Now, what about the other 20%. In my case the people who go this way and have less success, at least when it comes to fat loss, come in with a couple of traits.
- Farther down the road: The strugglers were heavier than others who have tried and succeeded.
- Drinks: In all cases I know the people have some drink they consume quite a bit. In one case it is diet soda. In another case it is wine. I sense both may contribute. Alcohol and aspartame may inhibit weight loss to some degree.
There is also the possiblity that they also are less "compliant" than the others, which is certainly possible. I am not sure we are all that good at estimating how much we cheat. Some may cheat 25% but really think they are 95% compliant.
A blog post from PaNu got me thinging on this more recently and suggests that those who start off farther down the road may have more wrecked metabolisms that may require a more extreme shock, like "induction" from Atkins. This makes sense to me but I suspect that the drinks might also be getting in the way and should be part of the induction process. Doing an induction with a more strict Paleo diet afterward might be just what is needed in these weak responders.
Have you had experiences with friends and/or relatives who you think do the right thing but still struggle? Any advice you can share?
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You have a good hit rate. After reading The Tipping Point, I realize that I must not be a good salesman. Heck I'm only a minor-league maven when it comes to this stuff.
I think the non-compliance starts innocently enough. I've seen a few people try the plan, but then add in a little more bread, a few deserts, diet soda, etc. to where they eventually slide back to where they were originally.
Who doesn't cheat or fall off of the plan? I do, and usually tend to regret the setback in my goals. I keep in mind that it is also a marathon and not a sprint. One error is not going to kill me, but can't have a month of excuses and expect positive results.
Senya thinks the biggest help, by far has been doing this together. Having a support system is crucial. How can 1 partner try to eat healthy when the other is completely off of the reservation? I suppose it can be done, but that's not the ideal situation.
This is the great question I think: how to be an effective apologist for the ancestral life way.
As far as people not having success, I really do think compliance is an issue. I know several people who go 'paleo,' have poor success, and then I find out they are eating weight watchers bars and other garbage.
Quite frustrating.
Never let the perfect get in the way of the good
Too right, Jodi. I do however feel that working cheats in during your first few days of Paleo prevents you from ever effectively restoring insulin sensitivity. The 80/20 rule is an important part of making Paleo work, but so, I think, is taking the initial plunge and going closer to 90% compliance at least for a week or two.
Dr.'s Atkins and Eades got it right in that point of theory, from my point of view.
Jeff,
GREAT post. I have been at it for more then 3 years now. These are my findings and thoughts.
1. I could not lean out until I dropped the wine. I still have wine at times of course, but you can not drink 2 glasses or have 2 beers every night. My estimate is that 85% of folks drink (at least) this much. Nothing excsessive, but it's enough to railroad weight loss.
Then frustration sets in and they toss in the towel.
2. You must eat plenty of fat! If you don't, you'll never get the same "pleasure" from food that your brain has gotten so acustomed to. When people don't do this, they "miss" their old way of eating to much. Many can't wrap their head around this as you HAVE to give the collective consciousness the slip to do it.
3. Possibly the most important of my list. For four months NO CHEATING!!!!! It's the only way as your body has to change "how it does business" and then YOU have to FEEL the difference for yourself. Once people have turned that corner, they will be in the race forever (I like what Andy said about the marathon)
I make my living as a sales and marketing guy.....I can't "sell" this one ;-)
Hope that helps some.
Marc
Marc,
It's not cheating if it's built-in occasionally. Living in NYC, there are a few places where I pick my poison. However, I was HARDCORD for a month (100%). Now I am (80-90%). For me, this is what makes the lifestyle sustainable for a lifetime, as well as allow me to enjoy some of the culinary delights of this great city.
Tom
PS: Jeff, you picked your poison with Duff's breaded wings. NOTHING to be ashamed of :)
Tom/Jodi,
Duff's wings are not breaded. They are fried in seed oils, which I am not crazy about which is why I eat them once in literally a blue moon. My family shared a small french fries as well(heavenly in their blue cheese) and only got through half of it. I cheap but a minor one in my book. Man was it good.
Marc,
The fat is a really good point. Many think it is best to be low fat and low carb. What a disaster that would be.
How best do you think to work that into an eating plan? Paleo was a simple switch as I replaced the "starch" in my meals with extra meat and vegetables. Do you think that that is enough fat? Do you need to add coconut oil, butter, cream or something else? Any tips you could pass on?
Bryce, Marc, Andy,
I think lack of compliance is a major part. You need to hit a tipping point where you switch over the metabolism and I don't think you can do that by cheating every other day, drinking diet soda or boozing. Doing a more 80/90% approach is fine for those who have gotten their metabolic house in order or who aren't further down the road.
For me the cheating is a slippery slope that isn't worth going down very far. I keep the cheats small, infrequent and within reason. For example, would never think of cheating by eating a soda, plain bread, white rice, etc. It just wouldn't be worth it.
It does seem like we all agree that there is a time in the beginning that you need to be hardcore, especially if the starting point is farther from ideal.
jeff
@Jodi
I'm only saying that the cheating can't happen until you've turned the corner. Then a cheat from time to time is fine.
I'm happy I'm not in NYC anymore
;-) to much tempation hahaha
@Jeff,
I'm not sure how to answer yet, so i'm going to give it some thought...but I can tell you that after a year of eating this way I just started craving fat like a crazy man.
So I like the faty cuts of meat and I'm no stranger to shoving 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in my mouth.
when I eat smoked salmon I love dousing it liberally with evoo and fresh cracked pepper.
Good discussion
Marc
Jeff,
At that time of my plateau (stall) I was 100% Paleo and I had lost over ten pounds.I was elated.
“Paleo works!” That’s when the plateau (stall) hit. I had stopped loosing weight. I hung in there for one month and still no more weight came off.
At that time I was enjoying the new found bounty of 5 to 6 servings of fruit every day along with my usual two glasses of wine in the evening. I never gave this a second thought. I was supposed to eat fruit, right? Plus, what harm could a couple of glasses of wine a night do anyway. After all, I was eating 100% Paleo.
After talking with Jeff, my Paleo consultant, he informed me of the enormous amount of sugar that fruit and wine was putting in my body. I immediately stopped the wine and reduced the fruit. Voila, I resumed loosing weight again and never looked back.
“Paleo not working?” is not the question. The real question is “Why is Paleo not working?”
My answer is, if you are truly compliant with the Paleo diet, and be honest, the problem is not found in what you are NOT eating, it is found in what you ARE still eating.
Glad to be part of the 20%,
Dad
Hey guys,
I completely agree with your assessment that there has to be a sustained HARDCORE period in order to train your body effectively. Mine was 1 month (not too long). At 1 month, I introduced a weekly "off" item, usually on the weekend. After over a year of this 80/20, my body has NO PROBLEM dealing with food. In fact, it has been trained well. I agree that it's the initial shock that's lost on the 20% that don't have success.
Tom
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