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5 paleo weight loss tweaks speed up lose weight plateau paleo diet primal

5 paleo tweaks to speed up weight loss

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For the vast majority of people, transitioning to the Paleo diet will often see dramatic improvements in their personal battle with weight loss. However, on some occasions, you may hit a plateau with your weight loss and find yourself struggling to reach your desired weight.

Before I go any further, I must stress that it vitally important not to worry about that number on the scales. If you’re looking and feeling your best, then ignore what the scales are telling you. Chances are, if you’re eating right and training well, you may well have added a little weight in the form of muscle mass.

If, however, you still have that last bit of body fat that you want to lose in order to look, feel, and perform at your optimum level; then you may wish to consider the following ‘tweaks’:

Watch your carb intake

Whilst it is a lot harder to take in excess carbohydrate on the Paleo diet, (largely due to the removal of grains and processed foods) it is still possible – and especially so if you’re not active. You may want to look at bringing your carb intake down to see how this helps you with your weight loss goals. Try cutting back on starchy vegetables like yams, hard squash, parsnips and beets, and replacing them with dark leafy greens like spinach, kale and broccoli. It may be worthwhile limiting your fruit intake as well to one portion per day. If you do eat fruit, berries are a very good choice. Otherwise, snack on hardboiled eggs, jerky, nuts and coconut to see you through between meals.

It’s important to tailor your carbohydrate intake to your activity level. If you’re relatively sedentary, then roughly 50g of carbs per day from vegetables is more than adequate. If you’re training more (and especially if you partake in high intensity exercise like Crossfit), you’ll be looking at probably double that. Time your carb intake as well – straight after a heavy workout to replace glycogen stores, and in the evening to increase melatonin and ensure a healthy sleep.

5 paleo weight loss tweaks speed up lose weight plateau paleo diet primal

Try Intermittent Fasting

Proven to break through even the most stubborn weight loss plateau, I can’t recommend Intermittent Fasting enough for fat loss and general appetite control. Try exercising when fasted, so your body turns straight to the fat stores for energy.

Move more

Sometimes, conventional wisdom does get it right. If you’re not seeing the fat loss results you’re after, it could be a case of not exercising enough. Just make sure it’s the right kind of exercise and you’re not slipping into chronic cardio territory. HIIT Training, sprints and Crossfit are excellent fat busters.

Sleep more

When you’re deprived of sleep, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which has been proven to increase fat storage. And, in case you needed any more reason to get a solid 8 hours sleep every night, the biggest spike in growth hormone occurs during sleep – which in turn, burns fat. Try sleeping more, and sleeping better too.

Stress less

As with sleep, if you’re stressed, your body will be releasing cortisol. Try meditating, exercising more, or increasing your sunlight exposure to help you manage your stress levels.

These are just a few ideas to help you break through your fat loss plateau. Do you have any other tips for fellow readers?

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout

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What exactly is high intensity interval training?

High intensity interval training (HIIT) has become a bit of a buzz word in the Paleo community, but what is it? HIIT is a series of short high intensity workout intervals combined with short “recovery” intervals.

Instead of spending hours on the treadmill, a HIIT is far shorter, consisting of short bursts of very strenuous workout, broken up with recovery intervals. You might sprint for a minute as fast as possible, then recover for two minutes several times.

Why You Should Add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) To Your Workout paleo fitness exercise crossfit primal diet-min

What are the benefits of HIIT?

1. You can burn far more fat in HIIT. After you complete a high intensity workout, your body burns more fat than if you were to run for 30 minutes at a steady pace.

2.  You push your heart and make it stronger because you are making it go to a limit that it won’t go to if you remain doing low intensity workouts.

3.  You will lose fat, not muscle.

4.  You can do it anywhere.  You don’t need a gym with lots of equipment.  You can just go outside and run.

5.  It’s challenging.  This is something you need to set aside time to do.  You cannot relax and watch a movie or read a book while you try to do a few sit-ups.  This requires your focus and commitment which will result you feeling better and help you to obtain good results.

Of course, it is important to not over do it.  When you engage in high intensity interval training it may be tempting to keep pushing yourself until you are working out for an hour or more and doing more intensity intervals than recovery intervals.

The conventional wisdom workouts, where people spend hours on a treadmill or cross trainer are “chronic cardio”, which is not the key to fitness that it might seem. Chronic cardio can result in muscular fatigue, oxidative stress and a stress generally on the body.

Crossfit incorporates HIIT in it’s WOD’s (workout of the day), this makes up just a small part of a class – and the actual activities making up the HIIT element are always varied.

