"y.h." wrote:

> I have read the book Neanderthin and have been lurking on this list for a
> while. I have tried many diets. From Atkins to McDougal. I still feel tired
> on these plans. I am thinking the Neaderthin book makes a lot of sense. It
> advocates all the foods that seem to make me feel good when I eat them. I
> am sorry, because I am sure you have all discussed this before, but, how
> many of you have lost weight eating this way? Did you have to cut the carbs
> WAY down? I do not feel well if I eat too few carbs, for instance 20 grams
> a day, like on Atkins. Although, I certainly don't feel real great doing
> the high-carb low fat thing either. Also, do you feel really healthy and
> energetic? Better?

The first year I went paleo low-carb (< 35 grams/day) and lost about 35 pounds
in six months, but then hit the wall with it.  I was hungry all the time, and
feeling cold (I think I trashed my thyroid).  I started eating chocolate (only
one piece did it), which is addictive for me.  Pretty soon it was 8 oz. per
day,
and I put most of the weight back on in the next year.  I tried and tried and
tried again to get back to the magic groove I was in during 1999.  That
low-carb
paleo year I was eating nuts every day; I had my appetite under control.  Since

then I can't eat 1 oz of nuts, it's 8 oz or more, and the appetite is raging.

Someone posted something here about oxalates, and it clicked with me.
Everything I want to binge on is a high-oxalate source.  Some of them are
paleo as can be, but not right for me.  Now I'm doing a "moderate" diet,
avoiding high-oxalate things, eating some root veggies and a little rice,
substantial servings of meat plainly cooked, some veggies/fruits,
and a little raw-milk dairy.  Not paleo as defined in Neanderthin.
High-fat, pretty low carbs (maybe 70-80 gr/day), no processed foods,
no seeds, nuts, or seed oils.  I'm losing weight slowly and feeling good again.

The truth is, everybody is different.  Some people really don't have trouble
with any kind of food; any diet works for them.  Some people have many
food sensitivies and digestive problems, which are so hard to figure out.
I tried the one-food diet mentioned on the list; I only stuck with it for 3
weeks; but it gave me lots of info about what foods turned on that raging
appetite,
and what foods worked for me.

I recall that for years before I came up obviously gluten-intolerant (in my
late
40's), a plate of pasta would turn on that appetite.  No matter how big the
plate,
I was always "famished" when I got done, and would continue to eat until I was
sick.

Many people here have had wonderful, permanent results with paleo eating.
Others are still struggling.  I am thinking that if you lose weight too fast,
no
matter how paleo-correct your diet is, it'll rebound on you.  Better to be
patient,
find what works, and not be "heroic" about it.

Lynnet