Eating paleo is great during the day, but at night I can't help myself... page

[ebrady98]

14 year old girl here. Been trying to lose weight for about 1 year. Which I never thought that I'd have to do, because my activity level is so high. But, I;ve got grab-abble fat and it jingles when I run, and it's embarrassing.

Lately I've been feeling absolutely terrible. Tired all the time, lost interest in my sport and just generally lonely. I know it's a part of growing up and stuff, but...

So earlier this year I was on the calorie-counting, low-fat business. Then when I had only lost about 1 pound in 6 weeks whilst feeling fairly hungry I thought I wasn't being strict enough.

Bring in the 2 week binge. I think I gained about 8 pounds. Then I just didn't care what I ate after that. I ate junk and stuff, but I didn't binge. Heavier and heavier I got.

I heard about the paleo diet a few weeks later. At first I just disregarded it, I thought it was another faddy diet.

Then I thought about it. After I heard about it, I couldn't forget about it. So, to cut a long story short (even though this will be quite long) I'm trying to eat paleo now, whilst trying to lose weight and continue with my sport. (the season is in full flow too, but I'm just not looking forward to it. I feel awful and I'm just not enjoying it.)

So this is what I eat.

Breakfast 7:30 AM: 3 eggs scrambled with 25g of grass-fed butter and 2 slices of bacon.

Lunch 12:45 AM: a salad. Usually it's a handful of lettuce, half a carrot and some protein source, like 1 chicken breast or 1 tin of tuna, with some nuts. Maybe a piece of fruit after.

When I get home and if no one's in, I usually scavenge for "paleo foods", i.e eating butter with a spoon, some nuts or some peanut butter (not paleo, but we can't find almond butter)

Then I'll do training. I'm normally hungry after training, so I'll have dinner. Then I find that dinner isn't enough to truly satisfy me. When my mom isn't there, I'll grab a couple of biscuits, maybe some chocolate or something. Basically, it all goes out of the window at night.

Basically, I need to lose weight. I also want to get better at sport and not feel tired. But I'm just so hungry. And I can't snack on anything that isn't paleo. My mom is also fat-phobic - lean meats in the salad, lean meats and steamed veg for tea. She buys the leanest meats possible, tells me to cut the fat off my bacon and to drain it, and tells me to use 10g of butter.

So if I need more fat in my diet, I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. The only times I can get fat in is at breakfast, really.

I've thought about waiting till the end of the season then going fully paleo for 2 months to see if I lose weight. I've thought about trying to do it now. But then I couldn't exercise for long because I wouldn't be keto-adapted. And I have to go to sports, because my parents have booked hotels and everything.

I'm just not sure what to do anymore. It's stressing me out. (I know that's bad for you, too) if someone can please decipher this rambling and offer some advice, it would be greatly appreciated.



For more Paleo Diet hacks: Eating paleo is great during the day, but at night I can't help myself... - PaleoHacks.com Eating paleo is great during the day, but at night I can't help myself... - PaleoHacks.com

[Knox]

I've been eating primal for only 4 weeks but I think I can help. I've only cheated twice and both times I had the same result. The next day I was outrageously hungry and craving sugar. But, it only lasted for a day each time.

My best advice is to stay away from all carbs except veggies for a few days and you might do better.

I'm a night eater too. I generally have a huge salad and a small serving of meat for dinner. After that, I snack on almonds if the cravings are too much at night.

[sarasue624]

ebrady, I have no advice for you right now except to say that the plan you have typed up seems reasonable, considering your mom and your sports. At 14 it's hard to eat well if your parent's not on board, especially if you're really involved in activities after school and so can't do things like volunteer to make your own meals. Can you hard-boil some eggs during breakfast to add to your lunch or have on hand as a snack?

Also, you should know that you're not the only one who heads for the sugar as soon as it gets dark out!

