Anyone heard of the Paleo Diet?

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Ivy

Cathlete
I have just now heard of it and picked up the book, after browsing through it briefly, it seems pretty healthy overall, I do not eat a lot of meat, it just does not sit in my system well. Other than that it seems like a healthy way of eating rather than a diet, does anyone have any experience of eathing this way?

Thanks ahead of time;)
 
Love, love, love the Paleo lifestyle!!

I have been eating Paleo for about 4 months now and have never felt better! I have always been gluten intolerant so the transition of cutting out all grains wasn't too difficult. I have seen huge gains in muscle mass (actually seeing definition :D) and body fat loss but most importantly I feel fantastic!! I highly recommend it!
 
Just getting back to you

See, my issue is; I do love beans and I love, love, love my oatmeal. I would have to give up the beans and the oatmeal, or atleast seriously limit each one. I will have to give it a try, and maybe I will take a look at the primal blueprint. By the way, how quickly did you see the pounds drop off?

Thanks guys
 
I totally understand the love of oatmeal and honestly, if/when I really have to have oatmeal, I have oatmeal. (This is coming from a girl that had oatmeal with yogurt every morning and typically again for dessert every day for about a year! :eek:) Anyway, I don't believe in total deprivation of things that I love however I will say since going Paleo, I find that I don't want it as much and it doesn't taste as good as it used to. That said, from the onset I gave myself one non-paleo meal a week, if I really wanted it. Now for me, it is still a gluten free meal but typically, for example, I make a pizza using almond flour and put cheese on it which would make it non-paleo. So, although not paleo, not too far off the mark and still gluten free.

As far as fat loss - I will admit I went a little nuts, literally, in the beginning. I ate nuts like nobody's business. :p I thought I could eat as much as I wanted of anything as long as it was Paleo...Doesn't work like that - Just like anything else, everything in moderation. I will also say that I haven't seen a huge change on the scale...a few pounds maybe, but I am relatively small anyway so not much to loose. The huge difference has been in how my clothes fit, the muscle definition and people said I looked like I was losing weight! :D Anyway, seemed to happen pretty fast...I have only been doing it for about four months and I would say within a month is when people started noticing. Hope that helps! :D
 
I reserve the right to eat oatmeal anytime I want it, but I've had no desire to. It's in my cabinet if I want it.;)
I ate stuffing, pie, and dinner rolls for Thanksgiving. I enjoyed it going in, but felt like crap :(and couldn't wait to get back on track the next day.

I'm not saying I will never eat grains, but my daily diet does not include them because I feel 100 times better without them. Grains were creating a lot of problems for me...food cravings, yo-yo weight changes, low grade depression & fatigue. I was miserable. Even worse, it was keeping me from reaching my physique goals.
I'll cheat when I need to, but I really enjoy the food I'm eating and look forward to every meal.:cool:
 
Convinced

I am not good when first starting a new eating pattern, but hopefully this will be something that I can handle and that I will want to stick with. It sounds like a good plan after hearing from you both. Thanks guys.
 
I have also heard so much of this diet and went to my clinical nutritionist about it. I am doing a slightly tweaked version but I want to give it a try to see if it helps with energy. December is soooo stressful with so much on our to-do lists that I'm looking for any healthy additional energy I can find :D

By the way, I'm giving up all my beloved peanut butter while on this :eek::eek::eek:...if you don't hear from me you'll know why, lol!
 
Peanut butter is one of my favorite things too! I have found that sunbutter is a decent substitution. I love to put it on my protein pancakes! Yummo!! :D

Natalie
 
I did not intend to eliminate peanuts from my diet, but I haven't eaten them in a very long time because I'm addicted to cashews!Yummy!

Why are they bad?

Johnny Bowden included them in his book "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth"
He says they are high in niacin and are a good anti-oxidant.

"Peanut butter contains a high concentration of polyphenols called p-coumaric acid. P-coumaric acid is associated by its antioxidant abilities and anti-cancer properties. It is also considered to be helpful in lowering blood cholesterol levels."
 
I am curious about this diet but would like to know from those of you who follow it how it differs from the Atkins diet or any other low carb diet???
 
According to paleo websites:

Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions.

Types of legumes to avoid on the paleo diet include lentils, all beans (such as kidney beans, pinto beans and broad beans), peanuts (peanuts are a legume not a nut), soy beans and chickpeas.
 
