On 12/27/2011 3:45 PM, Robin Temple wrote:
> Hello folks,
>     Newbie here having not such good luck with Paleo  in terms of weight
> loss. I would really like to drop about 30 lbs.
>     Was pretty strict with Paleo for three weeks  after Thanksgiving and
> lost about 7 lbs. Felt really good as well.

That is really good -- not only the weight loss but the fact that you 
stuck to it for three weeks and were feeling good overall.

> Then a week  before Christmas was
> at a dinner party and cheated with a sweet potatoe and  potatoe dish. Had a
> few drinks and ice cream for dessert. The  following day I stuck to Paleo
> except I had a big dish of ice cream at  nite. The next day I got on the scale
> and was horrified to see that I had gained  back six lbs.

Personally, my first rule of dieting is to stay off the scale.  Use your 
mirror and your tape measure as your guides -- the scale, as you just 
noticed, is unreliable.

> How is that possible?

As already noted, salt may be part of the answer.  But I suspect the 
biggest part of the answer is you were carb-depleted.  Normally, your 
muscles and your liver maintain stores of carbohydrates to draw on for 
quick energy.  When you go on a low-carb diet (which paleo usually is), 
those stores will get used up.  There's nothing wrong with that -- your 
body will then switch over and burn fat for fuel.    But when you eat a 
bunch of carbs, your muscles and liver will soak them up and store them 
for future use.   For every gram of stored carbs, your body needs 3 
grams of water to store along with it.

So between the carbs and the salt, you probably picked up quite a bit of 
"water weight".

The good news is it's easy to lose the water weight -- just cut the 
carbs and the salt and it melt back off in a few days.   The bad news is 
that actual fat loss will take a while longer.  But keep at it, and 
you'll get it done.

> Have not been that great w Paleo this week as it is the  holidays. I want
> to get back on the routine on Jan. 1.

I doubt you are alone on that one.  :)

> Can anyone recommend a Paleo routine for losing weight? Should  I stop all
> fruit for awhile? Limit carbs seriously? Any help would be  appreciated.
Stick with paleo and you will naturally limit fruits and carbs.

-- 
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   Robert Kesterson
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