Paleo - gaining weight!

[misscph1973]

I've been Paleo for nearly 2 years now and I have experienced a lot of benefits healthwise.

But in the last 6-8 months I have gained weight! I was always slim before Paleo. I am 41 and I have gained about 3 kg. I am trying to shift it with IF and low carb (3 months now), but it's not budging. I do have some sweet Paleo friendly treats, but not often, and have only a bit of fruit and rearely nuts/seeds. I have dairy occassionally, but I don't seem to have a problem with it. I exercise, I lift weights, although in the last few weeks I haven't done much I have been very busy with work.

To be honest I am fed up googling my problem only to find results that suggest I don't eat enough or that it's hormones or stress. While I am sure these things do play a role, I don't think they apply to me. My hormones are doing quite well because of Paleo, I hardly have any PMS or bad skin anymore, and stress, well, of course I can get stressed, but I have 2 kids a a full time job, so I really don't think it's anything out of the ordinary. And I eat plenty, I have a good appetite and I get plenty of good fats.

I have previously participated in some excellent Paleo thread here on Mumsnet, so I thought I'd post here. Any suggestions?

Well yes, for addicts, I did make that distinction myself. Many people aren't addicts though, they can enjoy a small amount of sugar (in whatever form) then stop, same as with alcohol.

And I disagree that people would be 'done with it forever' even if they gave it up for a few weeks. Not a matter of having mad cravings, just the knowledge that it's something very pleasurable that is available.

Other than that, I agree we are mostly on the same page !

Lots of interesting posts from people who obviously know what they are talking about! Lots to think about and work with.

I failed miserably on my 24 hour fast today - after 18 hours I gave up and decided I was hungry ;) I am quite pleased that I didn't make myself continue the fast, though, and I had a small meal that satisfied me. I also had dinner which I again kept small but satisfying.

Now I know that IF is good for me - it improves my mood (PMS!) and my skin (acne). I also know that only a year ago I lost weight doing it.

Oh, and I weighed myself - I have lost muscle mass :( Down to a lower weight, but still not fitting into my clothes. So I am so getting back on the weights that I haven't touched for a month, I have only been doing body weight exercises and walking/swimming.

I think I am, in the true sense of the word, addicted to (and strangely also very intolerant/allergic to) wheat. It my previous life as a carboholic, I couldn't have one slice of bread, or cake or pizza, it would be 5 or 6, so much I was full to bursting but I still wanted more. Sugar/honey on its own (or in cakes or bread I make occasionally), doesn't do that to me, I can stop at 1 portion and be happy to keep it as an occasional (rare) treat.

I bet that is probably not uncommon in people who are as heavy as I was (Wheatbelly is a fairly good read on the subject), but I accept that there are plenty of people for whom sugar is just as addictive (I've seen the brain scans that show the addiction centres of the brain light up like a Christmas tree with both wheat flour and sugar).

But yes, I think we are saying mostly the same thing here... Eat real food, as close to the natural state as possible...

That should say, in cakes or bread I make myself with coconut or almond flour

That's not unusual, the addiction/intolerance thing raw - our body's reaction against the substance can make us feel high!

I have no doubt that some people have a true addiction to sugar and wheat - in that, they need more and more of the substance to get the same 'hit' that they do initially, whereas others don't. It would be fascinating to know if there is an intolerance or allergy there too or not necessarily ?

Raw, do you mind if I ask, just out of curiosity, would you say you have an addictive personality? I think that plays a part in it all too, but again, could be entirely separate from allergies and the way dopamine/pleasure receptors work .

misscph - don't stress - that is the worst thing you can do to your body . And I don't think anyone on the thread is going to disagree with you getting back to the weights room!

It's interesting stuff, I don't mind you asking at all... I don't think I have an addictive personality, well I'm not at all drawn to alcohol, drugs, gambling or computer gaming and so on, but maybe I was too busy getting high on bread rolls, who knows?!

I have read a bit about intolerance and the compulsion to eat the very thing that's poison to you, and that does seem to be me, very much so.

I was talking to a guy after a yoga class the other day, he was telling me how he has been doing ironman comps for the last few years, but got ill with cancer, is fine now, promised his family he would stop the ironman stuff...hence yoga . He's finding it hard, truly believes that the intense exercise is an addiction. He also made reference, I think, to being an alcoholic and we got on to the addictive personality aspect as DH has a friend who is the same - ironman after ironman (also getting ill with ME like symptoms intermittently but of course there's no connection ), he doesn't drink any more as he recognises he's no good at moderation. So it doesn't necessarily have to be an addiction to food or drink!

I think exercise does have addictive properties too... All those feel good chemicals swishing around your brain after a workout .

Oh yes, apparently the body's most common endorphin is 100 x more powerful than morphine so pretty likely!

So what do you think the connection is with regard to the ironman comps and cancer/ME? Do you think its something physical or mental?

