wind sprints and training

[JV_]

I don't disagree with the idea of the paleo diet...but honestly I don't really see the point of these "systems" approaches to eating.

I'm right there with you, I don't get it, but if it helps you drop the weight and get healthier - OK.

I was clearly eating more than I needed, but also understanding how many calories were hidden in my diet was a very key point. One ah-ha moment was when I realized that all of that southwest sauce (at Subway) they put on was actually 2-3 servings, and it was costing me 200-300 calories!

Once I started logging my food, it was very clear where the changes needed to be made. Yes, you're hungry for a long time, but your ability to ignore it improves and you don't even notice.

[TCinVA]

I think paleo is a good way to get folks started on changing body composition because its low calorie while allowing for eating filling and satisfying food... but the militant internet people who lose their mind when someone eats a starch or grain are nuts. It's supposed to be a diet... not a religion.

[JHC]

I think paleo is a good way to get folks started on changing body composition because its low calorie while allowing for eating filling and satisfying food... but the militant internet people who lose their mind when someone eats a starch or grain are nuts. It's supposed to be a diet... not a religion.

+1. I generally agree. I will not pass up pizza although my diet is slanted toward meat, veggies, fruit and nuts. In fact, I can't afford to skip taters entirely or I would waste away. OTOH, a lot more folks than are aware of it, react badly to the grains; and they won't be aware of it until they kick them. I have seen this first hand, observing someone with pretty shot out knees which an orthopod prescribed bilateral knee replacement for; become pain free after getting off of all gluten. I observed this closely and it was pretty striking change.

[JHC]

The thing I do not like about approaches like the paleo diet is that they make healthy eating into something complicated....

Paleo is about as simple as anything nutritious can get. ???

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I mean conceptually...I don't think there is a need to mimic a paleolithic diet (or that there is necessarily a specific benefit to eating foods that were available to our stone-age ancestors). I don't think there is a need to be obsessive about what particular foods you should eat because of whatever dietary religion you've bought in to.

Healthy diet can be summed up as: eat the foods everybody knows damn well are good for you, in reasonable quantity.

Don't eat tons and tons of food, and don't eat lots of junk.

A healthy lifestyle can be summed up as: do the above, plus exercise regularly. People who do this aren't fat. People who are fat don't do this, or, in one case in ten thousand, have some sort of bizarre metabolic disorder. There is no need to overthink things.

That's what frustrates me. If you look at pictures of crowds of people from the 1920s, 50s, or even 70s, you see that almost everybody is pretty lean. Did they have some secret wellspring of fitness and diet knowledge? Obviously not. Did they put a ton of effort in to staying that way? No. They just didn't eat like retards and drive everywhere instead of walking.


That's what I mean by "overcomplicating things". Everybody already knows what they need to know! Fifty years ago, everybody was fine, and it wasn't because they had all subscribed to a specific diet and exercise regime. It was ONLY because they didn't do things which were obviously stupid, and they did do things which weren't obviously stupid.

I dropped fifty pounds myself this way...I just got in the habit of asking myself, "is this a good idea or not?" and presto...reduced portions of healthy foods, and regular exercise.


The subway sauce thing is interesting because it really shows the hazard of foods prepared for you, I guess...if you don't directly control what is going in to your food, there could be nasty surprises in there.

[JV_]

if you don't directly control what is going in to your food, there could be nasty surprises in there.

Agreed. It's much easier to eat 'clean' food when you're preparing it yourself.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I should probably admit that I have a highly nutrition-conscious wife so in reality, the only food I actually prepare for myself is protien isolate/skim milk shakes a couple of times a day.

But the principle is the same, I am just able to remain lazy on the actual food prep front.

[TCinVA]

I mean conceptually...I don't think there is a need to mimic a paleolithic diet (or that there is necessarily a specific benefit to eating foods that were available to our stone-age ancestors). I don't think there is a need to be obsessive about what particular foods you should eat because of whatever dietary religion you've bought in to.

I agree. When I eat I'm not trying to recreate the diet of a dude from 15,000 years ago. At the same time, I think it's doing a good thing by calling the traditional thinking about fats and red meat into question. Fat doesn't make you fat and unhealthy. Truth be told, neither does sugar. It's the amount you take in and your level of activity that produce those results. I'm sure that some foods are metabolically more beneficial than others in certain circumstances and perhaps there are combinations of macronutrients that assist or hinder progress for those attempting to change their body composition...but in the end if you're creating a calorie deficit through caloric restriction or exercise (or both) you'll lose fat. If you watch what you eat from then on, you'll keep it lost.

I like intermittent fasting as a strategy, personally...eating once a day works well for my lifestyle.

[JHC]

Just finished lunch. An apple and walnuts.

[jslaker]

lean meats

From a paleo perspective, there's nothing particularly wrong with fatty meats. One of the things about paleo is it kind of turns "common sense" about nutrition on its head.

Even if you don't do the paleo thing (and even when I was, I was never super strict about it), the science I've seen increasingly indicates that what we've "known" about nutritional since the 70s is deeply flawed, and things like dietary fat have been needlessly demonized.

Expect to feel hunger regularly.

One of the reasons paleo-style diets work so well for so many people is because you really don't get random hunger pangs. Intermittent fasting is a pretty standard thing for people on paleo diets.

I agree. When I eat I'm not trying to recreate the diet of a dude from 15,000 years ago. At the same time, I think it's doing a good thing by calling the traditional thinking about fats and red meat into question. Fat doesn't make you fat and unhealthy. Truth be told, neither does sugar. It's the amount you take in and your level of activity that produce those results. I'm sure that some foods are metabolically more beneficial than others in certain circumstances and perhaps there are combinations of macronutrients that assist or hinder progress for those attempting to change their body composition...but in the end if you're creating a calorie deficit through caloric restriction or exercise (or both) you'll lose fat. If you watch what you eat from then on, you'll keep it lost.

I like intermittent fasting as a strategy, personally...eating once a day works well for my lifestyle.

Same. I'm interested in the metabolic aspects, personally. Best way I've heard it described is not engaging in "food reenactment."