By Matt Stone
As some of you may have noticed, the site she’s a changin’. Late last year I began inviting more and more guest authors to post on the site, such as Danny Roddy, Julia Gumm, Bella Dodds, and Amber “Go Kaleo” Rogers. Recently I’ve added a new About 180D page as well as a Site Authors page. On Wednesday the site header changed and now reads “180DegreeHealth: The World’s Top Source of Independent Health Information.”? This is the direction the site is moving towards.
From the beginning I’ve always?wanted to create a?viable alternative source of health?information.?To me, it?was useless to attempt to?enter the world of mainstream health and nutrition with the standard approach.?Mainstream health is simply too commercially-polluted to allow fringe information to rise into prominence, or to?give a few individuals with?views that are contrary to the established health status quo?a chance to be heard. It seemed like directly communicating to people via this blog and my books was a better approach, and with?more than 1 million visitors arriving to the site over the last year, and the site on pace to’see 4 million or so pageviews in 2013,I stand by this strategy more than ever.
Unfortunately, alternative health is also just as polluted with commercial interests. Power health information websites like Mercola or Natural News have really degraded the quality of their reporting with distasteful product sales and advertising. Most?alternative health websites seem just as fraught with hype, propaganda, and bias as that found in the traditional?health paradigm. I want this site to be much more than that, now and in the future.
Enough blurbity blerb. What I ask of you, the peanut gallery, is your thoughts.
Would you like to see a pooling of several great health thinkers and writers here?
Do you think this would work or would it?create information diarrhea – a place where eating disordered people would become’so confused and overloaded that it would merely fuel?dietary neuroticism?
Who would you like to see contributing to this site?? I obviously have?a large list of invitees already compiled of people I think have a high level of integrity and level-headedness about health, nutrition, and related topics, but I want to hear who you think would add, not subtract, from the site.
What if I even brought in a few writers who contradict some of the main themes of this site?? Would that degrade the site or foster even more interesting and productive discussion?
Do you think it would be distasteful or overly commercial to have books and consults of others available for sale on the site besides my own? (Note: no products, pills, powders, potions, endorsements, or?outside advertising will ever be allowed on the site).
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The objective behind all of this is to “grow 180DegreeHealth beyond me, and grow?me beyond 180DegreeHealth.”??With book projects continuously piling up, it’s hard for me to maintain a high-powered website and write book after book on a variety of topics. As just one person, I find putting so much time into this website impairing my writing career in a sense. I also want to continue to build a health hub that is one day a REPLACEMENT for, not an alternative to, the?limited diagnose, treat, and?prescribe model that currently predominates in the?modern world. Making 180D a collective of great minds seemed like the most reasonable?approach to further both my writing career and the site.
Don’t worry. I’ll still be putting out several posts a month. This is not about abandoning the site and letting others take it over. It’s just a workload-management strategy that fulfills two objectives simultaneously – also bringing more visibility to?many other great minds in the health field who may?not have been able to?build the kind of audience that I have (presumably because they have more of a life than I do!).
Are you enthusiastic and?excited about this?? Are you terrified that this site will lose many of the qualities that have come to make it a special place to snoop around???Please give me some feedback. I would love to have it.
I love to hear different angles on your thoughts. Contradiction on some points would be good, followed by your restating your perspective.
I agree with this.
Agreed, do that.
I only like your posts!
“Do you think this would work or would it create information diarrhea ? a place where eating disordered people would become so confused and overloaded that it would merely fuel dietary neuroticism?” I think it’s a fine idea, but I would be careful not to have posts too often, perhaps. Well, I will say that with the promotion of EastWest Healing, I started following them, and their stuff often confuses me and sometimes stresses me out that I’m missing something. So that’s one concern with highlighting others – if their message is hard to follow (or you only get the whole message after paying them), it could confuse the situation for people. Your posts are always my favorite, even when the message from others is a good one to hear.
“What if I even brought in a few writers who contradict some of the main themes of this site? Would that degrade the site or foster even more interesting and productive discussion?” I think it would degrade the site and confuse people. I think the main idea needs to stay the main idea.
“Do you think it would be distasteful or overly commercial to have books and consults of others available for sale on the site besides my own? (Note: no products, pills, powders, potions, endorsements, or outside advertising will ever be allowed on the site).” Yes, I do. Link to their site, but leave your site as the place where you sell your stuff. :o)
I was thinking out loud, so I hope that’s not too confusing. LOL
I think it’s a big game of pros and cons.
It would be virtually impossible to compete with sites like Natty News and Mercola (and that’s really who I think of as being the competition to this site years down the road as all this takes effect) with just a handful of posts coming out per week. So there needs to be a big increase in content to truly compete. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but that’s the standard view.
Main idea – The main ideas here are great, but are also limiting. I could see the creation of a great anti-diet site, or a kick as metabolism site. But for it to truly be a one-stop shop health site it’s going to have to encompass a lot more I think.
Selling other people’s stuff – This is the hardest to decide on. But I don’t like the idea of sending people to other sites to buy stuff. Nor do I like the standard affiliate way of promoting stuff on other sites. Each author would be strictly avoiding selling each other’s stuff too. It’s not like I’ll be coming out with posts saying “Hey, work with Josh and Jeanne! They’re GRRRRReat!” To me that’s no different than talking about how awesome krill oil is, regardless of how great Josh and Jeanne may be. Each site author would be generating their own sales with great content and lots of site views and no overt sales pitches. Each site author would also get almost all of the proceeds minus the costs of handling a site with this much action (I will basically have to hire a full-time “postmaster” just to get all the posts proofread and formatted). Just sharing the thought process on all this.
As a loyal blog follower, and for the sake of my sanity and avoidance of neuroticism (ha), I will probably only read your posts and maybe an occasional post by another author. I do hope your message increases in audience because it’s an important message. :o)
i have to agree with Stephanie. …i suppose all good things come to an end sometime or other.
I would personally like having a group of people who offer consultations and books that I know are going to offer real help, not just the latest diet craze. It would save me so much time when I’m looking for answers to specific health problems on the net. I cannot tell how many hours I have searched online for consultants and advice for family members as well as my own family, only to spend all the time researching someone only to find out, ‘oh, you’re just a low-carber’, etc. or ‘the name of your game is let’s see how many foods we can restrict before we all go crazy.’ I think that having a variety of writers with different backgrounds and specialties, as well as personalities would appeal to more people as well.
I definitely won’t be bringing a bunch of junk onto the site just because people are popular. Site quality will always come first because it’s that trait that will allow it to endure.
About the selling stuff – the only way I could see it not degrading the quality of the site is if it took the form of reviews. Melissa McEwan does really good book reviews, and takes the time to discuss claims she disagrees with and why (with SCIENCE!). It would be even better if more than one person did a review, just to see different, even opposing viewpoints. That way it wouldn’t be just promoting products, it would be actively adding to a productive discussion. I would definitely read those.
I don’t know about consultations though. I really do feel for those who don’t have some sort of practitioner to help them individually, but this doesn’t strike me as the platform for promoting people.
