I get a lot of emails from people who are Paleo (although most are not nearly as Paleo as they think), and are discouraged by their lack of success.The problem is many are under the impression that simply adopting the Paleo Diet Recipes is going to push them to the upper echelon of body transformation.But if people are thinking that Paleo alone is the solution, they are in for a great deal of disappointment.Going Paleo is NOT enough if you are trying to transform how you look because the process is more multifaceted than it might appear.
We need to go no further than the world of golf to understand the layers of complexity that exist.
Anyway, here is a great example of someone who did what dozens of us here have done…
1) Got really unhealthy by eating and living really unhealthfully
2) Did low-carb or low-carb Paleo diet and maybe began exercising a lot too
3) Lost a ton of weight
4) Thought Paleo was the greatest thing on earth – the answer to all things, and that carbohydrates, a biologically-inappropriate substance to be consuming in quantities impossible to obtain during the Paleolithic era, were the cause of all that ails modern humans.
5) Began to get ill
6) Began to gain fat and lose muscle, looking worse despite having looked great at six months into the Diet and exercise recommended by typical Paleo aficionados
7) Stuck with it out of the belief that maybe the failure is due to a lack of discipline, going even further in the extreme direction of carbohydrate restriction all the way down to a zero carbohydrate diet
8) Got even sicker, hitting rock bottom somehow
9) Finally said screw it, getting curious about what some low-carb Paleo hater (me usually) said about it not being the miracle panacea it’s touted to be
10) Reversed health problems immediately
So how does this fit into the past few weeks ?
Well I've gotten myself a personal trainer...Surprisingly a paleo friendly one. We've had 3 sessions thus far, and we've begun working on the fundamentals, some cardio, light calisthenics/stretching and will sortly be moving into weight lifting. I've had a V.O2 Max test, and seem to be on my way. We discussed my eating/ Paleo Recipes and he agrees I picked the right style of eating, apparently my body comp has indicated I'll thrive on low carb high protien. We are currently experimenting with me eating 225g protein a day which = about 1.5g/protein per lb of lean body mass.
This is about the time my first issues started popping up. So, for a week I ate...ALOT. here came the problem, my weight started maintaining, I was sitting steady at 205lbs for about a week and a half and to me anyway I saw no visible Weight Loss or body composition changes. I've begun getting depressed and worn down with the grind of cook, clean the kitchen, come back and do it all again. Eating out has been very difficult as well, Finding Paleo(ish) friendly fare in this small town is very hard. For example, out to eat Order a steak (medium well) and ask for seasonal veggies instead of a baked potato or french fries, and you get a small scoop of corn. So one cheat day turned into two or three.
