Yesterday Elizabeth Walling interviewed me on The Nourished Life podcast. We discussed mostly weight set point while diverging into a few side tangents such as exercise, the Paleo diet, and more. You can listen to the podcast here…
I also regret my response to her last question, which was more or less “where does someone start?” when it comes to lowering the body weight set point. I rambled a bit, and should have said something along the lines of…
“Wake up every day and try to set a new record for how well you nourish yourself that day with quality, unadulterated, nutritious food, a good night’s sleep, plenty of pure water, and whatever else you find to be enjoyable and nourishing on a physical and emotional level.”
Matt, Listened to your podcast with Elizabeth. I've been struggling with weight loss and gradually gaining weight since I started eating more nourishing foods. The last 10 lbs has come on very rapidly and I'm really freaking out with the extra weight. I've always been fairly active and I used to follow a low-fat WW style diet. I've abandoned that way of eating for more nutritional foods two years ago, hence the extra weight. I'm starting to feel really desperate to lose weight. Can you give someone who already eats a very nutritious diet and still struggles with weight?
Texas: I would suggest you read Matt's free ebook .. it will answer some of your questions right away
deb
MATT great statement in red in regards to the where to start.
Texas family of four,
i have been there and helped many who have as well.
I would say that what i have seen a lot in the case you are speaking about is that most people are not eating nearly enough of nourishing foods and their diet is not nearly as nourishing as they believe.
second their lifestyle is not nearly as nourishing either.
oh yea matt,
i listen to the podcast yesterday, you sounded good.
I liked the bank account analogy.
@Chief: I agree about the lifestyle. I see a lot of people who are downright obsessed with eating "right" but still work 16-18 hours a day, sleep very little, and are constantly stressed. Obviously eating well is good in any case but it's not going to improve your health if you focus solely on nutrition and put the blinders on when it comes to other factors that may be in the way of becoming truly healthy.
Elizabeth,
yep yep … to steal a car analogy from jen nipper.
buying the expensive gas for a dodge neon, not getting an oil change and driving it in Baja races !!!
Great interview. Which one of you needs a 9 volt battery for your smoke detector? It was making ME flinch. That's gotta be causing a stress response for you. Who would have thought a 9 volt battery could raise body temperature?
@Elizabeth Can you perhaps share a typical menu that one might use if trying to shake 5-10lbs without compromising good temps etc for Texas and me. I do have an anecdote which supports your statement about the importance of sleep etc. I surprisingly managed to maintain my weight during a trip to Mexico despite eating way more than usual and believe it was because I was eating only whole foods, getting to bed by 10:30 (usual at home is around midnight) each night and relaxing, swimming or playing all day. If only we could all afford to live our vacation lifestyle year round!
Ceclia,
in my opinion, that is the key find a way for home to be vacation-like. Takes some effort to figure it out but its worth it.
shedding those pounds can be done with any sort of menu your body does not overeat. it only stores fat in starvation mode. any excess will drop automatically without food restriction.
@Pony Boy: Ah, you got me. It was totally on my end. I have a vaulted ceiling and my smoke detector is waaaay up there, and I can't get to it without a ladder… and the ladder's with my husband all day, who's been working basically non-stop for the last few weeks. So, anyway, that chain of excuses is why the darn thing is still going off. But truthfully I don't notice it during the day anymore, until I was already half-way through the podcast before I realized everyone could probably hear it. I somehow managed to keep the kids and dogs quiet this time, but not the stupid smoke detector. So now every time it beeps I get a painfully embarrassing reminder to change my stupid smoke detector batteries BEFORE doing a podcast. I am so changing that battery today if I have to scale the walls like Spiderman to do it…
@Celia: There's really no specific menu that works across the board. Matt's basic ideas of avoiding refined fructose and vegetable oils, while eating plenty of unrefined starch, protein and saturated fats is a great foundation. Coconut oil for sure revs up the metabolism in my personal experience, but whether this leads to weight loss or not is very individual.
