Paleo – The Good, the Bad and the Great Bonk
It’s been about two months since I began eating Paleo. Eating what?? If you missed the first two blog posts about this, check them out here.
So how is it going? I’ve been getting this question a lot from clients, boot campers and friends.
Let’s look at this in terms of the good, the bad and the ugly (or the Great Bonk).
The Good. Always start with the good stuff. I switched to Paleo and immediately saw significant positive changes in my body composition, physical appearance and energy.
- I dropped 9 lbs in the first few weeks. It was all fat loss. My body fat % dropped from about 13 to around 8.5%. Most of it was in the lay around my gut.
- That change in body comp led to a leaner, stronger look that was noticed by my colleagues and friends. It was without a doubt the leanest and strongest I’ve ever looked.
- My energy level improved as did my sleeping habits. No more late night carb binges and no more bloated feeling throughout the day. I woke up ready to go.
- And without getting into too much detail, my digestive system profoundly changed for the better.
The Bad. Any significant change to your eating habits is accompanyied by challenges. For me, the nutritional changes were not too bad. I thought giving up sweetened drinks would be hard but it wasn’t. Unsweetened iced tea became my drink of choice. Eliminating dairy was easier than I thought as well. I replaced milk with almond or coconut milk. No problem. My grain and processed carb consumption was also low.
But there are challenges that have made it tough to stick to Paleo.
- Weight loss is not a goal of mine. Losing the 9 lbs put my under 200 for the first time in 20 years. There is something about being under that number that concerns me. Even though I felt fine I thought I needed to eat more or add more carbs to up my weight.
- My friends are not necessarily eating Paleo. I have determined that keeping granola and ice cream in the house for my girlfriend when she visits is not something I can do. If those two items are around I eat them, plain and simple.
- It can be expensive to buy whole foods all the time. I found about a 25% increase in my food budget. I believe it is worth the investment but it is something to be aware of.
- Meal prep takes time. My schedule permits me time to prep meals on some days and no time on other days. I have friends who do all their meal prep on Sundays for the week. I have not gotten to that level of nutritional organization yet. Still working on it.
The Ugly (or The Great Bonk). I tend to do a lot of endurance events. 5+ mile runs and 50+ mile bike rides can be weekly things. On one of my first Paleo-fueled training sessions I learned an important lesson.
I was prepping for a Run/Canoe/Bike/Run event with my training partner Michelle. One of our early training sessions was a 40 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run. The ride started well. We did the first 25 miles at a strong pace. I had fueled up on bananas and other fruit in the morning but I was not taking any energy bars (lots o’ carbs) or energy gels (even more simple carbs) because they weren’t Paleo.
Michelle challenged me to do the last 8 miles at race pace. That’s where the trouble began. We rode hard and with one mile left I felt some weakness in my legs. I stopped at a grocery store and grabbed two pears and quickly downed them to get me through the run.
The start of the run was ugly. I was slow and had no rhythm. A mile in Michelle recognized there was a problem and suggested we turn back. “Nope, let’s keep going.” Bad idea. I bonked (athletes term for running out of energy) bad. In one fell swoop I got light headed and the world began to shimmer like an impressionist painting. I slowed to a walk. Michelle stuck with me. And for the two miles back to the car I was walking slowly. Any effort to jog lasted only 10 seconds. My body was desperately looking for my energy to burn and I had not been giving it enough. I had never experienced a bonk like that before. I knew that going forward if I expect to do long efforts I need to change up my Paleo plan.
The Bottom Line. I have made some tweaks to my Paleo eating. I keep a supply of natural energy bars on hand and take energy gels with me on longer events. I also have become less rigid with my Paleo eating to help stop the weight loss. I am not opposed to an occasional pasta meal or some desserts. However, that has led me to be a little too laxed lately. I am still trying to strike a balance.
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