No grain for weeks....now feeling lousy

[frogisco]

I've been 'primal'ish for about 6 weeks now...IE, can't say that I'm paleo because I do eat dairy (about one serving/day,,,usually yogurt mid am).  So, eating veg, fruit, meat, eggs, nuts/seeds.  No grain...I have had a grain product once/week...ex. I had a muffin on Monday...so shoot me.

 

Anyhoo,,,the past 2 weeks or so I've really felt like crap...I mean i'm sooo tired, I actually had a 2 hour nap this afternoon and I NEVER nap, and i'm ready for bed already(it's not even 9pm).  I've been eating enough(trust me), I can't lose weight to save my life, work out hard 3x/week.  I felt like I could move the earth over a foot when I first stopped the grains, but now, I feel like death.  I expected this feeling in the beginning, not now.

 

Ack.

[Jimbo]

You might want to make an appointment with your doctor. You don't needs grains, so it may be something else, like e.g. low thyroid.

[catspaw]

Are you eating enough?

[JPrev]

 You don't needs grains

 

You don't, but if you're not getting enough carbs from SOMEWHERE, the way your body generates energy changes.  If you get to that point, you better be eating a lot more protein than usual.

[Jimbo]

There are no essential carbs. Our bodies can manufacture glucose from other food. Make sure your total caloric intake is sufficient. 

 

On a paleo plan, you can stuff yourself with veggies until they are coming out your nose. I've never eaten so many veggies in my life.

[sheltiechick]

If you're working out hard and not feeding your body enough of the right macros, that could be a contributing factor.  Less carbs should mean more fat and protein.  So where are the macros?

[STFU&TRAIN]

I've been 'primal'ish for about 6 weeks now...IE, can't say that I'm paleo because I do eat dairy (about one serving/day,,,usually yogurt mid am).  So, eating veg, fruit, meat, eggs, nuts/seeds.  No grain...I have had a grain product once/week...ex. I had a muffin on Monday...so shoot me.

 

Anyhoo,,,the past 2 weeks or so I've really felt like crap...I mean i'm sooo tired, I actually had a 2 hour nap this afternoon and I NEVER nap, and i'm ready for bed already(it's not even 9pm).  I've been eating enough(trust me), I can't lose weight to save my life, work out hard 3x/week.  I felt like I could move the earth over a foot when I first stopped the grains, but now, I feel like death.  I expected this feeling in the beginning, not now.

 

Ack.

 

If it makes you feel like crap, why do it? The best advice for nutrition is to listen to your body and do what works for you!! I'm not like most on NF, I don't cut carbs ( I eat carbs in moderation). There would be no way I could power through some of my workouts without it. I work steady nights, mostly 6 days a week, and sleep about 5-6 hours a day, I need that fuel!! Fruits and Veggies aren't gonna cut it ( I eat tons of thoses). I eat pretty clean besides that. If you're really against carbs, like its been stated above, its going to need to come from somewhere.

 

You have to look at your lifestyle as a whole, it's easy for us to say, you should eat this, or that, count this and that, macros this and that, but it's individually based.

[notanartmajor]

There are no essential carbs. Our bodies can manufacture glucose from other food. Make sure your total caloric intake is sufficient. 

 

On a paleo plan, you can stuff yourself with veggies until they are coming out your nose. I've never eaten so many veggies in my life.

 

There's no essential automobile travel, but man does it make things easier.

As for OP, how many carbs are you getting? My guess is not very many. Try intentionally eating more carbs (grains or no, whatever floats your boat) and see if you feel better.

[cline]

How much fat are you getting?  What else are you eating?  how much?  how much and how do you work out?  how much sleep?  how much stress?

 

Too many unknowns for us to help advise. 

 

And if you were fine on paleo for 4 weeks but then the last 2 were harder, it's probably not the grains you already weren't eating for 4 weeks.

 

Paleo doesn't mean no carbs. 

[Jimbo]

There's no essential automobile travel, but man does it make things easier.

 

Bad analogy. The only thing that grains make easier is the consumption of carb calories (i.e. making us fat). Veggies (and meat and natural fats) are much more nutrient-dense than grains. Grains have very little nutritional value.

 

You might want to read the Wheat Belly book. It's a real eye-opener.

[notanartmajor]

Bad analogy. The only thing that grains make easier is the consumption of carb calories (i.e. making us fat). Veggies (and meat and natural fats) are much more nutrient-dense than grains. Grains have very little nutritional value.

 

You might want to read the Wheat Belly book. It's a real eye-opener.

Meh. Some people, a very small percentage of them, have an actual problem with grains. Most do not, though many have convinced themselves otherwise.

Further, macronutrient composition has been shown multiple times in lab settings to be totally irrelevant to weight loss. If you eat a negative calorie balance of any kind calories, you will lose weight.

Further still, insulin is your second-best friend when it comes to muscle gain, and the best thing you can use for gains unless you've got access to supplemental testosterone.

[JPrev]

 the consumption of carb calories (i.e. making us fat).

 

Your causation is misleading.  Fat isn't the result of any one energy source.  Fat is the accumulation of unused energy, whether that's coming from grains, or fruit, or anything.  Look at what Olympic swimmers eat.  If you or I ate that much at our current activity levels, we'd swell up worse than a balloon.  Yet those athletes have amazing muscle definition thanks to the mind-boggling swimming that keeps their BMR and TDEE high and body fat percentages low.  It's not what they're eating, it's how they're using it.