If your body *wants* to store fat it is going to be hard to lose it, or you will just put those 5-10 lbs right back on after losing it. As Jon Gabriel says, you've got to make your body *want* to be thin.
@Chief, I like your idea of making home like a vacation. I think if someone can do that a lot of stress issues would resolve automatically.
Elizabeth Walling ,
Yea i developed that idea out of the simple fact that terrible hunting is way more enjoyable than being a customer service rep answering complaints on a good day. pre industrial way of life was a lot more vacation-like and although it required a lot more work but obviously less chronic stress and the body composition shows.
people have paid my father insane amounts of money to take them on a hunting get away for one week when 300 or more years ago it was the norm for most people on a daily basis. lol now they look forward to one week of "Truly living" while slaving away at a job they hate.
I say take less pay at a job you like get rid of the second car payment and toys and live a little :)
@CHIEF After reading Matt's ebook and 180 Degree Metabolism I haven't been restricting food and have been eating whatever I feel my body wants. Despite being a complete carbophobe for over a decade I've been including rice, yams, potato, carrots in my diet too. If anything, the only "vice" I have is too much dried mango and apple chips. As Elizabeth said I think for some reason my body "wants" to be fat and isn't ready to switch off the fat programs.
@Elizabeth I read John Gabriel's book and listened to his night time vizualizations for just over a month. I cut out my much loved coffee too. I guess I must still be overeating my a large margin because in the past month or so I've gained about 10 lbs and am now really tempted to just do a VLCD to get rid of those dastardly ounds which I will not be losing for about the 4th time.
While I love coconut oil and use it as a moisturizer, deodorant, antiseptic etc when I eat it even small amounts of it I seem to gain weight. I've wondered if I just ate the recommended 3.5 tbsp if that would kick start the fat loss but I'm too scared to try.
It's so hard hearing about those who do the HED and then continue eating in an unrestricted manner and just drop the extra weight because I really wish that would be me. I must be doing something wrong but there are just so many factors it is hard to know what to change or tweak … altho' permanent vacation does seem like a definite step in the right direction.
Celia ,
to quote you
" I must still be overeating my a large margin"
I personally do not feel over eating is possible if you listen to your body. If your body makes you eat it then it was necessary.
If you keep gaining weight it has nothing to do with the direct effect of calorie consumption or macronutrient type. Meaning it cant be the coconut oil, actually test were done and it was shown to decrease fat in animals.
keep in mind eating refined foods like white sugar or vegetable oils can impair your system and lead to fat gain.
I would look to non dietary factors for the answer.
Just in your message it shows that you worry about the weight gain ,that in itself can be enough to stress your body the wrong way , the mind is a powerful thing.
if you really wanna do VLC i would suggest doing it
for part of the day in essence only putting a demand on your pancreas to produce insulin to a large degree at a smaller window during the day ( say 3 to 4 hours
chief—
can you start a blog already?! I want to hear your approach to things. I know it involves eating BIG and resting, but what do you typically eat? You IF, if i'm correct, but for how long? Thanks for being so helpful to everyone!
jamie, lol I actually figured i would be written off as a quack due to being more than a bit outside the norm. :)
I had a blog … been working on getting it all back together with a new domain and server. I just got home yesterday from a 4 month trip. I don't really wanna use matt's blog as shameless a plug but if he has no problem I'll post up an address, give me a few weeks though. I also am working on a project and i need to know the promotional returns and hence need to restrict access for a short time in order to test it properly in terms of unique visitors.
to fully understand my methods, my book is due to be ready at least for advanced copies in 30 days, Im giving away ALL proceeds but if anyone wants to donate I'll gladly send anyone a copy. It's going towards obesity research, women shelters, needy single moms, anti-gang and obesity programs and so forth.
To answer your question I do fast, most of the time daily, sometimes i eat during the day if i get a signal I know is not due to bad eating habits such as a random experiments with sugar the night before.
