Has Anyone Ever Gained Weight On The Paleo Diet?

[munchkinette]

I've been putting on a lot of weight lately due to stress. I decided to start the Paleo diet yesterday. I've been counting calories just to see how much I'm eating. I'm pretty sure I'm eating a ton more calories now. I'm eating a lot of vegies and lean meat. I'm trying not to go overboard with fruits (which are unlimited) so I keep it to 3 servings per day. I'm not eating nearly as many nuts as the book suggests. (4 oz limit per day seems excessive)

I don't even think I'm getting as much fat as I should, based on the diet. I'm eating when I feel hungry, but sometimes I just can't feel full. I just feel really bloated from so many vegies. Either way, I'm not sure how weight loss can happen if my calories are so high. Maybe Cordain doesn't expect people to eat as much produce as I do. I ate a lot of it before the diet.

[chasbari]

Been exclusively paleo for 16 months now and have had a hard time with any weight gain in spite of eating all day long. I did run into a problem with eating too much fruit. This was causing much bloating/gas/discomfort. I cut it out completely for about five days last week but just couldn't stay away. My gut did settle way down as a result of going fruit free for those five days. I am amazed at how much more regulated my body has become as a result.I am basically now only eating ripe fruit that has the peel or rind removed. Fresh pineapple, very ripe bananas. Raisins were like food crack to me so I have gone cold turkey for a while. I was trying to eat raw nuts for a while but they only seemed to crank up the insatiable appetite. I am now snacking on raw carrots and cauliflower during the day with a little bit of fruit here and there. In a slight break from Cordain's recommendations I eat upwards of a dozen eggs daily depending on how tired I am as to food prep. I had a quick trip to NYC last week and over the course of two days ended up losing 7 percent of my body weight....maybe from having to lug all my food around with me! It has taken a week to gain about half of that back. I delayed that a bit more by going through a partial workout last night. I really have to take into account all physical activity when planning food intake. I have no real body fat to speak of anymore. I am finding that I am doing anything I can to keep my protein intake much higher that I had in the past. It slows the appetite down for me and I am able to get more done. It may not seem like it but my work of role preparation and teaching voice lessons is very physically demanding and it is difficult to keep sufficient caloric intake to keep the instrument fueled. When I am running a calorie deficit the voice begins to shut down in very specific ways. I foolishly tried to add some tomato paste to my spaghetti squash last night. Big mistake as to my RA. As long as I stay away from all nightshades as per his recommendations for anti inflammatory diet I am much better off. Don't know if this is helpful at all. It is a difficult diet to explain to others.. they all think I am nuts... but I do know that in spite of how far gone I was two years ago I never expected to be living let alone working on major preparations for the future. for me, it's well worth the effort and all the difficult adjustments. Best wishes to you.

[munchkinette]

The sugar in the fruit may be an issue.

One thing I've noticed though- I may have some issues with greens. I love greens. I've made myself sick eating spinach. I know spinach has a lot of different things in it though... some protein like gluten? Stuff like kale isn't supposed to do that though. I ate a mountain of cooked kale the other day. That might have made me sick. Interestingly, I can eat nightshades all day long without a problem.

I think I may have to experiment with what makes me feel full. It seems like if I get breakfast right, the rest of the day is good. If I'm hungry a few hours after breakfast, I'm starving all day.

[chasbari]

I just cut out spinach in the last week. I keep looking for foods that trigger hunger or foods that seem to satisfy my appetite. With spinach gone I seem to be less hungry. May be coincidence, may not. Time will tell. My safe list keeps getting shorter instead of longer. I seem to notice more quickly as to whether the offending food causes gastrointestinal upset now that I got everything to calm down by cutting way back on the fruit. Hard not to resort to it when hungry and needing a quick calorie fix though.

[munchkinette]

Something interesting happened. I've been on this diet for almost a week now, and I've found that half the fruit I used to eat (apples and citrus) just taste way too sweet to me. I think I'm losing my taste for sugar. I actually threw the apple out half way through because I couldn't handle it. So maybe this diet just takes a while to work properly. I've done a mostly paleo diet in the past, but never actually cut out legumes.

I'm having trouble thinking up good vegie recipes though. I'm starting to get bored with them fast.

[chasbari]

Spaghetti and acorn squash provide a nice change of pace. Have you tried beets yet? I know I get stuck in a rut with my brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. No legumes or nightshades. The no spinach experiment lasted until today. I tried an apple yesterday for the first time in ten days. I used to eat at least one a day. Really didn't agree with me at all. It is amazing how my taste has gotten so much more sensitive. Carrots are just right raw now. I couldn't tolerate raw veggies at first as they seemed to tear me up when I was early in the healing process. steaming them seems to make them too sweet anymore and I really prefer them thinly sliced into medallions. They are sort of like my snack food now. Cut up two large ones and carry them with me all day to snack on. Satisfies my urge to have something to crunch on. Acorn squash I will sometimes steam in the microwave and then throw in some walnut or pecan pieces. If I haven't had many sweets (fruit) I will sometimes throw some raisins in with the nuts but I have cut way back on those. Summer squash and zucchini are a bit of a change of pace as well. I just know now that I am not going to have the wild culinary adventures I used to have. Bland never tasted so good. As the palate seems to get cleaned up I trust my taste buds to let me know what is good. I used to drink our tap water and thought it tasted good. Now I can't stand it. Of course, I am nowhere near as thirsty as I used to be so I don't drink much anymore anyway. Been awhile since I have had artichokes but I will probably give one a try soon. I don't seem to tolerate asparagus too well. I was using lettuce wraps for my burgers. When I really get indulgent I grill up some ground beef, zap an egg in the microwave, put the egg on the hamburger, put half an avocado on top of that and then wrap it in a piece of iceberg lettuce. For breakfast on the go I have also done an omelet wrap in lettuce. I only use EVOO for cooking. No corn or safflower oil, only EVOO. That's what's working for me thus far and I have been eating this way since around January 2009. Big adjustments but you get used to it. Good luck. Oh, I used to eat lots of chicken before I went gluten-free. Now I can't stand the taste of it or other poultry. That was tough to get used to!