[NZ primal Gwamma]

Ebrady, this has to be a hard time for you, not only because you want to lose weight but also because your body is in full change mode. I am wondering, after reading your above post wether you need more fat and protein at each meal. I am at the other end of the life spectrum to you, but if I don't have the fat and protein at each meal, I find a couple of meals down the line, I crave sugary stuff. I am having nuts and dried fruit when I do get cravings, but once I up the F and P - things seem to settle down. I will often boil 6 eggs and mash in butter and salt. They taste great cold, and so will have them throughout the day when hungry. You will also be needing added salt, vitamins and minerals. I say salt seperately because if you are doing a heap of sport, you will be losing essentials. Alot of vitamins and minerals and sodium are added to processed foods, so you are not getting these now. It is so important, if you have started the menzies, that you are also getting plenty of iron.
Stick with it and when you tweak your lifestyle - give it a week or two to work. Rome was not built in a day.
Good luck
Gwamma

[Diana Renata]

Yup, it seems like that's my worst time for sugar too. The day is done, I've had dinner, sat down, relaxed... and BOOM... I need to shove carby badness into my face for any reason at all.

Your eating doesn't sound bad at all. What I see is that you may want/need more good fat at dinner but due to your mom's way of eating that might be difficult right now. A bit more at lunch may make training easier for you. Everything else seems fine. I think if you plan "safe" carby treats you'll have less trouble with the non-Paleo stuff, and give yourself an allowance for treats.

The things I've learned- nearly no amount of fat will negate a carb craving, and (at least for me) being too strict only leads to rebellion.

My best advice would be to not focus too much on a few pounds until you get your eating/training/tiredness issues resolved. Weight and fat loss are secondary to that. I think most people would agree that it's more important to perform better than to look better. The trick will be getting in enough quality calories. If you can find a way to work more of them in to lunch and dinner, you may be ok.

[zoebird]

Foremost, with no actual numbers or understanding, I don't automatically believe that you need to lose any weight. I'm not saying that you don't, but I don't need to lose any weight and parts of my "jiggle" when I run because. . . well that's just what those parts of the body do. They even do it on my super-lean husband (he's below 8% now). Bodies just jiggle.

So my first idea is that you probably don't need to lose any weight.

After this, even if you do need to lose it, you may not need to lose it. When I was growing (you know, any time before age 18/19), I would gain weight and get pudgy and then shoot up and be the same weight but leaner. My mom called it growing like bamboo, which gets bigger right before it "shoots." So, it was annoying from a magazine/beauty/body confidence perspective, but ultimately, it was healthy for my body and the right thing to do.

I think a handful of lettuce is a pitifully small salad, too, btw. When I make a salad, it's half a head of lettuce, half a bell pepper, a whole tomato, 1/3 of a cucumber (they are big cukes), 1/4 onion, 1/2 avocado (in season), 1/2 fennel bulb, and some soaked pumpkin seeds, and then whatever meat/eggs I might be eating.

I also eat a lot of veggies at breakfast, because that's what I do.

At snack time, I would just do nuts (buy raw almonds and soak them) and a piece of fruit (apple or banana at your age and activity level). This is simple enough for your parent's grocery list and won't look or seem weird to them. It also fits into normal "CW" snacking practices.

Then do primal dinner and finish on a sweet -- such as an orange or berries.

Just some ideas anyway.

[Bron]

Your body may be 'looser' because you're about to enter a growth spurt Children tend to put on weight, then spurt up, stabilise then do it all over again.

[Comma]

I second the idea with the boiled eggs ready for snacking and nuts for after-dinner snack. A little dark chocolate is also allowed. I personally think you need more food than you outline. Growing and into sports, you're probably running on empty a lot and that makes the best of us depressed. Just ditch the dieting for now and concentrate on eating all paleo- without worrying about calories and weightloss. When you have it all figured out, you can tackle your weight if necessary.

Also, just a tip from a sesoned veteran: boys like happy girls, not skinny ones.

[Kochin]

I'd say you need more calories and more healthy starches. Try sweet potatoes, more carrot, beetroot...etc Also add a bit more fatty meat. When meat is grass-fed, the fat tastes better too, I've noticed.
Example: have a baked sweet potato LADEN with butter pre-workout, have a rest to let it go down, work out, then eat a carrot and some solid, slightly fatty meat as a snack. Have something high in protein before bed, to ensure your body has enough to work with (rebuilding is a protein-expensive task, especially at your age, when you're growing too!).

[Leida]

I second healthy starches. White potato is great for satiation, cheap and easy to cook (like boil for 40 min, no brainer). Sub for your chocolate and biscuits & you are good. I know everyone is nuttoes about sweet potato, but it is high in sugar, less satiating and far pricier, at least where I live. Give a try to coconut products as well, if you can find good quality ones with no crap added.

ANd swap tuna and chicken on your salad for salmon and sardines, pork chops etc, and you will be laughing!