Getting enough food while adapting

[Josh]

Hi. A lot of the standard health stuff says I should be shooting for 85-120 ish g protein per day (based on my approx 70kg bodyweight). I'm working out and training a lot at the moment.

I'm finding it hard to eat enough while adapting to raw paleo. According to the US nutrition database, raw heart has 17g protein per 100g and steak 23. So I'd have to eat roughly 500g meat a day. I still find it hard to get that much down me.

The ideas I can think of are 1) I don't need that much, or have miscalculated 2) I should top up with big cooked meals on alternate days while I'm adapting 3) fill up on jerky (would have to be commercial at the moment, so probably dried at high temp 4) force myself to eat 500g meat

Which would you prefer or would you suggest something else?

[goodsamaritan]

500 grams = 1/2 kilo a day is easy.
I'm a small guy at only 165cm, my brother a little shorter, he and I eat that much raw meat in a day.
Try raw fish first, it's lighter.  Put some natural condiments in it at first.  Then lessen your condiments as you get used to the raw stuff.

[TylerDurden]

Eat whatever you feel comfortable with. Don't ever rely on artificial figures.

[Josh]

Thanks. I would really struggle to eat 500g at the moment. I can maybe manage 200 then I'm full for the day. Fat is no problem.

I hear what you're saying about artificial figures, but I'm worried about undereating and going into starvation mode or getting run down as I'm working out.

What was your experience when getting started?

[van]

  I do well following a little bit of advice by a guy named Bear.  I eat my fat, in my case mostly back fat, first.  I slice it and this time of year it is superb.  Then i wait till I no longer want to put anymore in my mouth.  There is a real definate stop, and it changes daily as to how much fat my body wants.  Then I do the same with the leaner portions of beef, in my case the grass fed beef is very lean.  I eat until I no longer want to put any in mouth.  I  then wait till I am hungry.  Charles, on another site also has great advise.  Don't eat till you feel hungry enough to eat a steak.  Which is most revealing about one's current state of hunger.  Sometimes though i will snack on slices of fat.   

[TylerDurden]

Thanks. I would really struggle to eat 500g at the moment. I can maybe manage 200 then I'm full for the day. Fat is no problem.

I hear what you're saying about artificial figures, but I'm worried about undereating and going into starvation mode or getting run down as I'm working out.

What was your experience when getting started?

Well, when I first went rpd, I made a common mistake:- I assumed that since raw meat was good for me, that the more I ate of it, the faster I would heal. I therefore stuffed myself (eating well over a kilo of meat every day, not counting other foods).

 I then found out that going in for intermittent fasting, doing the occasional whole-day fast as well, actually helped to heal me faster(along with eating raw).

The thing about raw food is that it provides more nutrients than cooked food so one doesn't need to eat as much as on a cooked diet.

[lex_rooker]

Josh,
Early on I had a very difficult time eating enough food as I just didn't like it.  I'd be so full of raw meat after eating 200g - 300g that I wanted to gag but would have no problem eating a dozen chocolate chip cookeies or 1/2 a gallon of ice cream or a whole apple pie.  The issue was just adapting to the taste and understanding true hunger.

I found I just had to force myself to eat only those foods that I committed to eat and not eat any of the others - in other words I quit pretty much cold turkey.  I still could only eat about 1/4 of what I eat (and enjoy) today, and my weight did drop fairly rapidly.  Over time, as I became accustomed to the food, I slowly began to eat more and more until I was fully meeting my body's needs.

You are putting your body through a major transition.  Don't expect to maintain a workout schedule as intense as before the change during the transition.  You may have many days you don't feel like doing any workout at all.  Trust your body.  It will adapt, and within a year to 18 months you'll be chugging along on fatty acids rather than sugar - enjoying both the benefits and the limitations of your new diet.

Lex

[Josh]

Thanks. I've given this approach a go...cut out raw oats and just eating a cup of berries or a fruit for carbs each day.

Cutting the meat into bigger chunks helps me eat a bit more. I won't go mad with the workouts, but want to continue as they seem to make me more hungry. If I don't workout it's tempting to just go without food rather than tackling a slice of raw animal. Fingers crossed my body will get in line.

[Neone]

I think that you're overthinking this diet.. Paleo man didn't look up nutrition facts and worry about grams of fat and protein. I also don't believe that paleo man "trained" either. I don't believe in exercises in the going to the gym and lifting weights sense. I believe it to be unhealthy.

