Hello EVer's,
My name is Carl and I've been on a paleo diet for three weeks now and I've
been a weightlifter for most of my adult life and I'm 51 yrs old.
So far my workouts are still headed north and I'm wearing a pair of pants I
didn't fit in 3 weeks ago. I'm also starting more outdoor activities now
that the weather is nicer. Cheers, Carl

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>Subject: EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS Digest - 27 Apr 2001 to 28 Apr 2001
>(#2001-57)
>Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 16:00:20 -0500
>
>There is one message totalling 93 lines in this issue.
>
>Topics of the day:
>
>   1. Genetically endowed - in body or in mind?
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date:    Fri, 27 Apr 2001 18:37:33 -0500
>From:    K M Ma <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Genetically endowed - in body or in mind?
>
>I was writing an email making similar points when yours arrived in the
>inbox.
>
>I think there is a tendency to idealize the achievement of other people and
>assign the difference between them and ourselves to something that we can't
>control, eg luck, genetics, etc.  The greater you idealize and overlook the
>method of accomplishment, the more likely you are to think it is luck or
>genetics.
>
>In regards to D. Tweed's post, if you look carefully at Art's previous
>posts on his athleticism, he's mentioned only once how well he finished in
>a competition:
>
>"I take up a new sport now and then or go back to an old one.  I =
>just did my first Grand Prix motorcycle race in years this =
>weekend; it's a combination of motocross, desert, and pavement =
>racing.  I'm still stiff today, but I had a great time.  Didn't =
>win, even though I bet I was the most fit in the over 60 class.  =
>Adaptation is highly specific and the few guys who finished ahead =
>of me do it every weekend.  It is a skill and fitness sport and my =
>skills are rusty and my fitness too general."
>
>In fact, it's the only time he's mentioned competition.  I don't get the
>impression that Art can compete well against any one in any sport of any
>age.  He does say that he can participate (paraphrased) comfortably in
>whatever he chooses to take up.
>
>So if I were to ask you (D. Tweed) to be more specific about what makes Art
>an outlier, what would you say?
>
>To bring in Keith's email, I would say that following a rigorous physical
>regime for 50 years, whatever the program, is a hallmark of an outlier.
>
>And perhaps the genetics is in having the drive and disclipine to keep up
>the program and the mental makeup that allows him to devise one that is
>unique, substantive, and perhaps the ability to resist the cravings of
>unhealthy foods.
>
>I have friends who are addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, or sweets, and I
>count my ability to resist them as a blessing.  I am sure that neurological
>differences at some level that account for this.  I don't know how I earned
>mental gifts, or faults for that matter.
>
>This kind of reminds me of those esoteric debates about free will or the
>inevitability of Microsoft's dominance in the view of Brian Arthur's path
>dependence theory.
>
>I doubt Art found Evolutionary Fitness as we know it overnight.  It seems
>to be a body of thinking that he has evolved over time given his personal
>interests, values, experience and feedback. The returns from following the
>program, and the costs of deviating from it, is a calculus unique to him.
>How many hours has Art spent studying disease and longevity?  How long
>would it take for us to accumulate the same knowledge or the same
>background to interpret it?
>
>I am sympathetic to D. Tweed, who follows "75%" of EvFit and wonders about
>the cost of deviating because following it completely is a hassle.  Right
>now, I'm 32, 147 lbs, 12% fat.  I'm relatively healthy by appearance.  For
>the first six months, I lifted regularly and watched very carefully what I
>ate, virtually eliminating modern high glycemic carbs from the diet.  Now,
>I've altered my lifting and have added things like rice and bread back into
>the diet because now with the warmer months, I'm dining out with friends
>more, which makes it very hard to eat EvFit and be sated at the same time.
>
>That's a trade-off that I knowingly make even though I don't know precisely
>the cost.  There's a ton of research out there that I could do without
>waiting for Art's book, but I implicitly choose not to by electing to spend
>my free time in other ways.  The uncertainy in the cost is intrinsic to my
>decision to be ignorant or lazy in this area.
>
>I do wish that we could have better access to our metabolic state, like
>blood chemistry.  Perhaps, within a reasonable amount of time, technology
>will enable this.
>
>Right now, my immediate goal is to see a significant increase in lean body
>mass.  Part of that motivation is sheer impatience, part of it is wanting
>feedback to know whether my workout program is indeed efficacious.  What I
>am learning from Art, and the other great thinkers like Warren Buffet, is
>the importance of being consistent and patient over the long term.
>Sometimes we want to achieve something so quickly that we risk harming
>ourselves and achieving nothing in the short term--or the long term.
>
>D. Tweed, and anybody else, what are you doing and how does it affect you
>or make you feel?
>
>Ming
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS Digest - 27 Apr 2001 to 28 Apr 2001 (#2001-57)
>**************************************************************************

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