On Wed, 2 Aug 2000, Anthony wrote:

> I, too, have about 18 lbs. to go, and have had a slow, methodical, steady
> weight loss on paleo....  I am not familiar with anyone who gains on paleo.
> (not physically around me)  Can you pinpoint why you gain on a natural diet?

Not really.  At some points it has clearly been a matter of
calories.  I think I mentioned once how excited I was when Ray
mentioned the "paleo snack" of pork rinds dipped in almond
butter.  Since at that time I believed that all I needed to do
was avoid neolithic proteins, I had a very good time snacking on
this stuff.  And I gained fat *very* rapidly.  It's not
surprising, since I was probably adding thousands of extra
calories to my diet.

At other times it has been harder to pinpoint.  Sometimes my
appetite, especially in the evening, was simply voracious and I
couldn't control my consumption of broiled chicken wings and
legs.

> I have known those who went into a stall and a few "tweaks" here and there
> or a step-up in workouts broke the stall.....  Sometimes we get a bit
> excessive on the fruit or an imbalance in fats and I think that can be a
> factor.....  Am just curious as to why there are those who gain on
> paleo.....

I can't answer it.  Judging by e-mail, I'm not the only one,
however.  In my case, it definitely wasn't fruit consumption.  If
anything, I'm eating more fruit now, on the Anchell diet.
Imbalance in fats?  Maybe.  I've been supplementing with fish
oils right along; I'm still doing it.  No change there.  My
appetite is healthy, but not uncontrolled as it was on paleo.
When I finish dinner I may snack later on some jerky or
leftovers, or I may not.  Before, I typically was ravenous by
about 9:00 pm.  But these are just random thoughts; I really
don't know what was going on.

> I sure would feel badly for anyone who has worked and tried and
> tested and can't come back to paleo because it will cause a gain......
> Oliva

We don't yet know whether that is so.  I'm betting it isn't;
Anchell insists that it is.  My opinion is based on theory only;
his is based on experience.  When I get to that point, I plan to
introduce a single new food at a time, still adhering to the
Anchell rule of one portion of one non-meat food per meal, and
carefully observe what happens.  Maybe I'll have a kiwi instead
of a half grapefruit, or a cucumber instead of watemelon.  If I
begin to regain weight from just this much of an infraction, then
I'll have a bit of evidence that Anchell is right, even if it
makes no sense.

Note that he says that even his "maintenance diet" will cause
about 5 lbs. of weight regain, after which it stabilizes.
Perhaps my very first test will be to substitute eggs for meat at
a meal for a week.

It will be interesting.

Todd Moody
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