If you’re looking to lose weight on the paleo diet, make sure to check out the paleo low-carb template on my The Paleo Diet page. Many people use this version of the paleo diet to help them optimize their weight loss. But before you do that, take the time to read everything below carefully. This explains the why behind the paleo and weight loss. Understanding this is vital to sticking with the paleo diet and making the right paleo food choices for your weight loss goal.

So how can the paleo gluten-free diet help you lose unwanted pounds?

Hello, Nutrients!

With the paleo diet, say goodbye to high-calorie, low-nutrient modern “foods”—mostly carbs, and unhealthy, refined carbohydrates at that! This not only means more nutrients to help develop muscle tone, but also balanced blood sugar levels (because of the low-glycemic foods). Blood sugar problems can lead to insulin and cortisol spikes. In other words: weight gain.

The Paleo Food List, consisting wholly of unprocessed foods like seafood, lean meat, fruits and vegetables, nuts and roots, is much more nutritious than the foods around now.

Not to mention, paleolithic meat was different from the meat that is most popularly consumed in the modern world. Instead of coming from grain-fed animals pumped full of hormones, paleo meat comes from grass-fed animals or wild-caught fowl and seafood. This amounts to better-quality protein. Grass-fed beef contains the ideal 1:1 ratio of omega-3s and omega-6s. Do some Google research on omega-3s and healthy fats, and you’ll see what I mean.

Goodbye, Water Weight!

Eating carbohydrates causes cells to hold onto water. By switching to a diet with higher levels of protein and healthy fats, you’ll find a decrease in water weight. That’s easy weight loss right there.

Plus, an inflammatory condition in the body can lead to water retention. Since the paleo diet cuts out the foods that can lead to gut inflammation, you can say goodbye to this cause of water retention.

Happy Tummies

Have you ever heard the phrase, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” Well, if your tummy ain’t happy, your body isn’t going to be either!

A healthy gut is so critical to overall health. If you don’t know about the connection between gut health and preventing diseases, you must research this on your own. Basically, a healthy gastrointestinal tract allows you to absorb as many nutrients as possible from your foods, preventing disease and promoting health and optimum weight levels.

You can get a healthy gut by cutting out toxic foods like grains and other foods that you might be sensitive to.

Eliminating foods from your diet that you’re sensitive to can help promote weight loss for many reasons, including:

• Less systemic inflammation
• Increased digestive efficiency (and absorption of nutrients)
• Balanced hormones and thyroid
• Less water retention (which often results from food sensitivities)

You should also check out my Gluten-Free and Paleo page for more info about food sensitivities.

Paleo Weight Loss Tips

(You’re going to love these!)

Collected from friends and family and the best paleo resources around, these are some tried-and-true tips to help you shed pounds on the paleo diet.

• De-stress! I know it’s so hard sometimes, but you’ve really got to make a point to not stress all the time. Stress can cause an increase in the hormone cortisol, which can cause insulin resistance, inflammation, and fat storage.
• Monitor your carb intake. Check out the paleo low-carb diet version for more information about this. Aim to get more calories from protein and eat plenty of healthy fats.
• Do not even think about stepping on that scale! It’s not going to reflect what’s really going on with your body’s changes on the paleo diet. You may be building muscle mass and bone density, which can increase your weight, hiding your fat loss.
• Don’t stress over calories! The days of calorie counting are long behind you now. The paleo diet is about eating until you feel full.
• Cheat every now and then. That’s right, Tina Turbin just told you to cheat on the paleo diet! Some people have a “cheat day” or a “cheat meal” once a week. The less restricted you feel, the less likely you are to binge as a habit. Paleo is a lifestyle! You can “break” the diet for a day and still consider yourself a member of the paleo club, I promise.
• Make your kitchen paleo. By eliminating non-paleo foods from your home, you’re less likely to veer from your diet. So if you can get the family on board, do so!
• Adhere to a biologically-appropriate fitness program like CrossFit.

Paleo Weight Loss Recipes

Go ahead, dive in and enjoy my paleo diet recipes! After the initial withdrawal period from eating junk food and sugar, these recipes will satisfy your taste buds and your body’s needs. Losing weight has never been so simple and yummy and healthy.

Resources

Mark’s Daily Apple: 17 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight
PaleoPlan.com: Will I Lose Weight on Paleo Plan?

I hope this page has been helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions just email me at Tina (at) Paleomazing.com.

Tina Turbin