Every once in a while I fast for a few days as per cultural factors. I do not do it for calorie reduction as some IF "experts" suggest. I feel strongly that there are amazing benefits to fasting for example your body has an inflammatory response to all food to some degree and avoiding it gives your body a break. there are great many other benefits as well.
I plan on posting up some food porn of what I eat and recipes maybe even some youtube videos of my buffet adventures as well. Seeing is believing for most so if it helps others ill put forth an effort.
I had been arguing with my close friend on this issue for quite a while, base on your ideas prove that I am right, let me show him your webpage then I am sure it must make him buy me a drink, lol, thanks.
– Kris
Sorry about the randomness of this question. But there's no form on this website. I'm just curious about muscle milk either in powder form for the ready-made type I have read all Matts books and listen to most of the audio CD so far but I still have a few questions wondering if anyone have any thoughts or input on protein shakes of this time.
yo,
as far as muscle milk is concerned it contains, if I remember correctly canola oil ( although better than corn oil) and fructose which is 2 things you would want to reduce in your diet and certainly would not want as a supplement. I am not saying it is the worst of the shakes but I can't even say it is free of un-pronounceable ingredients which just impair body function.
3 grains of sugar in your gas tank might not effect your cars performance drastically but over time it is a whole other thing.
A lot of shakes use whey and many old school body builders would cut the consumption of this during the cutting phase as it was understood to cause the bloated look from a bunch of it not being fully digested in the intestines ( think WWE/WWF bloated wrestler look)
all in all if you are worried about your protein content ( if you eat well you shouldn't be) without all the chemicals try raw eggs or hemp protein if you prefer vegie sources for a post work out source.
Although I don't really advocate milk it is a good option if you can handle it, raw goat milk being the best option.
@yo: I'm with Chief. Muscle Milk is a highly processed food and usually contains all kinds of ingredients that won't do your metabolic health any good (veggie oils, sugar, artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, etc.). It's not something you want to rely on for your caloric or protein needs. Plus, liquid calories in general aren't recommended for regular consumption.
OG, muscle milk. My kid was hooked on this stuff for the longest time, everytime we'd go to the store he'd want some. Luckily I've been able to pawn him off with fresh squeezed orange juice the last few times. Muscle milk is a ton of highly processed whey protein and sugar in a bottle. Great if you want develop allergies and sensitivites you didn't already have.
I have a new sort of woo woo way for you guys to overcome cravings for sweets. Go sit in a donut shop for a half and hour and watch who comes in. The parade of obese people who are out of breath from the walk from their car will inspire you to never want to eat another donut again. Bonus is you can imagine these people queuing up for just about any kind of sweet that you are craving.
Most recent anonymous comment is spam. In the words of the Cybermen: Delete!!!
YEA ..matt more spam than hawaii in the befriending insulin post
@Jenny: Damn, that's hilarious. I bet you can do that with fast food (ever seen the crowd that walks into McDonald's?) and all kinds of other messed up versions of food, too. Good one.
Liz: I know for a fact it works for all kinds of buffets. I was seriously traumatized being dragged to a buffet in my home town by the huge numbers of obese/Type II diabetes people who were eating there. I haven't been to a buffet since.
JEN,
I'll have to drag you to a good buffet to change your mind :) lol
I never find buffets that have that phenomenon on the north side of the imaginary line but as far as US based buffets I pick a table facing a wall or the window ..lol
IT Does work what you are saying though.
I used to visualize morbidly obese individuals singing and dancing in wheel chairs and hospital beds in a pepsi commercial as I walked in front of corner store fridges. I would laugh and at the same time get grossed out.
I soon realized the easy way was to supplement those visualizations with a replacement of those calories with something good.
I don't openly pick on people especially considering I know its absolutely not their fault but in my own head i think I'm allowed to if it helps me personally :)
Good buffet? Isn't that an oxymoron?
lol well jenny you need to travel ! ..lots of fancy places have buffets. when you go outside the states your not gonna find 5.99 buffets with generic cuisine I find places cooking better than all but one of my exes. :)