Do you do HIIT? I’d love to hear how you workout, add your comment, below!

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What Is Crossfit?

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If you've been reading about the Paleo diet – you’ll almost certainly have come across Crossfit. Perhaps you do it? Or perhaps you've been wondering what it is – and what the link is with Paleo?

What is crossfit paleo diet fitness

I only started crossfit a few months ago, having gone to “normal” gyms before. I've made so many big improvements since I started. There’s a big focus on technique and form and I feel like I'm finally engaging the right muscles and making progress.

What is Crossfit?

CrossFit is a form of fitness that combines weight training, athletics and gymnastics into one. During Crossfit workouts, functional movements are performed in an almost infinite number of ways at high intensity. The philosophy behind CrossFit is to not specialise in only one specific area, which is why no two sessions are the same!

Training consists of a warm-up, a technical part to learn the CrossFit movements and a 10-20 minute during intensive training called WOD (Workout of the Day). Results of the WOD are often tracked by writing them down on a whiteboard. This adds an extra competitive element to it and builds up a great team atmosphere in the Crossfit box.

During training, you may use barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, tires, sandbags, ropes and pull-up bars. The exercises are based on natural body movements such as pushing, pulling, thrusting, throwing, lifting, jumping, climbing and running, rather than the artificial movements so many people use in conventional gyms on resistance machines.

The goal of CrossFit is to get fit and healthy – regardless of age or background.

Why the Paleo link?

Crossfit promotes a natural Paleo diet to their athletes. With Crossfit being based around HIIT (high intensity interval training), lifting heavy things and being anything but “chronic cardio”, it fits in well with the paleo framework.

Why is Crossfit better than a “conventional” gym?

CrossFit doesn't believe in specialisation or routine. The workout program is different every day, but always with short bursts of high intensity. All workouts are set up in such a way that people of every level can participate, by using different weights or changing the number of reps.

CrossFit doesn't work with machines because they force you into isolated, artificial movements. Crossfit uses functional movements. The whole body gets involved: lifting, throwing, running and jumping.

Get Involved!

More and more crossfit boxes are opening all around the world. Most boxes offer introductory sessions, so you can find out what it’s all about. What have you got to lose?!

I’d love to hear how you workout and whether or not you've tried Crossfit. Let me know in the comments below!

Crossfit gym fitness HIIT exercise paleo primal

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance paleo primal crossfit mindset gym fitness mental attitude-min

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance

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Since I started considering the mental aspect to Training, I've found I can achieve more reps, better reps, faster reps and lift heavier weights.  It still amazes me how much of the hard work is down to my mind and not my body.

I thought I was doing everything well in my Training Sessions; I had the right mental attitude, the right pre and post workout Paleo nutrition and was focusing on good form in everything I did.  Well, almost everything…

I've been talking about the mental aspects of training at great length with a friend, who recently came along to an interval training session with me.  After the session he commented that he'd noticed in the rest between activities, my posture completely changed.  I would put my hands on my knees and look towards the ground.  I hadn't realised I adopted this position until it was pointed out, but after noticed that it was my default rest position after a high intensity set.  I also noticed when forced to pause a run by traffic lights, I’d also drop my shoulders and look to the ground.

I've been noticing a lot of other people in the gym adopt their own version of negative posture during their sessions too – sometimes even sitting down or lying in a heap on the floor!  It seems I wasn't alone.

The Unexpected Way I’ve Improved my Training Performance paleo primal crossfit mindset gym fitness mental attitude-min

“Slumped” positions like this enable the muscles to relax, which feels like a good idea, especially during a hard tabata session.  However, it’s logical that putting the body in this position signals that you are tired and resting.  When the rest ends a few seconds later, this is not an easy position to come back strong from.  In this position, lung capacity is significantly smaller, making it harder to intake as much oxygen as the body requires – making the rest period even less effective – and the following activities that much harder.

Since this revelation, it has been so easy to change my posture in the rest between high intensity activities.  As soon as I have finished my reps I stand up straight and tall looking straight ahead, never down.  I've found this posture makes me feels strong, focused and ready to get onto the next exercise.  It’s actually hard to think negative thoughts about being worn out and not able to lift any more when I adopt this posture.

How is your posture between sets?  Have you found changing how you stand – or think – has improved your performance?

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HIIT

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As I've mentioned before, I've been a regular at the gym for a couple of years now.  My workouts are primarily HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), which seemed to be unanimously agreed to be the best training method at both the AHS and Nora Gedgaudas’s recent seminar.