Right now I am the site author and I have my products and services on the site. The future direction is to have multiple site authors with their products and services for sale too. But no cross-promotion of other people’s stuff or anything like that. It wouldn’t be ME selling THEIR stuff per se, but US selling OUR stuff.
Hi matt, as frequent reader of your site and your books, for the sake of my sanity I’d have to say that a few additional contributors would be okay…but I have come to trust your judgement and experience so without your filter, and having to read through a bunch of opposing viewpoints my head just might explode. I’ve done that for too many years so I probably would stick to your posts. Thanks for asking!
Hi Matt, I think it’s a great idea.We’ve been enjoying the guest posts and I think this will give the website a bigger presence on the interwebz. It will be great to read other experts in the field.
I’m looking forward to more books coming from you too.
The con for me personally would be that I’ve been following your website and buying your books for a few years and still have a few issues I’m dealing with, so hopefully that journey will reach to a completion.
For example, since listening to the Peat interview I’m feeling anxious about my grain consumption and my thyroid. So, like you mentioned maybe dietary neuroticism might kick in again.
As far as other people’s products on this website, that sounds good too especially if they are aligned with the work you have been trying to do in the last few years.
That happened to me too about the Peat article!
I personally would welcome an expanded panel of authors, as long as you made sure to keep the boner-joke density from…dropping (heh).
I wonder about “The World’s Top Source of Independent Health Information” part though. In my perception, you’ve been evolving into Matt “Stop Being Neurotic and Focus on the Important Stuff” Stone, and I hope the site would continue to keep that vision.
Don’t be so hard on me Dan. Get it, hard on.
I will be doing my best to keep that “don’t be so neurotic” vision, as well as that “whole person” and “function first” view of health, and also bring in more authors who take the focus away from the minutiae of food. Some exercise peeps, some anti-diet peeps, some eating disorder specialists, some emotional/psychological peeps, a naturopathic doc, a pro-metabolism vegetarian even.
Gotcha. I was hung up on the idea that it might be watered down into yet another generic alternative-health site.
As far as author suggestions, it’d also be interesting to see things from yoga/meditation types, like Phil from pranarupa.wordpress.com. I bet he’s even capable of writing an article that is accessible to mere mortals :)
Could I write a guest post? I have a great topic: Resistant Starch–and it’s guaranteed to blow the roof off a multi-billion dollar corporation’s business model…Just let me know how to get it to you!
I thought I already wrote that one back in 2010?
Tater, you must not have seen his post from a week ago. Wernt you just shit talking about Matt like a month ago?
What else would you say that you havnt relayed through Angry Dicks site?
I’m glad you are growing this site. I would love to hear “success” stories of people who have been helped by you and how they did it, what they ate, and how long it took. I would also love a forum where we could post more questions and get support. I have lots of questions regarding hormones like if and when thyroid and hydrocortisone are ever needed, and what is pregnenolone. Keep up the good work!
The forum will be coming out with all of this too, and site authors will be encouraged to participate there as well.
Awesome!
I agree! I love hearing other people’s success stories so maybe have guest posts from clients you have helped. It would be great to even see before and after pictures.
What the freak ever. I have been pushing a forum for years. I don’t wanna hear it. Put up or shut up.
Less is more.
By all means a few guest posts, but speaking for myself I would rather read one or two posts a week / month / whatever frequency, than be bombarded with 15 different views. We can always go elsewhere to get that if we want it.
KISS principle applies for me.
From a loyal blog followers perspective sure, less is usually more. That often collides with the objective of increasing reach and visibility. It won’t be a total bombardment like Natty News, which has already released 15 new articles today as of 7pm eastern. More like twice a day. A morning post and an afternoon post, with each site author posting an average of just 1-2 times per month.
I’m for quality over quantity – NN & Joe M are quantity with questionable quality. I’m also for reputable complementary perspectives (I aim to be a contributor in that arena).
I love what you do, I trust your instinct on direction, and I look forward to an exciting future for 180D!
I have not read Natural News yet but Mercola with his two articles a day before I even get out of bed is too much for me. I like the fact that you wait a day or two or more inbetween posts to give the comments section a chance to build and to be read.
I hear what you’re saying, but someone new who comes here and sees 10 different authors writing contradictory stuff is possibly not going to stick around, or is just going to get as confused as a hungry baby at hooters.
The reason your site appealed to me so much is that there is one opinion, and even if that changes over time, that’s ok, it’s still 1 message.
I used to watch the EastWest Rubin youtube videos. They were driving me BAT SHIT CRAZY. I had to stop…Too technical, too dogmatic, too frackin much…But I’m sure others can appreciate that amount of detail he gives. Even though it sounds like somebody regurritating things they might not entirely understand out of a Mad Scientists book. We all regurgitate one way or another =) My brain could be made up of pudding and I’d never know it. I just believe it’s neurons n shit…
Personally, I don’t mind other writers. The guests you have now are completely fine. But I’ve always liked your perspective of things and you’re humor. I can’t keep up with the amount of posts this site has now, so adding more would just cause me to skim and skimp even more.
Just make the site Quackwatches ARCH nemesis!!!!!!!!! Except the ARCH part I just like how it sounds.
I personally think you should have a Instant messaging system where users can all chat together on this bitch. That’d be slick. and we could help each other out on the fly!
…yes, the reason people love 180 so much is because of Matt, his humour, his views, his human modesty (in not being afraid to say he was wrong), and most of all his ability to cure even the most hardcore orthorexics (like me) of their neurosis. Thanks to Matt I now eat over 3000 kcals a day (im 5ft 2?) of whatever i want which is usually frosties and kitkats. i’m free of that awful psycholgical disease of food obsession that i wouldn’t wish upon anyone, and am finally free to pursue worthwhile interests like art. Thanks Matt, a million times over, …but i have no interest in reading any of the Rubin’s stuff and will probably skip those posts ;)
though a forum will be most appreciated by all of us i think.
I’ve really benefitted a lot from your work. I’ve brought up my body temp and am feeling so much better than I have in a long time. I also feel like I’ve been able to become a lot less neurotic about my food, which is a huge blessing. I feel like different perspectives could be confusing, but maybe if you restated your position it could be okay, but then what’s the point? Here I’m letting them post on my site, but disregard what they say because it’s wrong… Thanks for wasting my time then?
If you’re upgrading something that would be helpful would be some sort of “how to” tips for your main points. I read Eat for Heat and your metabolism book, but actually found the information you wrote for Naturally Knocked Up to be easier to implement. Understanding the whys is one thing, but how to make it part of your life is another. I know you don’t like rules, but training wheels for the “trying to be neurotic no more,” could be helpful.
I guess that’s just making the transition from all of these people that tell you how to eat to you, who doesn’t want to tell us. Does that make sense?
