Lighten your pack, and your body

Doug – if keto is working for you I’ve no quarrel with that. We’re all different. But statistically speaking you are in a minority.

I find it interesting that people say most diets fail. Would it be better to say that most people fail when trying to keep to a diet?

Let’s face it, most Americans eat too much and exercise too little. Heck, our holidays have morphed into gluttonous affairs… Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas are all about food now. The 4th of July is centered around cookouts and how many “chef” programs are on TV these days?

And like most things in life, we over analyze and spend too much time talking food.

As a teenager I read a couple books by the same author about medicine and how to get and stay healthy, and I have followed his advice ever since. Most of the time, since then, I usually eat just one meal a day — dinner; although I usually have a couple cups of coffee and a banana or a single boiled egg in the morning. I do eat more often when we have company, but then go back to one meal a day. Back to those two books I read. The author, when discussing illness and medical treatment, had this to say about healthy people:
<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>”… may be clearly seen upon reverting to the consideration of persons in health. For, to some, with whom it agrees to take only one meal in the day, and they have arranged it so accordingly; whilst others, for the same reason, also take dinner, and they do it because they find it good for them, and not like those persons who, for pleasure or from casual circumstances, adopt one or the other custom: and to the bulk of mankind it is of little consequence which of these rules they observe, that is to say, whether they make it a practice to take one or two meals.”</p>
In another book, he wrote that,
<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>“eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise.”</p>
But today, instead of just one meal a day (or two max), most people eat three, and they exercise too little. It seems to me that if one intakes more calories than is burned, then you gain weight. I’ve never been overweight. Part of that might be “good” genes. One meal a day and enough exercise has worked well for me, which is much more important than genetic make up.

Oh, and the author whose advice I have followed all my adult life? Hippocrates, who lived around 400 BC.

Seems that nothing good is new.

Some interesting reading; but the very best “diet” to stay healthy and lean is simply moving

I don’t run/hike so I can eat a lot, but the fact is by hitting the trails 4-5 times a week (summer through winter) I don’t need to pay a lot of attention to “diet”.  I try and keep the crap out of what I’m eating and instead get lots of lean meats, veggies and fruits.  But I don’t cringe a bit eating pasta, cheese burgers (with fries piled high!), pizza and other food a lot people try and avoid.

Move and move a lot, and “diet” will naturally fall into place.

“I find it interesting that people say most diets fail. Would it be better to say that most people fail when trying to keep to a diet?”

It’s fair to say that most people are making sincere efforts to lose fat, yet most are failing and ending up with a higher set-point than they started with.

So the question is, are 95% of people simply weak and inadequate, or is it that the mainstream strategies simply don’t work very well?

I can’t see how a culture of blame is in any way constructive. Simply telling people to try harder doesn’t help anybody.

If there are strategies that are proven to work 10x better than the conventional approaches, maybe it’s the failing strategies we should be blaming and not the people?

People are weak Geoff

well said Geoff

maybe it would be useful to figure out why there is such a big increase in obesity

“People are weak”

Generic statements such as these demonstrate an inability to grasp the wide variability in human bodies and their bodies’ responses to food. This is especially true of massive carbohydrate intolerance (“insulin resistance”) in certain populations: for them it’s absolutely essential to avoid large amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars in their food. So saying just move doesn’t cut it – no amount of exercise or movement can overcome an overdose of sugars and carbohydrates for these populations with such metabolic disorders.

It unfortunately turns out that these people constitute a significant percentage of the human population.

OK correction, People are undisciplined, easily manipulated, and many have no idea how their body works or have any interest in finding out.

given that people are easily manipulated etc. do we just accept that corporations will manipulate us into eating sugar and becoming obese, let the free market be free, or do we use those manipulation techniques to get people to become more healthy?

“So saying just move doesn’t cut it – no amount of exercise or movement can overcome an overdose of sugars and carbohydrates for these populations with such metabolic disorders”

there is always an amount exercise that will cause the body to shed weight; in the end, it always boils down to calories in and calories burned

certainly lot of folks eat too much shit- no argument, but just as certainly a lot of folks don’t get enough exercise

Jerry I like your idea of constructive versus destructive manipulation techniques :) positive mind control… maybe Hiding backwards masked messages in the commercials that, in a creepy monotone voice, say things like “exercise daaaaily, eat heaaaalthier, drink waaaater not sooooda, love yourseeeelf…”

All kidding aside- Diet and exercise seem to go hand in hand ultimately. It’s easy for someone who is naturally thin to judge others weight issues but as mentioned above there really is so many variables in the physiology of each individual. My friend Hoss has lost almost 100 pounds by cutting out 20 beers a day and switching to a plant based diet, no exercise changes… My mother is tall and “big boned” she was quite overweight until her scary stroke (a walnut sized blood clot landed in the base of her brain stem), when she altered her SAD (standard American diet) as a result she has lost over 125 lbs… my brother hasn’t altered his diet really but started fat-biking 5 times a week and has shed over 75 lbs. my good friend Romeo has a thyroid issue which was triggered by anti depressants and he swelled like a raisin in water without changing a thing except the meds. it really is a case by case basis, what might work for me might not work for you as well or at all, however diet and exercise seem to be pretty universally accepted as a good place to start, not to mention a positive attitude. Acquiring the knowledge and mustering the gumption to start making major life changes are the first and likely hardest steps to take down that path… it can be extremely daunting, emotionally, psychologically and physically draining to take those steps if you’ve become obese.  Loving yourself despite your weight can be even harder in our culture which is obsessed with how one looks on one hand, and corporations spending billions of dollars manufacturing and advertising over processed food and drink on the other… the obesity rate really has skyrocketed in the past decades.

