My Paleo

[Anonymous]

"Drop another 10, I might even risk rejection and ask her for a hike…… ;-)"

Hey, you're a Paleo Man. If she refuses, just grab her by the hair….and hope she doesn't have a black belt in karate. ;)

I also have a hunch you're going to develop another craving come spring, one that involves long days wandering around in some very craveable high country. If that doesn't shift your exercise program into high gear, I don't know what will.

[Travis Leanna]

Go get 'er, Doug! :)

[Eli .]

"I'm mostly interested in if the weight loss is actually due to content vs just taking in less."

A major factor in Paleo eating is insulin control. Your insulin levels remain steady and rarely spike. Insulin triggers fat deposition (hindering fat loss) and the low blood sugar that follows an insulin surge leads to hunger/cravings/consumption. This is what I attribute the lack of a "sweet tooth" to.

Just a brief (simple) explanation of how content can = taking in less.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

The exercise comes more easily if you realize that "gut fat" almost always means coronary fat. The motivation is called FEAR OF THE BIG ONE.

BTW, You can often substitute real and natural fruit juices for fresh fruit.

At 68 years, 5' 10" and 183 lbs. I hear your hurt. I'm beginning to lose too. Mostly thru exercise and a more sane diet with very few sweets. And ONE beer per week. (Aaarrrgghh!)

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

No week 3 update? I bet Doug is back up 10lbs and snacking on pop tarts :)

[BlackHatGuy]

Welllllllll, only back up 2 pounds and snacking on chocolate. Lots of stress this past week, I won't bother getting into it, but I'm settled back down and back into the program. ;-) So at the end of week 3 I was at 191. Ate mostly paleo, but cheated a lot with both chocolate and hot chocolate. And one Wendy's burger (I know, I know!) and a lunch at Red, Hot & Blue (barbecue).

Tomorrow morning, breakfast is salmon with asparagus. Back on. Not expecting to be much below 190 by Monday morning, but at least I'll be heading in the right direction again!

Uhhh, thanks, Dan, for keeping track….. ;-)

[Miguel Arboleda]

Doug, it's Christmas season! You'd have to have a will like Batman and be as mirthless as he is to resist the charms of the Chocolate Eggman!

But, chocolate is a good paleo possibility. Just make sure it doesn't contain too much sugar. A good rule of thumb is 70% cacao, bitter chocolate. 80% and up I find too bitter and brittle and dry for my taste.

[Diane Pinkers]

You're inspiring me, Doug! I really should be eating Paleo, but I've had more trouble keeping to it. Staying off dairy isn't hard for me, but the grains, the grains, carbohydrates….I keep playing with gluten-free baking, but I think that even gluten-free isn't quite enough for me. Judging from some of the things said here about Paleo, I may not have been allowing for as much fats as I should have to help control blood sugar. Maybe if I up that ante, it will be easier—once all the holiday goodies are gone!

My question is, what are you going to do for the trail? http://www.heatherlovespaleo.com has some good suggestions that I haven't had a chance to try out yet.

[John Whynot]

Try the Lindt Excellence 90% Cocoa Bar to satisfy the chocolate urge. 1 or 2 squares makes a good treat. I can't go back to the 70% now — it tastes too sweet…

[Karl Myers]

Hey Doug just letting you know that you're inspiring to many! I play baseball at a d1 university and the day i stepped in the door freshman year my trainer gave me a copy of "the primal blueprint" by mark sisson and told me i had to lose weight. There are tons of similarities between the two diets. I struggled a lot with "giving up this and I cant have that" at the beginning. My trainer really helped me with these words of wisdom:

He said that changing over to a primal/paleo diet is more than just a change of diet its a lifestyle change. He also believes strongly that it is not about sacrifice its about altering the way you look at the food you eat. He always says shoot for 80% of your base intake of foods (major meals) to be whole foods such as lean meats, fish, fruits and vegetables but that if you are out with buddies and are getting pizza you dont have to say no, his mantra is "crush it, love it, and then get back on it" meaning if you've been dominating the paleo diet and you and a friend are at lunch and get a burger, enjoy it like you never have before then next meal get back on it and eat something that aligns with the lifestyle change you're making. It really makes you appreciate the foods that may not be "primal/paleo". That idea of this being a lifestyle change more than an end all be all "if you eat a fastfood burger you're screwed" type of deal.

