I recently started following a paleo diet, to some degree. I've had people telling me about the "caveman diet" for a long time and urging me to try it out. After hearing more about it than usual in the last few months, including pro sc2 player Sheth was swapping to it and having great success (http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/20...eight-and-pain) I decided to have a go myself. After all, I love eating meat, more of it couldn't be bad right?
Basically it emphasises lot's of natural, unprocessed foods and removing grains, dairy, legumes (beans etc) and junk foods which it claims the body isn't adjusted for and struggles to process and digest.
For me a diet is just a guideline on getting good nutrition and cutting out excess crap from what I want to eat. Whilst I avoid most grains, legumes and dairy with this diet I still eat some and aren't super strict about the diet, it's more a guideline to eating well so I don't gorge on crap.
Large servings of meat, eggs and vegetables at all my meals + several pieces of fruit/nuts throughout the day for snacks has been amazing. I rarely crave junk anymore, and can always eat until I'm full. I feel physically stronger, more energetic and mentally a lot more positive probably because my body is satisfied all the time and I'm not stuffing my face with chocolate late at night!
Some common recipes I cook:
Breakfast: Omelette (2 servings) -
Ingredients:
6-8 eggs (depending on size)
~400gm of frozen vegies (capsicum, beans, broccoli, cauliflower)
2 rashers of bacon (optional)
+any leftovers, chicken, roast vegies or whatever else.
Mixed herbs or Oregano
salt + pepper
Preparation:
1) Defrost vegies in microwave
2) dice bacon
3) chuck them both in the fry pan to fry up
4) break the eggs into a bowl and add a good amount of pepper + herbs, if not using bacon add some salt too.
5) whisk the eggs thoroughly till a thick yellow paste with no lumps
6) Once the bacon and vegies are cooked to your liking pour the eggs over and reduce frypan to low heat. Cook ~7-8 minutes or until browning and then turn over and cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side or until browning.
^^
breakfast/lunch of champions :P
As for vegies, frozen vegies get pretty boring after a while so myself and Dot have started baking up a bigass batch of pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots once a week. We brush them all lightly in oil and mixed herbs and bake them for about 30-40 minutes @180degrees then increase to 230degrees for another 10 minutes to crisp them up. Apparently if you add cinnamon it's delicious, looking to try this on our next batch
Result = a constant supply of delicious roast vegies to go along with every meal.
Often dinner is just a good serving of roast vegies + whatever the meat of the day is:
Dot has become super pro at cooking meat and insists it must sit to room temperature, then rub in garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooking it on high temperature either with a turnover every 30second-minute constantly for the whole process or for 2-3 minutes on each side with just one turnover, or until just nice and pink but not too bloody inside.
The Actual Results
Ok so since on this I've dropped about 3-4kg in the past I'd say month or 6 weeks. Most importantly I feel a lot stronger. Partly because I'm ensuring I go jogging 5-6km at least twice a week. This isn't really a lot of exercise especially since in the past I used to go to the gym 5 times a week, however it's completely sustainable and fits my busy work schedule really well. I'm working to slowly increase the amount of exercise I do without every cutting into the rest of my life.
Overall I feel a lot happier and more positive and still eat the occasional grains, pasta or dairy without any real adverse effects other than feeling a bit more bloated/lethargic than I do after a Paleo meal.
Feedback
I'd like to hear anyones input on what possible vitamin deficiencies are possible on a paleo diet, for instance where do I get calcium if I don't eat dairy? Any issues you guys have with it or reasons you like/dislike the diet!
I have been doing something similar, but with more hardcore exercise. Most mornings I will have some sort of stirfry with noodles, mostly steamed vegies or simmered in sauce. Even doing that mad me feel loads better than just random junk.
However good luck with it, I cant stand eggs haha. As for dairy, thats sort of tricky to add in. Low fat cream/milk in sauces seems to help myself with the occasional glass of milk here and there. But if in doubt and you cant seem to get enough, maybe consider just buying a calcium supplement?