On a personal note my body type is like my dads, tall(ish) and slender. I don’t wish to proselytize diet choices but I will say I’ve been vegan and vegetarian for 19 years. I have a physically demanding career (I run my own construction business), I have a fast metabolism.  I chose my diet not to lose weight but because I don’t like eating animals. I have sustained 4 back injuries including whiplash, fractured Thoracic vertebrae, I have a compressed disc in my S1-L5 joint and fusIon of those vertebrae. In the past my back would “go-out”, debilitating to the point I can’t stand up for like 15 minutes. this would happen about 3-6 times a year. I also had to deal with an eye opening skin cancer diagnosis 4 years ago which fueled the engine of changing my exercise habits.  After four years of retraining my body I’m glad to say (knock on wood) my back hasn’t gone-out in over 2 years. And after 3 surgeries the cancer is yet to recur…  My weekly plan is this

3 days trail running – 2-6 miles depending on intensity or if I’ve added 40 lbs into my pack for increased resistance.

3 days strength training with free weights- total body , not bodybuilder type stuff.

3 days sit-ups and push-ups routine

Stretching daily -nothing fancy- even if only for 5-10 minutes.

i mix these up daily and combine a couple together in one day however I like.  What drives me most is my wife and son, to be there for them as long as possible…

Amen, brother! John McDougall and TC Campbell couldn’t have said it any better. I would add, explicitly: Stop eating animals and animal excretions. It’s bad for you; it’s bad for the animals and it’s bad for the planet.

but if you don’t eat animals you can’t have steak

Use the techniques used to reduce cigarette consumption to reduce sugar consumption.  Lots of public service ads.  Education of people like doctors to hound you into not eating so much sugar.  Warning message on packages.  Taxes.  Don’t allow ads for sugar products, like soda being about the most dangerous product.

One could argue sugar is worse than cigarettes, more people killed.  Moderate sugar usage is probably fine, like fruit is healthful and fruit has sugar in it.

The data I’ve seen shows that the more animals you eat, the shorter your lifetime.  Everything else being equal.  But I think sugar is much much worse.  Studies of diet and humans are very difficult though, uncertain.

“Studies of diet and humans are very difficult though, uncertain.”

isn’t that the truth- suffered eating margarine for close to 10 years and almost equally as bad, avoided eggs for almost the same length of time

“certainly lot of folks eat too much shit- no argument, but just as certainly a lot of folks don’t get enough exercise”

Amen to that, Mike.  A sane diet and at least moderate exercise, simple as that unless a person is afflicted with endocrine problems.

“but if you don’t eat animals you can’t have steak”

or bacon…

true that!

Why did’nt he carry it back down???? showmanship???

Why did’nt he carry it back down????
Nah, his competitor was still coming up underneath him … And the water was very cold.

Cheers

He could have increased his strength 2 fold ;)

Next time he’ll bring it back down with a smile one his face for a photo session :-)

Douglas thanks for referencing those people, I was unaware of them- they seem like interesting characters!

great ideas Jerry. You always see the Surgeon General’s warning label on tobacco products, I wonder why nobody has lobbied heavily to do the same with over processed sugary products (high fructose etc) and other high risk foods that have been linked to the development of a myriad of health conditions…

Now for my bad meat jokes- If the steaks and bacon are human you can get you’re meat fix AND reduce environmental pollutants with each meal!  Free range Vegans taste better… But, I was so late to the cannibal convention, they just gave me the “cold shoulder”

just an aside, my diet choice really is just a personal decision, I changed my diet overnight a little more than 19 years ago after a mind altering Experience fasting for 10 days straight in solitude, I haven’t looked back…  I knew Militant Vegans that would immediately and harshly judge others or jump down their throat if they ate meat, and sort of have like a “better than thou” attitude. Some I knew would occasionally do activist type stuff like free caged meat and fur animals, handcuff themselves to fur coat racks at Macy’s, destroy the property of major producers and their office buildings…  It  gave me the heebeejeebees, like a cult mentality or super close minded religious beliefs. That is an extremely rare facet of veganism though. Fact is, 97% of the people I love eat meat so I can’t really risk losing friends and family over it.  There Are more sustainable ways to grow and harvest animals. Even cutting back consumption to 3-4 servings a week instead of 3-4 servings a day.  Agricultural change is slow and the subsidies and favors tend to be given to the more AGRO-corporate producers with vested interests in the very chemicals and farming tactics that are so destructive… That’s why In my area even with 55,000 thousand acres of potatoes there are no major Organic Farmers of them, too expensive to operate… already have contracts with the cheap, embedded pesticide companies. It’s an uphill climb to the finish line…https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/aroostook-county-organic-potato-farmers-file-for-bankruptcy

David,

“Soylent Green Is People!!!”

Of the people, by the people, and for the people.  As American as apple pie.

Anti meat people are almost as annoying as ex smokers.

Just kidding, I can be a bit of both of those

“I wonder why nobody has lobbied heavily to do the same with over processed sugary products (high fructose etc) and other high risk foods that have been linked to the development of a myriad of health conditions…”

Short answer – the government has been purchased by big companies making huge profits.

But, the science isn’t quite there.  It’s not clear exactly what’s unhealthy and how unhealthy.  For example, fruit has sugar in it so is that unhealthy?

When they proposed having a sugar tax in New York city they were ridiculed as nannie state people.  There are a lot of people that are skeptical of the government regulating things.  There have been and are regulations that are ridiculous.  I think the corporations that have purchased our government have also used sophisticated marketing techniques to influence people’s beliefs in the idea that the government is the problem.

To start, they should quit subsidizing corn which leads to cheap HFCS.  But good luck with that, politically unpopular in some states.