Paleo Weight Loss Mistake Part 2

I have had a lot of people on Twitter message me about my weight loss mistake that I was making. They say they aren't eating nuts and still cant lose weight. The problem may be that they are eating too much.

I know, I joined up with the paleo movement because I wasn't counting calories and can't sustain counting calories for more than a day. Besides that, counting calories isn't how we are supposed to eat. And I am totally not suggesting it. As a matter of fact, I want you  to lose the "diet journal" all together. I have some simple, really simple rules for you to follow that will make you lose weight. These rules worked for me before I was primal and made me eat primal before I knew what that was.

1. Eat when you are hungry. If you are not hungry for breakfast, don't eat it. If you are hungry an hour before bed, then eat. Simple right? It may not be that simple for some. I found there are two reasons why someone may eat when they are not hungry.



what I do instead of emotional eating

• Emotions: I know we get bored, mad, stressed or sad and we want to stuff the feelings. Hmmm, stuff the feelings, is a good phrase for it. We stuff them with food until our tummys have an overfilled discomfort feeling taking our focus away from the problems at hand. I can tell you what I do, but it may not be what you need to do. We all have to find our own way when it comes to the emotional side of the brain. I do something. I paint, I play, I do karate, I read, I write, I just do something that will take my mind off of the issues. Gives me a timeout so I can regroup. When you find yourself standing in front of an open fridge door, walk away and find something to do for a while, some hobby.
• Thirst: I am totally not going to tell you to drink your body weight in water. That is silly. As a matter of fact, those ounces that doctors and dietitians tell you to drink are from an excerpt taken out of context from a medical journal article (that would be a blog post in itself). What I do know is that people get most of those fluid ounces from the foods that they eat, so sometimes, or a lot of times for some people, you get a hungry feeling when you are really just dehydrated. You ever get hungry and think to yourself that you shouldn't be hungry because you ate not that long ago? That is thirst. Try drinking a glass of water (I like mine room temp) and if you are still hungry in 15 or 20 minutes than you are truly hungry and eat something.
2. Eat what your body tells you to eat. You may think you will eat un-paleo chocolate cake all the time if you follow this rule. You won't. If you allow yourself the freedom to eat whatever you want, the forbidden foods will not have a hold on you. Also you when you follow the next rules, your diet will change and you wont feel like you are missing anything.
3. Eat with awareness of your food.
• Always eat at a table. Never have the TV on, no more eating in the car. Pay attention to the food you are eating. 
• Chew slowly. Every bite should be chewed for at least 20 to 30 times before swallowing. I want you to taste every mouthful of food as if you are trying to discern every flavor and spice. Eat like you were a food critic, savoring every bite.
• Between bites, put your cutlery down. Too many heavy people are getting there next bite ready before they have really started chewing the one in their mouths. Chew slowly, enjoy, swallow, then pick up your fork.
• How I became primal before I knew what it was? Ever chew pasta slowly? It gets yucky. The taste of the sauce goes away quickly and you are left with a globy mess. The same goes for many high carb starchy foods like cakes. I just naturally didn't want to eat these foods after a while.
4. When you aren't hungry, stop eating. another "Duh!" statement but fullness can be a feeling that overweight people are not really in touch with. We totally know the 'unbutton the pants' stuff feeling after a holiday meal. Usually we eat very fast and by the time our brains tell our tummys that we are done, we have eaten past the point of full. So what I want you to do, is before you pick up the fork for the next bite, ask yourself if you are still hungry, not full, but still hungry. If you aren't still hungry or you aren't sure, put away your plate. If you are wrong, and you are still hungry in 15 or 20 minutes, reheat your dinner and have some more.
5. Buy the best quality food you can afford. The flavors go a lot further when they are high quality and so does the nutrition. Personally when eating grass fed beef, I eat less than conventional at one sitting. I think it is more dense or something that I get satisfied sooner.