Carb Nite® Solution & Paleo: How They Overlap
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This post is geared for those who’ve purchased Carb Nite Solution book and would like to integrate his/her paleo lifestyle while doing it. If you haven’t and would like to, please buy it from this link* to support my friend/trainer/coach Debby K as she is the one who introduced me to this lifestyle and coaching me for the past 4-5 months. I’ve got amazing results and can’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
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As some of you might know, long time readers, I started off my paleo/primal journey all the way back in 2011. Then after not too long being on primal bandwagon, I started my first Whole30® and another round (not super complete as my first round, more like weekly basis updates).
Not too long ago, I’ve discovered Carb Nite Solution, which was first introduced to me by Deborah Kaplan. I’ve been doing it for the past 4 months and I could say I totally enjoy it and it could be easily become my lifestyle.
I think it’s time for me to share my thoughts and experience being on Carb Nite® Solution (CNS) and still staying Paleo, in hope to give some enlightenment to all of you.
1. Dial in your sleeping pattern
This is a no brainer. Both CNS and Paleo advocate adequate quality sleep. Before you start making dramatic changes in your current lifestyle, having a good quality sleep between 8-10 hours a day is a MUST. Our body needs to get plenty of rest and regulate our cortisol level as we all know, uncontrolled cortisol level will make us storing belly fat. So get this under control before you do anything else!
2. Eat meat, eggs, healthy fats and green veggies during ULC (Ultra Low Carb) Days
As you might now, Paleo lifestyle focuses on minimally processed foods and meats, veggies and healthy fats fall into this category. During ULC days you could never go wrong following Paleo lifestyle. In fact, majority of your calories should come from fat and protein. Just like paleo, the fat should come from healthy fats such as MCT oil, coconut oil, well sourced animal fats and if you tolerate dairy, grass-fed butter. And you can’t get wrong with protein – chicken, fish, grass-fed beef, lamb etc. And don’t be afraid of fattier meat cuts!
3. Go easy on nuts, nut butter, cheese and plant fats.
Let’s face it. Nuts, nut butter and cheese are yummy and very easy to overeat. I admit, I could munch endlessly on nuts, nut butters and recently, I’ve developed some craving munching on cheese. As we know nuts in general are high in Omega-6 and in this modern world, we’ve consumed a lot more Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3. Omega 6 fats are pro-inflammatory and we don’t want that. I am not going into more depth regarding N-6/N-3 ratio as there are a lot more posts out there regarding this. They are great in a pinch as a quick snack to tide us over but shouldn’t be consumed on regular basis.
Now how about healthy plant fats such as olive oil and avocado?
Personally, they are fine but after reading DH Kiefer’s recent post on Dangerously Hardcore, I would rather not have them as the main source of my healthy fat during my ULC days. Treat them as condiments to your salad. Besides bacon and animal fats taste much yummier and I’d rather have fattier meat cuts, especially those from grass-fed ruminants!
4. Stay away from industrial seeds oils
STAY AWAY FROM THEM ALL THE TIME! Enough said. Nothing’s good out from them as they are all industrial processed oils and has pro-inflammatory Omega 6.
5. Eat safe starches for your Carb Nite treats
Carb Nite Solution book was written about 7 years ago and things have changed quite a bit. Just because you can eat carbs, it’s still a good idea to keep them clean. In general, stay away from all kinds of whole grains (white rice is the only exception) and stick with safe starches with high glycemic index: sweet potatoes, yams, tapioca, cassavas, and taro roots. I put chestnuts in the picture since it’s one of my most personal favorite carbs which is low in fat and makes it an ideal toppings for most of my CN treats.
CN treats idea: Sweet Potato Tapioca Puff Pastries (reference recipe here), Sweet Potato Rice Donuts (reference recipe here) (will post my modified recipes soon!), Rice Congee topped with chestnuts and kabocha squash, Baked Cassava slices, steamed rice cake, mochi.
My recommendation is to check out Asian sweet treats that uses rice or tapioca starch as the main ingredients, substitute the fructose based sweeteners (maple syrup, honey, sugar, fruit etc) with stevia and cut down the fat amount since we would like to keep it fairly low fat until the end.
And CN treats don’t always have to be sweets! I’ve made this stir-fried rice noodles with tomato sauce and 2 egg whites, seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder and bit of curry powder. You could totally go savory for CN treats as well.
