Strict, Orthodox Paleo

[Geran]

I'm looking to be as strictly Paleo as I possible and maximize my diet related fitness gains in every way. I'm a very "all or nothing" kind of person. I know myself, and if I have one Oreo, bagel, or Dorito, it will become the whole bag/box/shelf. I am currently eating 99.5% Paleo. Examples include, but are not limited to:

 

1. Absolutely no soda, ever.

2. No store bought juices.

3. Straight black coffee only.

4. Tea with nothing added, no sugar, no honey, nothing.

5. Absolutely no grains or wheats, including no rice, white or brown.

6. No regular brown potatoes at all, sweet potatoes a few times a week at most.

7. No cereals.

8. Not eating until noon, even on weekends. Generally a 12-8 eating window a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting, though at times I will occasionally have a pear after 9 pm on a weeknight, and usually eat again late at night on weekends because I stay up later.

9. No dairy. This means no cheese, no animal milk.

10. Working out in a "fasted state." This means lifting in the morning before work at roughly 7:00 a.m. when my last meal was around 8 or 8:30 p.m. the previous night, and doing my PLP Challenge workout in the evening after work before dinner, when my last meal was at about 12:00 p.m., with the occasional snack of almonds or fruit in the afternoon. 

11. Warm Water. This is a more recent addition. I did some research into the drinking of warm water as opposed to cold, and apparently there are many health benefits. I now drink almost exclusively hot water, or at the very least not chilled or iced water.

 

I am looking for any and all diet related suggestions and advice that can help take me to the next level.

 

[calanthrophy]

I would be interested to see your sources on the warm water thing. I haven't heard anything like that and it sounds like something I personally wouldn't enjoy.

Other than that I'm told that supplementing BCAAs is advisable when working out fasted. I've never done it myself so can't confirm or deny.

[Geran]

47 minutes ago, calanthrophy said:

I would be interested to see your sources on the warm water thing. I haven't heard anything like that and it sounds like something I personally wouldn't enjoy.

Other than that I'm told that supplementing BCAAs is advisable when working out fasted. I've never done it myself so can't confirm or deny.

The warm water thing actually started from a very interesting discussion. I have a relationship partner that is overseas teaching English in China for a year, and she told me that drinking hot/warm water is extremely common there. To the point that asking for ice water will get you a strange look. It's simply part of their everyday life. It's considered a part of healthy living. This prompted me to do my own research to see if there was anything to it, and nearly everything I found repeated the same benefits. Some common ones are that it aids in digestion and helps with skin health.

 

I'm certainly open to being proven wrong if you or anyone else has any research or sources disproving this, but I personally feel better doing it.

[calanthrophy]

Googling it didn't turn up much, mostly Buzzfeed-esque content regurgitators and vendors of ophidian lubricants. Can't do any harm though, so if you're enjoying it there's no reason to stop.

[MissoulaSquatch]

If these are a lot of changes from what you are currently doing, my personal suggestion is to pick one or two to start out with and work on making those a habit for a few weeks before adding more.

Only reason I bring this up is because I have seen a lot of people in this community looking to make a drastic fix that take on too much at once and fail pretty fast, and it is extremely difficult on them.  Lasting changes come about faster when we are willing to slow down, make incremental changes, work at them til they become habits and then repeat the process again.  

[Geran]

2 hours ago, Ajaxus said:

If these are a lot of changes from what you are currently doing, my personal suggestion is to pick one or two to start out with and work on making those a habit for a few weeks before adding more.

Only reason I bring this up is because I have seen a lot of people in this community looking to make a drastic fix that take on too much at once and fail pretty fast, and it is extremely difficult on them.  Lasting changes come about faster when we are willing to slow down, make incremental changes, work at them til they become habits and then repeat the process again.  

That's solid advice, thank you. I've done pretty well with keeping junk food and sugar out of my place, but I will confess to making paleo desserts somewhat often or eating a lot of fruit because I miss the sugar. As you say, a complete overhaul overnight isn't always the best path. I'm working on cutting back on eating 3+ pears a day, for example. But I figure that's better than a soda or candy bar.