Going Paleo: Week 1
by Jason GodeskyDownload new Excel spreadsheet
First, the good news: by the sixth day of the diet, I had lost ten pounds. Probably water weight, and the first ten pounds are always the easiest, but by any measure, it’s a good start. Now, the less good news: I’ve been stalled at that point for the past five days, and tonight, for the first time, my ketone reagent strip is showing up a lighter shade of purple. I’m off track, and I need to get back on.
I checked the “Troubleshooting” section in The Foundation Diet; there’s a specific section for when you stall for no apparent reason. Dr. Burlay offers three possible solutions: drop daily carbs, eat more vegetables, or eat more fat. (Giuli found that last suggestion pretty funny.)
So, that’s what I’m going to do next: more vegetables, and more fat. A glance at my spreadsheet shows I haven’t been getting the three daily servings of vegetables Burlay stresses. That needs to be corrected; with luck, that will also correct my current stall.
The one that Giuli found so counter-intuitive was more fat. Of course, from the vantage point of Burlay’s diet, it makes perfect sense. It’s all about shifting the body into a different kind of metabolism, where you burn fat instead of sugar for energy. If you slip into a version with too much protein, well, protein can be broken down for energy, too. That will take you out of ketosis–and that suggests why my reagent strip might be starting to pale.
One final note: Burlay suggests sugar-free chocolates. I tried some, but they don’t agree with me at all. I’m sick as a dog tonight. Splenda may be my friend now, but sugar-free chocolate is something I’ll avoid like the plague forevermore.
I do think I’ll put some stevia on my next grocery shopping list, though….
Hi Jason, I’ve tried the kind of diet you’re on. It’s a good way to learn about your body: how it feels on low or no carb. In the end, you have to burn more than you consume, but reduced carb makes it a lot easier to diet. A couple of tips: keep your stress level low, sleep well and take vitamins. You are very suseptible to getting sick when you are on low carb and you are shocking your body by drastically changing your diet. Best of luck to you. For long-term maintenance, equal grams of fat, carbs and protein work well for me, but each of us is different, so experimentation is a good thing.
Comment by Joe — 11 March 2006 @ 3:16 AM
A couple of tips: keep your stress level low, sleep well and take vitamins. You are very suseptible to getting sick when you are on low carb and you are shocking your body by drastically changing your diet.
I disagree with the need to take vitamins and the “you are very suseptible to getting sick when you are on low carb”.
I have seen no evidence of increased suseptibility to illness, in fact I would say the exact opposite. Why would anyone want to do something that would increase their likelihood to become ill? This is a lifestyle change, not just a diet.
Comment by Charly — 11 March 2006 @ 9:18 AM
Hey –
Well, on the getting sick bit — you’re both right. Lo-carb does not increase your chances of getting sick… but ANY drastic change to your diet DOES. (at first)
Jason, I know this may be hard to fit into your schedule, but another way to break a stall is to increase your daily exercise. The first ‘diet’ that I found success with (my first unsteady researches that eventually lead to Atkins and then Paleo) suggested increasing your daily calories by 100 and simultaneously increasing either intensity or duration of exercise. A couple days of this will usually knock you out of the stall.
Also, if you can find a way… I would strongly recommend that you find some way to add weight training into your routine. Even if you just use books, or jars of food or whatever else you have on hand. Adding muscle mass will ALWAYS help with a stall.
Janene
Comment by Janene — 11 March 2006 @ 9:45 AM
Way to go! 10lbs - gone forever!
Don’t worry too much about a stall. After the first 10lbs, you’re due for a small stall. The “Whoosh Fairy” will come along one of these nights and take away another 2 or 3lbs and whoosh!, you’ll be on your way again.
SOP for low-carb diets.
Comment by nograin — 11 March 2006 @ 11:15 AM
Some thoughts and suggestions (based on personal experience and from working with others when I was a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner):
1. Weight loss alone is a poor measure of progress. A low carb diet (especially when coupled with adequate exercise) will inevitably result in an increase in muscle mass and a loss of body fat, but that progress can be easily missed if one is only monitoring body weight because the fat loss is offset by the increase in muscle mass. If you must have something to track in a spreadsheet :), measure body fat instead. That can be as simple as measuring your waist, hip and wrist (see, e.g., http://www.zoneperfect.com/site/content/calculator.asp), or you can use body fat calipers (e.g., http://www.accufitness.com/products/fitness3000.html).
2. Monitor all effects. Changing to a more evolutionarily-appropriate diet has a lot of profound effects over time, including an increase in energy levels and endurance, mood stabilization, strengthening of the immune system, and improvement in broad range of nagging problems such as joint stiffness and pain, digestive problems, excess mucus (stuffy sinuses, etc.), dry skin, hair loss, headaches, and so on. Track changes in those things as well.
