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!

well done on skipping the alcohol!

Yes he was diagnosed at 17 and he's 30 now, which is a miracle really given I'm still only 37 myself!

On a serious note, he is amazed by the positive effect, he was telling me earlier this evening he is completely pain free and walked an hour and a half yesterday. There have been times when he couldn't get out of bed, so it's pretty impressive.

That must have been difficult getting that diagnosis when he was only 17. But fantastic that diet is really helping him.

It is amazing just how much difference nutrition makes I still can't quite believe it ... I guess that's the problem it just seems too incredible to many people who could benefit or even some health professionals that food can have such a profound positive or negative affect on our bodies but clearly it does.

That's really good news about your son, Charlie. :)

Yumyum, it can be a real challenge to look at every ingrendient when shopping, especially when in a hurry. I find that other than plain chocolate there isn't any indulgence product suitable. The good news is that orange and almond chocolate bars are so easy to make at home! Just melt dark chocolate, add orange juice (~1 orange/100g choc), add lightly crushed and toasted almonds (5-10min at 180C in the oven); mix and spread on a lined baking tray; place in the fridge until set (after 10 mins score the chocolate sheet so you can snap pieces off easier).

Dogsrus, I had maintained the desired weight for almost 2 years without any problems until the last six months where I have regained about 6 kgs . So I'm back on a sort of bootcamp! No more Mashed potato, paleo crackers, bags of pistachoes and the odd cider or two! There are certain foods that I find irrestible , whether Primal or not, and struggle to control the portions. Having previously lost a total of 35 kg, I know is about staying away from my problem foods and the weight will just melt away.

That's great to hear about your son, Charlie. I hope his improvements continue. It seems there is no end to the health conditions a paleo diet can help - I have read so many personal testimonies now, it's incredible and very encouraging. I am a young mom like you by the way, I have a 24 year old son and a 7 year old granddaughter and am still only 36!

What the hell is wheat doing in chocolate though, FFS! I'm glad I'm not bothered about chocolate. Hey, I forgot, do we all know that Ocado do a paleo aisle now? They've only grouped together the meat and veg and other stuff we eat but it's a start! Fingers crossed for more and more popularity of paleo so we can actually eat more stuff in the supermarkets!

It is very encouraging news from my son, I think some years ago he heard something about following a paleo diet but at the time it either didn't resonate with him, or there weren't the resources, or maybe he was just too young to take it on board. That's a good tip about ocado, I didn't know. I have some extra dark mandarin & ginger chocolate by seed & bean which has no dodgy ingredients, got it from Wholefood market.

Thanks for all the lovely chocolate tips

None the wiser re your ages as my sister in law (not really in law as dp and i are not married) really was a granny at 36 (and became a mum again after that!)

Love the idea of ocado paleo shelf, I might see if i can get one of their 'first time' order offers

lots of paleo obvs working on my mood!

Good plan about the ocado offers, I have a card which came with a boden order.

I just realised I'm actually a year older than I thought, now I've thought about how old I was when I gave birth to my 30 yr old son. Now that's a worry!

Hello all, I've been sort of lurking about while I float on and off paleo. I do really want to do it but have been terribly weak willed

I wanted to ask charlie how it's going with the whole30? I'm really thinking of giving it a go but went on the 1st august start thread on their forum and just went a bit stabby. They are all so darn peppy! One of them actually wanted to 'brain storm'! Who actually asks a group on a forum to brainstorm?

I came over all nostalgic for good old cynical, down to earth mn and came crawling back.

By the way, I'm really struggling with breakfast. Can you tell me what you have?

I haven't joined the official thread, I'm following it myself so I don't know about them being weird. I'm being strict, but I wanted to test myself in private sort of.

I struggle with breakfast too, getting your head round the fact it's just another meal, 'breakfast food' is just food, is quite a hurdle. I still couldn't go for left over curry, but eggs with asparagus, frittata, fish patties, sweet potato hash with paleo sausage....google whole 30 breakfasts and there are loads of resources.

Charlie my memory is terrible - one of the reasons i am trying to follow this woe, in the hope I will become all clear headed and intelligent... ahem... not working so far.

Welcome back Hear my Roar! I have slips too - lets just say we are v deliberately following the primal 80 20 rule

9/10 times I have scrambled egg for brekkie, sometimes I am so lazy I don't even whisk them in a bowl first, just crack eggs in the non stick pan mush it around for a min then its done. We have run out of eggs so i am having leftovers tomorrow.

I do want to cut out dairy and milk at some point to encourage more veg and variety but I am going to wait until my weight-loss stalls.

How is your Bootcamp going favadi?

Sorry dairy and milk should have been dairy and eggs...I'll blame the brain fog

Memory...The problems with youth today! More mature mums inform me that memory will improve with maturity!

The trick with breakfast is to think of it as another meal, although I tend to enjoy a more traditional English breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausages or fish alongside left over veg or salad and maybe a serving or two of mushrooms. :)

''Bootcamp'' is going well: dh dutyfully ate all temptations and noone is cooking mash potato! I dared filling Myfitnesspal food diary to keep an eye on the carbs, and I was pleasantly surprised! I'm ranging between 50 to 70g despite eating fruit and including the carbs from green vegetables (Mark Sisson doesn't count these). I have to keep an eye on the proteins, though, as I have gone over on a couple of days.

