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Thu, 08 Jan 2015

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A lot of people want to lose weight, but struggle with it. I think I know why. Everybody's felt "hunger pangs", even if only a little bit. Well, I speculate that is because your gut bacteria are starting to die off. If you just eat fewer calories, your bacteria are going to start complaining that you're kill them, and you'll "feel like" eating more food.

That's why calorie-restriction diets don't work -- because you're *always* killing off your bacteria. But how can you lose weight unless you restrict calories? As dieticians are happy to tell you, "calories in - calories out = weight gain". But we're finding out that that's not true. It's when you spike your blood sugar that fat gets stored. If you eat the same amount of calories, but spread out over time (lots of small meals), or more conveniently, meals that include only foods that don't spike your blood sugar, then that energy will always be available to you for use, and none for storage.

But here's the problem: as long as you're eating any high-glycemic index foods, the bacteria that digest them will stay alive. And if you try to stop, they'll complain, and you'll always feel hungry. The key is to eat only low-glycemic index foods. That will kill off, once and for all, those bacteria that demand high-glycemic index foods.

So when you switch to a low-glycemic index foods (low carb, high fat, or LCHF), you'll still have the bacteria that love carbs, and they'll create gastic distress, hunger pangs, and loose motions. You need to presevere through this time. It's tolerable because it's just a few days. Once you kill them off (and it takes about five days to do that), you'll feel ordinary hunger pangs when you don't eat enough LCHF. And you'll start to lose weight.

There are two exceptions to eating high glycemic index foods. First, is that when you rip muscle tissue, your body will consume (rather than store) blood sugar to repair them. You can feel when you're doing this through your exercise. Not all exercise will do that. Sprinting usually will, or lifting more weights, or walking up more stairs. Second, binge day. Once a week you can binge on carbs. As long as it's just for one day, the carb-loving bacteria won't have a chance to start infesting your gut.

Note: I've gone through this transition several times, so I think I'm right. I don't know, however, of any studies that show that one type of bacteria thrives on carbs, while another type thrives on fat. Neither have I gone looking for any.

posted at: 17:01 | path: /life | permanent link to this entry

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Gastric Upset

:) I have a theory about gastric upset: what you can successfully eat *and gain nutrition from* depends on your gastric bacteria load. If you change what you eat, you need different bacteria. Swapping out the bacteria is not a pleasant experience.

So it's not about food poisoning, but instead about food *type* poisoning.

posted at: 20:54 | path: /life | permanent link to this entry

Your body runs on sugar.

Your body runs on sugar. Period. Doesn't matter the source, except it really does. You can get it directly from sugar, by eating a candy bar. You can get it from carbs such as wheat, potatoes, rich, anything starchy. Or you can get it from fat.

Unfortunately, you can't actually digest fat. Your stomach can't deal with it. But the bacteria which live in your intestines can. So, you eat fat two days before the ride. You eat carbs the day before the ride. Then you eat sugary foods the day of the ride.

If you have no stored fat, like most serious cyclists, you HAVE NO CHOICE but to run off of eaten food. If you run out of that energy, you are DEAD IN THE WATER. Can't emphasize that enough.

Now, if you have stored fat, you can actually run off of that. You have to get your body to start digesting itself. As you might expect, your body does not do that lightly. When you get to the point where you need stored fat, your body will try to convince you to STOP doing whatever you're doing. You will become tired. You will become listless. You will become depressed. You will question why the hell you ever set out on the ride.

If you push through, your body will start to burn stored fat. If you have no stored fat, your body will start to burn muscle. This is extremely bad for your health, which is why your body will try to stop you. Push through only if you have stored fat.

Moral of the story: bring food unless you're trying to lose weight; in which case do not eat food (because that will stop the process of burning fat).

posted at: 20:54 | path: /life | permanent link to this entry

Our first apartment

Our first apartment was across the street from the doughnut shop. It had several interesting characteristics:

posted at: 20:54 | path: /life | permanent link to this entry

Wed, 21 Jan 2009

The Secret of Push Hands

I have ascertained the secret of Tai Chi Push Hands. This is a system of study to the end of being able to push an opponent so hard that they go flying across the room. It's not fake. It's real. I've had it done to me, and I've seen it done to others.

The way it works is simple but subtle. The master of the art knows how to get you off balance so quickly that your body jumps in order to stay in balance. You can see this for yourself when you walk on ice, and the supporting foot slips out from underneath you. You don't fall; instead you jump up and use your unweighted leg to get your weighted leg back underneath you.

The master simulates this by determining (through years of practice) where your balance is weakest. He then pushes you in that direction, very gently, but quickly. If this is done correctly, you jump backwards to keep your balance. The master exerts very little force, but induces you to do all the movement.

This is a very effective fighting art, because in a fight between peers, the fight is won by the person with the greater stamina. If the master is constantly forcing you to exert great effort, with very little effort on his part, you will be exhausted before he is even winded.

posted at: 08:13 | path: /life | permanent link to this entry

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