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Old Forum After reading two books on Paleo, my conclusions

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Rob Lawrence

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"Meat, leaves, berries."

There is somewhat more to it than that, but not that I'll actually remember or successfully implement.

If you're a nutrition enthusiast you may enjoy reading about the diet in detail. I personally could have just listened to Dan John and saved that reading energy for Taleb's Antifragile.

Rob

 

 
 
hahahaha. perfect. having tried every diet known to man over the last 21 years (even including the nothing but wheatgrass cleanses), that's the one that works. Meat, leaves, berries. You can make it more complicated, but the more moving parts a system has, the greater likelihood of it breaking down. (heard that from a very sharp dude. if you post on this site, you've heard of him)
 
Thanks Russell. I hardly mean to belittle the Paleo diet, which (to my untutored brain anyway) seems  sound. Fact is, when I cut starches and go to "meat, leaves, berries," my body comp changes seemingly overnight and in two weeks I am walking around cut. Paleo is an interesting restatement of the principle but practically speaking, in implementing it I end up with something I could call South Beach, the Zone, or any other number of effective-for-me diets. It's of course more serious for the people with the wheat allergies etc.

In any case, I'm eating "meat, leaves, berries" right now, have cut the starches, and am staying at 180 as my limited fat flies off me.
 
I find it difficult simply sticking to written diet plans/ideas/regimes/ways of life. I generally eat what I want when I want. It's my weakness in life not just my training. Out of them all, paleo appeals to me, will I ever take the plunge? I wouldn't know where to start ha!
 
Some might interpret it that way, but you haven't belittled the paleo approach at all, but condensed the "how to" portion to something simple and useable. If someone wants to know the theory as to WHY it works, read away.

Btw, there is a poor man's paleo--eggs and peanuts. It flat out works. That was 90% of my diet when this jungle river photo was taken (I was flat broke and the appetite suppressing effects were VERY helpful)
 
Yes exactly. There are some subjects in which I care intensely about the "why" -- diet is not one of them. In fact, neither is training! In those two areas I'm much more into the "how."

I believe peanuts are considered a legume and therefore not paleolithically correct ... but if it works, it works.
 
I always thought about educating myself a bit more on the diet side. Are there any good "bibles" of diet worth reading?

 

btw Russel, you look might ripped on the jungle photo. Obiously eggs and peanuts agrees with you. If I ever had a mancrush on someone.... ;)
 
you're right about the legume part, but when you can barely afford to eat, george washington carver trumps cave man.
 
Art Devany http://artdevanyonline.com/blog.html  is an interesting guy. I haven't read his book but I enjoy his blog and he is not out there selling a diet per se. Probably the originator of Paleo. I feel better when I eat fewer carbs and better carbs, whole grains, quinoa etc. Combinations of carbs and sugar especially the kind that undergoes fermentation makes me feel bloated. Still do it in moderation though.
 
@Rickard - hahaha. That kind of physique happens when you combine strongfirst style training with paleo(ish) nutrition. I won't win any bodybuilding contests, but I don't find the idea of "dancing your underwear in front of a room full of mouth-breathing dudes" (Dave Tate) all that appealing anyway.
 
I can attest to the paleo-ish diet as well. A pile of us at the gym are currently doing a 28 day fat loss challenge, with a Paleo style diet at the core. Yes, the fat literally falls off damn near instantly. It is a very tough diet for a huge eater like myself. I walk around starved to death all the time. At the end my trainer and I will be embarking on a lean mass build (very clean) to restore some weight and continue strength gains. What I do find remarkable is that I am gaining any strength at all being so damned hungry! I feel like a hollow twig but the gains are coming while the fat vaporizes. I wasn't exactly weak to start with either.
 
The best Paleo Diet book for this crowd is probably Paleo for Lifters by Justin Lascek. It's not a scientific book, just a practical how-to book for the average guy.

He does use some foul language though in a few instances so some might find that off putting.

 
 
For me it's really as simple as not eating bread, pasta, tortillas, cereal, etc. Occasionally I want to have those things but as one of the books I read points out, no food craving lasts longer than 10 minutes. If some simple-carb craving hits you hard, simply have a glass of water, a small piece of fruit and wait calmly for a couple of minutes. It will pass and you will wonder what you were ever missing. The success comes quickly and when you start seeing results you will get the discipline to wait it out.

Last week I went to see my dentist. He's probably about 40 years old and an ex-athlete. He has lost 45 pounds in the past year simply by cutting bread, pasta, and dessert.

Best part of eating this way is that you are EATING. In my case quite a bit. You lean out but you do not look gaunt or feel weak.

The downside is PLANNING. You have to plan to have access to good foods for when you get hungry. Otherwise you're setting up a plain old starve/binge cycle. Planning is very easy for me currently as I'm working in downtown Philadelphia and can get whatever I need.

If you really want to cut weight or change your body composition, try this first and try it seriously. Don't overcomplicate it. If you give it a serious, serious try without lapses/cheats and it still doesn't work, then start digging into the nutrition books for your answer ... but I think the above will work for many people.
 
Hands down best book on nutrition I've ever read is "The China Study." If you are looking for a Pavel equivalent in the nutrition world this is it. There is also a documentary about it called forks over knives, and its on netflix, if you'd rather watch than read.
 
If you follow it strictly, then yes. Dairy is out. Cooking with bacon fat is the way around butter or vegetable oils

 
 
I watched as much of the china study documentary, "forks over knives", as I could stomach. the list of confounding variables is miles long. they started the investigation hoping for certain conclusions and they got them. Who'd have thought!? Reminds me of the "eggs are as bad for you as cigarettes" report from a few months ago.
 
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