Hi guys so I’m back with a new, for want of a better word “experiment” I’ve been “sampling” for the last 10 weeks. I’ve been trying to settle or give my professional opinion on what seems to be a massive divide out there in the knowledge and safety in nutrition for exercise and weight loss, muscle building/maintaining.
What I’ve been doing is “The caveman Diet” technically known as The Paleo Diet. Now I think the name speaks for itself? Yes, it basically means we only eat what the cavemen used to eat. Our ancestors ate this way, so they evolved over 2 million years to eat this way. Only recently have we changed the way we eat and and now find ourselves getting sick, fat, depressed and out of shape. The paleo diet IS a low carb diet but you can still eat lots of fruit and vegetables. You get to gorge on all the good meat, fish, and good fats you want and the variety is plentiful.
You don’t have to count calories resulting in great gym success. Your diet is 90% of your body composition success. The problem with today’s diet which was nowhere to be seen with our ancestors is WAY too much sugar and carbohydrate… They rarely had sugar, fruit was a luxury. Today? All our food is carbohydrate/sugar based (toasts, sandwiches, pastas, rice, chips..you get my drift?) All these carbohydrates trigger insulin, and too much insulin over time leads to fat gain, inflammation, diabetes and heart conditions.
Going further, the anti-nutrients and irritants from grains and legumes do not digest properly. Neither us nor any mammal has the digestive system to digest all the grains we eat properly. Over time they irritate the gut leading to leaky gut problems, Crohns disease, nutrient malabsorption, contributing to the excess carbohydrate and sugar.
Ok next- DAIRY
Dairy products from other animals were never consumed by our ancestors, most people after the age of 2 can no longer digest Lactose, one of milks sugars, properly, leading to all kinds of digestive problems. It irritates the guts lining. A lot of people develop problems with Casein, one of the main proteins in milk. ( Not everyone, I stress.)
OK so there is an intro above.
The basics? You eliminate problematic foods: Added sugar, sweets, chocolate, sweeteners, sugary snacks….
Processed foods: pre-packaged foods with additives…
Trans fats and vegetable oils: corn oil, peanut oil, soy oil,
Grains: wheat, oats, barley, corn…
Dairy: Milk, cheese, cream, yoghurt..
Legumes: chick peas, lentils, navy beans, kidney beans, black eyed peas….
You get the jist? It’s a lifestyle NOT a diet!
You get to eat without restriction or calorie counting
All lean meats and fish.
Fresh fruits/ vegetables
Good fats: olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, flaxseed oil, duck fat, beef fat…
All nuts and seeds.
Ok, doesn’t sound too bad does it? And here’s why it works:
.YOU CONTROL YOUR CARB INTAKE AND GET BETTER INSULIN RESPONSE WHICH LEADS TO FAT LOSS WHILE MAINTAINING OR GAINING MUSCLE MASS.
.YOU GET PLENTY OF PROTEIN TO BUILD MUSCLES AND NEW CELLS.
.YOU GET PLENTY OF GOOD FATS WHICH YOUR BODY LOVES/NEEDS WHEN THE FATS COME FROM GOOD SOURCES.
.YOU GET YOUR FULL/BALANCED NUTRIENT REQUIREMENT FROM ALL THE
FOODS.
Sounds great, shall we find out? Ok below is a little diary I kept on how I felt/ looked, after each week, not just felt and looked aesthetically but from reactions from the people around me from my changes. This is based on a 5-6 day a week training programme consisting of a mixture of resistance training and HIIT( high intensity interval training/ no longer than 10 mins) and my diet was based on 6 meals a day and as follows:
MEAL 1: omelette with mince, avocado, tomato; Banana. OR Wild salmon, egg and blueberries.
MEAL 2: tuna, spinach ; apple
MEAL 3: Beef mince, Broccoli, tomatoes; Pear.
MEAL 4: Protein shake or mixed nuts and berries.
MEAL 5: Chicken breast, salad, Squash; Blueberries.
MEAL 6: Wild salmon, asparagus.
WK 1- went well, no nausea/headache/fatigue/( as anti paleo sceptics say)
Strength good, no loss, sleep fine,
Cheated on the weekend in France, 1 baguette, sweets,1 piece of cake, 2 squares of choc, no booze.
WK 2- determined to be good as slipped in France, feel fine, the cheat in France hasn’t seemed to affect progress, training hard, no strength loss, sugar craving, so eat 2 pieces of dark chocolate a couple times a day- it does the trick.
