My experience with "Paleo Diet" to this day.
I would have preferred ending up reading this thread before posting this message. It is especially a concern about the potassium which makes me to post it today. But I will come back to it later. At present...
A bit of prehistory
My interest for the nutrition as begin when I was 20 years old, with Montignac's method (feeding eliminating food with high Glycemic Index). I stayed there during many years.
About 2 years ago, I began deriving towards vegetarianism, I ate some cheese almost every day, eggs and a lot of leguminous plant, wholegrain cereals , sprouted seeds also. For oils especially olive oil, and often vegetables (especially crude). And meats and fish only when I was invited (rather often however).
About a year ago I stopped dairy products (except for organics goats' cheeses, almost every day). I also began «megadoses of vitamin C» (pure in powder) at this same moment .
About 2 months ago I abolished all dairy products and gluten (except undoubtedly traces difficult to avoid in my current environment). And almost at the same time I was reconciled with the meat.
And about 1 month ago I began to read "Life Without Bread" and I began...
Low-carb diet
First of all I tried to be held around 72g / day of carbohydrate, eat meat, fish, or eggs in every meal (three meals a day) in normal quantities and by adding quite a lot of fat (coconut oil, duck's fat, and ghee).
The third day I had kinds of cramps, first in calves, then in all the body, even the face. It have take me three days to find L-Carnitine in a herbalist's shop. I took my first tablet (500 mg) with my evening meal and the following morning, pain had already well diminished. I took a tablet by meal during some days, and, cramps having almost disappeared, I diminished it. It was also to economise tablets (30 pills in total) while waiting for an order from iherb.
I had tops and bottoms in my vitality. At the end of perhaps ten days, and while I had start reading TNAFANY and this thread, I went down to about 50g of carbohydrate / day, and rather quickly to about 30g / day.
It is difficult to put events in chronology, but almost at the same time I up my portions of proteins to try to attain the "1,5g minimum / kg of weight" pointed out somewhere in this thread. Then about 5 days afterwards (1 or 2 days before Christmas) I saw (always on this thread) that it was perhaps better to get down to 0,8-0,95g / kg and I divided almost by 2 my portions of proteins. At this moment my consumption of carbohydrates was often around 10g / d with tops in 30g / d from time to time.
When I diminished protein I diminished fat also a bit, and I had tendency to eat 10 or 20 grammes of almond and a small square of chocolate after almost all my meals (often my 2 only sources of carbohydrates besides eggs).
December 26th was probably my first day with about 1g of protein / kg.
Parenthesis on cold and body fat
My weight remained around 68 kg since the beginning of this experience / size 1m76.
I have some weight to loose, but it is difficult to say, because with the arriving of cold season I have tendency to take some weight (undoubtedly because I don't visit a lot the heated houses or at least overheated ones ). At the moment the temperatures of the 2 houses where I pass the most of my time didn't go less than 9°C, and we didn't judge necessary to heat them.
End of parenthesis
Just before Christmas I went out of L-Carnitine, I found some Potassium chloride and I take 600mg per meal (Corresponds in 8mEq of potassium – if somebody nows what that is?). I had my real-leg-cramp first time during this period. Then I received my 2 orders of complements (on December 28th and 29th I believe). Since I takes (from now outside the meals):
°Magnesium Citrate (100% pure powder): 1g (or Magnesium Malate: 400 mg) x 2 or 3 times / d (alternately)
°L-Carnitine (100% pure powder): 1g x 2 or 3 times / d
°Potassium Gluconate (100% pure powder): 1g x 2 or 3 times / d
And still: vitamin C: 3 g x 3 times / d (after meals), a lot of salt, and quite a lot of water (between meals - often "yogi Tea" infusion).
Question on the potassium
I read an advice in this thread yesterday to take 99mg of potatium twice a day.
I don't know the difference between various types of potassium but:
1) The dosage of DIFFU-K (potassium chloride 600 mg) is the following:
- preventive treatment: 2 - 3 capsules a day;
- remedial treatment: 5 - 12 capsules a day.
2) For the Potassium Gluconate it is said on the box: has a dietary supplement, take one level teaspoon (3,48g) daily.
This information seem contradictory. Any further information will be welcome.
It is indeed maybe wiser to abolished them and just continue eating bone broth.
Continuation
I was tired during a week or so, with difficulty getting up in the morning and obligation to make a nap (1 or 2 hours) in the late afternoon.
Yesterday morning I felt a notable difference and I didn't need to make siesta. I didn't celebrate the new year eve, but some phone calls held me awake til past 2 am.
This morning I got up at 10 am. I have only light pain in my calves.
I stopped almost every physical exercises twelve days ago (notably cycle that I practiced twice 15 or 30 kms a week). I am indeed going to take it back whitin 3 days or so.
Other problems during transition
I was constipated all first week long. I however didn't judge necessary to up my doses of vitamin C. I have itches / redness underneath hair pubic for 10 or 15 days. This as diminished since.
Benefit of regime
I can see a very notable reduction of back pain (especially the one at the low back, and cervical also.). They last from several years. I think that bicycling and later, perhaps, a session whith my etiopath, could regulate the problem.
Today, I seem to be on form (especially muscular part). I don't remenber have that feeling for at least a year. And I have a biggest motivation to do things.
Where am I with my reading
I have read LWB, TVM, TNAFANY, I am at the very beginning of Light Out, and my next reading will be PBPM and perhaps Rethinking thin (ongoing order).
And I have read till page 94 of this thread.
Today's Meals
from 11 am till 12 am (I finally ate almonds after a rather long pose):
Black radish (18 g)
Veal flank (70 g) cooked (over a gentle heat) in
Ghee (27 g)
Coconut oil - virgin and organic – (16 g)
Organic olive salted (14 g)
Cocoa (4,17 g about)
Almonds (8 g)
What according to my calculations must be:
Calories: 625
proteins: 20 g
lipids: 61 g
carbohydrates: 3 or 4 g
Then at 4:30 pm :
Black radish (17 g)
Wild salmon (90 g) reheat on
Ghee (33 g)
Coconut oil - virgin and organic – (14 g)
Organic olive salted (10 g)
Cocoa (4,17 g about)
Almonds (20 g)
total amount of the day, so far :
Calories: 1193
proteins: 46,79 g (including 6 g from the almond)
lipids: 113 g
carbohydrates: 6 or 7 g
Some more job to do and various questionings
Concerning the sources of proteins. I have ask to locale butchers. It seem that they feed cow with grass, alfalfa, hay, and finished it with grain. Similar for the sheep. And the calves and the lambs are fed principally with milk of their aforementioned parents. So, at the moment I eat beef, calf and lamb. I don't dare to attack the pork, who is in my opinion, at best, raise with grain, and undoubtedly not in the outside.
I also find it difficult to start with offal. I have to dig the question.
I make bone broth, ofen, prefer cow or calf's one.
I eat outdoor eggs almost every day.
And I try to pass from sardine in olive oil to fresh fish.
For omega 3. I plane to start with cod liver if I tolerate the taste.
Détoxication. I have in my possession some Alpha Lipoic Acid, some vitamin E (succinate), some CoQ10 and some N-Acetyl Cysteine. I haven't touch them yet. I don't know if it is the right moment to start with them.
I may have gone around the question.
Good night, forgiveness, thank you. And have fun.
Jérôme, age 34, FRANCE
