 glasses of water daily and get on a normal sleep schedule, would that improve my chances of losing weight also? I'm planning on buying a treadmill after the holidays.

edited Nov 18 2011 at 19:21

Dragonfly
31.6k●1●9●41

asked Nov 18 2011 at 18:46

Ashley
33●4

	Keep things simple, like Mash said! Never ever fear whole food either, or you'll end up starved. Oh, and : coconut oil is your best friend when you wanna lose weight. – Korion Nov 18 2011 at 19:54
	Good to know, I love anything coconut, I've never had coconut oil, but I'll have to try it now. Thanks! :) – Ashley Nov 18 2011 at 20:00
	Eating breakfast and the amount of water you drink have absolutely nothing to do with weight loss. – Forgotten18 Nov 19 2011 at 16:00
	Really? I heard that from somewhere. I now realize I've been somewhat naive, and that I do need to analyze what I eat, it's just that weight and weight loss is such a big part of today's society. There's so many "diets" and diet gimmicks out there that my heads spinning on where I should even start, or what my diet should really look like... – Ashley Nov 20 2011 at 5:39

AlohaSpeck · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-18 19:21:03Z UTC

Ashley, the best thing I think is to keep things simple to get started.

Set yourself some regular exercise goals. Pick two days a week, say Sunday and Wednesday and layout a simple workout plan. If you are a complete beginner then perhaps 3 or 5 rounds of: 3 pushups, 10 situps, 10 squats. This way you can slowly increase your reps of each excersize as your fitness improves. Also spend the money you were going to buy the treadmill with on some good running shoes and good food. Then simply set yourself a little distance to run once or twice a week. http://www.walkjogrun.net is helpful to create a route around your home.
Create some simple meals and stick to them. There are loads and loads of information on this site and others about what to eat so I will not repeat it. The main thing is to plan your meals, don't leave it to chance or you will like me end up grabbing a sandwich or a chocolate bar somewhere.
Really try and drop the sodas, they really are just sugar water or worse. Try getting into the habit of liking water. Don't try and drink 8 glasses a day, rather just buy a bottle of water and drink that throughout the day, then when it's empty fill it up and carry on.
Don't get bogged down with the hundreds of blogs/articles/comments. Try not to micromanage your new lifestyle changes but rather find some solid simple points and keep to those. Make yourself a summary list, and stick it on your desk. You have all the time in the world to read up on the glycemic index of potatoes over yams, or whether you should eat berries or bananas after a workout. Rather just start eating and execizing regularly first. You can look at the finer points of everything later.
If you do have a lot of specific questions, pick one and find the answer to that first, then move on to the next.
Keep things simple and enjoy the journey!

Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-11-18 20:30:22Z UTC

Lean meat and 100g or so of carbs of your choice throughout the day will take you there pretty quickly. Supplement with 5000IU D3, 100mcg K2, 400mg chelated magnesium (or citrate).

Invest in a good down jacket and walk around a lot outside or I suppose a treadmill that you use whenever you watch TV might be a good route as well.

You'd want to do some resistance exercises, but you could just do bodyweight stuff at home, or you could buy some dumbbells.

A high activity level makes fat loss a lot easier, but it's also really important for your health overall.

That's about as much as I can boil down the most important things. There are a lot more details, but it's all diminishing returns after those.

Nance · Answer 3 · 2011-11-18 19:37:12Z UTC

Ashley, I agree with Mash about keeping things simple and just dropping the soda.

You didn't mention your favorite whole foods; I'd suggest you think about that and come up with a fairly short list to try for a week to see how you feel.

For example, do you like eggs for breakfast? Is there a meat you like with them? That's the first meal of the day and if you're not hungry first thing have it when you ARE hungry.

If you really don't like tap water--not that uncommon--taste some spring water and you may be surprised to find you like the taste. That worked for me, just look for the bottles/jugs labeled mountain spring water. After a while on that, even tap water will start to taste better if you haven't had soda for a while.

For your second meal, think about what kind of meat you like--beef or chicken or fish? Then just add a salad or whatever vegetable you like.

It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated, just simple food for a week and see what you think and how you feel after that.

Paleo2.0 · Answer 4 · 2011-11-18 19:45:49Z UTC

Some people can moderate their eating habits and lose weight, and some people can’t. Losing weight can be a lot different than putting it on. There is no harm in trying though.

Try to avoid sweet drinks and crap-in-a-box type foods. Don't skimp on protein. At restaurants only eat half and take the other half to go for another meal.

I would not work out “hard” every day. Walk a lot and work out hard less often. I walk a lot on a treadmill and read books while I’m doing it.

As you get closer to your goal weight or if you stall, you may have to adopt different strategies.

Ali · Answer 5 · 2011-11-18 20:16:19Z UTC

People approach a lifestyle change in different ways. What worked for me was easing into things.

First I cut out processed foods. Instead of buying a meal-in-a-box, I would make something similar using real foods. Hamburger Helper, for example, is so easy to replicate--and it tastes better!--using real stuff. Just cook up ground beef, add spices and whatever veggies you want. I usually do ground beef, onions, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes. I took a similar approach with all my favorite meals and soon I was using all real foods and no processed foods. Take it one meal at a time.

I tried for several months to kick my soda habit and after about a week or two I'd NEED a soda! It was very frustrating. I suggest instead of just cutting soda, figure out what you like about soda and replace it so you're not missing that craving. When I did this, I realized what I loved was the bubbles. I started drinking carbonated water with lime juice added. This did the trick! I haven't had a soda since August and I'm not craving it at all. I have a glass of carbonated water a couple times a week and it keeps me satisfied. 8)

Food/exercise/lifestyle change question.

5 Answers