Matt, I think having other points of view is always a good thing even if causes neurosis due to contradictory info. I think one of the major problems we face in this country regarding health and nutrition is that the Lamestream Health industry does not permit debates or contradictory points of view…its like their motto should be “It’s MY way or the Highway”! A perfect example for this site would be to have both Paul Jaminet and Danny Roddy do posts that can be like a debate between their differing views so that the reader can decide which one is right for their own needs
That’s pretty much exactly my line of thinking Jon – as long as the writers are smart and not tethered to any set ideology. I’m looking to round up lots of those people that are willing to change their minds and are not tethered to tightly to one philosophy. Jaminet is a great example of someone who I could stomach writing for this site. I will also be encouraging site authors to disagree with, challenge, and debate with one another instead of be mindless cheerleaders for one another.
I like the idea of intelligent, respectful disagreement, by people more interested in discovery rather than being right all the time.
I like the idea of more authors and more articles…twice a day sounds reasonable, since we could just skip the ones about topics we’re less interested in. I’m always hoping for more articles from this site when I check my feedreader.
My gut preference would be to see complementary rather than contradictory viewpoints…like you just said in your comment about “some exercise peeps, some anti-diet peeps, some eating disorder specialists, some emotional/psychological peeps, a naturopathic doc, a pro-metabolism vegetarian even.”
I guess at this point I like to know that a guest author’s message is at least mostly “Matt-approved.” Are you wanting to see that aspect of the site changed?
Ultimately, I think it depends on how important it is to you to keep things pro-metabolism (and maybe pro-carb and even pro-sugar) around here. Do you even want that kind of content-shaping to be up to you personally in the future? Every site/publication has one or more gatekeepers, and I think that it’s important for the readers to know who that is, and what criteria they’re using to accept or reject certain articles/authors. It can be pretty wide or pretty narrow, as long as it’s defined for us. What will make an “independent health researcher” qualified to write for this site?
It will be predominantly congruent and “Matt-approved.” But not so congruent and Matt-approved that it becomes nauseating and limited in scope.
I think it’s a great idea. Go for it!
I like the switch to a health site with multiple authors, in part because I think Matt is too easily dismissed as a know-nothing. However, I find that it takes time for me to enter into the different stylistic voice of each author, so I like to have a degree of consistency. When it comes to contradictory authors, I personally need someone to highlight the takeaway information for someone with a damaged metabolism.
One thing that I want to see in the future is the continued focus on exploring themes which build upon both research and reader comments from month to month, so that the site still feels like it is going somewhere interactively (not simply expanding). With multiple authors, you will need a highly coordinated team, or a leader who develops and cultivates his vision with the other authors so you know where you are going collectively. This is to say that, until this point, your audience has been on a journey with you to develop ideas which promote health. Like a good story, the information has developed in a way similar to a story arc with reveals, major developments and occasional backtracking that allows us to grow and stay engaged. This is a strength of the site which will require careful cultivation to maintain, but it is central to how you have build your core readership.
If you do decide to add more contributors, I’d like to hear from Chiefrok. I just started reading his stuff and the idea of feasting is fascinating.
I would too. Chiefrok has completely fallen off the map of late, but when he returns he will have a place here. And he won’t need to be so consistent to be heard. I think he’s too aloof to ever have great success with his very own website. But here, with a lot of authors keeping the site moving forward, he won’t have to be.
where is Chief? miss chief, he’s disappeared, i’m glad he’s busy and has a life but if he’s reading this – please come back! :o
I miss Hawaii girl too.
I would love to hear from different people with different ideas. How can you truly understand anything, without looking at both sides? I did that, and I learned nothing. As Matt says, he thought he knew everything, but the more he learns the less he knows.
I’d love to have a 180D-FORUM to discuss high quality articles from multiple authors!
It’s on it’s way. It would be out by now but I stalled its release as I mull over the proposed site changes.
I’m liking the new direction Matt. I would like to see guests like the Rubins, Rob Turner (FPS he already has a 180 Nutrition Program!), and Andrew Kim. But the key on these posts are to make them practicle and in laymans terms (ie Ray May from a year or two back). If you are willing to have these people on your site, get their material up for sale over here…it only makes sense.
Contradictory posts, while beneficial, could be a mess. If you could then write up a comparative piece and explain the context of how these seemingly mutual exclusive ideas could both work that would be the glue to bind 180 Degree Health together.
Whatever you decide, I suggest quality over quantity. I would rather see a great post every once in a while, than to be constantly getting updates for articles that don’t really interest me or are just not that great. That would make me start to ignore this site. I would not like to see other peoples’ work being advertised.
I’m definitely not inviting people on who I think are going to write uninteresting crap. I’m hoping, perhaps naively, that it will enliven the site tremendously. I would love to just write a great post every once in a while. That’s exactly why I’m thinking about doing this! Right now I have to post and post and post and keep postin’ and answer comments and dick around on facebook and all that kind of stuff to keep the site pushing forward. It’s fun. I don’t mind doing it. But I think there’s more in store for me personally and professionally if 60% of every waking hour wasn’t consumed by keeping things progressing.
As a clinician, I am personally interested in hearing more from other clinicians out there. The n=1 stuff is great, but case studies from coaches, trainers, health practitioners, etc., working with folks applying these metabolic principles would be damn helpful. And I favor a holistic perspective over the reductionist, biochemical, or lab-test-result-over-subjective observation jank. Except, of course, for RBTI ;)
Matt, just out of curiosity, where do YOU see this site going?
Primary focus on metabolism should sort of be the silver bullet in a sense, no? ‘Cos that’s the impression I get from your latest books, and also the reason I still visit this site for the time being. I think you have arrived at a very crucial place in the sense that its not so much the food that should be the focus of healing/weight loss/weight gain (much like the paleo, low carb, vegan, vegetarian etc. crowds do) but more so its the state of the persons underlying metabolism that needs to be addressed. How far can you take a “health” blog based on diet, once you have reached this realization?
Once i get my own metabolism fired up, i see no need to be reading any health/food/diet based blogs/books/videos/articles in the future, including this one. Because if metabolism is the underlying cause and i address this issue, then, well, i just wouldn’t need to keep coming back.
and if i do need to come back, then your advice obviously isn’t working so i’m not going to listen to anything you have to say :p
also, if metabolism is your main focus, having a handful of guest authors could be like having 4, 5, 6 + appliances in your kitchen that all do the same job. Its a bit pointless and it adds clutter.
I liken this site to a doctors surgery. I go in for regular appointments to begin with, take on board the info, make the changes in my life and should have no need to see you again. I’m cured :)
but I also like the idea of a chatroom, maybe even a forum where people can exchange their favourite recipes. I would come back for more regular visits for that ;)
I have come to what I believe is somewhat of a completion point in terms of my own personal health research. There will be interesting leads that I follow in the future, but it doesn’t have the same feeling as it did in the early days when I thought one breakthrough nutrition discovery was going to save humanity. The question is how to make that work and conclusion live on and continue to reach more and more and more people instead of fade away (which is what happens when you stop posting on a site I assure you). So I want the site and my message and the general health debate to march forward. I see it going very far, much farther than I could have done alone.
I would rather see this site go back to your (Matt) personal thoughts on health and insight into your daily life. I at least hope you will keep this site more personal and people orientated. As a example, i likes D Roddys site better when it was his personal health adventure. I love his new formal information approach but im more interested in personal experiences.
