Yesterday, we featured Brad’s Crossfit testimonial. Much of his success was achieved in combination with his new found Paleo diet. Brad and his Paleo journey began last October. Here is Brad in his own words…
When did you start eating Paleo?
I started on Paleo diet in November 2010. Bennett, my trainer and one of the coaches at CFH lent me the book “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf. I read it in about a week, and really tried to follow it religiously for the first month.
What does a typical day of food look like for you?
A typical breakfast is usually eggs, with onions, cheese and sometimes some Taylor ham or turkey bacon. If I’m running late, I usually have hard-boiled eggs in the fridge and jars of nuts or almond butter and yogurt. Lunch is usually a salad or salad bar or leftovers that I bring to work. My favorites dinners are meat brisket, pork shoulder and short ribs cooked in my slow cooker. I always try to have steamed vegetables with my meals and learned a lot of new recipes with butternut squash and spaghetti squash. I have found so many great recipes, my favorite paleo cooking site is Paleo Foodee. I’ve really gotten into cooking over the last 4 months. I wanted to do it right, so I consulted a good friend who is a great cook and asked him for some advice. He suggested purchasing a steamer, slow cooker, food processor and hand-held blender. These have been so helpful in making food prep easier. I typically cook on the weekends and break my meals into separate containers for lunch and dinner for the week. I try to cook 1 or 2 weeknights as well.
How did Paleo accelerate your weight loss?
Paleo was like pouring gasoline on the fire. It was massively effective in combination with exercise. At my peak, I was losing around half a pound a day. The diet really appeals to me because I love high protein foods, like meat, nuts, and eggs. I combined paleo with some other dieting techniques as well, like journaling my food, writing down everything you eat is annoying but makes you really aware of what is going in your mouth. No matter what anyone tells you, calories still matter, if you don’t watch them, you will not lose weight.
Have you found it hard to adhere to the Paleo diet?
The results were not instantaneous and adherence was hard at first. I found the first 2-3 weeks really hard as my body adapted. I experienced some headaches and lethargy right in the beginning. In Robb Wolf’s book, he emphasizes trying the diet for 1 month, so I endeavored to stick it out. Starting in about week 3, something really clicked and I found it a lot easier. The biggest change was the change in my energy levels. I had incredible amounts of energy to tackle the day. One other big change, is the almost complete elimination of my sweet tooth. I think its probably from the lower blood sugar level, my body no longer requires something sweet at every meal. Which really helps when you are trying to lose weight.
Other than Paleo what other diet tools have you used (e.g. fasting, meal plans, food logs, etc.)?
As I mentioned before, I was pretty good about keeping a food log. Every week I would put an index card in my wallet, and carry it around with me. Every day, I would write down what I ate before I ate it, it was annoying at first, but really effective of showing me where I was going wrong. As I got into it, i also used intermittent fasting, like skipping a meal or sometimes not eating solid food for a day. This was a lot more draconian but really helpful at breaking through a weight loss plateau.
What was the hardest part about going Paleo?
For me, not being able to eat Pizza is and will be the biggest hardship. Pizza was a staple of my diet, I used to eat it about 4-5 times a week. Living in Hoboken, we have some of the best pizza, its still hard when I walk by Benny Tudinos. However, I found some really cool paleo recipes online for paleo pizza. Like Everyday Paleo Pizza Recipe. I actually really like it and it’s fun to make with my daughter.
Do you plan to continue with this way of eating permanently?
I really don’t find following this diet a problem. It really appeals to me and the type of food that I really like. When choosing a restaurant with friends, they will always ask me “what can you eat” and I answer almost anything. After 6 months, I literally can find a paleo friendly meal on any menu, with the right adaptations. I also love to cook and its so much fun making large paleo meals like beef short ribs or brisket. When I’m serving it, friends look at me and say, “you lost over 60 pounds eating that?” That is so cool.