Going Paleo? Does it work?

I had a quick grab and go from Subway this morning: 6" flatbread turkey and Swiss with spinach, tomato, bell pepper, jalapeño, EZ onion, toasted as such, then add a dash of salt/pepper with a freebie coffee. After taking a gander of the seared sirloin and heirloom tomatos, I just got hungry again. Damn oral fixation!
 
ridinrox said:
Me too!!

I'm also fond of food!!

I'm curious though: Since discovering her love of cooking, how much does your wife weigh Strand?? :p <That is to be taken like @herzalot smartassityness. That's how we started fighting in the first place.> :Roflmao
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She weighs a bit less and is more toned. We work out together three days per week or so and take very long walks on weds/sat/Sunday. Approximately 94 pounds. 5'1". She has this incredible ability to eat a half of a cookie, and say "Wow, that was fantastic!" And then have the other half of the cookie the next day. Unbelievable.
 
Tuesday weigh in: 196.2

Monday food:

Usual coffee

Usual yogurt

2 Paleo wraps (see above)

Moroccan chicken and beef lunch (pic of portion)

Ribs for dinner.

Paleo bar

Two handsfull of mixed nuts.

1/2 green smoothie

1 hour workout: chasing the fog, spinning, and a weight/pull up/ bench set every 20 minutes
 
Tuesday 3-1 eats:

Usual coffee

Usual yogurt

Lunch Shake (same as Sunday)

2 handsfull of nuts

Paleo roll (see above)

Steak, tomatoes, 1/4 avo, small piece of cheese, 3 pieces of bacon. Glass of Chardonnay.
 
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Man, this is tough when the work schedule peaks (the documenting, that is)

Wednesday 3-2 weigh in 195

Thursday 3-3 weigh in 195.2

No workout on Wed or Thurs as son was back for a few days before we flew him to the airport for his next adventure (ice climbing on an 18,500 foot dormant volcano in Mexico... oh to be 21 again and on a "post-college" break from real life...wait, I didn't get one of those). Wanted to maximize time with him... and he didn't save his workout time for when pops was home.

Same eating pattern as rest of the week. No grains. No refined sweets.

Had an extra shake last night as I was trying to fatten up the sun before driving him to the airport, so I made one for both of us. Really tasty... REALLY FILLING. In fact, so filling that I am going to power through today and probably won't eat until dinner.

3 tablespoons Almond Butter
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 banana (for sweetness)
tablespoon raw cocoa powder
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup coconut milk
handful of ice.

Holy Toledo. Throw a couple of coffee beans in this and you would be rocking the best sweet-ish brekkie shake ever. It may be a little bit more protein than your body can actually process, so 1/2 scoop of protein would have probably been better.
 
Friday weigh in 195

Friday food:

Skipped breakfast (full from shake)

Burgers and artichoke hearts (no bun) and 1/4 sweet potato. Using an avocado oil based mayo that is amazing.

Paleo Bar

Sole and Greek olives, also some Kobe beef 1/4 pound.

2 handsfull of mixed nuts.

1/4 dark choc bar.

I am eating lots of dense foods. I am not hungry... It is just a bit of an effort not to snack during the day... Bcz of habit.
 
Still hanging at 195. Morning weigh in today at 195.4.

Going to cut out the gratuitous nuts at the end of the day. Very dense in calories.

Eating pattern has been the same, but wife was making home made chicken stock on Sunday... and I may have been sampling a bit much as I was helping her.

No exercise on Monday ... got home from work way too late. But decent 2,000 calorie burn ride on Sunday.

Interesting note that I have been very light on the exercise for the past two weeks, (due to outside factors), but weight is not going in the wrong direction.

At a mediation in Century City today... gotta hope that I settle this and get on the road by 4... or it will be a tough night to work out. Also gotta avoid the mediation afternoon cookies... strategically provided at 3:30 to facilitate settlement.
 
Sticking at 195.2 Wednesday and Thursday weigh ins.

I miraculously avoided the chocolate chip cookies at the mediation... but ate a bit too much when I arrived home at 9. (thanks @Runs with Scissors !)

Yesterday, on work from home Wednesday, I did the usual, but must confess that I grabbed three cookies at various points in the day. Wife is baking them for son who comes home from a climb on Saturday. They were warm and their aroma filled the house!!! On the positive side, I stopped at 3! :)

Had a one hour ride on the trainer last night (130 HR) and did the usual pull-up set prior to spinning. Tonight will be spinning at 130 HR with weights every twenty minutes for an hour.

I am feeling more fit, and sensing a downward move in weight... but not seeing it yet. Looking forward to a four hour or so local ride on Sunday morning. Probably do Aliso at 7 or so (Mentally, cholla, Five Oaks, Cholla), then drop Telonics, then up Willow and the other park.
 
