The Paleolithic Solution – Episode 9

Hey Robb, awesome podcast as usual. I find myself surfing this blog several times a week, trawling the archives and rereading posts again and again. INSANE amount of useful, practical info here. I was really interested to hear your comments right at the end of the podcast re: your consult with the guy “built and wired up to look like an NFL linebacker”. I feel like I hit a similiar wall in the last 3 months of last year. I am 220lb, dead of 495, back squat 410 etc etc so genetically I am exactly the same. Built like all the dudes on my moms side of the family and they were all 6 foot +, 200lbs +, we have all been involved at a high level in rugby, “power” field events like shotput etc. As I mentioned late last year we had a LOT of WOD’s programmed that were just long slugfests. 40 minutes + of tons of bodyweight movements, running, box jumps etc etc at least 6-10 times a month. By Dec I just felt like I had gone from a strong, powerful 220lb’er to a big dude who could grind ok through long sufferfests but had lost all that power and explosiveness. Dont know if I had got fatter, but definitely not leaner. Was wondering if you could comment a bit more on the gentic influence here, possibly point me in the right directions to read up a bit more on how cortisol is increased via these long WOD’s, your take on genetics and how your training should be structured to accomodate your particular strengths etc. I am just beginning an experiment where I am cutting the long WOD’s down to a max of 2x per month and doing a programme similiar to that detailed in your “adrenal fatigue” article. Wendler 5-3-1 strength progression, some gymnastic/stuff I suck at skill practice and then a short 5-15 minutes max “CrossFit Football” style WOD 4x a week. I really feel I will be better off going this route. Have you seen guys who look to just get wicked strong and powerful also see improvements in longer WOD times? I intuitively think this may be the case. Any comments/suggestions/hints or tips on this subject would be appreciated. Thanks again from Down Under!

Re: Soup or whole food, there was a TV programme, British, that had a lot of interesting nutrition trials, admitidly small numbers of participants.

One trial – they took a meal and liquidized it into soup, a number of people ate this and another group ate the meal whole. The meal was veggies and meat. Then they timed each person until hunger. Interestingly the soup people all lasted longer.

Re Calcium: Another trial they did was get women who had severe PMS, did the PMS questionnaire. Then they ate a lot of dairy (in order to get higher calcium) and redid the questionnaire in 3 months ( I think) PMS was reduced.

Someone asked about PMS cravings. As well as eating paleo / zone and lowering insulin and blood sugar low, the other thing that helped me was a supplement (Sears Bone Support) which contains magnesium, calcium and vitamin D – all of which help PMS, but definitely helped me eliminate the craving side. There are other similar combination supplements – could be worth a try.

Ok something weird is happening. I ditched my cheat meal, kept up w/ a paleo dairy/gluten free diet, dropped my cals to 2000, increased protien to 180g, carbs to under 50/day and started doing MEBB 3 days/week. I have gotten stronger and have put on 5 lbs in the last 3 weeks. Not trying really to gain size but it is nice. Could it be that those long metcons had my system all f’ed up making it next to impossible to gain muscle?

One subject I would love to see in the podcast is a review of things that can cause Paleo to not work. I am a prime example. Been eating pretty strict paleo for several months and didn’t lose any weight. I switched over to a very low carb diet with higher fat and that didn’t help either. I take 3-6g of fish oil a day along with 95% paleo compliant eating. Something is wrong and it can’t be my diet. What other factors can contribute to stalled fat loss ?

Started taking natural calm and my sleep is much better. I do have restless legs syndrome so I don’t know if that’s contributing. I get plenty of heavy metal. Saw Sabbath, Priest this summer and already booked my Slayer tickets. Probably too much heavy metal. I’ve heard of http://www.bioraynaturaldetox.com/ for metal detox. Not sure if there are any other good ones.

Hey Robb, in regards to Kevin’s question, could it be that some people have been eating too little for too long and their metabolism isn’t rolling as it should and that’s a reason for stalled fat loss? I keep thinking of the examples u list of people going unweighed/unmeasured and seeing improvements in performance and body comp.

Also what do u consider low carb: under 150, 100, 50?

Robb/Andy – wonderful wonderful wonderful podcast!

Two Questions I hope you consider:

1) Losing too much weight on Paleo.

I have an athlete, F/31/5′3/111. She went totally Paleo two weeks ago, the biggest change being no grains. Since that time, she’s lost 12 lbs.

I noticed the weight loss and approached her about it, worried that there was some body dysmorphia or stress involved.

She said no, the only change had been going 100% Paleo. I told her she really needs to try to eat more and she told me she’s eating every two hours to try to gain weight back, but while she’s stabilized, she’s not gaining. She’s never hungry, she’s still eating as much as she can. I haven’t gotten a food log, but told her tonight to start one and share it with me ASAP.

My first reaction is whole milk. Wondering if you have any other recommendations.

2) A Vegetarian that literally can’t stomach meat.

I have a very good friend that’s interested in the Paleo Diet, but she’s tried to eat meat in the past and either throws it up or has bad lower-GI issues. She was raised as a vegetarian, is 32, and though she has no moral issues with not eating meat, she can’t seem to keep it down.

Leaner meats (fish and chicken) that she’s tried tend to be less of a problem than fattier meats (beef, etc), but still end in the same result.

She suffers from Migraines and general ill health (frequently sick). I’m especially motivated by the story of Andy Deas’ wife, and am really looking for a way to get my friend started on Paleo.

But I don’t know a way to get her to be able to digest meat, or give her a light at the end of a puke-filled tunnel (bad imagery there…).

-Any insights or guidance?
-Any supplements that could prep her digestive system better?
-Any ideas on how to ease her into it?
-Any cases of clients going through this and coming out of it after a period of time? What kind of timeline?

Robb,

Thanks for the fantastic podcasts and all of the great information. Two issues that I am hoping that you could address are: (1) What are the best oils for cooking with? Is Canola oil o.k.? and (2) What does is mean when certain deli meats are labelled as “Nitrite Free”? is this worth extra expense?

Thanks again.

Jade

That dose is most likely sufficient if you are consuming fish, grass-fed beef, wild game meat, and omega-3 enriched eggs somewhat regularly. I’ve personally played with the omega-3 fatty acid doses quite a bit and haven’t seen much of a difference so I’m guessing that means my diet is adequate. I also weigh 180 lbs and have been supplementing with no more than 4 g of EPA+DHA per day.