Matt Metzgar

SexSleepSunDance

I was reading a bit of research the other day about serotonin and diet.  Here's an interesting abstract on the subject:

"Current findings on the relationship between excessive appetite for carbohydrate-rich foods and mood disorders may explain repetitive weight gain or the inability to lose weight among some obese individuals. Obese individuals who crave carbohydrates, exhibit positive changes in mood after carbohydrate intake; individuals suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder experience a craving for carbohydrate-rich foods in association with their mood disturbances. Brain serotonin may be involved in these disorders of affect and appetite; thus therapies that mimic the effect of carbohydrate intake on the synthesis and release of this neurotransmitter may be useful in treating obesity arising from these causes."

People eat junk food for a reason - it gives a temporary high by boosting serotonin.  But this is sort of the "cheap" way to get serotonin.  The better way for the long-run is to boost serotonin by making lifestyle changes.  Four of the biggest lifestyle factors that affect serotonin are:

• Sex
• Getting sufficient sleep
• Getting regular sunlight
• Aerobic exercise, especially dance

Another way to get serotonin is through the use of antidepressants.  But like food, this type of "shortcut" can lead to problems.  Here's one quote (from this article) about how antidepressants affect sex drive:  "The more you bathe people in serotonin, the less they need to be sexual."

So here's what I think is happening: evolution set people up to "chase" serotonin via sex and dance.  (Sufficient sleep and sunlight came naturally during ancient times.)  Nowadays, people can get serotonin via cookies and such, with some getting it through antidepressants.  But these type of strategies do not bode well for the long-term.  Maybe the serotonin receptors get burned out or dulled this way.  And of course, there are the health issues that come with long-term consumption of refined carbohydrates.

In this framework, I can see dancing as a good tool for weight loss.  If a person is cutting down on sugar and refined carbs, then you want to replace that with something that boosts serotonin like dancing.  Dancing also burns calories but its biggest benefit may be in the seronin high it creates, replacing the artificial high a person can get from refined carbohydrates.

What's Normal?

I find that there is a stark contrast between those who are health-conscious versus those who aren't.  For example, somone was telling me the other day about a guy who just had a quadruple-bypass.  This guy had surgery and now he just got diagnosed with some other health problem.  The story was told to me as how this person "can't catch a break".

Let's see, a person is in bad enough condition that they need a quadruple bypass, and now it's a surprise that they have other health problems?  A lot of people seem to think it's normal to eat a poor diet, not exercise, and then roll the dice with surgery and drugs when things get bad as they age.  To me, this just seems strange.

I don't take any medications and nor do I plan on ever doing so.  I would only undergo surgery if my life depended on it, and I had exhausted all natural options.  In general, I have faith that if I live in accordance with nature to the best of my ability, that my body should continue to function well for a long time.

To me, this seems normal.  Maybe I am on the far end of the health-conscious spectrum, I don't know.  But I'd rather live correctly and maintain my health instead of turning it over to doctors and drugs.

Hooked

I'll say one thing for sure, and that is that lifting weights is a habit I will never lose.  I will never be the biggest guy in the gym, but I have been lifting consistently now for almost twenty years.  There is really a zero chance I will ever stop.

Clarence Bass has been a huge role model for me in this respect.  The guy is 70 and is still in phenomenal shape.  And I would bet my house that he will never stop lifting either.

In my mind, there's no reason to ever stop working out.  If you quit subjecting your body to stress, it will only decay more rapidly.  Many of the traditional conceptions about physical aging are false.  You can look at the generation of bodybuilders from the 1960s and find that many of them are still active and still in good shape.  Physical aging can be greatly slowed by the best medicine available: exercise.

College Days

The other day at the gym, I was doing some dumbbell presses.  While doing them, it occured to me that I was using the exact same weight on the exact same exercise as I did when I was 18 years old.  It's not like I'm lifting massive poundages or anything, but it was neat to realize there has at least not been a dropoff.  It also gave me a bit of deja vu of my lifting during my college days.

