Recovery while on a Paleo Diet

[BCGuy]

I have been experimenting with a Paleo based diet the past 3 weeks. I have managed to drop a belt size, but not surprisingly my lifts have all gone to hell in the process (now recovering from a bout of overtraining). One thing I have noticed is the loss of milk and milk base products has seriously put a dent in my recovery ability. I love milk, but after reading Loren Coradin's book, "The Paleo Diet," I really got to wonder if milk is worth the 'supposed' long term risk (IGF-1 influence on cancer development).
I suppose I could ramp up my paleo eating even more, but I am almost at the point where I need to eat a few chicken breasts per meal to even remotely sate my appetite.

Typical day for me is:

Breakfast:
-4 eggs or 1 salmon loin
-apple and banana

10am snack:
-bag of carrot sticks or few fruits
-salmon loin or chicken breast

Lunch:
-usually 2 chicken breasts or 2 salmon loins (pre-cut, frozen)
-some vegetable combo, usually 2-3 items, consisting of peppers, cabbage, 1/2 a squash, carrots, apple, or banana

2:30pm snack:
-chicken breast/salmon loin with some mixed vegetables (about a cup or so)

Dinner:
-chicken breastx2, a few steaks, or a few salmon loins
-mixed vegetables (whatever I feel like cooking)
-3 tablespoons of a random butter, such as cashew, almond, or pumpkin.

I can see already, for a 6'3, 27 year old, 260lb male this is probably rather low for calories. When drinking milk, I had no problem getting extra calories, but now I feel like I got to eat a chicken every few hours to even keep my hunger at bay (yes I always seem to be hungry since I have gone paleo).

According to Fitaday, my usual intake ranges from 3k to 4k a day.

[NKT]

My first impression is that, for a carb-restricted diet, your diet is WAY too low in fat. Instead of chicken breasts, try legs with the skin on. And try some fatty cuts of red meat too. Animal fat is the main energy source in a true paleo diet.

[BCGuy]

My first impression is that, for a carb-restricted diet, your diet is WAY too low in fat. Instead of chicken breasts, try legs with the skin on. And try some fatty cuts of red meat too.

Sounds like a good idea. Eating saw dust dry meat gets old fast.

[blowdpanis]

I don't see a lot of references to nuts here. I eat paleo-ish, and in order to crank up calories, eat a fuckton of mixed nuts. If you want to be a true paleo queer, you can even buy mixes from Trader Joe's that have no peanuts and are pretty low in salt, or just make your own.

Either way they're tasty and fairly calorie dense, so I'd start slamming those ASAP.

[BCGuy]

I don't see a lot of references to nuts here. I eat paleo-ish, and in order to crank up calories, eat a fuckton of mixed nuts. If you want to be a true paleo queer, you can even buy mixes from Trader Joe's that have no peanuts and are pretty low in salt, or just make your own.

Either way they're tasty and fairly calorie dense, so I'd start slamming those ASAP.

I shall try hourly shots of nuts.

[Pistol Pete]

Avocados are also a good paleo calorie source

[RobertFontaine]

A few wierd misconceptions and a couple of things about Paleo that annoy me.

If you are allergic to milk then sure it's a problem but if you aren't it isn't.
The same can be said for gluten which is a perfectly good protein and the leptins in tomatoes, potatoes, and beans.

Yes Paleo does a pretty good job of removing everything you might be allergic to but if you aren't allergic it's a bit draconian.

And what does eating Paleo have to do with recovery? There is nothing Paleo about under eating. That's called Recovery on a calorie deficit and guess what, you don't.

I like Paleo in that it basically gets you eating unprocessed Meats and Veg which is typically a good way to eat and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. You don't require Milk, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Grains or Beans but if you are underweight and having problems with recovery you are probably not getting enough carbs and or calories and all of these except maybe tomatoes would solve the problem.

[BCGuy]

A few wierd misconceptions and a couple of things about Paleo that annoy me.

If you are allergic to milk then sure it's a problem but if you aren't it isn't.
The same can be said for gluten which is a perfectly good protein and the leptins in tomatoes, potatoes, and beans.

Yes Paleo does a pretty good job of removing everything you might be allergic to but if you aren't allergic it's a bit draconian.

And what does eating Paleo have to do with recovery? There is nothing Paleo about under eating. That's called Recovery on a calorie deficit and guess what, you don't.

I like Paleo in that it basically gets you eating unprocessed Meats and Veg which is typically a good way to eat and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. You don't require Milk, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Grains or Beans but if you are underweight and having problems with recovery you are probably not getting enough carbs and or calories and all of these except maybe tomatoes would solve the problem.

The reason why I titled the article "recovery while on a paleo diet" was so that I could see the opinions of others as to why my recovery is struggling, based on my typical diet. I realize that most people get too focused on a few things and often need the outside view of others to make suggestions or comments to improve.

[gzt]

Paleo doesn't eat tomatoes? Weird.

[Slevn81]

I think most paleo followers eat tomatoes. The most hard-core eat paleo with no nightshades, which includes tomatoes.

Also--I'm not sure whether anyone's answered his question fully. I don't have an answer myself, and I'm actually wondering the same thing.


@RobertFontaine: I understand your point but Robb Wolf argues that everyone on Earth is gluten-intolerant to some degree, so it's far more than an autoimmune diet.