Paleo diets are trendy ri
ght now. Despite the lack of clinical research that shows they work long-term, there are some solid reasons why eating a healthier Paleo diet can help you lose weight.
First, it can help you break your reliance on carbohydrate-rich and nutrient-poor choices and second, a Paleo diet has more lean protein than most other ways to eat so it can help curb cravings and improve satiety.
How Paleo Can Improve Your Diet
I’ve followed a few Paleo diets when my CrossFit gym has diet challenges and I always lose weight when I follow it. Because they make my go-to comfort foods off-limits (cereals, crackers, toast, sweets), it forces me to eat more fruit, vegetables and other healthier choices in place of my convenient comfort foods.
You’d think that not eating my favorite carbohydrate-rich foods would be hard, but after a couple days you don’t really crave them or want them all that much. Being on a Paleo diet also ups your protein intake naturally, and since protein provides a feeling of satisfaction, I found that I can eat fewer calories without feeling like I’m starving when the diet is comprised of more protein and cuts back on carbohydrate-rich foods. While there are a zillion Paleo diet books available and numerous websites, I have found that using a common sense approach to eating Paleo that keeps saturated fat low (No, you can’t eat all the bacon and sausages that you want.) While I don’t follow a Paleo approach to eating all year long, if I do feel like I need to lose anywhere from 3-5 pounds, I’ll simply adopt some of the approaches below to help me get the pounds offf pronto.
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Paleo Principles Worth Adopting
* Eat whole, natural foods instead of those that are highly processed
* Enjoy plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts and limit refined grains and sugars
* Increase consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, fish oil, and plant sources
* Avoid trans-fats and limit saturated fats by eliminating fried foods, hard margarine, commercial baked goods, and most packaged and processed snack foods
* Substitute monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (ie, olive and canola oils) fats for saturated fats
* Increase consumption of lean protein, such as skinless poultry, fish, wild game and lean cuts of meat
* Avoid high-fat dairy and fatty, salty processed meats such as bacon, sausage and deli meats
* Hydrate with water
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