3. Janene is right, weight training is a big help. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate: A concrete wall block or two one-gallon milk jugs filled with water will work quite well - set them on the ground in front of you, pick them up and press them overhead, then put them back down. Repeat until muscles are screaming.
You can also carry one of them in a backpack during your walks.
4. Keep it simple. I really like Ray Audette’s rule of thumb in NeanderThin - if you can hunt or gather something, you can eat it. That obviously nixes the Splenda and chocolate bars.
5. Make sure you’re not substituting one type of sugar for another, e.g., using an increased consumption of fruits to help satisfy that craving for carbs that used to be met by bread, pasta, cereal, etc.
6. Be patient and don’t worry about ‘plateaus’. No process in the universe moves in a constantly upward, linear fashion. If you’re eating right, even though nothing much may seem to be changing on the surface for the moment, trust that things are still shifting and re-balancing on a deeper but less obvious (for the moment, at least) level.
I have mixed feelings about stevia. Although it is apparently a healthier sweetener than toxic crap like aspartame, I think that, for long-term success, one eventually needs to retrain their sense of taste (which has been totally deranged by the modern food machine) to be satisfied by a lower level of sweetness.
Oneida
Comment by Oneida — 11 March 2006 @ 6:39 PM
Just don’t quit.
Comment by Rick Larson — 11 March 2006 @ 8:53 PM
I don’t have anything to say on this topic, but I just found your site and wanted to say hello. We need more sites like this to comment on the issues that are really important to us all (even though most of us deny them). I look forward to reading more in the future.
Comment by Peter D — 11 March 2006 @ 10:14 PM
I completely agree with Oneida (EXCELLENT advice), and I will add that for me, I NEVER get on a scale or measure body fat, I go by how I feel. Get in touch with your body and pay close attention to how you feel.
I also use the ’seat of my pants’ measurement….in other words how well my ass fits into my pants.
Comment by Charly — 11 March 2006 @ 10:22 PM
I agree with Oneida, too.
Except this is an experiment, remember? Losing weight is what most Americans are concerned with, and we wanted to see if the paleo diet alone could achieve that. More exercise would complicate the experiment (that’s why I also catalog my exercise). Losing weight is hardly the only thing that matters–except I’m 100 lbs. overweight, and my weight is the #1 health problem I have right now. Oneida’s advice is excellent, if I were just someone looking to be healthier. But I’m a guinea pig, and the experiment has certain parameters.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 11 March 2006 @ 10:36 PM
Oh, and on the sugar tip, I hear you … I’m much further along on that than your average American, but I still have a sweet tooth. Right now, I can’t eat fruits, though, so I’ve got to get my fix in other forms. That’s where Splenda and stevia come in. I drink a good bit of home-brewed iced tea. A packet of Splenda per tall glass of iced tea is all I need, but without that, I’ve got to admit, it’s a little bit on the nasty side.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 11 March 2006 @ 10:38 PM
I like a shot of juice in a glass of water. If you’ve got a taste for dilute teas, or want water a bit more interesting - this works well.
Comment by JCamasto — 12 March 2006 @ 2:08 AM
After taking a look at your website (assuming that it is your website and you weren’t just linking to it ironically), I’m REALLY interested in which articles you’ve seen on Anthropik. I suspect I already know which ones you haven’t.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 12 March 2006 @ 12:28 PM
Those actually get linked to from some Christian sites. Fairly liberal Christian sites, but I’ve seen them picked up, nonetheless.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 12 March 2006 @ 12:36 PM
Hi Jason -
Glad to have found your site, fascinating reading. I’m running your XML feed at my own site (GettingPrimitive.com) and it’s always nice to find a kindred spirit (I was an anthro major, too!)
Anyway, for the last year I’ve been deliberately moving through what you might call a ‘Neolithic’ diet to a ‘Paleolithic’ one. My own goals have nothing to do with weight loss (and you didn’t say yours did either) - although that has been a easily observable result. For me it’s about purification and preparation (what I like to call “training for the wreckage”). and I can tell you Oneida’s advice is very good. Listen to it.
But there are a few things no one has mentioned yet. Firstly, even if you’re following Audette’s rules, it is important to recognize that practically all meat and produce in your supermarket has been tainted by pesticides, antibiotics, or DNA-modification. In addition, industrial farming practices have denaturalized the soil to such an extent that the plants (and herbivores!) you consume today have considerably less nutritional value than those consumed by your grandparents when they were your age. For these and other reasons, it is much more difficult than it seems to even guess how one might get ‘there’ (true Paleo) from ‘here’ (toxic wasteland) - or if that is even possible anymore. In any case, it’s all moot unless you’re eating truly organic produce, grass-fed livestock, etc.
