Todd > The thing you're missing is that the simple versions of the diet
don't work for everybody.

It bears repeating that virtually any human being following the diet as
prescribed Ray and Loren (they don't really differ that much after all)
will get 90-95% of its benefits by not worrying about the esoterica.
Confusion enters the picture both where Ray and Loren disagree, namely the
consumption of fat and the definition of cheating.  I waffle a bit, but I
generally take Ray's side on both.  The reason for me has to do with the
perception that Cordain has written just another diet book that just
happens to have a paleo flavor to it, that he's not entirely abandoned
current dietary thinking, has completely ignored a viable alternative to
the commonplace explanation for obesity, and sits on the fence on quite a
few issues.

Back to the immediate subject.  You specifically mentioned weight as an
issue.  I'd be interested in hearing whether you've tried Ray's
recommendations for weight loss: Cut out fruit, or if you must have it, go
for fruits with low sugar content: pears, plums, oranges, berries.  Gotta
have fruit juice, such as oj?  Drink fresh squeezed only.  The majority of
calories should come from lean meats, nuts, seeds, and oil.  Preferred
sources of fat are meat, olive oil, avocados, seafood (esp. fatty fish such
as salmon, herring, mackeral, tuna), MUFA-rich nuts (almonds, macadamia,
hazelnuts), walnuts, brazil nuts, flaxseed oil.

Common sense says never, ever, ever cheat if you're worried about weight
loss.  If I'm not being fair at least I'm being honest in that I believe
that it's generally the case that those most prone to obesity are those who
feel that they just have to try to incorporate non-paleo items such as rice
or butter or sweet potatoes into their dietary reportoire.  Hey, I'm just
as guilty of that as anybody.  My current experiment is red wine.  It's
clearly not paleo, but I just HAVE to find out if my body can handle a
glass or two a day.  Why push it you say?  Because I want to believe that a
little wine won't hurt me.  The experiment is, I think a good one.  But the
jury's still out on whether it will be worth it.

Jim Swayze