On Tue, 28 Sep 2010 06:27:35 -0600, Jim Swayze  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I usually have a very strong willpower, but it's been unusually  
> difficult to get started eating well again.  The reason it's so tough,  
> which has eluded me, suddenly popped in my head during my run this  
> morning: I am trying to go from this very neolithic diet to paleo  
> perfection.  I simply don't have the patience right now to see it  
> through and keep slipping back to poor eating habits.   I had to remind  
> myself that there are three phases to paleo.
Been there done that.
After my first stint of low-carb paleo eating in 1999, when I lost 30 lbs,
I tried for ten years to get back to it and failed each time.  Now I've  
been
nearly paleo and mostly low-carb since January, and have lost 42 pounds.
I follow Faigin's Natural Hormonal Enhancement plan: low-carb most meals,  
two
high-carb suppers per week (the high-carb meals must be low in fat and  
protein).

When you low-carb all the time it is catabolic, and also does a number on  
your
thyroid.  Different people also have different needs even on the low-carb
meals: if you are athletic or doing really heavy work, most people need a  
bit more
carb.  After an initial induction phase of 1 week at less than 20 mg carb  
per
day, then you can go for 30-50 mg carbs per day on the low-carb days.   
Carb-load
should be mainly starches (using fruit/fructose will have bad effects), at  
the
rate of at least 100 gr carbs with that meal.  This is NOT pizza or ice  
cream,
and not a license to eat whatever you please.

>
> Phase One
> Do not concern yourself with carbohydrates. Simply eliminate grains,  
> dairy, legumes, frankenfats.  You'll feel great very quickly and will  
> lose quite a few pounds of water weight (which is nothing more than the  
> body's defense to neolithic foods) and some to quite a bit of fat.  One  
> could spend a very healthy life in this phase.
Very true.

> Phase Two
> Low or very low carbohydrate.  You'll still feel great.  Early stages  
> will lead to some weakness and degradation in athletic ability.  You  
> will lose additional fat beyond phase one until your body figures out  
> how to convert protein to sugar (gluconeogenesis), at which time you'll  
> plateau or even gain some weight back.
This is where the carb-cycling really helps, at least for me.  Normally I
don't crave carbs at all, and sweets sound nauseating.  But after a few  
days
pass, I start feeling hungry for something that my meat, veg and fruit  
doesn't
satisfy.  Time for a carb-load.  After that, I'm good to go for another  
3-4 days.

> My problem is I keep trying to jump from where I am today back to Phase  
> Three, where I've spent most of my time the last year.  The key for me  
> right now is to go through the progression of phases.
Very good insight.  When I went paleo the first time and also SCD last  
year,
I eliminated families of foods: sugars; corn, rice, other grains;  
potatoes; beans; allowing myself to settle in at each stage before going  
on to the next.  Getting
off the sugars and grains alone will do most of the heavy lifting.

Good luck....

	Lynnet