paleo for weightloss

[yumyumpoppycat]

Was sorting out some books to take back to the library and found Chris Kresser's your personal paleo Diet. It pretty much fell open on the weight loss page - seemed to be a sign! Soooo enough messing around and procrastination, on the wagon off the wagon, I just need to get my head down and just plow on and lose weight....

Is anyone up for doing paleo or a similar diet with a focus on weightloss?

These are the additional rules, or I guess a good starting point before adding in usual paleo 'rules' :
Eat more protein
Don't snack
Go dairy free
Reduce calorie density by eating more veg
Eat all food within an 8 hour window

and one more for me - in bed by 11.

Will update but be great if others join in!

Riffy* I have just got hold of the Wahl book - not had chance to sit and read yet. I'm slowly working my way through S Ballantynes book (bit heavy going!).. I'm intrigued that Wahl doesn't limit nightshades so i will jump ahead and read the reasoning as I agree, it would be so hard to limit tomatoes.

Currently I have dairy for a splash of milk in tea - I love tea and don't have more than a splash as I don't like it milky but I don't like tea without. Years ago I tried soya in tea and it was "ok" so almond milk or coconut milk might be something I can swop to - can I buy this off the shelf or do I need to make it?
I've got into the habit of having a small pot of Greek yoghurt for breakfast (think a small child's mug size amount) and if really hungry, a smidge of cheese - the reasoning behind this as with the Fibro, I find it hard in the mornings and need to find something that doesn't require effort - until my pills have got me going, I struggle to do much...
Other uses are for a creamy curry sauce or cauli cheese - I can see that would be off limits but for a creamy sauce - would almond milk/coconut milk be 'thick' enough?

With the low carb, I've swopped my lot over to shepherds pie with mash swede or mashed celeriac so that type of thing would be ok. I think it might be just as I do now in that I save a portion for me and then give them pizza or baked potatoes as an occasional meal. I've been having (occasionally) celeriac or swede chips so I can figure that would still work or I did try sweet potato chips the other week - yum! (I do my chips in the oven, do any of you find a deep fat fryer better?)

I'm finding that ds1 is wanting more meat ie a pack of 6 is DH 2 (heavy labour job), ds1 & me 1 1/2, ds2 1 but ds1 could happily eat 3+ (actually DH could too!) and I find £6/meal for sausages is expensive - I refuse to buy cheapo sausages for them and the more expensive for me so at the minute we split a 6 pack and then have a bigger portion of veg (& potatoes/bread for them) so I agree Favadi about being able to afford enough meat! I'm intrigued by your making sausages - something DH and I discussed after the last Celebrity Masterchef and on my list of things to consider doing... Funnily enough, I'm not that keen on the taste of D&A sausgaes, much prefering the BF brand - BF are also lower carb so fit with how I eat now.. I guess if we experiment with our own sausages then we could get a taste we all like...

I'm not bothered about making the rest of the family gluten-free - I've got used to them having bread, cakes etc and my not having them, it's kind of figuring out the meals we do all eat together as I don't do different meals - it's "eat what you are given or go hungry" in my house! (I allow for dislikes but I won't do fussiness).

Ok... I need to read the Wahl book and look at dairy alternatives, if I'm just cutting that out to start with (ie I can look at nightshades later) then it all looks more feasible. I also need to figure some meals ie what do we have now that is paleo etc.. and what can I have for breakfast.....

Ok bit of research.... Tesco and Ocado sell fresh almond milk, tesco sell fresh coconut milk and ocado sell tinned coconut milk... is any particular brand better? I'm away with DM (coeliac with dairy intolerance) soon and I'm thinking of taking a carton of one for us both to try... which would you try first to have in tea?

Riffy, The invicibility of youth! If it were up to ds, the cupboards would be full of sweet things. Luckily he can't have gluten, he seems to react to soya, so that leaves very little! Dd and her boyfriend are very health conscious, so they cook from scratch and I am quite proud of their choices, despite their limited budget. :)

Dogrus, woohoo!

yumyum, at some point my ds was only wanting milk or plain pasta much to our despair. I cannot make delicious food. Yes, you can! If you and your family like Italian, I can help with tips/recipe. Just ask. :)

Daisy, both almond and coconut milk can be both in all supermarkets: the almond milk has other ingredients other than almonds and some might be a problem for some people Chris Kresser's view on the gum ; sometimes coconut milk has other ingredients too.

