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

jdbentley.com

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

#111

Post by tptacek »

dextorious wrote: post #109
tptacek wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chickens are omnivores, not ruminants like cows. They'll eat grass but can't subsist on it. There's no such thing as "grass-fed chicken"; people who say "grass-fed", when they know what they're talking about, mean cows. Small farms do not flood their livestock with antibiotics to increase yield. It's a bit of a straw man to suggest that people are saying antibiotics should never be used on animals; it's their routini…

"""Chickens are omnivores, not ruminants like cows. They'll eat grass but can't subsist on it. There's no such thing as "grass-fed chicken"; people who say "grass-fed", when they know what they're talking about, mean cows.""" Well, re: wording, no native english speaker. With "grass fed" I mean naturally fed, not necessarily grass or solely grass. In my chicken hen I used wheet, corn, wild grass, and something that I…

The translation you're probably looking for is "millet". :)

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

#112

Post by jscn »

wavephorm wrote: post #37
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…

every meal has protein Contrary to popular belief, meat doesn't need to be eaten with every meal. The idea that humans require huge amounts of protein is a popular day myth. Vegetables do contain protein, even an average potato has 3g protein. Almost universally, everyone who is overweight eats entirely too much meat and dairy.

On the other hand, protein and fat increase satiety better than carbohydrates, so if you want to feel fuller on fewer calories, protein is a good bet.

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

#113

Post by tremendo »

tptacek wrote: post #52
troystribling wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is an article summarizing research on the nutrition benefits of grass feed vs. grain feed beef http://www.bulletproofexec.com/grass-fed-meat-part-1/

Omega-3's? That's the whole benefit?

Not having read the article provided, grass-fed beef has a much better fatty-acid profile, and that does not necessarily mean "more O-3!" but rather more likely, a lot less Omega-6, so the O-6 to O-3 ratio is closer to 2:1 which is what we're (theoretically) better adapted to, rather than the ratio in grain-fed beef, which can be as high as 14:1. Both types are "essential" as far as we need to consume them, but they way our diet has been distorted of late, with seed-oils and the "war" on saturated fats, the amount of O-6 we as a population get of late is way out of proportion. In general PUFA are easier to oxidize and possibly result in long-term degradation of health. Or you could (over)simplify and just say, hey, I need to eat what I'm better adapted to, and I would similarly insist that my food (the cow) also ate what it's supposed to eat, and they are supposed to eat grass, not grains.

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

#114

Post by wavephorm »

jscn wrote: post #112
wavephorm wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

every meal has protein Contrary to popular belief, meat doesn't need to be eaten with every meal. The idea that humans require huge amounts of protein is a popular day myth. Vegetables do contain protein, even an average potato has 3g protein. Almost universally, everyone who is overweight eats entirely too much meat and dairy.

On the other hand, protein and fat increase satiety better than carbohydrates, so if you want to feel fuller on fewer calories, protein is a good bet.

Not exactly. Meat isn't the only thing that causes satiation. A full stomach causes satiation too. Vegetables, especially green, leafy ones with lots of fiber and water them will fill your stomach faster than a fatty piece of meat. The carbohydrates in green beans and lettuce for example are largely fiber which doesn't even get absorbed by your body.

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

#115

Post by tptacek »

tremendo wrote: post #113
tptacek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Omega-3's? That's the whole benefit?

Not having read the article provided, grass-fed beef has a much better fatty-acid profile, and that does not necessarily mean "more O-3!" but rather more likely, a lot less Omega-6, so the O-6 to O-3 ratio is closer to 2:1 which is what we're (theoretically) better adapted to, rather than the ratio in grain-fed beef, which can be as high as 14:1. Both types are "essential" as far as we need to consume them, but they…

You're kind of restating the premise of the comment that cited the research paper.

In what appears to have been a carefully run study, under the best circumstances, grass-fed beef provides a tiny fraction of the fatty acid benefits of fish.

In other words: even if grass-fed beef has a better fatty acid profile, "better than corn-fed beef" still doesn't mean "good source of healthful fatty acids"; both grass-fed and corn-fed are poor sources. If you believe you need a better fatty acid profile in your diet, take fish oil tablets or eat fish.

