On Wed, 24 May 2000, Eric Armstrong wrote:

Eric, I *don't* get around the 4-message limit.  It just seems
that way sometimes.

Anyway, concerning my rebound weight gain on Neanderthin...

> Dang, man! That's serious...
> It sound's like the body's adaptive machinery at work.
> It just becomes 10 times more efficient so as to continue
> stockpiling what it thinks it needs in the way of reserves...

Yes, but the question is why my body thinks it needs to be at 30%
body fat, which is where I started and where I seem to be
returning. Of course, I may stabilize at my current BF of 22%.
In any case, it's clear that the Neanderthin diet does not reset
my BF "setpoint" to something more reasonable, like 12% or so.

> How is the exercise picture? And, most importantly, what has been
> going on with your lean body mass??

My LBM before dieting was about 180, but I dropped six pounds or
so while on the Zone.  Currently it is about 183 and has stayed
there for a few years.  I do strength training (high intensity)
to sustain it, but I haven't added any LBM in quite some time.

> Arthur DeVany, whose book
> Evolutionary Fitness will, I hope, be out soon, wrote that "lean
> body mass is the biologically active, real you". I've never heard
> that stated any better. He pointed out that lean body mass is the only
> measurement worth tracking.

I like DeVany's ideas, but I disagree with him on that.  My LBM
is in fact about the same as his, but at 22% BF I am moderatly
obese.  At 8% BF he is quite lean.  I think that's a difference
worth tracking.

> As long as it stays high, and the diet stays the same, then
> weight *should* be constant. If it doesn't, we're back to the
> "adaptive machinery" explanation, which bodes ill...

Right.  My LBM hasn't changed at all, but my BF has drifted
steadily upward.

Todd Moody
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