Often its not a 'paleo' diet that makes you lose weight and/or feel less lethargic, its actually just a bi-product of eating less food in general. Whilst paleo works for many people, its not necessary and if you feel like eating dairy I would recommend going for it, with the caveat that you eat less of something else. Any lifestyle of eating food will work if you cut out one major macro nutrient (ie.Carbs, Protein or Fat), it just so happens people tend to enjoy eating protein based food. So I guess, if it works for you go for it, but don't feel like youre sinning and going to hell if you eat dairy/carbs or something
Good stuff man, keep up the hard work
Ill be looking into this diet now as it looks like something i can benefit from,
Also do some reading into the Blood Type Diet, concept is basically different blood types benefit from different foods (O for example lots of red meat and not much grains / Legumes, but A is a vegetarian)
Here's a little something to add to you workout Routine, I'm doing this twice a week at the moment and its destroying me
Filthy 50s (cross fit routine)
1. 50 x Box jumps
2. 50 x Kettle-Ball swings (using 10kd dumbbell atm)
3. 50 x Lunges
4. 50 x Knees to elbows (hang like a pullup, then pull your knees to your elbows)
5. 50 x Push-ups or dumbbell press
6. 50 x Crunches
7. 50 x Olympic clean n press 10 kg
8. 50 x Burpees
9. 50 x Double unders skipping
10. 50 x Back extensions / superman lift
might have to start on like 35-40 like i did and work your way up
Good to see you have fruit in there. Some people cut out all sugars which seems utterly rediculous because the brain is the only organ of the body that exclusively uses sugars for energy.
Good to see you have fruit in there. Some people cut out all sugars which seems utterly rediculous because the brain is the only organ of the body that exclusively uses sugars for energy.
I don't particularly like getting preachy or anything on the topic of diets because lets face it - it's turning into a politics/religion/sex kinda thing where everyone has their own thoughts and opinions and everyone is an "expert". But, I thought I'd chime in here on your post Cabra, as on the surface this seems true, but not technically correct^0, the best type of correct.
There is a big process in terms of how the brain (and body) gain and consume energy, as detailed in the Krebs Cycle. One of the ways the brain takes and uses energy is from a protein stored in fat called "ketone"^1 which is where the name of the version of low carb that I do (similar to Paleo but a little more directed at weight loss) comes from, "Keto".
While many of the low-carb (hereinafter referred to as LC) diets do say you should minimise fruit intake; the main reason is because of the high carb intake in fruits, such as bananas (the worst), apples and oranges - the other reason is that these fruits have been selectively bred for their higher sweetness over time. The apples and oranges of today are NOTHING like what they used to be hundreds of thousands of years ago^2. Because of the selective breeding (similar to how all selective breeding is done) the fruits that produce "nicer" crop have been taken to breed more than that which had "worse" crop (see: sour). This, over time, has caused the fruits of today to have a ridiculous amount of fructose compared to the fruits of yester-year.
Now, I'm not saying that people on LC diets are on a mission rebelling against modern fruits. Nor am I saying that fructose in of itself in it's natural form is bad. But when you're doing a diet/lifestyle that needs to comprise of low carb intake, you simply cannot go near the basic fruits like this, simply because it'll screw up your ketosis^3. People on LC diets can go near some of the fruits (some of the old-world berries are commonly consumed, I for one love a few strawberries with cream) and depending on your intake sometimes sure, you can have an orange, or an apple. But after that? If you're on a keto diet where your target is less than 20g of carbs per day? You're already at the limit, after one, simple, piece of fruit because we messed with evolution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kez
Often its not a 'paleo' diet that makes you lose weight and/or feel less lethargic, its actually just a bi-product of eating less food in general. Whilst paleo works for many people, its not necessary and if you feel like eating dairy I would recommend going for it, with the caveat that you eat less of something else.
Again, while true in many respects, to dismiss paleo as "often not" the cause is a little overzealous. I can definitely agree with the mantra of "eat less than you put out and you'll lose weight". This is incredibly true, and for anyone wanting to lose weight - if you don't follow that simple guideline, you're never going to hit your goal. BUT. It's remiss to dismiss LC diets as the cause of weight loss because there has been a lot of research going into it recently, and it has been proven to assist in not only weight loss, but it can help with type 2 diabetes^4, high LDL cholesterol (the bad one)^5, has shown good results in treating Alzhiemers^6 and has even gone so far as to possibly have effects on certain cancers(there was an article for this but I can't find it, sorry).
While (once again) I'm not trying to be preachy and "convert you to the holy path" or anything; there is research out there and a lot still going on to suggest that LC diets are a much better way to eat healthy. Lets face it; before the 1960's when certain American studies "did research" (and later were proven to have been partly inherently incorrect due to them being... bought out. No names *cough* FDA *cough*) into the "evils" of fat consumption - people were eating higher fat diets and MUCH lower carb diets. Then one considers, when did the obesity epidemics start? Interestingly, in the 70s... Your point on "eat less than you put out" is certainly valid though, I just wanted to caution that there is a lot of faith and support drifting the way of LC diets and lifestyle, and to dismiss weight loss/reduced lethargy as a "bi-product" is a little unfounded imo - and not just because they help with weight loss.
But talking about PiG's OP now...
Good to hear you're enjoying the new style of eating Pig, I find it quite funny, given that one of the huge keystones of the keto/paleo diets is "eat a shitload of bacon" hahaha.
