Paleo for Athletes?

[Matt Thomas]

I did some searching around the forums and couldn't find anything real specific, so I apologize if I'm re-treading old ground.

I've tried paleo style eating before and it works for me. I respond well to eating meat and no grains. Doing that, however, keeps me at around 170 lbs. Recently, relatively speaking, I've wanted to gain some size so I can get stronger so I changed my diet to include more calories. It's not a ton by some people's mass gaining standards, but this is what my typical day looks like:

1: 7 eggs & an apple (sometimes a wheat pancake.)

2: 12 oz. of a chicken / steak concoction with black beans mixed in.

3: Protein Shake: Whey (34g protein), 2 cups of milk, handful frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 2 big scoops of peanut butter.

4: 4-6 oz. of some other kind of meat (chicken or salmon usually) & handful of sunflower seeds

5: 1/2 - 1 cup of cottage cheese w/ frozen blueberries.

* 1/2 gallon of whole milk throughout the day.
** about 24g of amino acid supplements throughout the day.

This is working pretty good for mass gain. I weighed myself last week and I was 193-195. Somewhere in there.

The reason I want to make the switch is because I've become pretty smooth and I want to lean out a little. I'll be honest a lot of it is for cosmetic reasons. I live in Florida and beach season is fast approaching don't judge me!!! Also, the more I weigh the worse I am at running (PT tests -_-) so it'd be nice if I could trim out some of the fat. I thought switching back to a paleo style diet would be a good way to do it so I bought Paleo for Athletes. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it doesn't seem like they'll be addressing anything other than endurance athletes (why are only marathon runners "athletes"?) So I'm not really sure what to do for myself.

The problem is that I don't really want to lose weight. I'm willing to drop down toward the mid 180s, but don't really want to go lower and if I go back to how I used to eat that will never happen. I also don't want to lose any strength, in fact I'd like to continue gaining strength. I guess the only real problem is, how do I replace the milk? That's a lot of calories that would be tough to get down if I had to replace it with meat. Are my goals realistic to accomplish switching back to paleo?

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for any help you can offer.

[Mike Prevost]

Matt

I don't think you will find any magic protocol here. I think you just need to cut your calories back a little bit. Make small adjustments and don't rush the fat loss too much or you will likely lose some muscle. A 200-500 calorie per day deficit would be plenty. Not sure what you are doing for exercise but finding a way to burn some extra calories, above and beyond what you are already doing would be good. You will see testimonials all over the place but I do not believe you will find the magic protocol that will melt the fat and build muscle with no effort. You simply have to find a way to burn more calories than you are eating by either eating less, burning more or both (while controlling hunger and preserving muscle). Dropping the fat slowly will help you hold on to your muscle.

Nothing wrong with wanting your abs to show. When you look good you can be a more effective ambasador for a healthy and fit lifestyle. People will actually listen to you when you give fitness advice, which is good.

[Mike Prevost]

Another thought...

Why not just cut the milk consumption in half and cut out the peanut butter? You need to cut back on calories a little bit anyway....

Mike

[Matt Thomas]

Thanks. I'm not adverse to working hard. Working hard is where all the fun is. It just always seems like it's one or the other with me. I can either be 190 and soft, or I can be 175 and ripped. I can never manage the nice median. I will cut out the peanut butter and down the milk and see how that works. Thanks!

[Derek Weaver]

If you don't want to lose weight below 190 lbs. then you're going to need to pack on enough muscle (and more fat) so that when you lean back out to "six pack abs" levels you're still up between 190-200.

You can try a recomp. approach that I've seen a couple of people over at Lyle's forums try, going over maintenance on training days, under on off days...

Unfortunately I think you'll just end up spinning your wheels with an approach like that.

Chase two rabbits and they both get away.

[Chris H Laing]

Originally Posted by Matt Thomas

so I bought Paleo for Athletes. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it doesn't seem like they'll be addressing anything other than endurance athletes (why are only marathon runners "athletes"?) So I'm not really sure what to do for myself.

I'm in a similar position. I got the book for christmas and just finished it, but I think you just need to follow the basic guidelines of the book and not get caught up to much in the details. For me, I feel like the book recommends too many carbs(i guess lsd runners need more glycogen).

I am still cutting off some fat from my SS cycle, and I just try to get at least 150g of protein (I weigh 140 lbs), as many greens and as much fat as i want, and its working pretty well. I gained 15 lbs doing SS for a month and a half before getting sick, and after losing about 5 lbs of fat, I'm looking pretty lean but I'm still maintaining the higher weight.

The only thing I'm still working on is the pwo meal/shake, because I feel like using some protein powder and BCAA's, maybe some glucose (as recommended in the book), but I wodner if not getting the nutrients from natural sources takes away from the benefits of paleo.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Matt Thomas

I thought switching back to a paleo style diet would be a good way to do it so I bought Paleo for Athletes. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it doesn't seem like they'll be addressing anything other than endurance athletes (why are only marathon runners "athletes"?) So I'm not really sure what to do for myself.

Athletes are athletes and there isn't a huge difference between the nutritional requirements of a marathon runner and a weight lifter.

[Derek Weaver]

Originally Posted by Darryl Shaw

Athletes are athletes and there isn't a huge difference between the nutritional requirements of a marathon runner and a weight lifter.

I'm not sure I'm following you on this one...

[Kevin Perry]

Originally Posted by Derek Weaver

I'm not sure I'm following you on this one...

Ditto. Elaborate?

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Derek Weaver

I'm not sure I'm following you on this one...

Protein requirements for athletes are 1.2 - 1.8g/kg/day (about double the RDA) regardless of whether you're a runner or a lifter. The lifter needs the extra protein to repair and build his muscles and the runner needs the extra protein to repair his muscles and replace what he oxidised for energy (gluconeogensis) as his glycogen stores became depleted.
Once protein requirements have been met both runners and lifters need to eat enough carbs and fats to ensure that glycogen stores are replenished between workouts and that they have enough energy to get through the day. The 120 lb marathon runner needs to eat a high calorie diet to fuel his prolonged training sessions and the 220 lb lifter needs a high calorie diet to fuel his short intense workouts, build new tissue and maintain his current lean body mass so the total calorie requirements of the two different athletes won't be all that different.

This is a fairly simplistic explanation but I'm sure you get the idea.