Philip Thrift wrote:
Todd Moody wrote:
>>>I have no complaints about the way I feel, and other health >issues such as gum
inflammation have definitely improved.  But as a cure for obesity Neanderthin has not been
a success.  My exercise patterns have not changed that much.

My 20 cents worth:  Ray may have a certain genetic advantage.  Tall people have more
surface area' it takes
more calories just to keep their bodies warm.  They have a higher metabolic rate than
shorter people.  Also, those who have never been over-weight generally have faster
metabolic rates than people who have been over-fat and dieted on and off and thus have
more fat cells and are more resistant to fat loss.

Secondly, in the book THE KETOGENIC DIET, Lyle McDonald discusses the fact that one (read:
 most people; there are always excetions; Dr. Atkins parades out some of these!!!) still
need to create a calorie deficit to lose fat, even in ketosis.  If you go over a certain
protein or calorie limit (even on a zero carb or 30 grams of carb/day diet), why should
the body use it's own fat stores when it can turn excess protein into glucose and run on
the incoming fat?   The beauty of ketosis is that it can make it easier to cut calories
without feeling tortured!

There are others who find they cannot eat meat, mayonnaise, nuts, veggies, or anything
else with abandon even at very low carb levels .  I don't doubt that many people lose
weight on Neanderthin or other low-carb, high-protein diets----I've seen it and felt it
work!!!  However, for many folks, cutting out junk food, sugars, starches, grains, & other
agricultural foods automatically results in a drop in calories and increase in satiety.
For ex., I find that there is a much more natural stopping point (after eating fewer
calories) when eating a meal of salad, meat, and dressing than when I ate brown rice,
bean, and vegetable meals or other such meals.  Eating as I do now, I get to a point in a
meal where it doesn't taste as good; I just don't want more meat and sometimes don't can't
clean my plate....whereas I had a bottomless pit for a stomach with pasta, veggies and
peanut sauce and similar foods.

I believe you mentioned that you do High Intensity Weight Training 1x/week and are
otherwise sedentary.  Interestingly, some of the eaders and followers in the HIT movement
who vehemently stated that you ONLY NEED to lift weights 1x/ week and need no other
exercise to get fit/effect body comp changes are NOW changing their tunes!!!  Some of them
are now doing aerobics for 30-45 minutes 5x a week to lose fat......seems they had to eat
their words (which were accumulating around their waists).  That little amount of
excercise wasn't doing it!!!  We never got the *promised* results from 1-2 VERY BRIEF High
Intensity Workouts per week.  We also missed out on that endorphin rush one gets from
longer, but less intense workouts.

More primitive people would have done a lot more than sit around all day then heft a few
animals for 15-20 minutes once a week.  Reports from anthropologists who lived with say
they walked a lot, danced, and had generally more active lives.

I don't think long term body comp changes can be made without more activity.  Our bodies
are built to move.  Some may be able to, but they won't be as healthy as those who
challenge all of their bodily systems to become more efficient.  I think that if you lift
weights with a program consisting of multiple, low-rep sets of each exercise (training
sub-failure), for 30-45 minutes 3x a week you can increase your lean mass, metabolic rate,
lose more fat, have more energy, better sleep, and probably improve your blood lipids.
You need more stimulus for muscle growth.  Many people find that they can only go so far
with the dietary gymnastics (unless they  want to endure extreme calorie cutting--but even
here, adding lean mass is a less painful way to go.

Add 10 pounds of muslce and you can expect to burn about 500 exra calories a day.  Nothing
to shake a stick at!!!  :-)Who wouldn't want that.  What's it worth to be able to eat
close to maintenance and get lean?

My 200+ cents worth,
Rachel Matesz