I say this as someone who has overcome his health issues and has become bored with the never ending parade of diet fads.
Something i would like to see more of is interviews. Durian Rider, Josh Rubin, RawBrahs, Ray Peat, Richard Nikoley, Matt Stonie, Danial Vitalis. Friend or foe, wack job to scientist. I could think of a million interesting people that i would like to hear more from.
I think my posts in the future will be exactly that Zach. Fun, personal, and always my best work.
There may be an interview element to the site. I don’t think I will be conducting those, but someday that might get worked in there.
So, as someone who is bored with the never ending parade of diet fads, what you really want to see is interviews of gurus promoting crazy diet fads? Seems legit.
I like to see controversy and discussion, not just people jumping on the next bandwagon. I think there is something to learn from every one of those people even if its how not to do things cough*richard*cough. Is that ok, miss fat momma??
Matt, I’d like to see you interview Ray Peat.
In fact, I’d love to see regular interviews of all kinds of folks.
Also, I’d like to second Tatertot writing an article on resistant starch. I’ve read yours, and I liked it, but Tatertot has a level of knowledge on the topic that is extremely impressive. And he’s not pushing some expensive ass supplement as a way to get it. He’s an advocate of cheap sources, such as unripe plantains and raw potato starch.
He’s also got some great n=1 data he can share.
As usual I am going to be honest to a fault. However, I am being sincere, and I have actually given this some thought. The site has come to a cul-de-sac, in a good way. You’ve come full-circle as regards to the diet issue. It can be summed up, more or less, as follows: eat plenty of good food (good being defined in a very broad way), limit your intake of PUFAs (mainly seed oils) without getting neurotic about it, watch the balance between salt and liquid intake, use your intuition as regards what you eat. Don’t freak out about it.
That’s great, and I applaud you for that. However, you’ve been beating that drum for a while now and have had guest writers that have pretty much beat that drum to death also. Maybe that was a good thing. It’s a message that most of us needed to have repeated over-and-over again. However, as Allan Watts used to say, “when you get the message, hang up the phone.” If you continue exclusively with this message, you will be the victim of your won success. It will get boring. It looks like you see that you have to go beyond your current message, which is the reason for this new direction.
I don’t think having people that contradict your message on here would help matters. When Danny Roddy posts, I think it throws people back into their dietary neurosis again. At the least, it muddles the main message you are trying to send (stick to a few simple dietary rules and for the rest, fuck it). I am sorry. Ray Peat has a few good ideas, but it’s among the most complicated and quite frankly the most weird and fucking neurotic diets out there. I think it’s a distraction from your message when you associate yourself too closely to it. You can acknowledge your debt to Ray Peat without becoming overly-identified with the exaggerations in that camp.
So, here are some things that I would like to see:
1) The forum. People got the message you are trying to get across about diet. However, people still need to help each other with it. For a lot of people, it’s scary to make that jump from their “healthy” diet to a broader diet. A forum could serve that purpose. You could still post on it occasionally, but use your other posts for other topics that haven’t been covered.
2) You need to venture out into other areas of health. You’ve done that already to some extent. I have been critical of some of those articles, but don’t listen to me. I am the world’s biggest asshole. I think it’s very clear to a lot of us that we have been concentrating too much on diet and even exercise as avenues of health. There is a need to explore the psychological, social, political and spiritual sources of health and lack there-of. A lot to explore there. A WHOLE LOT. Obviously you could invite a lot of guest speakers to address those issues, as well as post on them yourself.
Put the dietary stuff into perspective, allow it its niche and move on the the greater fields of exploration. That’s my opinion.
Keen observations and sound advice. I think you really get it, and get that I get it too.
“When Danny Roddy posts, I think it throws people back into their dietary neurosis again.”
lol.
Because my posts for Matt contained lots of food suggestions, right Thomas?
Welp, I agree with Thomas.
I like the idea of having a forum. I also like the idea of searching other methods of being healthy other than diet and exercise. I suggested having a main page with all of your blog postings categorized somehow. Maybe you can break it down into “diet, exercise, social” or other things that you find to be important to being a healthier person. Also, because you’ve been writing for a long time on this stuff, your ideas have definitely changed. It’d be nice to see a short summary somewhere of your current recommendations to becoming healthy. Like an updated list so that we don’t have to wade through dozens of blog postings to get the information we are seeking.
I second Kelly’s ideas. You have so many great ideas, but they can be a bit disorganized. When visiting a website I like to get a summary of who people are and what they are all about. It would be less of a Here Are Matt Stone’s 10 180D Lifestyle Laws and more of a Hi I’m Matt And This Is What I’ve Come To Think About Health And Nutrition.
Also, I second everything Thomas said above. It’s tough to know where to go after you feel like you have things figured out. No point in rehashing the same old or writing something new just to write something new. I guess now the goal is reaching an even wider audience and continuing to find ways to provide real value to your current readers.
Yep – Liking what Kelly says too.
THAT says it all, Thomas! Hear hear.
Oh and i second more personal success stories. And more challages like fructose friday or whatever.
I was in exactly this situation last year and decided to give up the website. Please don’t do that! However, you CAN write less for the website while focusing your efforts on writing elsewhere. We don’t need a lot of blogs, we need relevant info. Keep it simple here. Just blog when you have something to say. Keeping up with info and sharing new ideas is what this site is about.
That’s what I plan on doing Essay. 100%. Having other site authors will allow me to do that and actually get those posts read by someone!
The thing I like most about this site, the thing that made me a believer in the 180DH way, and the thing that keeps me coming back is the promise that you will never offer anything but the most up to date information for free. That alone is what keeps you different than all of the mainstream health sites, and it’s what keeps you credible. If you need to make more money I would be down to buy some shirts/merchandise of some kind along with the books I’ve already purchased.
As far as changes for the site, one thing I’ve always wanted since I first started coming here over a year ago was an easier way to navigate. Right now it’s basically a giant list by date, and finding specific content you are interested in or browsing other topics is kind of hard. The other day I was looking to see if you had an article on saturated fat vs. unsaturated, which I know you talk about, and I ended up just using Google to find it. Maybe if you had some people who were super awesome at keeping things organized do that for you things would be easier for new viewers to find what they’re interested in and get hooked.
I honestly rarely read the other writer’s you have guesting on here. I’ve read several. One of the girls seems more like a motivational speaker to me, and doesn’t offer a ton of insight in my opinion. I’m not saying motivation is bad, I liked her articles, but I tend to skip over them for more juicy information. Another guy you had guest on here was just wayyy too into his usage of big words, his article was super long and hard to follow, and I felt like he was trying way too hard to be funny. I’m personally a fan of your writing style because it is simple, easy to follow, entertaining, and very informative. Just my opinion.
Either way good luck with the changes and I look forward to what the future brings.
I’m a big fan of the interview format. (skype or in person)
Danny Roddy, Billy Craig, Chiefrok, and Josh Rubin would be my first round draft picks.
As long as folks are pro-metabolism and anti-diet I’m probably interested in their perspective.
