If you are looking for a healthy diet, then the Paleo diet might be perfect for you.
In a Health.com article about the Paleo diet, Colorado State University professor and evolutionary diet researcher Dr. Loren Cordain explains that the Paleo diet is the same diet that our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have eaten.
The diet is entirely made up of fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood, and nuts.
Dr. Cordain also notes in the same article that the Paleo diet can positively influence your health and well-being as it is more consistent with “the evolutionary pressures that shaped our current genetics.”
One of the healthiest benefits of the diet’s premise is that it encourages people to avoid unhealthy food choices such as junk and processed foods.
Journalist Ryan Raman details how the Paleo diet, also referred to as the Caveman or Stone Age diet, promotes weight loss. As the diet only features whole foods, it eliminates the intake of high calorie processed foods.
The diet replaces these foods with lean meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, and healthy fats.
The focus of the Paleo diet is protein, they consider this the most important nutrient, as it increases the metabolism and promotes weight loss. According to Raman: “the average Paleo diet provides between 25-35% calories from protein.”
Why Are You Not Losing Weight On Paleo?
Being on the Paleo diet does not guarantee that you will lose weight. There is a host of other reasons why you may not be losing weight even though you’re following the diet.
We at Paleo Living have identified four possible reasons for this failure.
- One reason is having inordinately high expectations.
- Some people go on the Paleo diet for a week or two then step on the scales and see little to no weight loss, and just give up right away without realizing that the weight comes off slowly and gradually.
- Others miss their carbohydrates, and either cheat one too many times or capitulate completely.
- Quite a few do not fully commit to the diet, choosing to still eat processed foods.
The Huffington Post states several other reasons you might be not losing weight, one of which, ironically, is not eating enough.
Sports dietician Chloe McLeod explains that not eating enough is actually counterintuitive because the less you eat, the less energy you will have to engage in physical activities.
As a result, your metabolism will start to slow down, which will then make it harder for you to burn those unwanted pounds.
So this will cause you to find losing weight on Paleo that more difficult.
Sleep and Weight Loss
The Telegraph talked about the link between diet and sleep deprivation, specifically citing a Chicago University study that reveals how sleep deprivation increases both hunger and appetite.
This conclusion explains why people who sleep less eat more than they should as they tend to feel hungry often and have bigger appetites.
This conclusion has also been made by experts across the fitness industry.
Renowned fitness expert Jim White claims that lack of sleep makes you tired, so your body, aside from being less capable of working out, will also produce more of the hunger hormone leptin.
It is, therefore, important to keep in mind that the Paleo diet is not some magic bullet that will make you shed those unwanted pounds quickly and easily.
It is but a vital part of a bigger program that must include a variety of other things, including commitment, regular exercise, managed expectations, and adequate sleep.