There is also a lot more to being healthy than just what you eat.. Its the air you're breathing (and breathing properly), the water you drink, how much stress you have in your life etc..

Getting outside in the fresh air and digging holes, climbing trees, running around... acting like a real paleo man is the way to go.

I eat a meat-only diet, bison and lamb(mutton) are my staples and i eat beef as a secondary option (I feel beef is a poor meat source)
I found that once i stopped weighing out portions of fat and trying to do the diet 'right' i became much healthier and the diet became 100 times easier.

I'm 5'4 and weigh 140 pounds right now, having put on about 20 pounds in the 6 months or so that i started the diet. I had a good physique before the diet even on a vegetarian diet but the density of my muscles has gone way up since i started. Id say i pack back about a pound of steak in the morning before work, then ill eat another 2-3 pounds of meat at night. After a while on the diet you will know if you need to eat some fat or red meat(too long on lamb you wont feel as good until you eat something nice and red)
Since i live in Canada and in the middle of winter you do not want to eat a cold piece of meat, ill drop mine in a hotplate for about 5 seconds a side on a low temp so that when you put it on your tongue it feels nice(simulates a warm fresh kill i suppose). You learn to eat fast this way (before it gets cold again haha). Ive swallowed pieces of meat almost the size of my hand whole and while it feels like your throat is stretching, Ive never choked on it (while i swear Ive nearly died on stuff like celery before haha) and it all gets digested except for some sinew and fatty remnants.

I also don't believe that you can half-ass this diet either.. Its about being mature and giving up on taste because you know it is the best thing for you.. I think doing a healthy meat/fat diet while still eating sugars and other bullshit is almost worse for you and you may as well go back on a SAD.  Having said that, after i decided to cut the crap and no more 'cheat days' I don't get cravings anymore, and you wont even see that stuff as food. You will realise that you enjoyed the memories of eating them more than the actual experience when you do.

I think all I'm trying to say in all these paragraphs is to stop thinking so hard about it and just do it.. haha

[lex_rooker]

Very well said Neone.  I wish my post had been as clear and to the point as yours.

Lex

[William]

I eat a meat-only diet, bison and lamb(mutton) are my staples and i eat beef as a secondary option (I feel beef is a poor meat source)

Where do you find mutton? I never liked it cooked, but raw might be good. Not available in Maniwaki.

William

[Raw Rob]

I eat a meat-only diet, bison and lamb(mutton) are my staples and i eat beef as a secondary option (I feel beef is a poor meat source)

Why do you feel beef is a poor meat source? Just curious.

[Josh]

I think that you're overthinking this diet.. Paleo man didn't look up nutrition facts and worry about grams of fat and protein. I also don't believe that paleo man "trained" either. I don't believe in exercises in the going to the gym and lifting weights sense. I believe it to be unhealthy.

I can see where you're coming from - too much thinking not enough trying is a bad thing. However, I do think that thought is necessary to try and apply 'paleo' principles in modern life. I tried 0 carb for a while and it didn't work...okay I didn't have a great fat source, but others report the same symptoms I got. So I rethink and try again.

Similarly, with things like the gym paleo people didn't lift weights but with a bit of thought you can do movements that are healthy for your body like free weights and high intensity avoiding repetitive stress. Your example of digging, assuming you mean with a spade is an exercise that's pretty bad for your body...but maybe it's worth doing if you love gardening...compromise with the modern world.

With diet there's loads of open questions - we don't eat paleolithic megafauna...do modern animals have a different balance of fatty acids? Does it matter? I don't know but think they're relevant questions.

I don't believe that paleo people even were naive about food or wandered about randomly grazing on animals...more likely they were skilled butchers, knew to a nicety how much meat and fat they needed to survive, and thought about how to divide the food.

Don't want to sound down on you man...just ended up laying out a few thoughts in the post.

[Raw Kyle]

The counter point to the over thinking argument is that none of us would have found this diet if we didn't do a lot more than average thinking about diet. The average person doesn't think about what they eat, and they eat SAD foods or whatever their parents brought them up to eat. The average person here who eats primarily RAF's has spent considerably more time thinking about diet.

Can you over think? Probably. Can you under think? Most definitely.