One of my biggest pet peeve is reading articles or hearing commentary from people claiming things like, “I tried Paleo and it just doesn’t work for weight loss (or training, or to help one’s skin clear up and so on)” or “Paleo is just not sustainable for the long term” and then finding out that they never really tried Paleo correctly in the first place.
For example, if one approaches Paleo with the erroneous mindset that it’s all about eating meat all day long, and as a result, they find their digestion becomes irregular, they might then conclude that “Paleo is too low in fiber, so I’d better start eating my fortified cereal again”.
Or, they might go straight to the idea of being ‘Partly Paleo” and eat mostly a Paleo diet, but throw in some bread a few days each week. If that person has an unknown allergy to wheat, eating those few servings during the week is absolutely enough to prevent their gut from healing and as a result, prevent them from reaping the full benefits of being completely Paleo.
Finally, one might say that Paleo did not sustain them for their endurance training, however, after a conversation, you’d find out that they simply took out all the non Paleo starches…and didn’t replace them with anything. If you’re a Paleo endurance athlete, like me, you still need starch; it just needn’t come from grains! Think yams!
If you think you tried it and feel ‘it didn’t work’, please take a good, hard look at what you ate, when you ate, whether or not your meals were balanced and if you ate enough.
Not sure? E me and I’ll help you trouble shoot- that’s what the consultations are for.
At any rate, don’t sell it short by making statements that it doesn’t work. That’s an unfair disservice to what is a very healthy movement which has potential to make leaps and bounds of positive change to a society in a health crisis.
Great post Nell! I was just writing something similar to this on my blog this morning. All too often people say it’s not working or they are not losing, or they are gaining. And I highly agree that most often it’s because they are not *really* following paleo. Eating paleo cookies at morning and afternoon tea instead of conventional cookies just doesn’t cut the mustard, they are still cookies!
Unfortunately with weight loss, people are always looking for a quick fix, but it’s not until you stop chasing shiny objects that results will come. Paleo is the only movement I can see actively trying to educate people about health. I hope more people do truly try it
I’ve been trying to go paleo for a month now, I’ve really bought into the science of it and I’m enjoying the weight loss. Unfortunately I’m 5 weeks away from a marathon and my long weekend runs have really suffered which I’ve put down to adapting to the new energy system, I really need my next long run to go a lot better, what would you suggest would be the ideal preparation for an 18 mile 2.5 hour run? PS I live in England and the shops here don’t stock yams!
It’s hard to make blanket suggestions without knowing how you are currently fueling your training. Can you find sweet potatoes? That’s one option that clients in the UK have been able to source. Alternatively, you may find a tin of plain puree of sweet potato or yam. Please search my blog for ideas for nearly five years of posts on all things Paleo including many pieces on training and racing Paleo. Let me know if you would like to book a consult to sort your fuel game plan!
Thanks Nell, yes you can get sweet potatoes in the UK. I had them mashed with a some coconut oil and some salt and pepper and they were very nice. This week’s run went much better, I actually felt stronger after 10 miles than I did at the start. Not sure if was the sweet potatoes or just my body finally adapting to a much lower carb diet though.
Out of interest – what vegetables are very high in fibre? I’ve been paleo for a week now and have definitely becoming irregular. I’m from the UK and can get yams etc but wondered if there were some green vegetables that I’m missing?
ALL veggies are high in fibre; they have 7 – 11 times that found in grain-based products. Assuming you’re eating yam because you’re an endurance athlete? (No need for the starch if not). Typically, I find that when clients have this issue, it’s because they are not balancing out their meals in keeping with the Paleo macro nutrient ratio. When Paleo is followed properly, one should be as regular as clockwork.