Hello another lurker here :) I've been following paleo for the last few months and have lost just over 3 stone, I still have a fair bit to loose though! I still drink milk in coffee and eat porridge but that suits me just fine.
The best bit for me apart from the weightloss has been the change in my mental health, I exercise now as well and my general mood has been better than in years, seriously thinking of reducing my heavy duty medication!

Wow friendly that's amazing results, v motivating! There is a shift recently with some paleo/primal bloggers to adapting the ideas or reintroducing foods that you can tolerate and feel well eating them. Some people actually feel worse on traditional/strict paleo because there are lots of foods that are considered 'safe' that many people react to and end up eating them too much when they cut out grains, legumes and dairy. I guess its just a matter of experimenting and finding what works.

Actually I can eat porridge and lose weight but I think it makes me a bit IBSish (strangely flapjacks don't have the same effect ;) ) I might experiment with oats at some point.

Favadi how much protein are you aiming for, I find protein confusing because it is seems to be one nutrient that really has a narrow optimum range but advice varies?

Have had a lazy morning kids in front of the tv, I haven't really fancied my lamb and veg leftover breakfast but its on the hob now - guess i will feel more lively once I have eaten it.

Fantastic results, Friendly :)

I agree, yumyum, protein is a minefield. I'm aiming for 1g/kg (max 1.2g) but without really counting; when I was loosing weight last time, I found that if ate more than that I used either stall or gain weight. Fats took a long time to assess but so long as I stay clear of butter and cream (and curb the cheese), I am fine. Carbs were fairly easy to judge: anything less than 100g, I loose weight; and anything less 50g for more than a couple of days and I'm ill.

Hi *frie

Hi friendly, wanting to improve my mental health is a big part of why i am trying paleo, so it's really good to hear it is working for you :)

Dh has decided to go sugar free for august. It's making it so much easier now he isn't scoffing biscuits in front of me! :o

'Hear my roar' I suspect I get a bit down/depressed some times, I feel pretty ok at the mo but I am dragging my feet around getting to bed early and that's something I think would really make a difference.

That's great about your dh and sweets, my dh has given up eating in the evening when dc are in bed and that is making a big difference for me too. No giant size bars of fruit and nut or Doritos being wafted under my nose if we watch a movie together!

I lost half a lb this week so need to be a little stricter this week (no takeaway!)

Still going in the right direction yum! :)

I think im getting the hang of breakfast now. I've cooked up a load of pancetta and a load of cabbage and peppers so I can just scramble some eggs and fling bits in. Super yummy.

Dh has decided he doesn't like coconut oil but I have discovered dripping as an alternative. It is amazing for frying in. :o

I can't remember if it was this thread or another where I posted about homemade ice-cream (pureeing frozen fruit with a small amount of cream), but I tried yesterday adding a dessertspoon of cocoa powder to a pot of banana ice cream made this way and it was super yummy. Oldest son even tried some and declared it was 'just like ben and jerrys'. High praise indeed from a teenager.

Wow that is high praise dogsrus!

hearmyroar I def agree that coconut oil flavors don't work with everything. Did you but the dripping? App you can buy flavourless coconut oil but that seems strange, surely that means its more processed?

Think I am on a weight loss stall now, I had said dairy would go but I think perversely I may need more carbs again. Have been reading a link to reactive hypoglycemia on the bootcamp thread www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/reactive-hypoglycemia.html

I bought the dripping from waitrose. Its actually not that expensive and really yummy.

I was wondering about views on how often you eat. The whole30 people have this real thing about not eating between meals. They seem to think you should be going at least 5 hours between eating. I just can't do this. I have breakfast at about 7am and then I'm always hungry by about 10.30. Even today when I ate loads for breakfast (scrambled eggs, pancetta, cabbage and pepperpepper all fried in dripping) I was starving mid morning.

Any thoughts? I'd be interested to know what more experienced paleo types think on this.

Interesting article yumyum. Going into low carb too quickly is also associated with hypothyroidism symptoms as is eating VLC for some people. DrCate and Paul Gaminet

HearMyRoar, I don't think there set rules as to when to eat. :) I get days where I'm hungry all day and days that I only eat one meal and I'm satisfied. On the hungry days I tend to eat a lot more green vegetables and I open a coconut.

Hear my roar, chris kresser has a version of whole 30 (haven't done it ) but he outlines that certain people need to eat more frequently (adrenal fatigue, thyroid problems and low blood sugar I think).

I find it really hard not to snack between meals (although I can do restricted eating windows) but then it often gets to the stage that I have over-snacked and am not hungry at dinner time so I'm not sure if that means I need to snack or not. I do remember looking at a whole 30 diary/blog where the person didn't lose weight and she put it down to eating huge plates of food because she was worried about getting hungry between meals. TBH I can't decide if being strict with meals times or conscious eating (or whatever its called) is the way forward

Favadi thanks for those links really interesting does kind of confirm that I probably need to make an effort to buy (and lug home from the supermarket!) some squash, sweet potato etc and batch cook so i can have it ready quickly. I guess the advantage of this woe is that it can be low or high carb. By the way do you have proper coconut tools ?

Sorry me again... favadi do you prep veg in advance for snacking (I sometimes have the obvious crudites but that's about it and not v inspiring without humous)