Paleo diet and intense exercise, any feedback?

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I was about 150 lbs overweight and now I'm down to only 45 but I've been at a plateau for more than a year and I'm thinking of trying a Mark Sission type paleo diet approach. Has anyone on WP tried this and are there any things that an Aspie or Autie might have to take in to consideration regarding this kind of diet?

the paleo diet has no science behind it, never shown to have any benefits. you're better off with a mediterranean diet, assoc. with lower heart disease and dementia risks. or, as michael pollan says, "eat food. mostly plants. and not too much." you might also try counting calories. you may be amazed at how little a person really needs to eat. i was.

a sedentary person needs about 12 calories per pound per day to maintain their weight. there are 3500 cals. per pound, so to lose a pound per week, one must either eat 500 fewer calories per day, or exercise to burn some of that. an average sized person burns about 100 cals by walking or running a mile.

I am sort of doing the paleo diet now, but I am not following it too strictly. I think its pretty good. The main idea is to reduce intake of carbs from potatoes, bread etc. and increase intake of nutrients.

However, if I am really stressed I still eat a lot of carbs otherwise I can lose too much weight quick.

I've never really done paleo, but I do like from where it comes. It only makes sense to the environment where we spent the majority of our existence as a guiding principal, especially compared to industrially processed food which has been around maybe 100 years. Most people would also benefit in staying away from grain as well. As long as you stick to the perimeterof the grocery store (ie; veggies, meat, low calorie fruit if you must and dairy if you can handle it), you're already 80% there.

That being said, i agree with the saying "the best diet is the one to which you can adhere." Rather than being a diet, it should be a lifestyle change. Don't expect to use paleo to lose weight and then go back to your old habits. If you eat correctly, you shouldn't WANT to go back to old habits.

My particular style of eating is probably closer to a ketogenic diet than paleo although I don't really subscribe to any particular diet. Essentially, I focus on eating non-starchy vegetables (spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli are my go-tos) and getting my protein and fat from the highest quality sources I can afford. While from a volume standpoint I'm eating more veggies than anything else, from a calorie standpoint I'm probably eating mostly fat.

I lost over 100lbs in the past, but I gained that back and more back after I transitioned to a sedentary IT job from working retail and falling back into old habits. This time around I'm focusing more on my well being than any aesthetic changes, so I change something up based on how something makes me feel before I worry about changes on the scale. I probably eat more calories than I "should" in the last month I've lost 5-8lbs and 2 inches off my waist. I also feel tons better than I have in years.

I find the paleo diet to be unrealistic.

I was pushing about 280 lbs when I was in high school, I was in really bad condition.
I lost about 100 lbs in two years, and then stopped seeing my doc about my food and then I gained back up to about 240 and maintained that for a number of years.

Around April of this year, I decided I was done with being as overweight as I was. I looked around, did my research and decided that I'd give a shot at an altered (by myself) mediterranean diet.

I'm down to around 180 lbs now.

I eat only whole grains, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, and mostly fish (I love tuna) and sometimes chicken.. also a lot of olive oil. This is a high unsaturated fat, high fiber, low sodium diet.

I don't count calories. I can still have sweets from time to time, just not overboard (usually dark chocolate only). And I made absolutely zero changes to my 'exercise' regiment, simply because I don't have one just yet... I eat roughly every 3 hours, its most often veggies and fruits.. I eat almonds, about 1.5 ounces, every day for my biggest snack.

The 'diet' is how I'm going to eat for the rest of my life. I'm much healthier.

It has quite a number of benefits. For anyone interested in learning more about the science behind Paleo, I'd recommend reading The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne. Dr. Ballantyne is a former researcher in medical biophysics who does a great job of breaking down the science behind the lifestyle approach for the lay person. (And, I say lifestyle because it is. It's about more than just food choices and practices like protecting your circadian rhythms and managing stress can also make a huge difference in your overall health, including your ability to maintain or lose weight.) It reads like a college textbook and she goes into a lot of detail, but I think it's important to understand the 'why's' behind lifestyle choices because doing that can help people stay on the wagon for longer.

To answer the OP, I'd suggest Paleo, but also making sure to get enough carbs while eating Paleo, if doing HIIT or other intense exercise. Cutting carbohydrates too severely can actually cause your hormones to become dysregulated and make losing weight more difficult. Carbs aren't really the enemy and your body does need them, even if not in the high amounts consumed by many Americans. It's the highly-processed, high-glycemic, empty calorie forms of carb's that are bad for your health, not, say, a baked sweet potato or some plantain. The source and the quality of macronutrients really does make a difference. Contrary to what some people think, Paleo eating is not a low carb diet, per say, it's just not a high-carb diet.

I've been doing a form of Paleo for about two years now and have had good results. I was already at a healthy weight and didn't do it to lose weight, so I cannot speak too much to the weight loss aspect. But, I can say that my bloodwork has been looking great since starting it. My inflammation markers and antibody levels pertaining to an autoimmune condition have improved and are back into normal range. My cholesterol is considered optimal now and my iron deficiency has resolved.

The only downside is that since cutting out almost all processed foods, I now spend more time in the kitchen, which, although I really like to cook, can be an inconvenience. There are things that you can do to save time when cooking your own food, though, like cooking larger batches and freezing the extra portions, using a slowcooker or crockpot, etc. But, for a lot of people, feeling better and improving your health can be worth the extra time. Depends on the individual.