Hey Jeremy,

I can't say for sure, but the issue might be the one cheat day. If your cheat day includes really heavy stuff like pasta, then you'll be undoing whatever mending your body did for the previous six days. As I understand it, the body can inflame very quickly, but to undo that damage takes time. As in, for some, healing a leaky gut can take months, even longer. So for real effects to take place, you should try holding firm to paleo seven days a week, and maybe even try something like a Whole 30 (http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/). Your body will resoind in time, and you'll be able to fight of cravings more and more as you continue.

The only other possiblity, as far as I can guess, is that your rough ratios are off. If your carb intake is still fairly high, then you won't see a lot of progress, Try upping your fat and/or protein intake to see what makes you feel the best. If you do want some carbs, look to vegetables, as you can get a lot of good nutrients there that will help your body repair damage from your former way of eating.

Hi, Jeremy! Many things could be going on ...

• I am in weight loss mode; if I had one cheat day per week, I would call it maintenance. For me to gradually lose weight, my only cheat days are major holidays.
• Your exercise may be adding muscle, which weighs more than fat. Has the fit of your clothes changed at all?
• You didn't say how long you've been "paleo." EDIT: Duh! The title was a clue. Okay, a month. :-)) If you have emptied some fat cells, they may be temporarily refilled with water that will gradually be released later.
• Some people, particularly in the first month or two, have a large enough appetite that they don't lose weight unless they deliberately cut back on portion sizes. It's a fine balance between hunger and too much food.
• It's hard to say, but the words "lean meat" concern me a little as my best weight loss comes when I eat meals of fatty meat and cut back on most other foods.

I tend to eat moderate carbs but that slows the pace of my weight loss.

Hi Jeremy,

My guess/suggestion is to increase your omega 3 fatty acid intake and reduce your omega 6 fatty acid intake.

I don't see any mention of seafood in your post. Try incorporating more wild caught seafood into your diet.

Your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio might be the reason you are not losing weight, but this is just a guess.

Here is more info:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Omega-3-for-Weight-Loss---A-Research-Proven-Concept&id=787147

Good luck.

I would not lose weight on Paleo unless I went Paleo-ketogenic, reduced calories, but maintained relatively high amounts of fat. Plain Paleo would make me lose only 1-2 lbs per month, with Paleo-keto I've lost 2 lbs in one week so far. I eat about 1300-1500 calories per day (I'm only 4'11" so I don't need more), 30gr of carbs per day. I cook with coconut oil, I eat offal and fermented foods, I track my vitamins/minerals and supplement if needed. So far, so good.

here is another option I recall reading on physiquetransformation.com that you lose visceral fat (inside the organ cavity fat) first and with some muscle gain due to better protein intake the first 30-45 can be an even wash, gain 5lbs of muscle and losing 5lbs of fat would look the same on the scale... ... my advice get off the scales and do as Sisson says... just relax and tweak it as you go... and the cheat day can't be helping... I just got back on my paleo and have shed 15 or so pounds in the last two weeks alone... (I'm seriously low in the carb count, hello Ketosis!)

I don't know how much you weigh and this would be important but I have a theory that when starting a new diet which is somewhat restrictive compared to your old diet your body begins a natural self-preservation method which holds on to the fat and glycogen it already has accumulated and also the fat and glycogen it consumes. This is because the body, which in most cases is basically or almost dependent on a higher calorie or higher carb diet in this hypothetical situation, and so it almost requires this extra substance and tries to hold on to it.

We also have to understand that when we see a body hold on to fat or glycogen for a long time, it is a sign that our bodies are acting efficiently because if that person was living in a situation without much food then the body is acting well and appropriately. And the body understands that it has been damaged based on its old diet, so it needs more calories and nutrients to repair itself and it is trying to "do better this time."

I believe that your body will begin to cycle through fat and glycogen appropriately eventually and that it just is an adjustment period. This is all theory on my part though lol and a wild ass guess. But good luck to you.

There is a ton of info on here about people doing Paleo and not losing weight - try using the search button or look up weight loss as a tag

Well, you've gotten the gambit of paleo answers. I'll be the bearer of conventional news: calories in vs calories out matter. Your weight trend (more accurately, you fat mass tend) tells you what your energy balances is: positive, neutral or negative. If you're not losing weight or fat mass, you're energy neutral or positive. If you're losing, you're energy negative.

Paleo isn't magic, where calories no longer matter. The paleo "magic" is eating the right foods that enable high levels of nutrition and satiety, while keeping energy at maintenance or deficit levels.

Just want to echo the 'measure' sentiments. I'm a woman with a big frame (huge head, huge wrists) and I build muscle pretty easily. My weight can go up even as my physical size goes down. Also, once in a while I get a friend who's a nutritionist to do a skinfold test for me. You can get directions for doing this yourself online, too. The most interesting thing for me about doing this is noticing where I hold fat -- it burns off my thighs and chest quite quickly...but boy does it hang out around my gut!

you are eating too much. i havent lost weight for two months and im eating exactly the right amount to stay at this weight. think of how accurate i must be for that to happen. i suspect that you too have this fine control over calorie consumption.