MissL said:
I am curious about this diet but would like to know from those of you who follow it how it differs from the Atkins diet or any other low carb diet???
Click to expand...

Right off the top of my head...Atkins allows dairy and grains in the maintenance level.
Paleo or Primal are dairy and grain-free.
 
lovetostep24 said:
According to paleo websites:

Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions.

Types of legumes to avoid on the paleo diet include lentils, all beans (such as kidney beans, pinto beans and broad beans), peanuts (peanuts are a legume not a nut), soy beans and chickpeas.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I don't think I'll have a problem avoiding peanuts. I prefer cashews to peanuts. I haven't tried cashew butter yet. That's on my list of food to try.

Primal is on the fence about yogurt & cheese. Milk is forbidden. I've never been a fan of milk, so that is not a problem. I like a small amount of cheese and greek yogurt though.:)
 
I'm working on doing this also.
fit44, can you please give some examples of your favorite meals on this plan? :)
 
Angela,

My favorite food on this plan is:
Salmon steak &
Spinach, strawberry, blueberry, red onion, pecan salad drizzled with flax or olive oil dressing. I could eat this salad everyday....and I think I did for a month.:p

The bulk of what I eat is fresh produce.
I am very creative with veggies combining every green leaf plant (chard, romaine, spinach, spring mix, kale) with home grown tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli. I eat a huge salad at dinner almost every night. If I'm not that hungry (like last night), I ate a salmon steak.

I eat every fruit in season. I was into a watermelon kick over the summer.
Strawberries and blueberries are my favorite fruit, so I eat that pretty much everyday. Bananas, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, raisins, grapes, cranberries. I LOVE Trader Joe's dried pineapple! OMG, that stuff tastes like candy and it has one ingredient...pineapples.:D

My favorite nuts to snack on...pecans, cashews, pistachios, almonds.

I eat salmon steak or Talapia 2-3 times a week, roasted chicken with skin (I use herbs of province from Williams Sonoma), turkey, filet mignon once a week. I grill weekly all year round.

There are a lot of healthy recipes on Mark's Daily Apple website and in the Paleo books.
I don't like to cook, so this diet works great for me because I eat mostly raw.
I make protein smoothies post workout...using J-Robb protein powder & fruit (sometimes spinach), and I bought a juicer to make green juices. :)

And I include some dairy in my diet(non-paleo) - greek yogurt and provel cheese(a local favorite).

I forgot...eggs! I eat eggs several times a week.
 
I have read the book years ago and really wanted to go on the diet....I found it really hard at that time, espeically with kids and the amount grains in the house was ridiculous!!!! Now that I am becoming more intolerable to gluten, I think I need to fully commit. I found I feel my best when I go gluten-free, but even processed gf items seems to make me feel sick too. It takes a lot of discipline, but the feeling I get when I have gluten really makes it worth the switch!!! UGH!!!

What I also found interesting about the Paleo diet is , my sister who is having fertility issues (she is 42) was recommended to go on this diet by her doctor I do think their is some truth to the hype, but not too go crazy on the high fat aspect of it. Which is easy to do by over doing it with nuts, high fatty meats, etc. When you look at what foods you are allowed to eat, they are whole foods, which we all know, is better for us. I am finding that most foods are "overly" processed and it's actually getting worse. In addtion, it's amazing as to what contains gluten...you really have to be careful and read labels. With this diet, there really should be no labels to read!!!:D
 
Jenn,

I COMPLETELY understand about the grains in the house with kids. My husband and I made the switch when our kids moved out! LOL
It is so much easier to transition when you don't have the food in the house. Once this eating lifestyle becomes a habit, it's very easy to walk away from the processed food.
 
So ...

You are eating:

Lean protein (fish, poultry, beef, dairy and eggs)
Fresh veggies
Fresh fruit
Nuts
Olive oil

but no beans, legumes, or complex carbs like brown rice and oatmeal?

I've been toying with the idea of trying gluten-free because I think I have a mild sensitivity to gluten...

To me.. that would mean essentially what you are eating, plus beans, legumes and brown rice and oatmeal..

Do you feel like you are getting enough iron? I've been concerned about that after cutting down red meat consumption to only once or twice a week.

Also... just a quick question..... in simple terms, what is the Paleo diet's reason for eliminating beans and legumes?
 
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