I like the idea of bringing on guest bloggers (I don’t think I’m being self-serving). But I don’t want it to be like the poor coverage now passing for journalism. It’s a “S/He said- S/He said” with no one verifying facts. So it leaves you as a concerned reader, having to do even more research to find out what the Truth is…. OK, I know that there is probably not one truth for everyone.
And that’s one of the things I hate about Bill Maher’s show- the other side gets PLENTY of “air time”. Let’s stick to writers who compliment YOUR point of view Matt. I searched high and low until I found you, and I don’t want your voice smothered by the other side….
Thanks for everything you have done to improve my health!
I’d like to see separation of topics eg food, exercise, psychology, weight loss, disease states etc guest writers are good if they experts in their own field and support your underlying message. Contradictory posts need to have a right of reply by you so we can see both sides. Forums sounds great cos a lot of this is long term and I know for myself I’m struggling to hold the nerve. Also a clear summary of current thinking because over time you seem to have changed your mind on some things which is confusing me. If you’re looking for a yoga writer let me know
I’m definitely seeking diversification over contradiction. I’m not bringing Jillian Michaels on or anything like that. I think you are right to envision a new 180D with a wide range of experts and topics. Not just a bunch of nutrition nerds squabbling over whether starch or fructose is better. That’s not what I’m wanting at all. Yoga could definitely have a home here. As could many health modalities – all presented in an “add this to your health formula” instead of “beware of this one, evil thing that is killing us all” kind of theme.
Can I claim the name be TeenWitch on the forum?
As long as the 80’s are here to stay on the site, I’m down for hearing new voices on ocassion and even some opposing viewpoints to create healthy discussion and thinking outsode the box.
Yes. Although Supersonic Idiotic would be another valid option. Have you considered it? Top that.
This might not be an appropriate use of the comments section, but what the hell, it’s worth a shot:
I’d like to offer my writing for consideration on this site. If you click on my name, it will take you to a blog that I started writing a few months ago on the subject of health. My progress on the blog stalled, mostly because I wasn’t sure whether anyone was reading it, so I was having trouble staying motivated. However, I believe that I have a lot of valuable things to say about this subject, and having a built-in audience at 180D would help motivate me to write some very passionate and informative articles.
I have long history of overcoming serious, debilitating health problems through open-minded exploration and experimentation, including a major restrictive eating disorder that stripped me of 35 pounds of lean weight and destroyed my health for several years in my late teens and early 20s, as well as severe depression and anxiety and a long-standing thyroid disorder. I have developed some unique and important insights on all of these topics, and I would be honored and excited to share them.
I don’t really expect this comment to generate any interest, but I figured it was worth a try. I realize that I have no following/audience, no one knows who the hell I am, and there are probably many dramatically more qualified authors vying for the opportunity to write for this site. But if you happen to be interested, you can click on over to my blog and check out some samples of my writing to see if it might be a good fit.
If you do check it out, be aware that I began the blog by writing a few very detailed articles on saturated fat and cholesterol, but quickly decided that I would like to step away from the minutiae of nutrition science and focus on broader concerns like lifestyle, psychology, spirituality, happiness, and metabolism. My most recent post (“Myth #1, Part 4”) explains this shift in intention very clearly.
Please let me know if you have any interest in my contribution. And thanks for your excellent work on this site–it has become one of my favorite resources.
A forum is a great idea. And I’ve often wondered why there isn’t one.
And I sent you this message via Facebook, but what about the healing power of the mind?
I would like to see more stuff like that.
1. You need a forum. This would take the pressure off of you to continuously create new content, because people could be creating their own content within the forums, based on the work you’ve done and the insights you’ve accumulated, and could relate their own experiences utilizing your methods. I get the sense you want to create a community, not just a brand, and forums are a must for a community.
2. You need to create an archive for your articles, or some more efficient way of navigating your content. Group articles based by topic, date published, author, etc. You could have a sidebar for articles by author, so if people feel like reading just Matt stone articles today, or just Dani Roddy articles, they can.
3. You need to summarize your insights and theory’s in a series of concise articles. Illustrations and videos would be super helpful. This would also take the pressure off of you to keep creating new content, because it would put everyone on the same page, and dramatically lessen the need for continuously filling new people in, or reiterating past insights.
4. You need to keep your readers current with where you are in your own current explorations. Don’t feel like you have to pander to what you think people want you to talk about. People are interested in the whole spectrum of self-development, not just health/diet, and you could provide a model for that, a la Tim Ferriss.
5. You need to find a way of conveying the overall message of this site, which I think is “don’t be so neurotic, follow your body’s intution, and don’t get trapped in dogma” or something along those lines. Also, a major part of the draw at this site for me is the attitude toward health. Rather than building on neurosis, it dissolves it with boner jokes and 80s references. Bring this out as much as you can.
Anyways, I rambled a bit but I just wanted to give some insights, since your site has done so much for me.
agree with the other Matt, particularly on #5
I appreciate your (Matt Stone) writing because the information is kept in context. You don’t get so caught up in micromanaging diet as to create additional problems. Ex: the fear of goitrogens in broccoli will likely increase cortisol more than eating it.
Similarly, diet is only one aspect of health and recovery. I would be interested in more articles on the others. Give Brendan Hannigan a shot, he seems legit.
As for authors…anyone with an interesting story of their own who also avoids black or white thinking.
your posts are always my favorite by far. i feel that by the time you write about a topic, you have already been thinking about it for a long time, which gives it a distinct voice and authority. i would prefer guests to be interviewed or debate each other, with you framing it in some way.
visiting forums for different bands, you’ll notice that some of them are very active on a variety of topics, even if the band only puts out an album every few years or has stopped making music at all. the people there support the ideas that have already been presented, without the need for constant new input from the band itself. and they return day after day to visit their friends.
also, short animated videos could be used to convey some of your basic ideas. they have the potential to be quite funny and profound, bypassing defenses that are raised when a person presents the same information. i know you already deal with being confused with that other matt stone, but just a thought.
In my opinion, invite several guests is a great idea. Each of them can provide a different puzzle piece and joining all in one web.
The forum opens a window of possibilities:
– Authors can interact with users, doing survey on what topics interest we the most, answering questions, giving advice, etc.
-Also, anonymous users can become authors, writing articles (and perhaps the most interesting and more voted appear on the website).
Finally, my wish is that authors like VeganMaster (Maxium Nutrient Partitioning) come to talk about training and bodyrecomposition, a subject that guys-around-twenty-years like me care much.
I’m bringing several exercise/body recomp people on. I also hope to write a book next year about adding mass called Eat for Meat.
Your spellcheck messed that title up Matt. It took the B off the first word and changed your to for…
That’s a separate book altogether. That one will be a NYTimes bestseller for sure.
I’d also love more book reviews.
On that note, a question from something in Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Does our heart really just simply wear out over time because of repeated stress put on it to pump harder at times? Sapolsky says, “Basically, your heart is just a dumb, simple mechanical pump, and your blood vessels are nothing more exciting than hoses. The cardiovascular stress-response essentially consists of making them work harder for awhile, and if you do that on a regular basis, they will wear out, just like any pump or hose you’d buy at Sears.”
