March 08, 2013

Paleo diet gains and mistakes

In early January I started working out at Zia CrossFit. Immediately I fell in love with the workouts and environment. After almost a month of working out there I was getting stronger, faster, more endurance, and more flexible. But every time I tried to lose weight by counting calories like I did when I was training for triathlons I became overly hungry very quickly which would lead to me falling off the diet wagon, overeating and gaining even more weight. My buddies BJ and Will who are competitive Olympic weight lifters, strong man competitors, and owners of zia CrossFit took some time to teach me how they ate, which is Paleo. They eat meat, vegetables, fruit, and small amount of nuts. They eat until they are satisfied, and never count or restrict calories. They eat 1.5 ounces of protein for every pound of lean body mass.

GAINS:
So far since I started eating Paleo on Feb 3, 2013 I've ate an average of 3,051 calories and 235 grams of protein each day. I've burned an average of 539 calories a day from working out, which is about half as much as I did when I was only swimming, biking, and running. Since Feb 3rd 'veI dropped from 252 pounds to 237 pounds. 15 pounds in 5 weeks while eating as much as I want. What's even more exciting is the strength and muscle gains I've made. While dropping pant sizes and losing fat I've gained 3 inches around my chest and back, and have set new PR's on my power clean, snatch, front squat, and clean and jerk lifts.

MISTAKES:
I was warned by BJ and Will not to cut fat while eating Paleo. Recently I decided to try and speed up my weight loss so I cut 500 calories a day out of my diet. I didn't cut fat, I just lowered how much I was eating each day a little. Withing 2 days I was grumpy and struggling to finish workouts.

WHAT I LEARNED:
Don't cut calories when eating Paleo. When I cut calories I feel like crap and perform like crap. I'm making great gains in strength, endurance, and weight loss by eating Paleo. I need to be patient and let my weight loss and performance gains continue. If it aint broke, dont fix it.

P.S.
Don't think I've given up on multisport. I'm still running and cycling. Not as much as I used to. Just enough to finish them comfortably- not necessarily quickly though. Triathlons and duathlons are still my passion. My races will be the Atomic Man duathlon in White Rock NM (April), The Spring Fling Triathlon in Rio Rancho NM (April).

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