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A year without food (2012)

abc.net.au

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Re: A year without food (2012)

#91

Post by Expez »

vacri wrote: post #47
darrickwiebe wrote: post #13

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo... After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tri…

If you eat a lot and then go on a diet, remember that for the first little while a part of your weight loss is simply a reduction of gut content. If you go back to your old dietary volume, part of the weight you regain is simply the gut 'filling up' again. Of course, it also depends on the kind of foods you eat and how slowly they move through the gut, but it's just something to keep in mind when considering weight c…

Another effect leading to weight fluctuations upon starting / ending a diet is the body's usage of glycogen stores as an energy source. For every gram of carbs the body stores as glycogen it stores around 4g of water along with it. Thus, when you burn through all the glycogen in your liver and muscles you will lose a lot of water weight, several kilos in fact. This weight will also be regained when you start eating normally again.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#92

Post by gabemart »

darrickwiebe wrote: post #13

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo... After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tri…

>Food was actually not a significant temptation during the fast and I found the discipline aspect to be much easier than the couple of standard diets I've ever tried.

I have experienced a similar reaction. I speculate it's because the cognitive overhead of "no food" is fairly low, whereas the cognitive overhead of constantly evaluating the quality and quantity of food against your diet plan is extremely high.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#93

Post by darrickwiebe »

gabemart wrote: post #92
darrickwiebe wrote: post #13

Harpers Magazine published a much better written article that discusses this same Scotsman along with an American who achieved some slight fame for his fasting around the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the author writes about his own fairly significant fasts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Starving-Your-Way-to-Vigo... After reading that article and doing a little bit of further research online, I tri…

>Food was actually not a significant temptation during the fast and I found the discipline aspect to be much easier than the couple of standard diets I've ever tried. I have experienced a similar reaction. I speculate it's because the cognitive overhead of "no food" is fairly low, whereas the cognitive overhead of constantly evaluating the quality and quantity of food against your diet plan is extremely high.

I came to the same conclusion. I think fasting is a good example of a weight loss approach that optimizes for low ego depletion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion

Re: A year without food (2012)

#94

Post by gems »

alphaoverlord wrote: post #3

There are significant risks to such an experiment, and it's a shame that there isn't any record of what happened to him after the fact or his long term health. There is a significant body of literature suggests that in addition to risks during starvation, there is significant harm and danger in trying to eat again [1]. The GI tract atrophies (much like when we don't use a muscle or a limb for a long time with a neuro…

Rapid weight loss is known to cause gallstones. That's what happened to me and it was awful! It's not a minor issue. It can interrupt your day, cause you pain, and prevent you from working or sleeping for more than 10 hours if you don't eat the right foods.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#95

Post by beagle3 »

andor wrote: post #89
coldtea wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10h? That's not hunger, that's regular appetite. Not having eaten for 2-3 days would be hunger.

Actually he described it quite well. Appetite is psychological, whereas hunger is a physical sensation of pain. I'm replying to your post because I get hungry even quicker. I had lunch (rump steak, potatoes) at 1pm and now at 4:30, I'm hungry again. My BMI Is 21, with rather low body fat.

Still, that's appetite, not hunger.

Even with a BMI of 21, you can probably fast for 20-40 days with no irreversible damage, and that feeling you call "hunger" will not be there after the 2nd day.

You do not know what hunger is until you've felt it. I thought I knew what hunger was, until I fasted for 25 days. Then, I actually discovered what hunger is.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#96

Post by beagle3 »

a8da6b0c91d wrote: post #34
smoyer wrote: post #4

I fasted entirely for lent one year (40 days) and after the first week, the hardest part was indeed that I was missing the social aspect of eating meals with friends and family. I took vitamins, and drank more water than I normally would but was quite happy. I should also mention that I stopped running so hard during this period and took a multivitamin each day. I've fasted for shorter durations and it's amazing how…

The hardest part was social?! Really?! I've done a couple five day fasts and the hardest part is that after day three you have an effective IQ of 65. Your body shuts your brain down and you can't think clearly. I wonder if this has an under-explored psycho-therapeutic value, actually. When you can't mentally ruminate at all anxieties definitely dissipate. I'd recommend fasting as a way to clear one's head for sure. Y…

You have to have reasonable stores of vitamins & minerals (iodine, b12, niacin, iron) before starting if you want your cognitive ability to remain in top shape.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#97

Post by beagle3 »

anonymous wrote: post #88
js2 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will apparently also go the other direction, speeding up to consume excess calories in order to maintain your "normal" weight - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHQshbJATVQ - skip to about 49 minutes. One of the guys in this experiment, where they doubled their caloric intake for about 6 weeks, had his metabolic rate go up 30% to compensate.

> Once you make fat cells, they never ever go away. Well, that's pretty depressing. Maybe the next big thing in combating obesity would be finding some mechanism to get rid of extra fat cells?

Seems like you can make them look for fat and burn it. Google "brown fat". It seems that cold exposure activates this mechanism.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#98

Post by smoyer »

dorfsmay wrote: post #84
smoyer wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't claiming it was the same for everyone ... and as I mentioned, I actually felt sharper.

> I actually felt sharper I do IF (Intermittent Fasting, 24 to 36 hours with water only once a week), and have found that too, but I have also found that as soon as I start eating again, I get quickly tired and warm (like I started a fire inside my body).

I don't eat carbs when I start eating again for the same reason. Try eating per the Atkin's diet for a few days and gradually add carbs back in. As an aside, I've used the Atkin's diet to lower my cholesterol and the "keto-strips" indicate a light ketosis after 3 days or so.

Re: A year without food (2012)

#99

Post by Aron »

In theory your red blood cells continue to get recycle correct? I always thought a sizeable amount of your feces was from this. Yet, he pooped every 40-50 days? Wonder what that looked like.
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