I lifted at a smaller gym during college.  In hindsight, I didn't really know what I was doing, but I did lift regularly and enjoy it.  I remember one person that I used to lift with often.  We would just go crazy on the squat, loading up weight and doing reps till we were ready to drop.  It was a lot of fun to just blast your body, especially since being younger you recover quicker.

I think you develop a different type of bond with a guy you lift with versus maybe a guy you work with.  Lifting reveals character to some degree.  If you're doing some heavy squats, no amount of talking or nonsense will get the lifts done.  It takes effort and determination, and as such it tells a little bit about what kind of person you are.  If you lift heavy with a friend, you develop a deeper comraderie because of this.

It was always a good end to the week when I would lift heavy with a friend and then go celebrate with some beers.  It is probably because this mimics an ancient hunt to some degree.  The men would go searching for game, expend some serious effort, and then kick back and celebrate.  Those were good times, and I will always remember them fondly.

Does Reading Lead To Change?

My last post got me thinking about a question, and that is, "does reading actually lead to a person making a change?"  I think of it in terms of weight loss, but it could applied to any area.

I wonder if much of the diet books that are being purchased are being purchased by the same people.  In other words, people keep reading and reading, but never really take any action.

I almost think there is some type of evolutionary module involved here, because the publishing industry is so huge.  There might be some sort of evolutionary predisposition to consuming information, whether or not that information can ever be applied.  Now with the internet and blogs, there is an unlimited amount of material that can be read.  But is all this reading getting anyone to change?

If someone wants to lose weight, the best way to do it in my opinion is a Paleo diet of fruits, vegetables, and meat.  Now I just said this in one sentence or I could write a 300-page book about it, but the basic advice does not change.  And I'm starting to think that more reading not only does not help, but may in fact be detrimental.  It may shift people more towards contemplation than action - essentially "trapping" people in an endless cycle of information consumption.

Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek

I read Tim Ferriss' book "The 4-Hour Workweek" last year and never got around to reviewing it.  The book's content is based on the idea of escaping the 9-to-5 and setting up an alternative lifestyle.  Ferriss himself set up some type of vitamin company, outsourced most of the functions, and then was able to make a decent income by working only a few hours a week.

The book has gained many followers and substantial media.  What I haven't found though, is a large number of people who have been able to duplicate Ferriss' success.  Let's think about it: what do you have to be good at to set up a successful internet company? Marketing.  What do you have to be good at in order to get a #1 best-seller and a high-ranked blog?  Marketing.  What's Tim Ferriss good at? Marketing.

But at least I think he is honest about things.  Heck, he even asked readers to nominate him as one of the web's best self-promoters.

Ferriss does provide a road map of how to escape the 9-to-5.  And like most things, if a person puts in the time and effort, they can get some results.  But so far, I haven't read too many success stories, given the huge sales numbers he pulled in.  I read his book last year, and I have not managed to escape the working life.

I think most of the benefits of the whole "4-Hour Workweek" idea flow to Ferriss, not to his readers.  Of course, some would say that this is being negative and that people should just try harder and they will be successful.  But not everyone can be great at marketing.  And not everyone is going to be able to make tons of money off the internet.

Overall, it was an entertaining book with some good ideas.  But show me some evidence that it actually works.  And this does not mean three case studies out of the millions of copies that were sold.  What he should do next is offer some type of "coaching" based on the book.  He could make a mint off of that.  But he's probably already figured out the next step, given his marketing skills.   

Fat Acceptance Challenge

This challenge is meant to be a friendly, helpful challenge though some may not perceive it to be that way.  I believe that many people who have bought into fat acceptance have done so because they chose the wrong methods for weight loss, got frustrated, quit trying, and then moved to acceptance.  I do not believe this would have happened if they would have chosen the proper method to lose weight.   