Coconut milk is quite thick and makes lovely Kormas and Thai curries. I have never tried but I believe you can make yogurts with both coconut and almond milk.
For £6 you can make a lot of sausages. I have a hand stuffing machine ( like this one ), which ds helps with. I also have a hand grinder but it does require some strength to turn but I have also used a food processor before. The recipes are very simple: meat, salt, spices and a little wine on occasion.
Could boiled eggs, cooked the night before, help for breakfast? (Steamed courgettes/cabbage/cauliflower dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, cold from the fridge? I appreciate it might be a step to far for some!I meant it when I said breakfast is just another meal. :) )

Favadi the crashing exhaustion can go hand in hand with a flare, but could also be the diet. I am feeling much better since around yesterday lunchtime, even went out to dinner last night so fingers crossed. I have some stubborn plaques at the moment so I'm definitely going to try the argan oil.

Yumyum I was very sorry to read that you think you can't make delicious food, I'm sure you can. I have found some really great recipes since I started doing this, would love to hear Favadi's recipes and tips though, we love italian!

Daisy, I find it tricky to eat 'non breakfast food' in the morning and I struggle with hard boiled eggs although they are very filling and satisfying. I make little frittatas in muffin tins, and sardine patties to take with me to work and that is ok for me. I also love the chia pudding made with coconut milk and vanilla.

I'm going to try making sausage meat today, may have to get one of those machines if we like the taste. Also going to make baba ganoush with the first of our own aubergines and have with slow roasted lamb shoulder and some greens.

I've put an attachment for a mincer/sausage gadget for my kenwood on to my amazon wish list - have a birthday coming up so I can dream!

I'm a bit funny about eggs - sometimes I'm ok with a boiled egg and sometimes not but I'm not good with cold eggs. I do often make a crustless quiche/frittata type dish and I do have that for any meal but I couldn't do that all the time (which I can with Greek yog and cheese). I sometimes have baked eggs with a tomato-ey base and I could have a pot of the tomato mix in the fridge so just assemble and then pop in oven... I can't abide scrambled eggs or omlettes - I think it's the texture...
I will eat leftovers for breakfast - if we have any!! I've had a bit of hunt on pinterest and other paleo blogs and suitable muffin recipes etc come up quite a bit - does anyone make these for breakfast? I can't decide whether I'd just be "encouraging" sweet stuff when I've mostly got out of the habit for sweet tastes (unless I'm mega tired and all I want is sugar!)......

Found the bit about Nightshades in Wahls book - she basically says that if she removes every foodstuff that has the potential to cause trouble then there would be nothing left to eat - some people even have sensitivities to Kale. So she's removed foods that she believes are deleterious to anyone with a chronic disease and that are most likely to cause food sensitivity issues. Nightshades contain lectins which are sugar-protein molecules that can cause excessive inflammation & increasing the risk of autoimmunity. She goes on to state that if you have food insensitivity issues beyond the exclusions she has made then you can go onto exclude and then track your reaction when you come to introduce them into your diet. She advocates keeping a diary to help track how you get on.

Makes sense... I can't imagine not eating tomatoes and peppers and the occasional aubergine so I could do a 2-step elimination starting with dairy and seeing how I get on with introducing and then nightshades. Other dietary changes won't really make a difference as I already low carb which is quite similar and I can make any other adjustments easily, it was dairy and nightshades that made me a bit eek!

Ok, ordered a couple of books via the library. I'm going to hunt out suitable recipes from what I have, the books & online - be prepared! and then I plan to stop dairy.

Glad to hear you are feeling better, Charlie.:)
You could also try a gelatine mask on your plaques. here are some ideas. My favourite is an adaptation of one of James Wong's: 10 calendula, 3 rose, 15 lavander flowers boiled in 200mls of water; steep for 15 min then add a sachet of gelatine (beef better than veg).

There is nothing nicer than to collect and cook something home grown. I haven't grown any aubergines this year but the courgettes and butternut squashes are growing very well this year.
The sausages taste different to the patties made with the same mix but both are delicious. I'll post some recipes I have tried before: some are adapted from conventional recipes and some are what took my fancy and was in the cupboard at the time.

Oh Daisy, you just reminded me of one of my favourite egg recipes. Egg poached in tomato with either garlic and parsley or onion and basil.

Italian pork sausage 1
500g minced pork
1 tbs of ground fennel seeds
1/4 -1/2 chilli
1/4 tsp ground pepper
30mls wine/freshly squeezed orange juice
salt to taste"

Italian pork sausage 2
500gr minced pork
1/3-1/4 grated nutmeg nut
1 large garlic clove
1/4 onion
3 tbs wine
1 small handful of fresh thyme and parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Cumberland sausage
500g minced pork
1/2 tbs of pepper
1/2 tbs of chopped sage
1/2 tbs chopped chive
1/2 tbs of mace (this is the distinctive cumberland flavour; achillea is the perfect substitute-it tastes the same and is a very pretty plant)
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

"I tend to cook a tiny pattie first so I can adjust for salt, etc.