Isn’t this also what most forms of exercise do? It would seem that if this is true, then purely from a longevity standpoint we’d be wanting to do exercise that avoids taxing our hearts. Or is it that stress also elevates our blood pressure, while exercise just makes our heart pump harder for a bit? Is the heart a muscle that can and should be strengthened like any other, or a pump that we should avoid wearing out for as long as possible?
This is BS. The blood moves itself (it starts moving in the developing embryo before the heart starts beating), and the heart is more of a monitoring valve. Jus sayin’. Check out the HeartMath Institute. I’ll look for other references…
I like the idea though I think it is risky. With more authors 180degreehealth may become more complete but it might also lose it’s focus and quality.
I often divide health into diet, lifestyle, psychology and treatment. I think you have diet and lifestyle well covered. But authors on psychology and treatment options would be a nice addition I don’t think any of your additional authors really covers these topics well though Bella does have some nice insights in psychology.
I would really like to see someone very knowledgeable on simple DIY treatments and a good down to earth psychologist. Perhaps some people with an acedemical background?
Additionally, with so much information I think it would be best if you would change this website and make it less of a blog and more of a well structured health encyclopedia (something like the four apsects of health mentioned with further devisions) with a good search option and a forum for discussions.
OK perhaps I should have reread it once before I pressed submit :P. Oh well, as long as it’s understandable.
Hm now that I think of it some more. Probably the best way for 180degreehealth to succeed as complete and top source of independent health information is if the authors of 180 would not only contribute by them selfs but also as a team putting their insights together for a more complete picture while keeping 180 from becoming a confusing heap of information.
This structure would definitely be conducive to hosting real-live conferences and things like that featuring the site authors. We could call it PALEOsux. Or we could have a high-carb cruise.
HIGH CARB CRUISIN’! Though I think the average cruise is already pretty “high carb”…
+1 vote for the high-carb cruise. As long as the ship doesn’t lose power and we have to poop in garbage bags.
Haha, the high-carb cruise made me laugh out loud! Those moments are always a nice confirmation of how my metabolism is recovering.
the evolution of the site is a good one. i agree that you should continue in that direction.
i really liked your “first time reader? click here”.
you should be identifying areas of health that you could group this shit in to. similar to chiefrok’s principles. have a giant intro awaiting people and they can click on different aspects of their lives that they may be interested in. you know, give the reader control over how much information they want, layers of the site. if they want a super specific, science lingo rich explanation they have that option, IF they choose to go that many layers deep in the site. dont be afraid to purge old, useless posts. youve done that with your books, why not your blog? you could keep the old posts in some sort of “archive” section, but definitely keep them separate.
ultimately, yes, you should be working on a comprehensive approach to living that is from seeing what works.
and once you get a group of people working together, you could labels yourselves the “outlaws of health advice”.
This site is my support and helps me keep my resolve not to go neurotic and starve myself and fall prey to numerous food phobias. When I am about to crater I come here and I’m ok again. I’m glad to here that you won’t have any Jilian Michaels types on the site cause 180D is my respite from that. As long as you stick with guest authors that aren’t going to promote dieting and food phobias I’m fine with increasing diversity. A forum would be great. I would like to ask questions or help someone else more. I use google to search topics but the ability to do that on your site would be cool. I think that info on foods, herbs, nutrients that might help with conditions people have would be great. That has helped me a lot. But I like you despise that kind of info coming from people who sell products. That is a conflict of interest and anyone who wants to maintain credibility should never do that. Sell your knowledge or sell your products but not both. Otherwise I don’t know if you are promoting a product because it is the best for me or the best for your bank account.
The direction seems to be positive and I totally encourage you to bring on more contributors as long as their writing is thoughtful, focused and information driven. And, as you suggest, some unconventional or contrary opinions would not only open up more doors for those still finding their nutritional path, but will open up more constructive conversation. Assuming, of course, that the writers you bring on are respectful and open to honest discussion about their views. Just a thought and I really appreciate the opportunity to share in the evolution of your site.
I don’t know…I’m always sketchy of people who sell a lot. I used to like Mercola, but then I realized he was just basically trying to sell me the holy grail supplement or such.
But then again, having found for us some useful products that we don’t have to search the world for is nice and convenient.
Not sure what I want in changes Matt, but I know you have the best intentions, therefore whatever you decide should be good. And if it turns out not, you will change it. It’s sure hard, if not impossible, to keep all the people happy all of the time. I just know I will stay tuned in.
Jagrati
I agree with much of what Thomas and some others said above, but here are my thoughts overall:
I am definitely against having more stuff sold on here. I think your book sales are ok, but don’t sell other people’s stuff. The only exception to this is if someone is posting, I think it’s ok to have a link in their bi-line.
I think having more views is always helpful, even if something contradicts what you say. Or maybe you could come up with a format, like you can add a paragraph at the end saying what you think of the alternative view, and why you agree and disagree.
I think what is even more helpful is to have posts by people on areas that you don’t cover but that are really complementary to your methods. Such as someone talking about meditation, or spirituality and their connection to health. Or the science of sleep. Or how to get over childhood trauma that is causing chronic stress now. Or how to reduce workplace stress. I liked the posts by that one woman (Bella???) on mental well-being. The older I get (I’m only in my 30s) the more I see how important a healthy mind and spirit are to a healthy body. I would argue that if you fix that stuff, many probably won’t even need Rrarf because you’ll just start tuning in and eating the food, and stress will drop. I’ve seen it work that way myself.
Also, I would say maybe one post a week from another person, not more than that. It should be mostly you. And I think less is more in terms of blog posts. I’d rather see 2 great posts a week. Even one a day would be too much. Just open forums if you think people need more frequent interaction.
I think it would be great to have Chief, too. Also Aaron who posts here. He has some really interesting thoughts on his blog. I wish you could have someone like Deepak Chopra, but I know that’s a toughie!!
You’re site is great – keep it as close to the way it is. Any radical redo, well….it can lose people. We’re here because we like it – so if it ain’t broke, PLEASE don’t fix it!
Amen to Moando. Love this site.
I’ve been following your blog a long time ago and I like your style. But in the last few months it seems like you ran out of new ideas to share. I think the focus should be on improving the 180degreehealth method for improving health. Where are the crazy experiments like 5000 calories of junkfood a day? Another problem is, it seems like you gave up on the idea of achiving low bodyfat with 180degreehealth methods. I belive in you, I think you can develope new ways to achive not just health but good looks also.
I’m a huge fan of your work, but the last few months was disappointing. I hope you get back on track. I remember I was soooo exited when I first found your blog, I couldn’t stop reading. And I love your ebooks too. I wish the innovation doesn’t stop and I will be exited about your post in the future.
I like the idea of experiments. Maybe you could enlist some people to do a longterm 180 experiment.
I also agree that it would be a good idea to work on some healthy ways to achieve lean-ness while healing because that will significantly increase your appeal to the masses.