Secondly, many of (what at first seem to be) the physical effects of carb-elimination are not directly related to the carbs themselves, but rather to the elimination of the TFAs (trans-fatty acids) found in most carb-based food products (delivered via industrial fats). As your body purges this stuff, some of the effects will not be particularly comfortable, a fact which contributes considerable dropout to the regimen. But hear this: While the elimination of carbs may be a good thing, the elimination of TFAs is a vital thing. If you can’t do the former, at least please do the latter. FMI, google Mary Enig.
- Sisyphus
Comment by Sisyphus — 12 March 2006 @ 1:13 PM
Neat site you got there, Sisyphus. It just made my blogroll. :^)
Anyway, this post is part of a series. Check out the original “Going Paleo” post for my parameters. This is just one of my promised updates on that.
I hear you on factory farming, but for the moment, there are certain compromises I need to make with reality. That’s one of the reasons I’m doing this: to see how much of an improvement a civilized bloke can expect just by living in a little bit more primitive way: even if it’s just menu selections.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 12 March 2006 @ 1:27 PM
“After taking a look at your website (assuming that it is your website and you weren’t just linking to it ironically), I’m REALLY interested in which articles you’ve seen on Anthropik. I suspect I already know which ones you haven’t.”
Not sure what you mean by that. I just read the first few here, including the one on peak oil. Why is my site ironic anyways?
“Those actually get linked to from some Christian sites. Fairly liberal Christian sites, but I’ve seen them picked up, nonetheless.”
Not my site. How did you get my site on your blogroll? I’m not a Christian, but I am quite liberal
Comment by Peter D — 12 March 2006 @ 1:40 PM
Hahahaha. I figured it out. I had misspelled blogspot (I had it blogpsot) in my url for my website. Now I understand why it was so ironic…..:) I promise you, I don’t run a site on bible studies (not that there is anything wrong with that.
Comment by Peter D — 12 March 2006 @ 1:45 PM
I can’t remember how I found “Dodosville.” Giuli was referring to your above comment, where you entered appear to have misspelled your URL, so it shows up with your site as, “AmazingBibleStudies.”
Comment by Jason Godesky — 12 March 2006 @ 1:50 PM
LOL!
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 12 March 2006 @ 1:52 PM
What a way to introduce myself….:)
Oh well, I look forward to checking in regularly here. I am very interested in what your discussing and as I said earlier, we need more sites like this discussing some of the more substanive issues we face. Cheers.
Comment by Peter D — 12 March 2006 @ 1:58 PM
Way to go, Jason! Keep it up! (Although I’ve heard, and invented, a lot of creative excuses for not exercising and I have to say yours takes the ground-nut and stevia cake.)
Love,
Your future moms-in-law
Comment by Giuli's mom — 13 March 2006 @ 1:10 AM
The reduced-carb diet I tried was actually called ‘Eat fat, get thin’! Works too. Seriously, man, start fryin’ all your vegetables
Comment by speedbird — 13 March 2006 @ 5:17 AM
Actually, the theory which I read behind the ‘eat fat’ thing is this: fat fills you up. Think about it: I bet you could eat half a pound of bread in a sitting - but what about half a pound of butter? I feel a heave coming on just thinking about it.
And the theory behind THAT is (of course!) paleo: the body is poorly adapted to understanding and regulating the modern habit of carbo-loading. ‘Is it food? Shall I stop eating? Not sure… let’s stay hungry.’
Comment by speedbird — 13 March 2006 @ 5:23 AM
Jason,
What’s a typical day’s meal plan look like for you?
Like, what are you eating for breakfast?
Comment by JCamasto — 14 March 2006 @ 2:57 PM
Usually, it’s two hard-boiled eggs. Check the spreadsheet, its’ got all my meals listed.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 14 March 2006 @ 3:12 PM
Got it, sorry. Didn’t “see” the other sheets.
(When I come across the standard “3 sheet default” layout for Excel - I have developed the tendancy to ignore other pages thatn the first. Simply because most folks just open up a new file, and get stuck with the default “sheet 1, 2, 3″ even though the only use sheet 1..)
This all extends for the multi-layer, cross calculating, formula imbedded, monster database “spread-cubes” I’d crank out in my former pyramid building days.
Comment by JCamasto — 14 March 2006 @ 5:00 PM
Hey Jason, good job!