WK 3- body fat dropping rapidly (compared to 2wks ago) slight loss in strength, don’t see any loss in muscle, if anything feel more pumped as if I’ve put on muscle, very vascular, looking good, feeling great! Energy massive! Eating every 2.5 hrs. protein/loads veg/ fats( nuts, avo, olive oil, salmon)cheat on weekend(son’s birthday, shandies, burger, cake!)Feel crap the next day from the crap food. Straight to gym on Monday.
WK 4-weak in training, feeling strongish but for short bursts, training legs this week is a nightmare no strength, energy, eat a banana( even though allowed) feel better, rest and feel good again. Had a couple of comments today, quite shocked, was told I look skinny and gauntish, defiant I’m pushing on!
WK 5-the comments have got me down a bit but it’s making me more determined, strength is still down, sugar craving going through the roof! Body fat has dropped again, no visible muscle loss ( in my eyes) much more vascular in muscles, literally zero glycogen in my body.
WK 6-decided to add another banana to my diet post training as all fruit is allowed( I kinda considered them a carb) and they are really making a difference( perhaps I’m actually a monkey?) strength has risen as has energy. Starting to look seriously ripped but the comments are not nice. Someone said to me today if I turn sideways I’ll disappear . My perception now is nobody likes a persistent bastard so maybe whenever anyone sees someone succeeding they need to put them down? Anyway time to sleep
WK 7- off on holiday to Dubai and Tunisia, thought I’d cheat really badly but managed to get5 training sessions in, food wise, had cous cous twice, a few beers a few glasses of wine, but the main indulgence was CAKES!! I had so many, this sugar craving is ridiculous, looks wise I’ve defo pumped out quite a lot, have to say aesthetically and mentally feel the best so far, and could be cos I’m on holiday?
WK 8-straight back to caveman style after holiday, am strong in the gym, very energetic, getting good comments (think it’s the tan?)
I’ve stripped off any fat I had left and personally I think I look in amazing shape, what I can say is my face has changed a lot and I guess I can see what people mean by “gaunt” oh well, I feel great so that’s what matters right?
Wk. 9- it’s a good friend of mines wedding on Friday and I’ve already accepted the fact I’m gonna eat and drink by the bucket load, the rest of the week from Monday I’m religious in diet and training. I need new trousers, I was a 34 and now fit comfortably into a 30!!
Wow I was not prepared for that, went to the wedding yesterday and it was with around 70 people I’ve known for years, the ONLY conversation I managed to have with them was how different I looked, “oh my god, Alex, you look so weird!”
“Alex what happened?” those kind of comments from every single person, every single one!!!! Is it worth it?
Wk. 10-my final week goes absolutely fine.
Official thoughts: am now a size 30 waist (I’m 6ft 2) I’m so ripped, body fat around 4%. No muscle loss, an actual gain in muscle. Feel fantastic. I do look gaunt I will admit and quite saddened by certain reactions from people. Personally I think people mistake lean, functional muscle for being skinny and I think that’s from not being in the business. I definitely detect a bit of jealousy too, nobody likes a winner!
So there you have it guys, that was my 10 week diary on my caveman journey, it does have its ups and downs as does any change in lifestyle, but for me it gets the thumbs up ! It should definitely be tweaked to your specific needs, like for me for example, extra bananas were what I needed, you’ll be different. The first two weeks are massive in body response, and then from then on it’s up to the individual how they’ll feel. My biggest problem was people’s comments: I felt great, had loads of energy, as far as I was concerned looked fantastic but some comments just seemed spiteful and non-constructive. The craziest thing was the sugar craving, it was unbelievable, but a few squares of chocolate sorted that out.
I guess you’re asking why I’m not continuing? To be honest I’m French/Italian and love my food!! And I was already in good shape. This will really work well if you have extra body fat you feel you can’t get rid of.
You can’t beat the facts, the so called “experts” said that too much protein and fats was bad, so then the humans we evolved from ate badly for millions of years?? Meat and fat from meat was their staple diet and their favourite source of food. Those early humans were in SUPER shape and health problems were very rare some completely non-existent.
Ok points to consider if you’re thinking of trying this “lifestyle”.
Once you’ve tried it for a month I really don’t think you’ll go back. There is adaptation over the first few weeks but you’ll get over it. Saturated fat, the fat abundant in meat is not the monster it’s made to be, but good quality meat is a must. Try freeing range animals, grassing fed beef, and trying organic meats whenever you can. Wild caught fishes whenever possible. Choose eggs from free range chickens. Get stuck in to nuts, fruit, veg, and lots of water.
Here’s my before and after shots- what do you think??
Before After