You're doing all the right things and coming from a guy who ate all of the wrong things and found more joy in seeing how many pieces of pizza I could eat at Izzy's than I did eating a boring old chicken breast for the first 20 years of my life, the grass is much greener on the other side. The paleo way of life is the way to be, I've been on it for 3 years now and will never go back to the way I ate and lived before. Thats not to say I don't enjoy the crap out of a wendy's cheeseburger now and again. Never in my life had I ever felt so alive than I did after a few months of the primal diet. Keep it up, you're an inspiration to all!
Happy Trails,
-Karl

[Miguel Arboleda]

Karl, I too feel the "Primal Blueprint" is the best way to "go primal". It is the clearest and most logical book about the whole lifestyle that I've read to date. And, strangely enough for a diabetic going on 15 years now, it is the first book that thoroughly explained how insulin works and why lowering carbs is so important. No one (certainly never my doctor) had ever explained the insulin process to me before. And it's so true, as Mark Sisson, the author of the book says: It's all about the insulin! Control the insulin and you control not only your weight, but your entire immune system, digestive system, hormone levels, and sense of well-being. Do primal as a lifestyle (meaning not just the eating, but all the other points that Sisson focuses on), and you feel better than you've ever felt before… which is actually the normal, natural way to be feeling most of the time!

[Karl Myers]

My thoughts exactly Miguel, whenever you are trying out a new diet or new "lifestyle" like primal or paleo you gotta remember that its not for everyone, you have to find one that works for you. Our trainer always says you gotta ask yourself these three questions whenever trying a new thing:
1) Does the story make sense? – Does the foundation of the lifestyle resonate with you, if not then its just another hail mary attempt to better the path of your life
2) Does the research support it? – Is there valid facts to back up the arguments being made
3) Is it working? – After a while on the new lifestyle look back and see if you're making improvements, if you are then keep on trucking, if not then maybe take it a different direction

To me it made all the sense in the world, I mean, when was the last time you saw an obese animal in nature?
Crush it and love it,
-Karl

[David Ure]

The reason that you don't see an obese animal in nature is because the animal doesn't over eat and take in more calories than it burns, not to mention most wild animals get a lot of exercise. Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake. Period.

[Ike Jutkowitz]

I was skeptical too, so I took the time to do a thorough review of the medical literature. As it turns out, there are quite a few controlled studies showing that people on low carb diets lose more weight than those on high carb, low fat diets, while maintaining lower triglyceride levels. Not that it's needed, but Doug has my support and confidence as well.
Keep up the good work!

[Miguel Arboleda]