Hi Matt
I know you are busy and can’t post as often as WE would like, but I am wondering if you would be willing to record some of your consulting calls. I would love to listen to your advice in different situations. Of course the one you are consulting with would have to agree, but as you talk to people and they ask questions, that would be helpful to hear. It wouldn’t take you more time, but would be helpful.
I think you SHOULD charge for them. Maybe like $10 per call or a bundle of $50 for 6 calls. You wouldn’t have to record all of them, but maybe a sampling of the different problems people have. It is okay to make money. You are working HARD and have given a LOT of information on this blog for free.
I don’t really like the guest posts that much if they are contradictory because it is confusing. I have bought books from two people you have recommended, hoping to get more information about your ideas, but they were more calorie counting (higher calories, but still counting). It helped that you said you hadn’t read them yet.
I think it will be important for people to be able to search YOUR posts and not your guest posts for awhile (like a search tool that allows you to choose “all authors” or “just Matt”. Followers that have been around a long time won’t be so confused, but for new people it is hard to wonder which part of the guest posts you agree with. Sometimes I wonder if you have had a new epiphany and THIS guest post is your NEW direction…so like other people saying, it would be good to hear your take on the info if it is contradictory.
Also, if you could do some recordings (very casual, low tech) of your “tweak-ies”. Like you said, you feel like you you have a handle on your program, but of course you learn more along the way. For example, I feel out of the loop on your fruit and sugar and lower fat (milk) etc). It seems like it goes along with Eat for Heat, but it is a “tweak” of it…maybe for people with more healed metabolisms. (By the way, I would like to hear more about maintenance instead than Healing).
I don’t mind if you sell other people’s things with the caveat “Matt doesn’t necessarily agree with everything in this book”. It is hard to be following one way and try to relax with eating etc, and then read something else (AGAIN) about calories or low that you have recommended. I eat less when I think about food less. I can’t count every little calorie to eat 20% less because it freaks me out. It is a scarcity mentality that makes me feel unsafe.
I WANT you to earn more money. I know you don’t want the website to feel commercial, but I think a lot of us have so many questions to ask. By doing some more audio things (recording what you are already doing), many of us could learn more about the specifics. I would even be willing to pay a certain fee to get my questions answered. You could have someone that knows your program answer the questions with links to your blog posts or book paragraphs.
I feel like I have to CONSTANTLY reassure myself that I am doing the right thing. I read your books again and search the blog for “eat more carbs” and your metabolism will heal eventually. If I heard contrary stuff, I would stop coming because I am already “diet damaged” enough. I feel like I have a goal and a direction, and I don’t want to lose sight of that.
I like the guest posts that focus on different things (like the weight lifting)–things that compliment healing the metabolism.
I do want you to have more time to write more books. I would love to see an update on the Diabetes book and a “what do I do now that my temps are up?” kind of info…
Thanks for all you do!
Thanks for your feedback Noelle. All good ideas that I will take into consideration. There won’t be much contradiction here. More complementary stuff – going beyond my personal scope in a sense. I hope.
I won’t be selling other people’s stuff per se. It will just be available for sale on the site. The authors will get almost all of the proceeds. The remainder will be funneled back into the site to pay for the expenses of putting out more posts and other costs that will come along with it.
I like the idea of going beyond your personal scope and integration of a few new topic areas so long as the direction of the site doesn’t become too broad.
Guest authors are cool, but not just anyone. I also wouldn’t want to see an overwhelming amount of new content, or topics that have been covered a million times (e.g. Greatist).
Supposing a guest article is written on an area that you’re familiar with – I think it would be cool if you would add your own personal comments on the article. You have a gift for presenting information in context.
More reviews, round-table discussions, and I love Noelle’s recorded consultation idea
I do believe that a large percentage of your readers WANT to pay you. You’re one of the few in the health industry that aren’t selling people on their insecurities, or promising a quick fix. I nearly scheduled a phone consultation after reading Diet Recovery 2 just to say thanks – so I would certainly pay to listen to others who have more specific questions.
Saw your blog post Roddy. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I am an asshole, too! We are legion. There are mostly nice people on this list, like the Real Amy. However, I didn’t want you to despair. There are other assholes on here. Me being the Alpha (and Omega) of Assholes.
I’d like to see a crafting corner, a knitting know-how, and “the 101 uses for your tea cozy” suggestion area.
Just kidding…..Whatever you want to do, Matt. I’m here for ya man, I’m here for ya!
Matt, thanks for your blogging and books. I love talking about health and nutrition, but writing has never been one of my strong suits and you do it very well. Over the years I have seen many ideas come and go on imminst.org and evolutions of blogs trying to find the perfect diet or supplementation game. The only thing thing that really seems to work is to eat foods as they exist in nature <—- being knowledgeable about mineral balances (as in good soil) and then to just see how a particular food might effect your system and "then" judge how you feel. And then if you can top that off with a genetics test like 23andme you can start to frame a picture of your particular system. There isn't too much more too it, as people will always stray, always have appetites for things that might not be so good for one's self. I guess the real unknowns that I may want to know if how best to maintain my mitochondria and keep my energy system moving. Whether this requires a fest/famine reset type of thing who knows, but it might. Lastly, I've been more interested in looking at fructose recently and if there really is an ebb and flow for humans in terms of what is optimal when fructose/glucose are being converted to energy within one's system. I guess there's always more experimenting to be done!
I love your work. I’d be open to the idea of other writers.
Mate, you will never be as popular as me nor as rich, so NER NER.
For what it’s worth, I used to enjoy frequenting your blog to LOL at the bullshite you used to promote as health advice and to ROFL at the health “experiments” you were partaking in.
Now you are boring. I want the old Matt back to laugh at profusely. Insomuch, like everyone else, your information was rubbish, at least you were relatively entertaining, unlike everyone else.
Who is your target audience? The 0.00000.00000.00001% of people in the world who live on the internet whilst subsiding on some kind of starvation diet of rotten cabbage and hard boilled chicken fanny ejaculations?
Seriously dude. The majority of people in the Western world, who need health advice, follow a diet you promote. They eat lots and lots of tasty food and look and perfom like oversized human shaped trifles.
Sure, the pathetic sods who are masturbating into their mums panties whilst figuring out their Omega ratios and eating lettuce wrapped bananas all day need to ETF….but the major majority of you American slobs need to S(top)ETF(ucking)F. How is eating more going to help the majority that eat too much as it is?
What I want to see is a recent photo of you Matt. The last I saw of you, were balding at an accelerated rate and looking doughy and inflamed…Like you might be trying to eat for heat or some-such quackery. Surely with your best mate, “Hair like a fox” on board, he could sort you out, a wig at the very least? Whilst on this train of thought, has the Rodstar ever posted a before and after shot of his balding hairline and consequent fix using “his”-(ie. Ray Peat’s) methodology? If not, quack quack.
Seriously young man, all of us playing this internet game of “health” are one variety or another huckster trying to sell some kind of snake oil, trying to avoid the real world of doing some actual hard work to warrant all of the woe is me belly aching of how hard life is, whilst having access to the whole worlds food supply 24freekin7. You all need to go slog it out in a paddy field for a year whilst eating nothing but boilled potatoes to regain some kind of appreciation. Or keep pretending you are all little Kings and Queens in your own little worlds, that need to overeat on tortured McDonalds food to achieve some kind of heat in your groins. Losers.
