Anybody here Primal or Paleo?

[Tim Brownson]

I know a lot are at the opposite end of the spectrum, but I was wondering about the meat eaters.

I'm in the middle of an experiment for my blog with it as so many clients and people I know that are doing this are seeing crazy energy gains and weight loss. Not bothered about the weight loss but energy gains are very welcome.

I read Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint and was blown away by the hard scientific research supporting a lot of what he says. I half expected it to be quackery and it was a long way from being that.

At the moment I'm 2 weeks in and in the 'carb flu' stage and not feeling so great, but apparently most people pass through this for up to about 4 weeks as the body gets accustomed to burning fat to make glucose rather than carbs, so not really concerned.

Interested to hear anybody that has done this and not seen positive effects, because I have yet to find anybody and I feel sure they must be out there.

[emeadow]

Afraid I am one of the 'positive effects' folks...but couldn't help saying howdy!

That said, I have had to tweak the diet itself to fit me (I follow the primal). I have to keep pretty low carb no matter what for health reasons, fruit and me is not overly happy together (even berries), and I am back to removing dairy again (as much as I hate to).

My husband has trouble staying 'strict' primal, but he has done well too. He has had some calf cramps a couple of times, but I have heard that if you are in heavy ketosis sometimes it can zap particular minerals like magnesium out of your system (both his episodes were after heavy workout/hot days).

It took me about 2-3 weeks to get through the low energy phases....I made sure I was getting enough healthy fats & sleep, and I started a zinc/magnesium/calcium supplement since I was working out more (recommended for paleo or not). I was also eating too little through the day since my appetite was low, did not realize that until I monitored things for a few days.

Now I can fast 16-20 hours and still perform at my top levels while doing a long Crossfit workout or hiking with big elevation gains for 6 miles. I have been amazed at my endurance and strength.

Thus far when I have chatted with someone having issues while primal/paleo....most could be lumped into the following issues. Eating too much fruit/sugar while trying to get through the flu (making it last longer), too much caffeine and likely some underlying adrenal fatigue, too many artificial replacements (no calorie sweet drinks kind of thing), not eating enough healthy fats, and especially for weight issues, not following 'hunger' but munching all day instead.

Interested to hear if others have had problems....I like understanding everything, even the negative aspects.

[secrets0stolen]

I tried something like this before I went vegan. It was mostly raw eggs, a small amount of fruit, raw fish, some cooked poultry, and lots of non-starchy vegetables. While I felt better than SAD, my stomach always kinda hurt after meals, and I felt sluggish and weighed down. If it was a particularly high-meat day, my liver would hurt. Not sure what the reasons behind that were but that's what happened.

Anyways, now I'm low fat raw vegan, and it definitely right for me!

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

I tried something like this before I went vegan. It was mostly raw eggs, a small amount of fruit, raw fish, some cooked poultry, and lots of non-starchy vegetables. While I felt better than SAD, my stomach always kinda hurt after meals, and I felt sluggish and weighed down. If it was a particularly high-meat day, my liver would hurt. Not sure what the reasons behind that were but that's what happened.

Anyways, now I'm low fat raw vegan, and it definitely right for me!

You could have just been doing it wrong as well.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

You could have just been doing it wrong as well.

As in?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

As in?

I have no idea how you were doing your diet. There are many ways to do it wrong and to do it right. It not working does have to mean it's not right for you, but can me you just didn't do it right. As a vegan, I'm sure you can appreciate that for these types of things, it has to be done correctly. You could also be one of those people that does better on red meat, or possibly a mixture of both, and some people don't do very well on just white meat. There are also a lot more variables for why it didn't work for you, the power of the mind not withstanding.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

I have no idea how you were doing your diet. There are many ways to do it wrong and to do it right. It not working does have to mean it's not right for you, but can me you just didn't do it right. As a vegan, I'm sure you can appreciate that for these types of things, it has to be done correctly. You could also be one of those people that does better on red meat, or possibly a mixture of both, and some people don't do very well on just white meat. There are also a lot more variables for why it didn't work for you, the power of the mind not withstanding.

Ok, good points. Although at this point I thought veganism was very unhealthy and that that was the ultimate diet, so I don't think I was placebo'ing myself in the traditional sense. Interesting point about the red meat, I've never done well on beef and pork, but every once in a while I'd drive up to a farm and get some grass fed buffalo. I didn't do that very often since it was expensive, but I never noticed a difference in how I felt on it--it was good for variety at that point though. One thing I know I did right though was quality of the actual food (grass fed, organic, local, etc), and I think that's key on any diet.