David, you keep saying that. As a diabetic my life literally depends on my being able to control my insulin and my weight. I am not obese. Never have been. In fact I was extremely lean and in fantastic shape (I'd just finished 6 months of bicycling around Europe) when I got diabetes. Have almost never overeaten in my life, and I most certainly never ate as much as so many North Americans do! (the portions at American restaurants still astounds me!). And yet now, with daily injections of insulin according to the 4 to 6 times a day blood sugar testing (more insulin when blood sugar is high, less when BG's are low), when I eat a lot of carbs my blood sugar goes sky high and I must inject more insulin, and for the first time in my life I started gaining weight. In the last two years, while following the primal diet both religiously and at times not so religiously, I've watched how my weight and sense of well-being fluctuate right in accordance with the amount of BG's I have and the increase and decrease in injected insulin. I always gain weight when I inject more insulin, even if the amount of food doesn't increase. It is always due to the amount of carbs that I eat (the worst culprit is bread… my blood sugars explode to astronomical highs whenever I eat bread. Rice less so). I have been keeping daily records of my blood sugars and insulin doses and weight for 15 years. I have never been able to gain as much control over my blood sugars and weight as in the last two years going primal. Among diabetics the primal/paleo lifestyle is now almost de rigeur and is fast becoming the basis of diabetic control. And since obesity and gaining weight are a major factor in both succumbing to diabetes and controlling it, I think the science behind low carb makes more sense than anything that has come before. Diabetes is not an "aberrant" disease, but a symptom of the way the general populace eats and lives, so anything that works to control and lessen the impact of the disease (and in many cases of Type 2 diabetes, actually "cure" the disease) applies to the non-diabetic population as well. Simply thinking only in terms of limiting calories doesn't work. It never has. That's why so many millions of people who try very hard to diet and cut back on how much they consume never succeed in losing weight. It isn't simply about "will power". It's the type of food people eat. And the current obsession with low fat/high carb in the States is the very reason why obesity is an epidemic (YES, IT IS A DISEASE! IT IS NOT NORMAL FOR SO MANY PEOPLE TO BE SO FAT! I wish people would stop trying to find platitudes to excuse the epidemic!). Americans, to the rest of the world, are famous for their obesity. As long as everyone continues to think only in terms of calories in/ calories out the epidemic will never get reversed. I do acknowledge that lowering the amount of food you eat is just as important, too. However, when you lower your carbs and up your fat you will also naturally tend to eat less. Satiety is an extremely important factor in how much you eat. Carbs make you hungry because of the increase in blood sugar and insulin.

P.S. Wild animals can and do overeat when they get the chance. Gorging is very common among predators. And yes, animals do get fat… they must, in order to make it through the long winters. It is the fat in their bodies that they live off during those times, not the carbs.

[BlackHatGuy]

"Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake. Period."

You're right, of course, for most people (including me), David. But I do think there's more to it than that, since losing weight isn't the only goal. Having a better level of fitness is, which is more than just losing weight. So increasing exercise is a necessary part of my path to better fitness.

And, besides, back to reducing caloric intake, eating healthy is actually an easy way to reduce caloric intake. Paleo and Primal and others are really just blueprints to eating healthier foods. I'm one of those folks who does much better with a 'blueprint' when trying to better my fitness. It doesn't matter that I know how to eat healthy, I know how to exercise, I know what's good for me. I'm wired in such a way that having a 'program' to follow helps me immensely, so I'm quite happy that there are programs – that make sense (to me) and are backed by science – to assist me in my journey.

And Miguel, Karl, Ike, Brian and others, your encouragement helps immensely as well. I truly appreciate the kind words.

[Karl Myers]

David,
What you're saying IS correct the calories in vs calories out is a tried and true method of losing weight. Thats the beauty of nutrition is dieting that there are more than one way to approach the daunting task of dropping weight. The difference between simply burning more cals than you're intaking and such a diet as the paleo or primal is that it is a lifestyle change more than simply a diet. Yes if you have 2000 calories of twinkies a day and are burning 3000 then yes you will lose weight, the idea behind the paleo or primal is not simply just losing weight its increasing the longevity of ones life, and creating healthy habits. A person on the twinkie diet may lose more weight as someone taking in more calories on a primal or paleo diet but will that person live longer than one that takes on a dramatic lifestyle change such as a paleo or primal? Most likely not.

Doug may have started out with the goal of simply losing weight but he and others taking part in such a change are truly taking steps to live longer, healthier lives. There is evidence to support every diet out there, as well as there is critics and counter-evidence for every diet. It just comes down to simply, "does the story make sense to you? is there evidence that supports it? and most importantly IS IT WORKING FOR YOU? Thats the beauty of it, what works for one person may not work for another its an adventure to find a diet or lifestyle that works for you, but when you do theres nothing but happy trails ahead of you. Keep the faith Doug!
Happy Trails to ALL,
-Karl

[W I S N E R !]

