Ashley Moran wrote:

> Todd,
>
> I can well believe that the grazers lost more weight than the gorgers-
> based on the idea that if the body believes food is abundant it will
> minimize food stores.  But this only applies to overweight people; just
> because eating frequently corrects a fault in the body doesn't make it
> applicable to healthy people.  I see grazing here like a medicine- you
> don't take aspirin unless you've got a headache  because it's not worth
> suffering the side-effects for no reason.


That's a good point.  Although a lowcarb paleo diet keeps my weight down
to what I regard as an "acceptable level" -- about 220 lbs. (okay, 14
stone, 10), and I'm 6'1" tall -- I'd still be considered overweight
according to any table I've ever seen.  I'm probably not as overweight
as the tables say, since I've done strength training for quite a while
and probably carry more muscle than a lot of men my age (51), but my
body fat is still at 18-19%.  Here's a photo taken about a year ago,
without too much clothing, and you can see what I mean
(http://www.sju.edu/~tmoody/largo.jpg).  I'm the one standing, by the
way!  That's my dad in the beach chair, not too long before he died.
The tendency to hold body fat like that, even on a healthy diet, is
another sign of insulin resistance, and my ultimate objective is to deal
with that.  So the real question is whether eating once a day or grazing
is the better "medicine."

> What is Hofmekler's "allowed nibbling"?  This must be something you all
> discussed before I joined the group.


We've discussed his "warrior diet" on and off.  His approach is by no
means strictly paleo, but he has some interesting ideas.  He allows some
"nibbling" of small amounts of nuts or seeds or veggies during the day.

> I have found a similar thing.  When I get home from work, my first
> instinct is to eat.  Sometimes I start eating and then realise I wasn't
> really that hungry.  But what *really* makes me struggle on once-a-day
> eating is exercise.  If I do any training, I find I can't concentrate
> on what I'm doing because I'm too hungry.  Maybe it's a further stage
> of will-power, but for now I will eat in the day when I'm physically
> active.


Given that you're doing martial arts training, this isn't surprising.  I
don't remember what style you train in, but when I used to train in
Shotokan karate, the training sessions typically left me feeling utterly
limp, and that's having eaten earlier in the day.  That kind of training
has many bursts of anaerobic exertion, and it sucks the glycogen right
out of the tissues, I think.  It was quite common to do so many kicks,
blocks, and punches that I'd experience the telltale lactic acid "burn,"
after which my arms and legs would seemingly turn to rubber.  I never
tried the one meal a day approach while training.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]