Okay, Friday morning... a few days from three weeks pretty solid Paleo (except for that damn cookie slip up on Wednesday). Morning weigh in 194.2. Aiming for 193 on Monday... we will see.

Usual eating, but I skipped breakfast because I was full from Wednesday night. I am going to be switching out the yogurt and nuts breakfast for a variety of protein shakes for the next week. Really tasty and wholesome ones like described above...

Had a good hour workout last night... not hard, not easy. Hour spin at 130 HR, with three sets of chest and arms every 20 minutes.

If anyone wants to join me for my Sunday morning ride described above, (or just part of it) let me know.
 
Have you thought about tracking/counting your calories instead of just portions? It could be a pain in the beginning but you can significantly manipulate your body weight and composition by tracking your calories and macro nutrients (protein, fat and carbs).
 
Okay, missed my goal of 193 on Monday. 194.6.

Tough. Son home. Eating out. Big family dinner on Sunday. Still eating Paleo with very limited grains but a few bites of home made pasta and a few cookies. Maybe a few tortilla chips at dinner. A half slice of home made choc chip banana bread, a scoop of Spumoni ... Couldn't help myself. :)

Still below 195, so stoked about that.

Not back on my full workout regimen, but felt GREAT on my Sunday ride. My body did not want to stop after two hours, but I had to help wife with massive Italian meal and wanted to hang out with son. I was in charge of potatoes. Also cooked him a nice steak and cooked chicken for the weak. So, lots going on. Really can't get over how good I felt riding. I wasn't pushing and was even resting on some portions of climbs, but still put up some good numbers. I drank a bottle of tailwind in the morning as I was gearing up, and had two bottles with me... I drank one.

Got a good trainer ride last night an hour 130 Bpm

Going to see Springsteen tonight w my friend the heart Doctor, so I am going to get some free advice about how hard I can push when I am at max HR. When my heart jumps above 188 Bpm, I pull back. Do I have to? It is going to be sacrilege to eat the meat out of my sandwich at Felipe's tonight and leave the bread!!! I might get stabbed for that offense. I will make up for it by ordering a pickled egg too.

@Thrshr01 , As to "counting calories" there is certainly appeal in doing that, but I am trying to show that a switch to different fuel, not necessarily significantly less fuel, can cut weight. Plus, this isn't a "diet" so much as it is a change in eating pattern and something that I want to maintain long term.
 
Oh ok, I initially thought you wanted to lose weight. Our bodies definitely react differently even when studies show carbs provide the best energy there's some outliers that resend better with a high fat diet. Gotta experiment with different fuel to see which works best. But make sure to keep your protein to a minimum of .8 grams per lb of lean mass if weight training :)
 
Almost. 193.6.

Tuesday was tough ... Met friends at Phillipe's prior to concert. It is metaphysically impossible to eat a French Dip without the bread. So I ditched the bread bottom. Cole slaw. Pickled egg. Avoided beer at Phillipe's and at the concert. No workout. But boy did Bruce workout. 3:45 minutes of rock n roll.

Yesterday I thought that I would go for a spin and go hard on the flats (not "all out" just "hard") and then go full gas on the climbs. I just did one lap as I left the house a bit later than I wanted.

The trails were crowded. Passed the Path chick ride going in the other direction as I was going towards the SE entrance. The caught them (unfortunately) on top half of Cholla. I LOVE it when groups block the entire fire road while re-grouping. Had to take some really tough lines, and some more rear derailleur nonsense ... Made Cholla brutal. They either yelled encouragement, or curse words. I couldn't tell.

All in all, a really good ride. I had some lactic acid at TOW, but I pushed hard from Cholla to there, only slowing down to avoid people and let rider roadblocks clear.

I can feel my body being close to reaching another level of fitness. May all be in my head. Probably need a long ride with @mtnbikej for a reality check. :)

192 would be awesome by Monday, but probably will be hanging around 193 for a week... That seems to be how my body has been processing this eating change.

Persian dinner at friend's house tomorrow night. His wife is making my favorite dish "mint frittatas". Gonna be another test of will. I will just go heavy on the lamb, and light on the grains! :)

Going in the right direction. Feeling more fit. The scale is slowly coming around. Very. Slowly. At 6'2", these next ten pounds are going to be tough to lose.
 
StrandLeper said:
Almost. 193.6.

Tuesday was tough ... Met friends at Phillipe's prior to concert. It is metaphysically impossible to eat a French Dip without the bread. So I ditched the bread bottom. Cole slaw. Pickled egg. Avoided beer at Phillipe's and at the concert. No workout. But boy did Bruce workout. 3:45 minutes of rock n roll.

Yesterday I thought that I would go for a spin and go hard on the flats (not "all out" just "hard") and then go full gas on the climbs. I just did one lap as I left the house a bit later than I wanted.