I did the Cumberland style, made scotch eggs. The taste is excellent, so great tip thanks Favadi, but I think my pork was a bit lean. Still they will do for breakfast with a dollop of home made mayo.

Daisy that's interesting and tbh makes sense. Some people on the comments section of the paleo mom blog are in despair because they have to keep cutting out more and more food because aip doesn't work for them.

Favadi I get big compliments for cakes, biscuits etc but hardly ever for main meals (more likely to be tears). with the children if its their favourite (say wraps with salad veg, pasta and pesto etc - plain food and things you can't get wrong) then they will be all oooh your the best mummy in the world etc and I just think no i am not!!

Just checking in hope everyone is feeling good this week

My Wii informed me this morning that I am now 'ideal' weight. Both my mii and me did a happy dance :)

Now all I need to do is maintain it. Torn between continuing as I am but allowing the odd non-paleo treat or being strict but upping how much I eat slightly.

For now I will continue as I am and see what happens. Last time I was this weight I naturally levelled off anyway.

Woo hoo well done dogs r us!!

Well done dogs r us. I finally caved and put a new battery in my scales. I don't know what I weighed when I started but I was a bit at what I still weigh now! Still, I'm going in the right direction at least.

Fantastic news DogsRus and well done Charlie.

I have been avoiding the dreaded scales too (and the tape measure). I took the courage to weigh myself today as I could fit back into one of my favorite pair of jeans. 2lbs down. I'm really surprised as I haven't been as strict as I would have liked. (lots of figs and peaches on my trees)

Yumyum, I get big compliments for cakes, biscuits etc but hardly ever for main meals (more likely to be tears). Paleo baking, yum yum yum!!!!!!!!! :)

Good idea favadi play to my strengths Well done on weight loss, and you too charlie - loss is loss esp if you are feeling like it is more in which case you might be slimmer than the scales suggest! blardy lying weighing scales ..

Do either of you please have any budget meal ideas you could post on this thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/low_carb_diets/2159765-Is-cold-turkey-the-only-option?msgid=48955976#48955976

That's it I've just about had enough: I was up another kg this morning!
It's been six weeks of being fairly strict and feeling miserable with hardly any energy to excersice. Two weeks ago my skin broke out in eczema (which, having scratched it in my sleep, made me look I had a fight with a cat!) and spent a week covered in calamine lotion or argan oil topped with with a gelatine masked. [argh]
The only time I've lost any weight was last week when I pigged out on high carb/hi glycemic fruit (instead of freezing the excess) and I was happy and full of energy. Back to low carb since Saturday...

I'm going to leave for a while to rethink my eating habits and to get away from the word 'low-carb'

gah low carb gives me an eczema rash could be similar? I am a bit failing at mo. Lets have a break and lets come up with a plan for sep I already have some ideas...unfortunately it might include calorie counting

and exercise

Calorie counting! I am considering it too. I think I'll try going back to my roots first (slow but it has worked before). :)

Good plan. Is that paleo with less nuts etc?

I'm the same! Haven't lost any more weight as far as I can tell, feeling crap and knackered and back on calorie counting. Not tonight though, I just put a cottage pie in the oven topped with real mash, oh dear.

Charlie that sounds yum and wholesome enjoy!!

I have been thinking about cutting out eggs for a bit as read about it in JJ Virgins book here is an article. Apparently they are a common intolerance and can cause fatigue as a symptom
www.huffingtonpost.com/jj-virgin/eggs-healthy_b_3595128.html

I feel better already! :) Italian food is paleo in places

I looove cottage pie (I'm still going to avoid mashed potato-too morish)

Today I had a large apple, 2 figs, a full aubergine cooked in tomato sauce, and a chicken breast (no skin). MFP tells me that it all comes in at 546 kcal and 76 carb.
Tonight we are having basa fillets marinated in garlic, lemon juice, chilli and tarragon; served with mini roast potatoes, roast peppers and courgettes (cooked in the fish marinade). Fruit will be at hand if hungry.

Wow favadi - delish! not surprised you are feeling better Did you cut the aubergine up?

I have made the ultimate mistake mixing paleo and non paleo - steak, kale and fresh pesto for lunch, salmon roasted with peppers for dinner ... a whole pile of cake at a kids party including (whispers) a fondant fancy.