Quote:
Originally Posted by Desnudo
I tried the paleo diet for a while. Too hard to stick to when your wife isn't also on it, but it was great. Felt my energy levels stabilize and definitely lost weight and gained definition (while continuing to work out). I noticed a huge difference in cutting out dairy and grains. Although I was probably also simply consuming fewer calories a day as well.
I don't believe it's simply # of calories in - # of calories out. Timing and type of food definitely changes the impact the quantity of calories has. For example, I will guarantee that you would gain more weight eating five big macs right before bed as opposed to when you first wake up in the morning.
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I was just thinking about the paleo diet in the context of this thread. I don't think it's simply net calories either, but I don't think it's as simple as meat is evil either. I'm sure excluding meat gets people thinking more about what they're putting in their body - they're probably not replacing meat with soda, for example. I think for most regular people, that's the most important thing, thinking about it, making actual decisions, avoiding the universally condemned kind of stuff. Paleos can get in heated arguments with vegans, and with vegetarians, and with the meat and potatoes in moderation people, and with everyone else, but if you're making conscious decisions based on your health and what works for you, you're already doing really well.
Edit: It's kind of like religion in a way. All the strict rules, etc, aren't necessarily critical on their own, it's how they change your perspective and actions. If I could do a study about people who can only eat foods starting with the letter D, or whatever, I'd predict some modest health and eating habit improvements as people are forced to think carefully about the food choices, what they're not getting nutrition wise, what they need to get, etc. It's not a perfect example, obviously some foods are considered universally healthier than others, I just think where get into debates about various healthy ways to eat, there's probably no perfect answer. And I'm certainly not ready to meat in the "universally bad" category.