Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less • Hacker News Board

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

#121

Post by einhverfr » Tue, Dec 06, 2011, 11:20 PM UTC

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…

"Uh huh. In what way meaningful to human health is the fat from conventional beef better for you than the fat from "organic" beef?'

It's the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids that's different. Grass-fed beef is well documented to have a higher Omega 3:6 ratio than grain-fed beef.

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

#122

Post by fingerprinter » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 3:18 AM UTC

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.

to be clear, traditional cardio activities DO NOT build muscle. In fact, they do the exact opposite.

I didn't say exercises, I said activities. Sprinting will actually build muscle, jogging 20 miles will not. It is a difference in how your body adapts to the stimulus.

So, with that in mind, no, cardio typically is not a good choice for people with what 80% of people are hoping to achieve. Put plainly, the time/reward tradeoff is just too low. Sprint, bike sprint, row, swimming, they are all better than the elliptical, typical running and the like.

http://www.drkehres.com/2009/06/sprinters-versus-marathon-ru...

If you are a world class marathoner and are running 6 minute miles for a marathon, you will probably have some muscle and look pretty lean. That being said, 99% of the world is not this and are basically working out for hours with very, very little benefit to the time. However, even a recreational sprinter is going to see huge benefits from sprinting in both muscle building and fat reduction.

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

#123

Post by sambeau » Wed, Dec 07, 2011, 1:11 PM UTC

mahyarm wrote: post #88

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?

Did you keep exercising? I found that the combination of fasting & exercise meant I was alert and reasonably focused

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

#124

Post by hessenwolf » Thu, Dec 08, 2011, 4:35 PM UTC

ebbv wrote: post #92

hessenwolf wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't know what your pace was or whether "for miles" means 2 miles or 10. But there are plenty of apps for iOS and Android that will tell you how many calories you burned on your runs, and if it was multiple miles and you were maintaining a decent pace, you probably burned many more calories on those runs than you do lifting. The likely reasons you kept gaining weight while running, pick one or multiple: - Not runn…

I lost a lot of muscle mass, and I just wasn't running 'enough' to be burning all the fat off. I think the main problem was the muscle mass, which eats food even when I am sitting on the couch.