Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

2

I used to do a lot of running and followed an all vegan diet. This made me quite slim. I always avoided added sugars, but ate fruit and natural sugars in high amounts.

Over the summer I started crossfit and entered a paleo challenge. I cut out most of my cardio, just doing some hikes and walks. I did crossfit 3-4 times a week and followed the diet very closely. At first I was having too much fruit and nuts, but after about 4-6 weeks I got into a really great groove. My body fat fell down to about 17%, and I was looking and feeling great.

About 7 weeks into my challenge I fell off the wagon completely. I stopped going to crossfit regularly, and started eating every thing in sight. This was followed by the stomach flu, tonsil infection, etc.

It's been about 5 weeks since I have been going to crossfit again and following a paleo diet. At first it was hard to not eat too many nuts, and I was also having a lot of whey powder. Since then I've cut out the nuts and whey powder. Here is a typical day of eating for me:

Breakfast 2 hardboiled eggs 2 strips bacon

Lunch Ground beef broccoli grape tomatos

Snack chicken kale chips apple

dinner steak veggies

I also have quite a bit of coffee/tea with unsweetende almond milk throughout the day.

I have 2 problems: 1. Once or twice a week I find myself craving fruit and I eat about 5 or more servings at once. How can I stop doing this? 2. I'm not seeing the results that I want, or that I expected after my summer challenge. How can I lean out more quickly? My intuition tells me to increase my cardio, but I know this is a common misconception. If so, how come I was so much leaner when I was running?

I mostly need help with the amount/type of cardio I should be doing on days when I'm off crossfit. Please help, thanks!

flag	asked Nov 21 2011 at 19:05 bernie 31●2

Nourished Girl · Answer 1 · 2011-11-21 19:51:54Z UTC

Hi, Just my two cents but I suspect you were thinner when you did a lot of cardio possibly because you didn't have a lot of muscle mass. Doing a lot of cardio can lead to muscle loss. So you may have LOOKED thin because of that. As for sugar cravings, I had the same issue which seemed to be help by increasing my carbs a little bit. Not over 100g of carbs a day though. Good luck!

romesaz · Answer 2 · 2011-11-21 19:58:16Z UTC

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Looks to me like you might want to add some fats to that.

Clarified butter, coconut oil, lard, bacon grease, more beef fat if possible, some un-cooked olive oil, etc...

answered Nov 21 2011 at 19:58

romesaz
170●4

bernie · Answer 3 · 2011-11-21 20:22:33Z UTC

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How much fat is too much fat? Because the first time I was doing paleo I was eating a lot more fat, and found that I really leaned out when I cut back on the fat. Are all fats equal? I was thinking of cutting out the bacon and adding more avocados, oils, etc.

answered Nov 21 2011 at 20:22

bernie
31●2

as useless as this may be, it varies from person to person. I can't give you a % even if I know, but I know that I felt fine anywhere between 40-60% of my daily calories from fat. I've seen that # mentioned by a few of the Paleo blogs, but again, your results may vary. The key here is that after a meal, you should feel satiated, not just feeling full, but mind not craving more sugar. Im my experience, if I have a big dinner relatively lacking fat, I will add fat via the sources I've posted above, to the meal I'm actually eating. This helps and prevents me from sugary/carby cravings. – romesaz Nov 22 2011 at 19:37

Nance · Answer 4 · 2011-11-21 20:29:16Z UTC

When I experienced this, my solution was a huge breakfast in order to prevent cravings later.

To your 2 eggs/bacon, I would've added an egg and another strip of bacon, THEN I would've fried 4-8 oz of chuck steak in the bacon fat and I'd have finished with a whole grapefruit. When I did that, I either wasn't hungry again until the next day or I ate a moderate snack such as a can of sardines and a few pecan halves.

Doing this for a few weeks totally stopped my cravings and now I divide my food between breakfast and a second meal IF I stay in good control.

Fell off the wagon having a hard time getting back on

4 Answers