The trails were crowded. Passed the Path chick ride going in the other direction as I was going towards the SE entrance. The caught them (unfortunately) on top half of Cholla. I LOVE it when groups block the entire fire road while re-grouping. Had to take some really tough lines, and some more rear derailleur nonsense ... Made Cholla brutal. They either yelled encouragement, or curse words. I couldn't tell.

All in all, a really good ride. I had some lactic acid at TOW, but I pushed hard from Cholla to there, only slowing down to avoid people and let rider roadblocks clear.

I can feel my body being close to reaching another level of fitness. May all be in my head. Probably need a long ride with @mtnbikej for a reality check. :)

192 would be awesome by Monday, but probably will be hanging around 193 for a week... That seems to be how my body has been processing this eating change.

Persian dinner at friend's house tomorrow night. His wife is making my favorite dish "mint frittatas". Gonna be another test of will. I will just go heavy on the lamb, and light on the grains! :)

Going in the right direction. Feeling more fit. The scale is slowly coming around. Very. Slowly. At 6'2", these next ten pounds are going to be tough to lose.
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Anytime.....always up for a big ride.
 
"I can feel my body being close to reaching another level of fitness. May all be in my head." Now you're tuning in, brother. :thumbsup:

I'll drone this again: Forget the daily number game. In terms of health and fitness, it's just plain silly to weigh every day and use that as a measure of progress. Do you check your BP every day?
 
I love it @mike ! I don't check my BP every day, but I monitor my max HR and my recovery rate very carefully. But something clicked on Wednesday. Riding, and then when I lifted last night in between steady pacing on my trainer. Something clicked... Like you said... trying to "tune in."

Climbing Cholla Wednesday was a great example. That climb is such a good way to see where you are at, fitness wise... bursts of elevation gain with little semi-flats for backing off. All of the easy lines were occupied by people... so I had to make my own... but when my HR got to my max (goose bumps, skin gets cool, peripheral vision darkening) from having to brutalize my 30x35 on some tougher lines (lost my low gear... and the bike was ghost shifting [dealing with that tomorrow... XTR for f's sake!]) I throttled back a few watts and was back to manageable HR. Then, I was able to recover about 15 yards into the fire road and gave it full gas to TOW.

I excitedly explained all of this to my wife. She was happy for me, but I don't think she quite "gets it." :) She said, "So that means you won't be eating all the cookies still, right?" (with a smile)

(Unlike the Meadows climb, where there are no places that you can really back off. I will take another crack at that one in a few weeks. Cleaned it last week... but it kicked my a@@.)

The amazing thing is... I have been riding less due to lots of different interruptions. But I am eating WAY better fuel.

I will check in with @mtnbikej for a long ride in the next few weeks. (thanks for the generous offer! You are a good dude to spend a day on the trails with!)

But from a numbers game perspective: 193.2 this morning. (Continued primal eating, eliminated the nut snacks for the last few days)

Thanks for bearing with me.
 
Alright. I survived Persian New Year, but drank way too much really good wine, then sampled the desserts, then drank some port. (Ok, drank a lot of port). Actually a Cali "sort of" port. Oh, and I ate some lamb. Pretty primal the balance of the weekend except for the berry turnover that I split w wife. She made fresh berry turnovers (from freaking scratch!) for my injured friend and his family ... Gotta taste them. Oh, and I had a strawberry scone (also from scratch by the wife). And she made enchiladas verde ... From scratch, including the green sauce from fresh tomatillos. I ate 1 and a half of those. Well, I guess I blew it on the eating this weekend. Mos def not very primal.

2 hour mellow ride w 2700 climbing feet and some fun drops. 2 long walks w wife and Maximus.

Felt great on the ride. Looking forward to pushing myself on Wednesday evening.

Monday weigh in 194.2. Not bad for all the grains and sweets from the weekend. Back in the 193s shortly I hope.
 
Today: 192.6.

Typical Good eating day yesterday (except for small sliver of cheesecake an employee made for me ... Gotta be polite :) ). Bacon, spinach frittata, chicken, protein drink (commercial, from a tub), almond and pomegranate quinoa.

60 minutes spin on trainer with HR 125ish and weight sets every 20.
 
Wed'y weigh in: 192.

Good hour, 130 HR spin on trainer last night.

Paleo eating during the day. A bit too much, I thought. No nut snacks for almost a week.

I think the nuts were keeping me up in weight a bit. Now I throw some Mac nuts and cashews into my shake, but don't "snack" on them. They are dense and add up.

Looking forward to tonight's ride, if I can get out.
 
I feel like I am "in the zone" right now ... I have figured out the secret code. Sssshhhhh don't tell anyone. Just keep watching this thread and all will be revealed! I WILL be st 191 tomorrow!!

Worked too late but squeezed in a ride. A little over an hour, s bit over 11 miles. Felt good. Felt really good. A 4:15 Cholla climb is in reach.
 
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