On Jun 23, 2004, at 9:02 pm, City Monkey wrote:
> Okay so the common theme I'm seeing is to trust your instincts, and
> that you
> all don't eat a very high calorie diet and yet you aren't underweight
> and
> have energy.

When you think about it, the very fact that you describe it as a "high
calorie" diet suggests something unusual about it, otherwise it would
just be a "diet".  The answer, it seems, is that we need far less
energy that They tell us.

> I've read if you're eating a low-cal diet then your body will
> have to limit certain functions to try and make up for it like
> lowering your
> immune system. But who knows.

Calorie-restriction has been shown to extend the life-span of mammals
considerably.  But since the natural diet of any mammal is probably
"low-calorie" (ie very little excess, when averaged out), perhaps a
better way to see it is that your metabolism speeds up to process
excess food, rather than slows down to cope with very little.  Your
body is adept at shifting energy between different parts as necessary-
when you are ill, it makes you tired so you conserve energy and
controls your appetite so you eat the right things at the right time.
Where, if you remember, did you read this claim about a low-cal diet?
Perhaps it was referring to a very low calorie diet (starvation)?  (All
comments with the disclaimer that I am no biologist!)

> You sure do eat a lot of meat though. I wonder if you cook it at every
> meal,
> or cook it all at once or what.

I guessed very roughly the amount of meat I eat.  It may be far less
than what I quoted, in fact it probably is.  I can eat up to 300g
(10oz?) of meat in a sitting, and I am usually fed about as much as I
can cope with once a night when my mum makes my tea.  The rest of the
time, a meal consists of a few slices of pre-cooked meat, or a few
chicken bits (2-4 legs/thighs etc, or a breast).  Having thought about
it, the actual meat on these probably amounts to no more than another
150g.  Depending on the job I have, I can end up missing (but not
*missing*, if you get me) my biggest meal 2 or 3 days out of 7, so I
suspect my daily calorie intake averages closer to 1500Cal than 2000.

>> (she thinks paleo is an eating disorder because I "cut out so much")
>
> I can relate to that :) I told mine that I'd add more variety back to
> my
> diet by starting a worm and insect farm in my basement. With about the
> same
> number of calories as beef, I'd save a lot of money. Apparently she
> didn't
> think it was funny :)

The last time my mum accused me of having an eating disorder, she went
on to say how barbaric it is to eat duck because it's like eating your
pet dog, that she has to hold her stomach when she prepares a duck, and
that sometimes she has to block out the thought of what a chicken
actually is or she would never eat it again.  I put it to her that
perhaps I am not the one with the eating disorder (all I said was that
I wanted to reduce my fruit intake) but I was met with silence.

As an aside, apparently McDonald's was once accused of using worm meat
in their burgers.  The reply was that they would never do such a thing:
pound for pound, it is far more expensive than beef.