Diets (artificially restricting calories) do not work in the long run for weight loss.  A Paleolithic diet does.

My challenge is that any person, no matter what the conditon, can lose weight and keep it off with a Paleolithic diet.  A Paleo diet is simple in concept but not necessarily easy in terms of execution, given the modern environment that bombards people with poor food choices.  Nevertheless, if a person wants to lose weight, it is the most attractive option available.

If a fat acceptance person is happy and doesn't want to lose weight, good for them.  If they want to lose weight, please send them my way.

Some people will read this and still not believe me that it is possible to lose weight in a healthy manner.  To make things more interesting, I would even put up my own money in some type of escrow account as a wager if someone stubbornly believes that it is physiologically impossible for them to lose weight.

Try a Paleo diet: what have you got to lose?

Fat Acceptance II

I did a little more digging on fat acceptance, and I have become further disturbed by the trend.  Many followers refer to the Junkfood Science blog to justify things.  While the blog actually demonstrates critical thinking, many of the studies cited are for isolated events.  For example, if a person is involved in a physical trauma, then extra body fat may improve their survival rates.  All the blog does is show that fat is not bad in all cases, but it does not show that 1) being fat is better than being in-shape over the course of a lifetime, and 2) being overweight or obese is an incurable condition.

Here's a subject that I bet gets swept under the rug in terms of fat acceptance: sex.  Evolution is all about mating and reproduction, and evolution is really "pulling the strings" in most human behavior.  This study shows that those who are obese have a reduced sexual quality of life.   And numerous studies show that being overweight or obese reduces the chance of conceiving for both men and women.

This is bad news for anyone who is overweight, but the good news is that losing weight is possible.  Really.  And the people who waste their time writing about fat acceptance would be better off trying to help people who do want to lose weight.

 

A Pound of Vegetables

I read on another website where a person starts off each day with a pound of vegetables.  This seemed like a lot, but I thought I would give it a try.  So along with my usual breakfast the other day, I ate a pound of carrots afterwards.

First, it really didn't seem like that much to eat.  A pound of vegetables sounds scarier than it really is.  Second, I felt it helped even out my energy levels a little better than usual.

Third, this newer study (described in this press article) shows that vegetable but not fruit consumption significantly reduces the risk of diabetes.  Those with the highest consumption of vegetables had an almost 30 percent reduction in their risk of diabetes.  It pays to eat those veggies.

Undermuscled

I read this neat success story on Mark Sisson's site the other day.  It is about a gentleman who lost a good amount of fat by following Mark's advice.  After the weight loss, this person now weighs 140 lbs at a height of 6 feet tall.

This would seem to be a fairly light weight for his height.  This person is interested in losing a bit more fat, but Mark also directed him to work on building muscle.  And this gets at what I think is an undiagnosed problem in America: that many people are "undermuscled" regardless of whether they have high or low body fat.

For example, in the case of the success story this person probably did not lose much muscle as he lost the fat, since he kept active and lifted weights.  So really in his previous condition, he had two problems: excess fat and insufficient muscle.  He's mostly taken care of one problem but now he has to work on the other.

This is why I think a lot of "big guys" don't really have much muscle underneath, if they'd strip off the fat.  But I think a lot of men in particular like to stay big in this way because the size is comforting.  Unfortunately, a lot of this size is fat and inflammation.

This whole idea occured to me before when I read a story about Gregg Avedon, who is a cover model for Men's Fitness and other magazines.  In an interview, he remarked that his waist is 32 inches at a height of around 6 feet 1 inch.  But he weighs in at 205 lbs.  I myself have a 32-inch waist, and I'm roughly the same height (I'm 6 feet tall).  So what's the difference between Gregg Avedon and me?  His added muscle mass.  (I would think a person's skeleton also plays a role here - some people seem to have a larger skeleton.)

I do think some people have more muscle due to genetics or early exercise patterns.  But like anything else, there's always room to grow.