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Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

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Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#81

Post by emp_ »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #76
emp_ wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking about this, will give the Warrior diet a try (never did a diet, at 211 lbs 5'9") but mostly because I've been eating really little (fish+rice+lettuce salad) in the past 3 months without much effect. The idea of only eating a nice meal at night is great to me since I hate the food around work (from fast to fancy), and dislike bringing it everyday from home even tho I absolutely love the wife's cook…

Did you already lose your water weight? If not, drink 10 8-ounce glasses of water a day, and you'll lose 10-15 in less than a month. I don't know about this "one big meal a day" stuff. I used to do that as my normal diet in my early to mid 20s (not trying to lose weight) and it did not keep me in shape. I lost weight when I started eating more, normal sized meals (yogurt or granola for breakfast, sandwich and apple f…

Thanks Matthew, will pay more attention to the water.

Also, I'm in Brazil and our culture is to eat the big 1000+ calorie meal at lunch and very little in the morning or at night, I eat pretty much what you described but the rice/fish is for lunch and sandwich/apple for dinner, I do go a little off on weekends with the eventual pizza/pasta/barbecue (the Brazilian type, which I think is rather unique) in rational portions.

The one thing I have the most trouble is that I usually drink a can of soda everyday day (10 ounces I think?) and have been trying to move that to weekends only -- this is the thing I have been struggling the most, I don't drink/smoke so it probably counts as my only addiction.

And to everyone trying to hack their diet, internet hugs to them.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#82

Post by hessenwolf »

ebbv wrote: post #70
wrl wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are correct that sustained aerobic exercise burns more calories than an anaerobic activity such as weightlifting. The benefit of weightlifting in particular is that, by building more muscle, you are increasing your body's BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) because more muscles == more energy necessary to run them. This translates to your body burning more calories while at rest.

While this is true it also applies to cardio workouts as well. They also build muscle and increase your metabolism. It's a myth that this is an advantage of weight lifting over cardio. It really comes down to personal preference. Do the workout you're going to be able to keep doing.

Personal experience, I was running for miles for the last couple of years and still piling it on. Back to weights now 2 days per week and running one, and am burning it off surprisingly rapidly. Note, though, that I wouldn't be exactly beginner level when it comes to weights.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#83

Post by hessenwolf »

ebbv wrote: post #70
wrl wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are correct that sustained aerobic exercise burns more calories than an anaerobic activity such as weightlifting. The benefit of weightlifting in particular is that, by building more muscle, you are increasing your body's BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) because more muscles == more energy necessary to run them. This translates to your body burning more calories while at rest.

While this is true it also applies to cardio workouts as well. They also build muscle and increase your metabolism. It's a myth that this is an advantage of weight lifting over cardio. It really comes down to personal preference. Do the workout you're going to be able to keep doing.

Personal experience, I was running for miles for the last couple of years and still piling it on. Back to weights now 2 days per week and running one, and am burning it off surprisingly rapidly. Note, though, that I wouldn't be exactly beginner level when it comes to weights.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#84

Post by mahyarm »

tptacek wrote: post #61
mapleoin wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a huge benefit however, there are few other sources of Omega-3s in our daily diet.

It's 30mg/100g. That's an order of magnitude lower than most fish, two orders of magnitude less than the best fish, and about what you'd get from a turkey sandwich. Which is unsurprising, because mammals suck at making omega-3s, and plants are a bad source of healthful omega-3s. Let's not get too excited.

Skip organic, save your money, eat purified mercury free fish oil softgels? I have 3-5 1200mg pills of it a day.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#85

Post by mahyarm »

gizmo wrote: post #78
fingerprinter wrote: post #14

I'm going to jump right into the idea of fasting for 6 days and the unfortunate reality that most people in our field(s) don't. 1. know how to lose weight (really) 2. know how to eat 3. know how to workout Here, if you want to try fasting, which I do recommend, give this a shot. http://www.leangains.com/ or do the Warrior diet (one huge meal a day). A 16/8 fast is great. Heck, I sometimes even do an eat-stop-eat way…