Yes…
BUT

Compare how you'd feel after eating your third 200 calorie salmon steak with how you feel after your third slice of 200 calorie pizza. Eating a fourth piece of salmon would probably be tough. Eating a fourth slice of pizza…most people are just getting warmed up. I've seen my 10 year old son eat three slices of pizza in a row and say he's hungry 20 minutes later. All calories consumed being equal, that doesn't happen to him (or me) after a second serving of chicken breast and helping of salad and veggies…

There's a good deal of evidence (and I've personally experienced it) that protein and fat satiate the appetite far better and LONGER than refined carbs and sugars. It goes back to blood sugar and insulin; high carb/sugar foods cause a spike, protein/fat doesn't. If you can get off the blood sugar/insulin roller coaster, you'll often find your appetite is far more stable and easier to control. This, in a nutshell, is why so many people find it's so easy to maintain weight loss on "paleo" style diets. Plenty of nutrients, plenty of satisfying foods, feeling full after meals without restricting yourself, and fewer cravings and energy level fluctuations.

Good on you Doug, keep it up.

[David Ure]

I did not mean to negate the Paleo diet but the basics of weight loss are really quite simple. I am in no way endorsing the twinkie diet but I do believe it brought the process of losing weight to its most basic and sobering reality.

Do you remember that Seinfeld episode where they are all eating fat free yogurt but keep getting heavier because they were eating so much of it? Funny stuff.

Miquel – I agree with everything you say and the fast food nation doesn't help things. Your situation is very specific, however, and you must watch very closely the sugars that enter you body – I don't pretend to understand the requirements of your condition. I was more referring to Doug's chocolate fixation…..; )

[Joe Clement]

Salmon for breakfast. That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of. I think I'd rather lick an ashtray!

[BlackHatGuy]

Ah Joe, but I had bison steak for breakfast today…..

[David Ure]

What? No Turducken?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken

Max Paleo.

Yo.

[Miguel Arboleda]

David, aside from the complications that diabetes can cause, I think your understanding of the basic problems that cause diabetes are completely sound. It really isn't all that complicated, as you say. It's basically the bad food and how much of it we eat, plus the lack of exercise. Diabetes is actually nothing more than the extreme end of the spectrum of metabolic syndrome, the main cause of obesity. Obesity and diabetes are extremely closely related. Because of the amount of carbs people eat… higher than at any other time in history… diabetes is going through the roof. You could almost say… and many people are now referring to it that way… that diabetes and obesity are diseases of carb intolerance. It's like alcoholism. Too much of a single substance. Most obese people are either insulin resistant or mildly diabetic. Diabetes is part of a spectrum. There is no black and white switch to becoming diabetic. It is all about the amount of BG's in your blood and whether your pancreas is healthy enough to deal with what comes in.

I think if more people understood the requirements and mechanism for a healthy diet, especially how insulin works, and lifestyle and understood that diabetes is an increasingly common (it's epidemic) outcome of living an unhealthy lifestyle, the diabetes epidemic would quickly diminish.

Doug is turning chocolate, I think. Milk chocolate, if I'm not mistaken! ;-)

[Brian UL]

We know that obese people eat more calories than they expend- it is an irifutable fact. The question is what is the cause?
Saying "they eat more calories than they expend,calories in,calories out" – is just restating the problem in different terms! It does not address why!

Again…..
What cause someone to eat more calories than they expend?

Doctor/media/government: they take in more calories than they expend, you know "energy balance".

What? No! No! No! What is the cause!?

Do we see the madness?

[BlackHatGuy]

"Doug is turning chocolate, I think. Milk chocolate, if I'm not mistaken! ;-)"

Oh no, I'm definitely a dark chocolate kinda guy! 70 percent is my fav at the moment.

[Author]

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