A couple of notes:
Be very careful of carrots and sweet potato. They are huge in terms of carbs, essentially anything from underground will have a slightly higher carb count (see ^7 and ^8)
I didn't see anything about water - I'm assuming that you're doing a heap of water but if you're still on a normal amount you were pre-paleo; you really should up the intake of water. It'll help out with your energy and keep you from plateauing later on
Regarding you calcium issue: the "pure paleo" which you seem to be half on does advise to restrict on your dairy intake; but if you're going to do "pure paleo" then... you shouldn't be having eggs either. As a person on Keto I have cheese quite often, and that's where a lot of my calcium comes from, alongside cream which we're fine to have. I guess that one is a preference on how far you want to take the diet, but for ease of life I wouldn't restrict dairy - obviously don't have to much standard processed milk because it has a lot of sugars in it - but cream, cheeses (even cream cheese) are fine in moderation
I know Mayo is big on LC diets so I do speak to him from time to time about it, good to see there's someone else to chat to as well!
If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. I'm not an expert on the deep-medicine side of it, but I am happy to try to answer anything. I've been on Keto^9 for... erm I think about 13 months now, and over that time I've lost a total of 33kg, (net loss of about 25 because I go up and down sometimes unfortunately ).
@duckville I already drank a buttload of water every day before starting this diet so that's covered
Sweet potato is sooo good! A shame it's high in carbs but that's cool I've been eating quite a lot of it and its going well
Losing 25-30kg is great man! grats!
@abbadonz lol I don't even know my blood-type But that actually sounds really cool!
@kez the point is I can eat a buttload of meat and whatnot and it keeps me full longer and satisfies me more so I don't crave all junk food much at all. I agree though overall caloric intake is most probably less due to not eating/wanting to eat any junk You can eat MORE in terms of it meat, fruit and veg so it feels like you're eating more size of food. But as the foods are more calorically sparse it adds up to less energy
@flamga apparently most green vegies have calcium in them so I think it actually should be fine
Diary afaik is very important part of a proper healthy diet and it really helps with muscle gain and sleep - seems odd that eggs are okay while diary is not as correct me if im wrong but aren't eggs grouped with other diary product on food pyramid thingy?
Anyway I also suggest absolutely not ever doing a no carb diet at all let alone for extended periods. The atkins diet has a high protein and high fat phase - which is often mistaken for the entire diet - that only last 2 weeks. I tried no carb diet and got really really sick because of it, maybe possible if you don't exercise but I was just doing 3k runs 3 times a week and was getting migraines and feeling sick and weak etc. Got better after I started eating carbs again
I guess the difference is good carbs versus bad carbs so I try to stick to wholemeal bread only and only for breakfast
But as I live with my parents and my dad actually said that having a healthy diet is "just a fad" I get no control over my diet and thus cannot maintain a low carb diet TT
So until I move out I'm just trying to exercise a lot and stay away from junk foods which make me lethargic and depressed
One tip I found is eat a good breakfast a few hours before exercise. Sunday I had bacon and scrambled eggs with a slice of wholemeal bread about 3-4 hours prior to hitting the gym. I managed a 5k run, 3k row, full body weight training and had energy to spare. Today I had slice of bread and boiled eggs 30 minutes prior and couldn't manage half of that
Speaking from a scientific standpoint (I'm studying science), I can tell you that the whole cals in < cals out thing is severely outdated bullshit and anyone that bothers to count cals in this day and age is wasting a huge amount of time and effort. What you really want to be doing is measuring your KILOJOULE intake, I mean, why do you think everything you eat, when you read off the side in this day and age has kj values, yet cal values are absolutely no where to be seen...
Also, the idea that as an adult human you need 8,700kj is really, really accurate. There are people who have spent their entire lives coming up with the values you need, so trust them. Basicall if you are eating over 9,000kj or below 8,400kj, you are going to risk putting on weight. It seems counter-intuitive that if you ate less kj you would put on weight, but there have been NUMEROUS studies showing that adults eating a diet consisting of <8,000kj (especially if it is not a no-carb diet!!!!!!!) will put on weight as opposed to a person eating 8,700kj.
Exercise: Unless you want to look like a roided up idiot, do NOT touch weights. once you put on muscle, it doesnt come off without becoming fat first, and you are bound to over-shoot how much muscle you want and end up with fat if you begin weight-lifting. I'd instead advocate only light cardio.
Good luck with everything, hopefully you can sift through the retarded miss-information other people are giving and actually just use the advice from knowledgeable, well-learned people. (hint: if they didnt go to university and study something other than arts or commerce, they are probably morons who have no idea about nutrition!!!!)
As someone who studied science for the better part of 2 years, Pinder is totally right. When everything is in kilojoules you can eat more! Try containing yourself to 1800 calories? Why do that when you can have 8700 kj!
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