 

Carbs don't make us fat.  Unused caloric surpluses make us fat.

[Jimbo]

insulin is your second-best friend when it comes to muscle gain, and the best thing you can use for gains unless you've got access to supplemental testosterone.

 

Insulin is also the main fat-storage hormone. Anyone who wants to lose weight -- quite apart from whether one should toy with pre-diabetes and diabetes -- should avoid foods (like grains) that cause large insulin spikes.

 

Grains also tend to have more calories than veggies, so grains are not good for weight loss. Remember, cattle are fed grains to fatten them up. Grains do the same thing to humans.

[Jimbo]

Your causation is misleading.

Grains tend to make us fat because they have a lot of calories compared to veggies, are high on the glycemic index, and cause large  spikes of insulin (the main fat-storage hormone).

[cline]

Given this is the paleo/primal thread, we should respect that most paleo/primal people choose to not eat grains.  Their reasons are paleo and primal.

 

Some people might disagree.  Fine.

 

This is the paleo/primal thread and for all intents and purposes, we should support the people who post here. 

 

This OP is asking for help.

[JPrev]

Given this is the paleo/primal thread

 

Ack, my fault.

 

 

 

This OP is asking for help.

 

OP, my point was it sounds like you're depriving yourself too much of something.  That something could be carbs, which could be especially true if you're not eating any grains.  It can be difficult to get enough carbs in paleo.  Now, you don't NEED carbs.  Your body can focus on burning other things for energy, and typically people on restricted carb diets (either intentionally or because they're just not getting enough) look to much, much higher protein intakes to balance.

 

Ultimately, you absolutely should go to a nutritionist.  At first glance though, I wonder if you're 1) getting enough carbs on your paleo diet (sweet potatoes and such), and 2) eating enough protein to offset any deprivation there might be.

[Jimbo]

This OP is asking for help.

 

See your doctor.

[frogisco]

Hi everyone...thanks for all your replies and healthy debate.

 

I just found my current 'feeling' odd because I did not have the 'carb flu' early on...ya cravings, but that's a whole other problem isn't it. 

Had a physical in summer and everything is totally normal..including thyroid.  Doing crossfit 3x/week.

 

I'm eating a lot....s**tloads of veg...macros are (on average) 1750 cal/day, 190 carb, 100 protein, 70 fat...so i'm eating a lot of carb...not low by any means.

I just don't feel 'yahoo great!!!  like I did when I first eliminated grain and ate only veg/fruit for carb.  Just curious if anyone else had this issue.

[Atomson]

I don't know what your weight/age/height/specific goals are, but 1750 calories while crossfitting sounds pretty dang low, particularly on workout days. You might try supplementing your diet a lot on those days to make sure you get to a *net* intake of 1750 calories (calories eaten - calories burned during exercise = net calories).

 

Also, veggies are great, but: Meat.

[frogisco]

37, 5'8", 180(but 30%+ BF....hence the low ish cals...I really want to get rid of fat)

 

Meat is good ....and eggs....and bacon...and bacon...heh heh.

[notanartmajor]

1750 is probably a pretty decent deficit, but if you're doing something high-intensity like Crossfit and not making up those calories, that probably explains your lack of energy. Try to account somewhat for your exercise calories, though my advice is to lowball how much you assume you've burned.

[frogisco]

Welp,,,that's a whole nother thread, because I cannot lose weight to save my life(err...lose inches).

My lifts are doing pretty well tho...I mean, i'm not really feeling that my workouts are suffering...just the rest of my life.

[cline]

Calories, protein and maybe fat look low. Esp w CF. Lose weight? Lower carbs.

Exactly what are your carbs?

[STFU&TRAIN]

Your causation is misleading.  Fat isn't the result of any one energy source.  Fat is the accumulation of unused energy, whether that's coming from grains, or fruit, or anything.  Look at what Olympic swimmers eat.  If you or I ate that much at our current activity levels, we'd swell up worse than a balloon.  Yet those athletes have amazing muscle definition thanks to the mind-boggling swimming that keeps their BMR and TDEE high and body fat percentages low.  It's not what they're eating, it's how they're using it.

 

Carbs don't make us fat.  Unused caloric surpluses make us fat.

This!!

I like to use pro athletes as examples as well, especially swimmers. Phelps during his Olympic training, was eating around 12000 calories a day! To anybody else, that would be crazy, for him, his 5 hours a day in the pool, plus whatever other strength training he was doing at the time, was essential. hockey players tend to load up on Pasta on game day.

 

I think as a community we can all agree that nutrition is the most important aspect. With that said, it only truly makes sense, if its in accordance with your goals, fitness level, training, lifestyle. If not, your nutrition will and can work against you.

[frogisco]

Cline....carbs are around 150/day...sometimes more.

 

Obviously i'm still eating too much cuz (shocker) scale was a total disaster this morning, and inches.  NO LOSS,,,in fact I gained 6 pounds in the past month.  Zero loss in inches either, probable gain as I wasn't the one who measured last time.  Uggggg.