Cycling nerd giving paleo a shot!

[Andy]

Hey all! After a lot of reading and consideration I have decided to jump on the paleo train (or whatever the equivalent paleo form of transport). Bit of background, I am a cyclist training to be competitive at a domestic level and need to get as lean as possible in order to get the most efficient power to weight ratio that I can achieve.

I admit I was skeptical at first but my coach has assured me that this is in fact a good thing to do for training so I am all in!

Biggest challenge is going to be cutting out bread, pasta and rice... Kind of my weaknesses at the moment being in endurance sport but that will have to change. Thought some accountability would be beneficial so here I am posting on the NF forums. I am at the moment hovering around 75kg at 180cm tall, I have been down to 63kg healthily before so I know my body can handle the weight loss. Aiming to get down to 68kg.

Now I shall have to keep checking in regularly and stay accountable.

Andy.

[Wolverine]

Welcome, Andy! There's an entire subforum here at Nerd Fitness dedicated to Paleo eating... so I think you've come to the right place!

[GDPWired]

Hi Andy!

"Accountability" seems to be the order of the day here on NF.

It's interesting that your coach has recommended the paleo lifestyle to you. Many high performance coaches shoot down paleo because of the low carb nature yet there are countless documented cases of athletes successfully making the move. I read a recent article on Mark's Daily Apple that really drove home the point that a low carb diet is perfect for even the most extreme cases of athletic endurance. It might be of interest to you if you haven't seen it already. Have a look: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-fuel-ultra-distances-the-worlds-toughest-mudder/

[bigm141414]

Hi Andy! Welcome to the site! There is a book I am currently reading called The Paleo Diet for Athletes. It's by Loren Cordain (of paleo diet fame) and Joe Friel (US Triathalon coach and cycling guru). It gives a pretty good insight so far (although I have not finished it) about nutritional needs of high performing people.

We'll help keep you accountable and motivated while you make the change, have no fear!

[cline]

Ha! Welcome! I too was going to reference the recent mark's daily apple.

I'll bet you're going to do really well.

[LRB]

Welcome! I'm sure you've found the paleo forum by now, and look forward to hearing more about your journey.

I have this quotation from the Whole30 web site taped up by my computer at work, and it keeps me going when I start getting whiny about all that I have to give up:

"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. "

I hope it helps you, too.

[Hammlin]

"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. "

I have this written on my wall above my desk as well.

Welcome to the rebellion!!!

[Mike Pants]

Welcome aboard, Andy. I doubt you'll have any regrets about going Paleo, although making the switch from one style of eating to another can be a little jarring at first. ("If I'm not spooning this over rice, what the hell am I supposed to do with it?") I guarantee you won't miss pasta too much once you get used to feeling amazingly energized after meals and not bloated and slow. Bread, though? Man... I do miss bread sometimes.

[Andy]

"It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. "

That is awesome, and quite true. Just whipped up some eggs with pumpkin, tomato and broccoli for breakfast and felt great! Haven't hit the carb flu yet obviously due to the fact that I've only just started. Any idea when to expect this one?

[tigersheart]

Welcome aboard and good luck!

And the carb flu...to be honest, not everyone gets it. So you may or may not experience it, it really depends on the individual.

[Andy]

Been gunning meat, eggs and veg today, pretty happy with myself. Used to have a habit of eating bread from the local bakery or eating pizza quite often and that probably wasn't doing my long term goals or my health any justice.

Now to look towards the future! Already started feeling better even after only two days so I'll just have to keep this going.