Paleo Life Style or Cave Man - life style nutrition plan, not a diet.

[SIG_Fiend]

Protein supplements are a necessity if lean muscle mass is your objective.

I'm gonna have to disagree with that. I don't personally believe it's a requirement. Protein powder can certainly help and can certainly make it easier, but there are plenty of ways to get it all from food. I typically eat 20-30oz of chicken per day, maybe a can of tuna, maybe a slice or two of cheese, occasionally a serving or two of Fage 0% greek yogurt (1 cup is 24g protein), and maybe one or two other things. I usually get 180-200g of protein all from food, and occasionally I'll have some whey if I haven't eaten much during the day and am low like 120-140g of protein.

 

[MPA1988]

I'm gonna have to disagree with that. I don't personally believe it's a requirement. Protein powder can certainly help and can certainly make it easier, but there are plenty of ways to get it all from food. I typically eat 20-30oz of chicken per day, maybe a can of tuna, maybe a slice or two of cheese, occasionally a serving or two of Fage 0% greek yogurt (1 cup is 24g protein), and maybe one or two other things. I usually get 180-200g of protein all from food, and occasionally I'll have some whey if I haven't eaten much during the day and am low like 120-140g of protein.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. However, most folks don't eat sufficient protein, so supplements work. If you are counting carb, fat, and protein, and eating sufficient quantities, then that's good. You can never get enough protein. Your body loves protein and it doesn't store protein, so what.your body doesn't consume it secretes.

 

[MPA1988]

Here are a few more thoughts. In addition to my earlier recommendation as to cardio-fitness using HIIT (high intensity interval training), resistance training for muscular strength and muscular endurance should be based on the following modalities - free weight and resistance bands. I suggest you stay away from weight machines, except for hydraulic machines which allow for training of power, where no joint deceleration occurs - squats for example. Why do I not like weight machines? They limit muscle group development.

In regard to resistance training, you can increase your workload (adding weight) or increase your repetitions (adding muscle contract frequency). Although muscle size will increase whether adding weight and/or increasing reps, if you want muscle size - focus on workload. If you want definition, primary focus is on reps.

Your resistance training should consist of isotonic and isometric perspectives. Isotonic is where muscle contractions focus on the entire ROM (bicep curls up and down), and isometric is where a single muscle is strengthen (wall squats being maintained at a submaximal or maximal level).

Lastly, flexibility of your joints, muscles, and tendons working together in harmony must be part of any exercise regimen. Not only emphazing flexibility will make you feel better and reduce the impact of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), but will prevent injury and add to your overall fitness program. Think of your body as a rubber band. Resistance training compacts the muscle, flexibilty exercises stretches the muscles. Therefore, I recommend the flexibility portion of an individual's exercise program include "ashtanga yoga", assuming a person's physical attributes do not include chronic lumbar, knee, or shoulder difficulties.

One more thought. As you age your metabolism slows so accelerating your metabolism through vitamin supplements that specialize in speeding up your metabolism, breaking up your meal times from 3 to 6-7 (smaller amounts), and drinking plenty of water - all of which will help reduce weight gain and keep us from acquiring the gruesome belly fat. I suggest the only fluids to consume are water, unsweetened ice tea, and organic coffee.

Free advice has come to an end.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

As you age your metabolism slows so accelerating your metabolism through vitamin supplements that specialize in speeding up your metabolism, breaking up your meal times from 3 to 6-7 (smaller amounts), and drinking plenty of water - all of which will help reduce weight gain and keep us from acquiring the gruesome belly fat.

Meal frequency and it's effects on metabolism are a myth:

The influence of higher protein inta... [Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010] - PubMed - NCBI
Chronobiological aspects of weight loss in ob... [Chronobiol Int. 1987] - PubMed - NCBI
Meal frequency and energy balance. [Br J Nutr. 1997] - PubMed - NCBI
Energy intake, meal frequency, and health: a n... [Annu Rev Nutr. 2005] - PubMed - NCBI (Actually suggest a lower meal frequency may be beneficial in reducing oxidative stress)
Increased meal frequency does not promote greater ... [Br J Nutr. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

 

[MPA1988]

Meal frequency and it's effects on metabolism are a myth

I agree it is arguably debatable within some clinical and fitness circles. I just represent the school of thought predominant in some circles within the ACSM that the older you get, your body becomes less efficient to break down food into nutrients from large servings, therefore necessitating smaller more frequents amounts.

We could "Google" and find sources for either position.

 

[Saltyag2010]

Meal frequency and it's effects on metabolism are a myth:

The influence of higher protein inta... [Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010] - PubMed - NCBI
Chronobiological aspects of weight loss in ob... [Chronobiol Int. 1987] - PubMed - NCBI
Meal frequency and energy balance. [Br J Nutr. 1997] - PubMed - NCBI
Energy intake, meal frequency, and health: a n... [Annu Rev Nutr. 2005] - PubMed - NCBI (Actually suggest a lower meal frequency may be beneficial in reducing oxidative stress)
Increased meal frequency does not promote greater ... [Br J Nutr. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

What about trying to keep insulin spikes down and regulating blood sugar? I always eat every 3-4 hours so my blood sugar doesn't get too low.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

What about trying to keep insulin spikes down and regulating blood sugar? I always eat every 3-4 hours so my blood sugar doesn't get too low.

According to at least one of those studies, IIRC, they were actually suggesting that more frequent smaller meals doesn't actually control blood sugar, and can apparently keep blood sugar higher, which was interesting.

A lot of the thinking and talk around eating more frequently, I think is sometimes misunderstood or not relayed properly and is kind of a matter of correlation is not causation. For example, if someone is a serious body builder, or maybe a serious power lifter, obviously calorie and macro requirements are going to be much higher than the average person or average person that doesn't exercise/lift at that level. If you are eating 4,000, 5,000, 6,000+ calories a day, I mean that can just be extremely hard to try and fit that in at 3 meals. 4, 5, 6, heck some even eat 7 or 8+ meals per day, and are effectively eating all day long, because it's just too tough for most people to cram that much food down all at once without feeling like hurling. But regardless of the number of meals, it's not the number that's doing it, that's just a matter of convenience and/or necessity.

My digestion is pretty slow honestly. For awhile, I tried eating 4-5 times per day. Naturally, I usually only want to eat about 2-3 times a day, maybe with one small snack occasionally. Eating 4-5 was a big hassle, for me, at least it made me feel like I had to think about food ALL day long and "timing" things just right. I found, for me at least, it actually exacerbated things as my digestion was too slow to deal with the constant flow of food every few hours.

 

[cjvibe]

I stayed paleo for about 6 months when i started crossfit and the results were amazing. However, meal planning takes a lot of work. Good luck to all who try it!