HIIT is designed to incorporate bursts of high intensity sprints with recovery intervals.  The sprint sections are typically 60 seconds or so, enough to use every last bit of stored energy in the muscles.  This is very different to “chronic cardio”, where hours can be spent in the gym mindlessly pounding the treadmill.  HIIT improves endurance, fitness, lean muscle mass and oxygen consumption (including after the workout, resulting in fat burning for hours after the workout).  Injury from over training is also a lot less likely with HIIT.

During the last two months of so, I've upped the number of HIIT sessions to three and am amazed at the difference in my fitness and strength.  I can’t wait to see how much fitter I’ll be in a few months time.  Before Paleo I went through phases of chronic cardio and never achieved anything like the results I am enjoying today.

I've been reading lots of differing viewpoints about eating post work-out, and am currently trying the not eating post workout approach.  The idea here is that after using up all of your stored energy your body has to use body fat – and as soon as you eat it will stop that process and start using the food as fuel.

I've read how our bodies are capable of so much more than our minds believe.  I've therefore been asking a lot of fit people how they deal with the mental aspect to training.  There seem to be a few approaches, such as only focusing on the next five reps (instead of the whole set), complete distraction by focusing on music for instance, or focusing on the end goal.  I'm going to try a few different approaches myself to see if changing my thinking can enhance my performance.

What kind of workouts do you do?  I’d be really interested to hear how you approach the mind aspect of your workouts too.

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Pink boxing gloves paleo primal HIIT fitness crossfit exercise gym-min

Pink Boxing Gloves

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My first ever pair of boxing gloves arrived at the gym last night (er, a Birthday present to myself?)!  They’re pink and quite possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  I’ve even got matching pink gloves to wear inside (though on reflection, perhaps that’s a bit silly as I won’t be able to see them?)  I can’t wait to wear them with my pink VFF’s!

In the five weeks since I moved from a big commercial gym to a small, independent gym (my PT moved – and I followed), my fitness and strength have increased significantly.  I notice it every day, whether I feel the need to run up a flight of stairs two at a time (which I’d previously have walked up) – or even just lifting previously heavy things at home.

Since the move, my gym sessions have got harder and much more challenging.  My two weekly sessions are based on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and typically involve a lot of strength work and short bursts of cardio.  Every session is completely different; the only constant is that it’s never easy!  I used to hate exercise, but now I love it and am always looking forward to my next session.  I think it takes a while for people new to exercising (as I was two years ago) to go from hating it – to loving it; but trust me, if I love exercise – anyone can grow to love it!

Last night’s session involved the bike and the rower, kettle bell swings, kettle bell cleans, medicine ball, sprints, squats, core work, and stretching.  I moved up to a 16kg kettle bell last night for the first time, which I’m very excited about.  Hopefully that will start feeling less heavy soon!  I recently started doing a circuits class once a week – and adding more sprints into my commute.  I’m sure these factors alongside my fairly strict Paleo nutrition plan have all had a part to play in this sudden increase in fitness!

Future sessions will feature my new boxing gloves – and some heavy ropes which will be arriving at the gym very soon – I’m intrigued to see exactly what we’ll be doing with those?!

Boxing-Gloves pink paleo network-min

I'm excited to see how much fitter and stronger I'm capable of becoming!

Is your style of exercise completely different to mine?  Are you the fittest you’ve ever been?

My Current Fitness Mission paleo diet primal crossfit gym exercise pull ups chin ups-min

My Current Fitness Mission

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In addition to walking & running, I have two or three sessions a week of high intensity interval training style workouts, which I love.  I’ve been doing this for over a year now and have made significant progress.  The more progress I make however, the more my fitness ambitions grow.

Originally I wanted to be able to do “proper” man push ups.  I can finally do these now, though they aren't pretty.  Yet.

Chin-Up-Weights

My biggest fitness ambition is to be able to do proper, unassisted chin-ups.  I’d be thrilled to be able to do one, but ten would be incredible.  I’ve been using an assisted chin up machine at the gym to help me achieve this.  It has a counter weight, which you can gradually reduce – until the day arrives where no counter weight is required.  The counter weights are gradually reducing – and my other strength routines are no doubt helping towards my aim.

Chin-Up-Training

My aim is to be able to do a few proper chin-ups by April – at PrimalCon 2012.  That gives me six months to get stronger.  I will conquer them!

Can you do chin-ups?  Do you have any fitness goals that you’re working towards?  Share in the comments, below

My Current Fitness Mission paleo diet primal crossfit gym exercise pull ups chin ups-min