Can I recommend something I’ve found to be extremely useful on my personal diet (its high protein/low fat however, but don’t hold that against me). You seem to only be eating breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. I don’t remember what is suggested by the paleo diet, but I recommend you eat at least 6-8 meals a day, no more than 2.5 hours apart. You can pretend you’re a hobbit and call them breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, and so on if you want. Break your breakfast into two meals and your lunch into two meals. I’m telling you it works wonders. Even though it seems like you’re always eating so people won’t believe you’re on a diet, it totally works. Every 2-3 hours I’m eating, like clockwork. Even if its just a protein bar or egg or something. If you notice dudes that lift a lot (”meatheads” I used to call them) are eating all the time, and there is a reason for that. It works wonders.
Also everyone that’s saying you should lift weights are completely right. It will speed up your progress considerably. Nothing is cooler than gaining muscle while losing fat and watching definition form in your arms and shoulders. Plus theres just too many variables are inherently present to think that you are undergoing a controlled experiment and lifting would mess it up. Just lift and you’ll get healthy faster man!
If you need a reason, just do what I do when I don’t want to do any more pullups. I think to myself, “What are you going to do when the zombies are chasing after you and you have to pull yourself and your tribemates over the chain-link fence? Are you going to give up then too?” And then I do another set.
Anyway, that’s my $0.02, take it or leave it.
Comment by Cory — 15 March 2006 @ 10:22 PM
You know what, what you’re doing is awesome.
Forget my suggestions, I’m sure you get enough conflicting advice as it is when folks find out you’re on a diet. Just do it how you’re doing it, it seems to be working great for you, so you don’t need to change it at all. Sometimes I forget my opinions aren’t always necessary to share.
Keep it up man!
Comment by Cory — 15 March 2006 @ 10:30 PM
Cory’s wrong about carbs
But right about mini-meals and exercise. I won’t say “lift weights” specifically because different people like different sorts of exercise. I like tai chi and aerobics myself. Anaerobic exercises seem kinda like a waste of calories to me (!) but I do them when I’m targeting a specific muscle group for building up.
Generally though, it’s enough (and increasingly important as your diet proceeds) to keep your body flexible and get your cardiovascular workout. I say increasingly important for two reasons: (1) this isn’t just about losing weight, you are also losing toxins and you will eventually lose some defense mechanisms against those toxins as well, so you want to keep your system in good running order. And (2) YOUR BODY WANTS TO WORK. My tyrannical dictator mind prefers ignoring the body and putting words in a row all day and night. So I found it strangely unsettling (and more than a little mutinous) after so many years as a desk jockey to learn that my body was actually “happier” when I didn’t skip my exercise. Man o man, the peasants were demanding their rights n shit! But as it turns out, happy peasants make for a happier dictator.
Some people like swimming because it works the whole body. Dancing is good too (doesn’t matter if you’re good at it, as long as you move around!) Whatever works for you. Just choose some simple exercises for each body area and do them for 30 mins a day while listening to music or whatever. It’s hard to explain, but here’s a metaphor, think of a car engine. Certainly you can see how it’s better to cycle fuel (and impurities) through the system than to let it sit there with sediment settling in the tanks and hoses. Making your muscles work causes them to replenish themselves faster at the molecular level, it causes them to oxygenate (that’s what the ‘burn’ is), and it does amazing (perhaps counter-intuitive) things for your energy & alertness.
It’s all about training for the wreckage, dude. Get ready to kick some zombie ass.
- S.
Comment by Sisyphus — 16 March 2006 @ 5:10 AM
Hey Jason,
Do you worry about (at this early level) any of the ’saturated fats’ debate or is it something that doesn’t matter for this experiment?
Best
Bill Maxwell
Comment by Bill Maxwell — 17 March 2006 @ 5:52 PM
Will there be a week 2 report, and weekly reports after? I am eagerly following this. I went out searching for the foundation diet book, but was denied at the local shops. I did see a copy of “neanderthin” and “the paleo diet” but after paging through them and reading reviews, I was left unimpressed. I look forward to your updates.
Comment by rob — 19 March 2006 @ 1:58 AM
There will be weekly updates until I reach 210 lbs. This week’s been delayed because this weekend has so far been … let’s just call it “stressful.”
Comment by Jason Godesky — 19 March 2006 @ 12:12 PM
Hello- I just wanted to say I just found your website - or at least it was passed onto me from a fellow paleo dieter. She swears by it. My boyfriend (an avid potatoe lover) and I will be starting this diet Monday April 10th - to try to change some physical uncomfortabilities- being about 30lbs over weight, not sleeping well, headaches, etc.
I wish you the best of luck and keep on keepin’ on.
You’ve got lots of people watchin now!
Comment by Raquel Kouns — 6 April 2006 @ 7:23 PM
I understand your boyfriend’s pain. What I’d do for some french fries at this point, or mashed potatoes….
Comment by Jason Godesky — 6 April 2006 @ 10:24 PM