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

#116

Post by wrl »

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.

True also, but you won't build muscle anywhere near as quickly because you need a caloric surplus to fuel the recovery from exercise (recovery in this context means "build muscle").

The body is a complex machine, and "calories in, calories out" is an over-simplified way of looking at energy usage and storage. I hope you didn't write off the T-Nation article just because it's a bodybuilding/musclehead website. There are actually some very good tidbits on why things that don't burn tons of calories themselves end up having a significant effect on weight loss. Of particular interest may be the effects that HIIT regimens have on EPOC.

For context, I have done both steady-state cardio and HIIT before and saw good results from both, even though I have always been of slight stature. Currently, I do Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" barbell program, and, despite eating absurd amounts of food to fuel the increases in strength I'm making (generally eating at a 700-1000 calorie surplus), I have gained very little fat. It's like the T-Nation article says: the most effective weapon against fat loss is correct nutrition.

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

#117

Post by baddspellar »

jdbentley wrote: post #103
baddspellar wrote: post #73

Radical, one-time, short-term actions like this aren't lifestyle changes. They're not sustainable, so they don't work in the long term. If the author said he made sustainable lifestyle changes I'd have some reason to believe he's won his weight battle. If he said he's been getting up an hour early each morning for the past 3 months to walk, or has been learning how to prepare tasty low-calorie meals and has kept that…

I felt that the post concluded better at the end of the fast rather than dragging it on, but since breaking the fast I've continued walking daily, I lift weights 3 day a week, I'm eating far more fruits and vegetables (especially apples) and I'm getting about 100g-150g of lean protein per day (from chicken, turkey, occasionally beef, and protein shakes). My water habit from the fast has carried over into everyday lif…

Now that's what we're talking about! Good job.

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

#118

Post by guga31bb »

rudiger wrote: post #86
Loic wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)?

There's nothing about eating paleo that forbids carbs. For example, many eating paleo eat large amounts of sweet potatoes

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

#119

Post by tremendo »

tptacek wrote: post #115
tremendo wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having read the article provided, grass-fed beef has a much better fatty-acid profile, and that does not necessarily mean "more O-3!" but rather more likely, a lot less Omega-6, so the O-6 to O-3 ratio is closer to 2:1 which is what we're (theoretically) better adapted to, rather than the ratio in grain-fed beef, which can be as high as 14:1. Both types are "essential" as far as we need to consume them, but they…

You're kind of restating the premise of the comment that cited the research paper. In what appears to have been a carefully run study, under the best circumstances, grass-fed beef provides a tiny fraction of the fatty acid benefits of fish. In other words: even if grass-fed beef has a better fatty acid profile, "better than corn-fed beef" still doesn't mean "good source of healthful fatty acids"; both grass-fed and c…

I see you've left a multitude of comments in this post going on around the same, yet it seems to my the angle you've taken is that you need more omega 3s, and not for example that, compared to grain-fed beef, if you are going to eat beef, it's qualitatively better, and to me it seems more important that this way you'll get a lot less omega 6 fatty acids, thus eating food with a better fatty acid profile. To supplement O-3 for the purpose of fixing or improving _your_ fatty acid profile (vs. that of the food) well, sure, but it's orthogonal to the quality of grass vs. grain-fed beef. (Edited last sentence)

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

#120

Post by euccastro »

tptacek wrote: post #94
euccastro wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Two reasons why this comment might get downvoted (it was light grey when I saw it): (1) Supplies your intuition about whether organic food is healthier than conventional but no facts to back that up. The world is usually counterintuitive. (2) Suggests with a straight face that palatability is a good proxy for healthfulness, a measure that suggests health food stores should stock up on Doritos.

(1) having no facts to back the opposite assertion either, I'll take intuition as an heuristic.

(2) I explicitly noted the caveat that taste may be cheated. Now, taste was developed by evolution, and is cheated by the food industry, not (normally) nature. So I wouldn't trust taste of Doritos (artificial) over natural foods, but if I actually like vegetable soup better, I'm not going to look up what's the latest trend on nutrition to assume my choice is healthier.

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