Oakgrove Leisure Centre Blog

…I’m done. And by that I mean that my 1 month Paleo challenge is over. So what did I learn from it?

On www.fitday.com I entered 1 sample day of my Paleo nutrition, and the calorie breakdown was the following (this is one particular day that is fairly representative of most days, except I had more red meat and sat fats this day than on other days where I ate more fish):

• A total of 2696 calories.
• Fat 59% (Saturated: 16%, Polyunsaturated 13%, Monounsaturated 24%)
• Carbohydrates 16%, no sugars and dietary fibre about 30% of this 16%.
• Protein 25%
• Alcohol 0%

Ok fine, but what does that mean? Well, some quick observations. I abstained from dairy products, sugars, and refined carbs such as bread and pasta. I am taking A LOT of fats, probably too much. Yet I lost around 2Kg in the 1 month period. For those that still believe fats are bad for you, think again. However, I may reduce the amount slightly “going forward”.

Carbohydrates: Well, only 16% of my total intake that day. All from fruit (pears, bananas, blueberries, mandarins) and raw veg (lettuce, broccoli, yellow peppers, avocado, cherry tomatoes). I can easily survive without bread, pasta, rice etc that is not allowed on the Paleo diet. I completely cut out sugars.

Protein: Roughly one quarter of my diet was protein. Looking to the future, I need to increase this with lean meat, chicken and fish, in order to increase my muscle mass which is one of my aims. I thought that I had increased it sufficiently this month, but apparently not! I would like the figure to be around 30% at least. I did eat a little bit too much red meat. The arguments over saturated fat go on, so for the moment I will cut down on red meat and increase lean white meat and fish.

Alcohol: 0% on this day, but I did drink alcohol on 2 days during the challenge. I had some wine on a night in with friends, and wine and beer at a wedding 2 weeks ago. So I didn’t manage to stay off alcohol for the entire month, but didn’t worry about it either as sometimes you got to live a little and not go completely overboard.

Fitday is a great tool to measure your calories, as I mentioned, but also to give you a breakdown on vitamins and minerals intake. Interesting points with my nutrition were as follows:

Vitamin A: I had only 42% of RDA (recommended daily allowance). Vit A can be found in cod liver oil (I def don’t get enough of this), eggs and dairy products. Seeing as I was off dairy products, I am not surprised this was low for me. However, I do eat plenty of veg and thought that this would cover my requirements for most vitamins and minerals. Vit A is found in mostly in your red/orange/yellow vegetables and while I eat yellow peppers and sometimes carrots, I obviously need more variety. Variety is vital.

Vitamin D: 0% RDA on this particular day, although I did eat eggs. This to me seems inaccurate, and I am not too worried as on most other days I ate plenty oily fish and eggs which should give me enough. Like most Irish people, I’m not going to get enough Vit D from sunshine unless the global warming gathers pace (finger’s crossed).

Calcium: Only 51% RDA. Calcium is found of course in dairy products but also spinach, oranges, nuts, beans and peas, sesame seeds and green leafy veg. I ate plenty green leafy veg, but obviously not enough to make up for the lack of dairy products. Something I’ll have to be mindful of.

Summary:

Overall, I would say that the challenge was a big success for me. Planning and organising the meals was more difficult and time consuming, and of course following paleo nutrition can be socially awkward (“AAAaaawwwkward!). But the benefits I felt, more than made up for it. The biggest benefits were:

1. Feeling much more comfortable post-meals, no bloating or ahem, discomfort.
2. I felt a clearer mind after meals, no tiredness or brain fog.
3. I became more lean with less effort. My body fat % went down, although just to reiterate losing weight was not a goal for me. I was training less regularly than before the challenge due to moving house etc.
4. I really have become a lover of fruit and veg. I thought there were some veg I hated, now after trying them again I love them i.e. tomatoes, avocados.
5. I am not under the control of sugary foods and crappy snacks! I can leave them alone, not having them around in your cupboards in the first place is the most important thing.

So what now… well I’m taking this week to myself to eat whatever I like but I will then return to strict Paleo. Strict, albeit with flexibility for those 10% of occasions when its just easier to relax.