Todd & Robert-- thanks for the replies.  So it seems like the 3
individuals doing serious exericse on this list are split 2:1 on the carb
issue, with Todd saying he needs to carb up for a serious weight-lifting
session and Robert saying he lost the urge to do so after he started
supplementation (and me saying that I need to carb-up too).  Thanks, Ray,
for your response also on meat/fat consumption.

Ray, if you check out the website on the recent conference in Virginia on
paleo nutrition (http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/icaes/index.html), you'll
find an interesting paper by O'Connell and Hawkes emphasizing the lack of
heavy meat-eating in modern H-G tribes even when game is nearby.  More
particularly, they say that "Despite its widespread acceptance, there are
good reasons to be skeptical about the underlying assumption [of heavy
meat-eating in many H-G tribes, as well as the reliance of women and
children on  men to literally bring home the bacon]. Most important is the
observation that big game hunting is actually a poor way to support a
family. Among the Tanzanian Hadza, for example, men armed with bows and
poisoned arrows operating in a game-rich habitat acquire large animal prey
only about once every thirty hunter-days, not nearly often enough to feed
their children effectively. They could do better as provisioners by taking
small game or plant foods, yet choose not to, which suggests that big game
hunting serves some other purpose unrelated to offspring survivorship
(Hawkes et al. 1991). Whatever it is, reliable support for children must
come from elsewhere."

Robert & Todd, I have been experimenting with supplementation to try
lessen my consumption of grain before a serious workout.  I can go
grainless when my exercise consists of walking, short runs, and light
lifting.  But when I do heavy lifting or a 10-mile run, nothing fuels my
muscles better than grains.  I am trying to avoid the expense and
seemingly unnaturalness of many of the supplements (like creatine; whey
and other powdered protein supplements) one sees in Muscle & Fitness and
other Weider-type publications, but here's what I have started:

* Branched Chain Amino Acids-- the January '98 issue of M & F notes that
BCAAs can be used as a fuel source by the working muscle during prolonged
exercise.  What essentially happens during this process is that BCAAs are
released from skeletal muscles, and the carbon skeletons of these aminos
are used as fuel while their ntrogen residues are used to form the amino
acid alanine.  Alanine is then shuttled to the liver and converted to
glucose, which is shuttled back to skeletal muscle to be used as fuel.
***about 1 gram before exercise; about 1 gram after exercise***

* L-glutamine-- which is supposedly the only compound other than glucose
that can fuel the brain; my idea is that it will even out my blood glucose
levels and keep my carb cravings down.  ***600 mg 2-3 times a day***

* Glucose Tolerance Factor chromium-- again, taken to stabilize blood
sugar and reduce my carb cravings  200 mcg 2-3 times a day

* A weak multivitamin/mineral pill + 100 mg. vit. C (w/bioflavinoids) + a
weak 1:1 calcium/magnesium supplement (the latter to replace my loss of
these minerals when I gave up dairy; I'm figuring H-Gs got their calcium
from the bones of their game, plus they may have needed less due to their
low in-take levels of mineral-binding phytic acid). ***2-3 times a day***

I find it interesting that Ward Nicholson, a serious exerciser and an
intelligent/well-read proponent of the caveman diet, says he cannot get
along without a significant amount of grain (1/4 of his diet)-- more
specifically, that he cannot find the wherewithal to do hard runs and
intense exercise without his muslces being grain-fueled.  Right now, I am
thinking about trying his compromise between a paleo diet and
muscle-glycogen-enhancing grains by using only nongluten grains such as
millet, quinoa, and rice.  I'm thinking about experimenting in the kitchen
with these 3 (I grind my own grain in an electric coffee grinder), and
coming up with a "bread" that I can eat a few slices of 2 or 3 times a
week (the evenings before the mornings of my most intense exercise
sessions).  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers!

Gregg C.
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