Not sure Bindi, if endorphins are that powerful then it makes perfect sense that they would be highly addictive and you'd get more and more of them the more endurance exercise you do. They are being produced to kill the pain you are inflicting on your body after all instinctively I feel that we aren't really designed to regularly exert ourselves to that extent (3m swim, 50 mile cycle then a marathon, often in terrible conditions), so it would be damaging, but god forbid, in our culture, that you ever suggest someone is doing too much exercise ....it's the socially acceptable face of addiction perhaps?!

Oh sorry, with regard to the illness...maybe just the body saying enough is enough?

mmmm....that's a strong possibility isn't it. Cancer is usually a warning/wake up call to stop or change something either mentally or physically. Interesting.

Do you work from home Sleep

I do so far but only just started a few months ago, all my clients so far have been phone/skype. I'm going to try and get a consulting room for face to face ones soon.

Sounds exciting. What did you do before and what made you decide to do this? Hope you dont mind the questions?

Glad to hear you have managed to loose some of the weight, Miss! :) It's amazing what you can achieve in a week or two of weight exercises.

''I certainly think the emphasis should on leaves/shoot and roots rather than fruit for health, and berry fruits being better when you do have fruit''

That is so true, Raw. Sometimes is difficult to visualise an ancestral diet as our landscape is so very different and often manmade. If we left the landscape alone, Nature would return most of it to a forest type landscape (Masanobu Fukuoka thought even arid zones could revert!). The other struggle we are often presented with comes from our shopping habits: supermarkets and farmers generally have crop yields in mind rather than nutritionally dense produce, resulting in a very much restricted selection of vegetable often nutrient and mineral scarse. Maybe the way forward would be some sort of Agroforestry... I can only envisage this on a small or personal scale.

Favidi, hello. When I was at uni (a million years ago), I remember looking at Agroforestry (as part of a course I did about soil formation/enrichment). It was very interesting as the study was looking at several crops being grown at once... Coffee and pepper vines I think, can't quite remember what else, but using the shade created by bushes/trees to grow other crops that would naturally grow in shady conditions... So less water use, better soil structure from cropping that way, and more productive (at least on small scale African plots anyway).

I live in Scotland, and have tried to tell people that the beautiful landscape of heather and moor we have here in our "wild spots" is almost entirely man made, without the sheep and cattle grazing, heather burning and grouse shooting, it wouldn't exist (not below the tree line anyway). It would be forest and scrubland from one coast to the other (with a few boggy moors).

And it's similar the world over... Much of what we think is natural (landscapes, food crops, domestic "food crop" animals), are man made. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but it is a thing, iykwim!

I don't mind at all Bindi. I was an accountant/corporate finance banker pre-dc's, always with a keen interest in fitness and nutrition, not always with the lifestyle to match . A couple of years ago I ended up talking to Sudrey a Boss (of Beyond Chocolate), our dc's were at school together. She told me all about BC and how it started and it just got me really excited, that set off a trail that led me to the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and here I am. Audrey and BC do amazing work-more of a niche in emotional and binge eating and also teaching people how to cook. At the moment my range is a little wider and I know more about exercise and fitness than cooking, possibly more about nutrition and health issues such as digestion/fatigue/mood...

sudry?? Audrey!

I hav'nt read that book but have heard good things about it. My first book that changed they way I ate and thought about food was Overcoming Overeating by Jane Hirschman. It was amazing and I really felt such a relief reading it in that I could finally learn to let go of the dieting mindset that had followed me my whole life.

Love how you have followed your passion.

Raw, I do love Scotland :) Lived on the borders for many years and I still miss waking up to the view Scottinsh mountains from our house.

Agroforestry is getting more accesible these days with a few successful projects around the UK (came across a PDF list of garden to visit a while ago but I can't find it today). Exciting seeds and plants are appearing or making a come back. There is even an Agroforestry trust. Funnily enough, I too became interested in edible lanscaping during my Uni days (a long loong looong time ago ): I was missing the variety and accessibility to anything green on my plate available in my birth country!

At the beginning it was only a couple of pots on the windowsills, now it's a full project (years in the making).:) I remember getting exciting about buying our current home because of the size of the garden but despairing because of the Leylandi hedges (all gone now) and wondering how long would the soil take to recover!

Raw, you should read Zoe Harcombe www.zoeharcombe.com/. near Paleo - according to her, it is a classic pattern to be addicted to food you are intolerant of. My mum and also a friend of mine just can't get enough bread. Last year I convinced my mum to give up the bread for a month while I was visitin, and the change was amazing - her brain for was gone, she dropped 2 trouser sizes and she didn't miss the bread at all. Obviously she never went back to bread again ;) My friend tried going gluten-free the Tim Ferriss 4 hour body style, which allows 1 cheat day a week, and on this cheat day she would eat at least 1 loaf of bread if not more.

Hi Fava, unfortunately the weight loss was loss of muscle as I still can't fit into my clothes :( But I will get there!

Sleep, interesting story about your career change, you sound really passionate. How do you get clients? I hope you don't mind me asking, I am self-employed myself, I work as a translator, always looking for new ways to market my services ;)

Although I eat very close to nature, I eat anything I want. The only time I have craved food is when I have dieted in the past. Once I stopped all dieting and food restriction I no longer craved anything again.