6. Portion Control Still Matters In Some Ways
Another common misconception about eating whole foods is it’s a free food for all and this is basically not true. Portion control and calories still matter in some ways. Just because you can eat meats and fat, it doesn’t mean you can keep pounding them down like there’s no tomorrow. I don’t want to use the term “everything in moderation” because it can get lost in translations. One thing for sure, when you start feeding your body with the right thing, your hormone will start to regulate better and you will notice that you don’t have to keep thinking about food all the time.
7. It’s not one size fits all
Everyone’s body is different from another so each individual needs to find his/her own tweaks/adjustments of diet to find that sweet spot. You could always reference other people’s experience and give it a try but don’t expect to get the same result as that particular person. Especially on refeeding night aka Carb Nite, each individual needs to find out what’s his/her optimal total carbs intake in order to be enough but not way too much.
8. It’s NOT a diet
Both CNS and Paleo are more than just a diet. They are a lifestyle change. In fact, what is wrong by cutting out processed foods and eating mainly whole foods such as protein, fat and fiber?
Ok I think this will conclude this post and I hope you find this post informative. Stay tuned for the second part: Carb Nite Solution & Paleo: How They Are Different
*This is an affiliate link for Debby K. She earns a small commission if you purchase the book thru the link.
10 thoughts on “Carb Nite® Solution & Paleo: How They Overlap”
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Thank you for this post! I was wondering about what’s behind the CN concept. As you know, I’ve stopped eating Paleo because I couldn’t live with my ethical concerns anymore, and I also felt worse and worse with fat and protein as main source of calories – no satiation, low energy levels, nausea, trouble sleeping etc. Now I eat a ton of carbs from whole foods and that works very well for me. Sweet potatoes are some of my favorites, and also brown rice and gluten-free oats. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this 🙂 I’m a Paleo eater about to embark on Carb Nite so this was very useful. The recipes look delicious. I have a question – why avoid cheese unless you have dairy issues? From what I gather cheese is very low carb.
Hi, thanks for reading! I found out cheese induce my cravings so I rather stay away from it. Besides my trainer, Debby K mentioned how she read that cheese could inhibit fat loss progress as well.
thanks for sharing this! so what has the difference been for you in terms of body comp? fat reduction, weight loss or both?
I do see my body composition has changed . It’s more tight, especially around the lower belly area. I could actually see my oblique line even without flexing 🙂
Mainly body composition and fat loss. My weight actually isn’t quite different but my tight jeans feel more loose around the waist 🙂
Jos,
What an excellent post. Right on point. And thank you so much for the shout out and kind words. I’m so glad that you are happy and making such great progress. I enjoy working with you and it’s been tons of fun. You are a model client!! Keep up the great work.
Nina, as a fat loss coach and carb coach you must stay away from fructose, even on carb nite for the most part. If you do have it stick to the last couple hours of your carb nite, and don’t go over board on it. The best source of fructose, if you’re going to eat it, is in spotted over ripe bananas. Berries would be OK too. So honey, maple syrup are fructose so you have to watch how much you’re having. It’s best to go back to Kiefers videos and watch them and take notes. On the safe side, just try not to eat it. Fructose gets processed by the liver and impedes fat loss. The best source of sweeteners would be pure dextrose, maltodextrin(there are 2 kinds, you want the fast acting and you can get that in a sports store or order it online) or Rilose, which is made from rice. You can use these for cooking. Personally I would stay away from the honey in tea, and cooking with it. You may end up overloading with fructose.
Thank you, Deb! You are truly and expert, you have a clear and reasonable response for everything :)) I am baking some sweet potato muffins tomorrow and I think the sweetness of a sweet potato will be enough, so I won’t be adding any honey then and I will save it for christmas 😉
Thanks for sharing the knowledge! 🙂 I am currently on ULC day 8. Two days until my first CN. Just one question: you say “substitute the fructose based sweeteners (maple syrup, honey, sugar, fruit etc) with stevia,” does that mean that using honey on CN is a big NO-no? I hate stevia and I do not sweeten with anything else when baking, except honey, sometimes I like to put some honey in my tea. Can I do that on CN?
Can’t wait to see the second part!!! 🙂