Paleo / Primal Eating - Let the Shredding Begin

With the Christmas season behind me, I was fortunate enough not to pack on any extra pounds. I did okay resisting most temptations but did treat myself to a few occasional desserts. As I look ahead, my cycling racing season is a mere three months away and I am now looking at losing fat stores I have not been able to shed to date. Since September, I have been in the gym working on muscle development and most recently strength and have put on approximately 8lbs of weight in that time with both my body fat percentage and water retention rising slightly. I hope to shed the fat while maintaining the muscle mass and retain the strength gains. To do this, I have decided to follow a Paleo / Primal way of eating. The process is new to me, both the diet and the challenges I will face, therefore as the weeks go by, I'll have to evaluate myself, my energy and strength and make adjustments where necessary.

A Paleo Diet is based on the understanding that the best human diet is one in which we are best genetically adapted. It includes foods believed to be eaten by our primal ancestors that promote good health such as fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats and seafood that are all high in beneficial nutrients such as soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals (having the potential to affect diseases), omega-3, monounsaturated fats, are low on the glycemic index scale, low in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates. A Paleo diet further encourages the replacement of dairy and grain products with fresh fruits and vegetables.

For the most part, I will follow a Paleo Diet (more specifically a diet based on the Primal Blueprint) and eliminate all grain products however I will not limit the amount of dietary saturated fats and will not eliminate dairy as I know I have tolerance for it. To me, the approach is very similar to Atkins which I did years ago however the carbohydrate intake will not be highly restricted at first. On Atkins during the Induction Phase, carbohydrates in the form of vegetable are limited to 20g. I will limit myself to 75g to 100g of carbohydrates or approximately 15% of my net daily calories in the form of vegetable, fruit, nuts, natural plain yogurt and sweet potato. I will continue to consume a moderate amount of protein, approximately 1g per pound of body weight from fish, chicken, turkey, pork or beef. The remaining calories will be consumed from fat sources such as olive oil, butter, avocado and coconut.

My expectations are that I will begin loosing fat stores as my body will more readily rely on its fat stores for energy as stored glycogen will be depleted. However I do expect muscle to be cannibalized which I hope the moderate protein intake and continued weight lifting will alleviate. I expect my energy levels will be lower so high volume cycling sessions will be affected and not highly recommended, therefore my cycling sessions will be limited in volume but intensity will increase. This will coincide nicely with the ending of my weight lifting strength phase and the beginning of my High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) both in the gym and on the bike.

To prepare myself for this change in diet, I have already completed one week of Intermittent Fasting (IF) where I ate only between 12pm and 8pm daily. The remaining time I was in a fasted state and water was the only intake. I'll write more about IF in a later post. I began this primal eating this past Sunday and to date I already feel lighter, look a little leaner and weight has decreased by a few pounds since IF'ing. In the gym this past week I lifted heavier on all exercises but noticed a decrease in energy while training on the bike. Fatigue could have been a contributing factor so I'll continue to gauge.

I’ll report on my progress in the weeks to come.  I welcome any comments or suggestions from those having success loosing fat while retaining muscle and strength.  In the meantime, if you are interested to learn more, check out the links above or this book.