Crossfit Norwest, Raw strength and conditioning and Barefoot Evolution Discussion Forum

[adrian]

The general idea of the Paleo diet is that we (humans) have not really evolved that much over the past 10 000 yrs or so and that our bodies are yet to catch up to the agricultural revolution. i.e humans farming and no longer being hunter/gatherers.

The basic Crossfit prescription for nutrition is, more or less, a Paleo approach "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar."

A good approach is: If man made it - don't eat it! There's a long list of whats allowed and not allowed on Paleo, but to be strict about it, it is: No grains - rice, oats, wheat products. No Dairy. No caffeine. (But some authors apparently say in moderation caffeine is ok - DAN!) No alcohol. No starches - potatoes, sweet potatoes. No legumes - beans, snow peas, peanuts. I think that covers most of the no's.

This is the place for your questions: http://www.thepaleodiet.com/faqs/ It has stuff about calcium, fibre, fat, cholesterol.

This is another simple run down, it has links (scroll down) to download a list of foods, recipes and a shopping list: http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/foodinvestigators/listings/detail/i/2/article/2949/Episode-3-The-Paleolithic-Diet You can also watch episodes and see how the people cope and what they say about the diet. Plus you get to see my creepy internet crush, Renee Lim... whoo

Again, Robb Wolf has answers: http://robbwolf.com/?page_id=121

A bit more on what not to eat: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/paleodietcavemandiet/a/paleoforbidden.htm

It is restrictive, and hard in many ways. Personally I've been trying to stick with it for months - but never entirely. How could I give up peanut butter! How could I give up oats or snow peas! Only in the last week have I gotten serious about Zone and Paleo (still milk and tea though..don't think protein shakes are paleo either) Some say you have to be 100% strict, others allow a bit more leeway, either way - the more you head down this path the better your health outcomes will be I think. Even if its just getting rid of those processed carbs.

[Rob]

Mate that is one of the most informative posts on the site! Fantastic lot of information!

[Rob]

On the paleo diet are you allowed seeds such as pumkin seeds etc?

[Dan]

I like the word moderation, because it gives me room to play. I think what I drink (coffee) is in moderation, and so that matter is final!!!

Great post Adrian, some real informative things in there. The more I look at this the more fascinating it all really is. The things we believe where true diet wise are just proving to be so wrong for us.

I am leaning towards doing my own combination diet wise. When I look at what I eat normally, with a few adjustments im Zone/Paleo anyway. Removing weetbix from the diet and just having oats, almonds and a protein shake in the morn has me fuller, longer, on less food so thats awesome. Miss weebix though, and I miss bread, and pasta, and rice, couscous etc etc. Thinking about eating those foods now, along with sugar (icecream used to be my thing), makes me feel ill. I cant believe I used to be half fit with the diet I maintained....

I like dairy food, and I like legumes, and nuts and seeds etc so strict paleo doesnt really work for me, but it sits well with the zone principle. I think I have given enough up and will just see how I go on this diet for now, measured by results of course.....
I am however sick of being smashed by you at the gym now, so consider yourself my next target, beating Tom is just to damn easy.......

[Rob]

I would like to contribute to this post once again on diet. I have been zoning or a version of the zone since last October. I have felt good and seen some good results! Since April this year I was strict zoning, I mean super, super strict. The stricter I got the more my food choices narrowed. I was eating lots of tuna, brocolli and almonds but not much of anything else. This was my version as I wanted to be strict even though I know you can eat anything on the zone as long as it is all in proportion.

Although not a dietitian, I do believe that I know a bit about nutriton through my studies. I thought if I eat this same stuff all the time I will be developing some deficencies in some vitamins and minerals somewhere. I must stress again that the zone you can eat anything but in the right ratios. My strictness was due to time managment. Considering how busy I am I needed to select foods that were easy to do the math, easy to locate and I can carry with me. Finally I started reading about paleo and chatted with Adrian our resident fountain of knowledge. I have just started to go with my gut feelings and I being semi scientist like the evolution principles of the paleo diet.

On Wednesday I went into my local super market and nearly diet with excitment. I took in my paleo shopping list and bought a tonne of food. All different colours, smells, flavours and tastes I was in heaven.

This is roughly what I bought-
grapes
bananas
apples
oranges
cuccumbers
lettuce
pumkin
watermelon
rockmelon
avacardo
almonds
brasil nuts
peacans
wallnuts
gogi berries
pumkin seeds
sunflower seeds
some linseeds things
eggs,
chicken
roast beef

Now this is the stuff I like. Much more variet than the zone I was on. Now I eat a paleo diet like our ancestors. Well atleast I am trying a paleo diet and I will see how I feel. I already enjoy the foods more. Last night zI actually had a dessert of watermelon, rockmelo n, grapes and then finished it off with my trail mix. AWESOME!

[Dan]

I think Dr Oz http://www.oprah.com/contributor/health/droz/ is also very pro Paleo in his approach (was/is a leading heart surgeon before Oprah fame).
I have one of his books "You - The owners manual" that preaches the health, disease prevention and healing aspects of food, not just its energy provision (or lack thereoff).

He is also pro wholegrain, in breads pastas etc.

Biggest eye opener in his books was just the importance of greens, all types, and tomatoes. Im growing a tonne of tomatoes this year, literally.

On growing, pretty much your entire grocery list there Rob can be grown in Syd, check that book I gave you, and you can prob get decent free range eggs pretty close to us here, a 5-10 min drive west on windsor rd is bound to get a market gardener type person selling them.