This is exactly the kind of situation where a little advice can be dangerous. Going from a sedentary lifestyle to sprinting, deadlifts, kettlebell exercises or other intense activities is a recipe for disaster. I agree with most of your advice and the implicit part that carbohydrates are the enemy and fat/protein your friend. However, the part that's dangerously missing is that your body takes a lot longer to recover…

You ramp it up then, and go see a doctor first if your really bad/old. Instead of 150 kettlebell swings, you do 20 and add 10 every few days, etc.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#86

Post by rudiger »

Loic wrote: post #51
RexRollman wrote: post #44

Out of curiousity, what is the best way to end a multiple day fast? It would seem to me that eating too much at once or eating the wrong thing would make someone feel sick.

Start simply with water boiled potatoes, then carrots, then slowly things like bread. My parents are doing a one week fast every year and this is what they do. It takes time to go back to normal food as the bacteria in your intestine need to grow again. The first time you do a one week fast, do it with people who are used to do it. In Europe you can find a lot of associations/clubs/whatever offering a one week semina…

What if you don't wish to introduce carbohydrates into your diet (à la Paleolithic diet)?

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#87

Post by euccastro »

tptacek wrote: post #49
einhverfr wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fats are shown to be qualitatively different in animals which are afforded range space and fed their natural feed than which are fed in CAFO's.

Uh huh. In what way meaningful to human health is the fat from conventional beef better for you than the fat from "organic" beef? The fat in local protein is way, way better than factory-farmed meat. By which I mean, it tastes much better. The fat from the pork chop of a responsibly raised pig tastes like bacon; the fat from a supermarket pork chop tastes like melting plastic. Buy local/humane protein. Just do it for…

Fat is where many toxins accumulate. If the animal you eat has been fed with pesticide-ridden, fattening-rather-than-nutritious crap and pumped up with hormones and antibiotics, I bet its fat is not as good for you.

As an heuristic, taste is supposed to be a measure of nutritional quality. Sure it can be cheated, but when something natural tastes better than something adulterated, I'm pretty confident you can rely on that hint.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#88

Post by mahyarm »

sambeau wrote: post #23

I tried giving up eating for a week and it was a fascinating experience: if you are curious, try it. It won't kill you and it probably won't harm you unless you are already ill. It gives you an interesting insight into ancient man and how well our bodies are made to cope with hunger and starvation. The first day-and-a-half was the hardest I felt really hungry. Then suddenly the hunger stopped and I felt great: really…

The problem I have with fasting or reducing calories below maintenance is that I have a really hard time focusing mentally on anything. I'm reduced to TV watching. I can't program, study or do any other sort of mental work with any sort of effectiveness. Any suggestions on dealing with this?

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#89

Post by ebbv »

rmgraham wrote: post #79
ebbv wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a shock that a body building website would say that. I can't believe it. Let me ask Microsoft if I should use Linux for my servers or not, hold on BRB. The reality is that an hour of cardio is going to burn many, many more calories than 15 minutes of lifting. Now, if you hate cardio and can't stand to do it for an hour, but you love lifting, then obviously you're better off lifting. But if you can learn to enjoy…

Both are better than doing nothing. It's generally much easier to find time for 15 minutes of X than 60 minutes of Y. In HN terms, you are arguing about which type of balanced tree is better but are ignoring the fact the data is only 100 items long and you're much better off just pushing out your MVP than agonizing over the inefficiency of one over the other.

You are right that either is better than nothing. But the bad advice that "lifting is the way to go, cardio doesn't work" is very common and it needs to be corrected.

Re: Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less

#90

Post by r00fus »

mahyarm wrote: post #84
tptacek wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's 30mg/100g. That's an order of magnitude lower than most fish, two orders of magnitude less than the best fish, and about what you'd get from a turkey sandwich. Which is unsurprising, because mammals suck at making omega-3s, and plants are a bad source of healthful omega-3s. Let's not get too excited.

Skip organic, save your money, eat purified mercury free fish oil softgels? I have 3-5 1200mg pills of it a day.

You're probably better off getting the theraputic grade stuff... my dad with Parkinsons has this drop shipped: https://omega-cure.com/

If you have a freezer, you store a 2 month supply for less than 2 months of softgels.

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