My Crossfit gym had a Paleo Diet challenge that I felt compelled to enter, just because I’ve pooh-poohed Paleo for so long. I wanted to try it so I could say how it made me feel tired and weak and virtually impossible for me to get through my workouts. I couldn’t wait to bash it, not only from a lack of scientific evidence to support its ridiculous claims, but also from a more practical personal experience of trying to follow it.
Eating Crow..Sort Of
Much to my dismay, I was surprised with how great I felt on our interpretation of the Caveman’s diet for 40 days. I ate almost completely Paleo for the first 20 days, but then it got harder, I would have some milk or yogurt, I ate bread once or twice, I grabbed granola out of the box when I was hungry and I used milk in my tea when I ran out of almond milk or when I was traveling for business.
We did the same pre-test workout and a post-test workout before and after the 40-day challenge and my time on the post-test improved by more than two minutes. For an 18-minute workout, that’s a significant improvement.
While I didn’t monitor my body weight or percent body fat before and after the challenge, I didn’t need to. I was tighter all over. (I was training during the entire 40 days too so the body composition changes would be from the combination of diet + exercise and not the diet alone.)
At the same time, my niece and fellow RD colleague, Kelly Plowe, MS, RD, also followed a CrossFit Paleo Challenge at Crossfit LA. She did a pre and post-test of underwater weighing and was able to drop 5% body fat over the course of her challenge. She has since continued to follow much of the Paleo approaches of limiting packaged foods, eating a protein-rich and carbohydrate-poor breakfast and trying to avoid added sugars as much as possible.
We both agree that some core principles of Paleo eating are worth doing and can help improve your diet…especially if you’re a carb-craver and lover of all things sweet like we are were.
How Paleo Improved My Diet
What I gained from the experience was that I learned that we all generally overeat carbohydrates because they’re just so easy to overeat. Cereals, breads, crackers, pasta, sweets are so readily available, satisfying and comforting it’s really hard to restrict them. However, when I didn’t eat them, I suddenly realized how much of them I would eat here and there during the day and as snacks. With them gone, I was forced to eat more filling options like fruit (dates are my new BFFs) and nuts.
I enjoyed eating more eggs and egg-based dishes and expanding my repertoire for cooking lean cuts of beef. I used many recipes from Everyday Paleo and I found more ways to love cooked veggies, including my own kale chips, roasted veggies and even grilled greens.
My Post-Paleo Challenge Diet
Because I realize that Paleo would not be a diet that I can live with for life, I wanted to get back healthy foods I missed pre-challenge that have real health benefits.
I immediately put back in my diet included low-fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. As some of the best sources of protein, they were necessary. I also added back beans, potatoes and whole grains because they too have too many health benefits to be shunned from my diet.
I haven’t added back bread and other overly processed grain-based foods (with added sugars and/or saturated fat), but do have moderate amounts of whole grain side dishes with dinner.
I’ve also tried to keep added sugars or artificial sweeteners to a minimum in my diet. I have found that without them, my cravings for carbohydrates and sweets are controlled, and for someone with a major sweet tooth, that’s a great thing!
Paleo Principles Worth Adopting
I’m not a Paleo advocate by any means, but there are some core principles of eating Paleo that can provide health and nutrition benefits.
* Eat whole, natural foods instead of those that are highly processed
* Enjoy plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts and limit refined grains and sugars.
* Increase consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, fish oil, and plant sources
* Avoid trans-fats and limit saturated fats by eliminating fried foods, hard margarine, commercial baked goods, and most packaged and processed snack foods.
* Substitute monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (ie, olive and canola oils) fats for saturated fats
* Increase consumption of lean protein, such as skinless poultry, fish, wild game and lean cuts of meat.
* Avoid high-fat dairy and fatty, salty processed meats such as bacon, sausage and deli meats
* Hydrate with water.
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Great article! I heard of this diet when a friend of mine who has been suffering with Fibromyalgia for a couple of years emailed me a few months ago and said she had been pratcically cured from Fibro thanks to this new diet. She went on it and in a week or so, her symptoms dramatically decreased, she had more energy than ever before and she lost weight and a lot of the swelling that was caused from her bodies reaction to the gluten and lectin that she was consuming. Ever since then I’ve been very interested in learning more about how our bodies react to these carbohydrates and I hope to incorporate some of the principles into my own diet. I’m vegan so meat eating will never happen, but I can always improve my diet.
I keep a modified paleo diet and I’m happy with the results. I also eat yogurt, hard cheeses, and cottage cheese. I have black beans and lentils about 2 times a week. I have stopped eating grains like rice, bread, or anything with flour. On rare occasions, when I go out to eat, I may have bacon, or deli meats.
I’ve lost weight, and I have more energy. Carbs tend to make me tired (even the “good” ones), so this works very well for me.
Great article! I think a lot of the Paleo principles can help people eat better, but have the same concerns and would add in the same things as you. I’d be interested to hear how things go in another 40 days with the modifications you’ve made.
Great read, I hadn’t heard of the Paleo diet so I found the article informative.
this is so awesome to read. I have lost 120 lbs , am at goal weight of 13o lbs. I did this with the aid of weight loss surgery- but I did the work, and made lifestyle changes myself– this is not an easy fix- you have to really want it. we are told- protein first above all else- much like the paleo program ,I mostly achieved this through non animal protein sources. (lentils) but now I am also ready to embrace and ENJOY fresh seasonal fruits – and the sugars in them, worry me about setting off the carb monster. I want to live like a normal thin person, with out fear.
Great article. I’ve been doing the diet now for 5 days but I’m finding I have really low energy levels which is obviously putting a dampner on my CrossFit sessions. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Crash in the UK
@Crash
There is a period which can last up to a month (it lasted 2-3 days for me) where you’re body is shocked by the metabolism shift, you’re organs/body needs to get used to using ketones/fat for fuel more so than relying on the blood sugar highs and lows from the excessive carbs+sugar we are used to consuming. I trust you have passed this phase now but its possible you still haven’t if you reverted to eating a high level of sugars/carbs again.
Anyway… stick with it, eat more fat and you’re body will adapt; within weeks you should feel much more energetic and better overall. I’m also from the UK (Stoke) and have been doing paleo for around 5months now (changed my diet for the better a month before that though also so this may be why I had a smoother transition. CrossFit sessions in the UK? any in the Stoke area? xD
What types of oil should I be cooking with. I tend to use olive oil for most things, when is this the right thing and the wrong thing to do? what other types of oil should i introduce into my cooking?
Such a great article. I have wanted to know about this diet for so long. There are too many stories on the internet and there is no way to verify their veracity.
Can you also elucidate what all you included in your diet t? I am vegetarian 90% of the times as I do eat eggs, fish and chicken.