See ya punk, I’m toodling back off to my own website to do the same as you but make squillions of dollars doing it.
Peace out,
many hugs and spunks,
jOEY MERCOOLA.
Nice :D, but I disagree.
Not only was I first on this thread, but I also get to follow the GREAT JOEY MERCOLA, whoever he is. Now I know not to bother finding out.
Matt, your intended thought to claim “the world’s best…” reminded me of a sign along a local highway for “Mrs. Murphy’s world famous Restaurant”. We wondered who in the whole world had eaten there, though locally it was good. Defining your niche would be better.
bettbebettbetter.good
I’m defining what I intend the site’s niche to be five or so years down the road. And I am quite serious about it.
Matt.
You have the advantage of cultivating your ideas with the information you get from your consults that no one else should be privy too. Your ideas pretty much became concise only about a year ago. As you meet with us, you will have more info to evolve your ideas/suggestions and get more specific. It’s the evolution of your propositions based on feedback is your best advantage over all others. I think your articles should be separated from the rest.
I agree more fields should be consulted too as food is social, But keep it slow and engaged, don’t throw in too many ‘unrelated’ fields of thought in at once.
Matt, I do believe you are serious about your five-year goal, and everything you do, but only question the label that will enable that goal.
Hey Matt. Lately i have been going through a hard time and i am trying to eat in a way to stay in a good mood. Whenever i have something with mostly fat and maybe protein like some olives or a fatty omelette i am still in a good mood. But whenver i eat something really sugary, the past few days iv tried having sugary things a different parts of the day, i start to get really sad and start crying about the things im going through. Is it the seratonin making me depressed? should i stick to fatty things and low g.i things?
No information diarrhea.
No crap for sale. Your books and services are enough. Keep it simple and such. My BS meter goes off when I see a health oriented selling a fuck ton of products branded with the site proprietors name. It’s really not classy.
Please Matt, just do what you’re already doing. It’s not broken…don’t ‘fix’ it!
I second that.
If you would like to grow, do , but keep this e corner quite and funny as
till now.
Your uttermost charm and the main reason for which so many of us
kept on staying and reading you( two and a half years for me)
Is the willful simpleness, off mainstreamness, lightness of a tone and
eclectic choice of topics. Quite a schism between you and the rest,
one we did enjoy and would like to for the future.
The number of visitors shows that it is good enough as method,
and frankly i still cannot fathom the source of the all american desire to grow..
Your site works, it is a good one, and it is a personal one.
Sure you can downslide the whole work and credibility
you have worked on as legions before you did.
The question is
Did you build all that for that ?
But then you need action why dont you do a second satelite site where all you
talked about is happening while keeping that one the way it is?
as for topics..
From what i have seen till now we all got warm stuff going on,
but one seem to be losing the dead weight..
“and frankly i still cannot fathom the source of the all american desire to grow..”
so many times, i’ve seen that growth as the primary objective is ultimately destructive.
Concur with most suggestions. I personally find much value in Danny Roddy’s posts. He has helped me pinpoint some very valuable health specifics that I otherwise would not have been able to piece together.
My advice, Matt, is do what you feel is best for you and your current life situation. My grandpa (who’s 88, still smokes a pipe and lives off coffee and sugar) always says, “Do something; even if it’s wrong, do something.”
I think this is a great idea, I often find myself overwhelmed with all my blog lists, emails, updates etc and jumping to and fro, and even sometimes losing touch with some of my favourate bloggers (or not so now that I’ve done a 180) Having you all in once place ROCKS! the only suggestion I can think of is perhaps having a global team. I am from good ole downunder, so identifying with a fellow Aussie writer/blogger/professional with the same mindset would be fantastic!! Now to whittle down all my blog subscriptions :).
I don’t really bother with guest posts to be honest. Few else seem to find the same balance your approach has.
I think building a community is a good idea. Forum or Q&A type (VanillaForums or StackExchange sort of thing) thing would be good for personalised help and let people to geek out. The gist of these discussions could then be promoted on a blog post somehow.
Instead of a bunch of guest writers, balanced debates and commentary on other approaches might be less confusing. Also insightful comments could be promoted into the main articles.
Regularly updated overview articles would be a nice place I could send friends and family to get started, then click a link or whatever to blog posts related to that topic.
I think when you cater to an audience of diet-damaged people, as someone above eloquently put it, you really can’t risk freaking them away by allowing a debate of opinions. I find it so hard as it is in my day to day life to fend off those with “good intentions” and mainstream advice givers (eat less, work out more, try low-carb). I love this site for what it is now. Too many websites change when it’s doing just fine as it is. The only thing I’d say is worth adding/changing, is a forum, and I agree that using the most popular posts as stepping stones for blog posts is a great idea. Also, I’d like to see pictures added. I want to see if people are not just fixing their metabolisms, but are they looking healthy in the meantime. I don’t need to see 6-packs, but healthy skin and eyes as I’ve learned through chinese medicine, is also very important. Thanks for being so great! If it ain’t broke, then…
On on hand, not crazy about this idea. I just cannot think of a blog that is “big” that I trust. In fact, most blogs I don’t trust, even most on Village Green. I thikn it’s a lot of repeating what others say, by people who want to make money, or see their name in lights.
From that point of view, I say stay the same, and continue recommending content from others as it seems pertinent. I just have a hard time thinking this will retain its indy flavah if it does end up living up to the tagline of top source of health info. And if it loses that, I think — could be wrong — but I think you’ll get, perhaps not fewer followers (probably more) but much more of a… I don’t know… mixed bag. ANd to me, the community of commentors is as interesting at times as the posts. So if that changes, it could matter.
But hey, maybe you can be the fist “big” blog/forum (that I’m familiar with) to remain authentic. In which case, what a major resource it would be. And who’s to say a mixed bag is a bad bag.
On the other hand, I sure would like a resource that I could trust for a broader range of topics than are currently included here. I mean, what the heck is DIM? And whom can I trust to explain it to me? If someone on this site posted about it, though I know they are no more infallible than you, at least I know that I could trust the source as much as I trust a friend who, though fallible, has shown good judgment.
Follow your instincts.
Dim is Diindolylmethane <—— present in a lot of the brassica family of vegetables (think broccoli and cabbage). Learning about nutrition and health does require some background in biology and some knowledge of supplements and compounds in foods.
There is no real why to get past having a vocabulary to describe some of the things that we talk about in nutrition and unfortunately even with someone who writes as eloquently as Matt Stone and some other writers in the blogosphere, some people will get left out.
Matt,
I come here for your voice. It will be sad to hear less from you. However, I know that
changes need to be made to keep your sanity and, grow the site. Selfishly, I hope that
I will continue to enjoy the content presented here. But, I have my doubts.
I too have tired of a once passionate drive to discover everything “health.” Now, I just
want to eat the food and, have a few like minded folks to read. Sounds closed minded
for sure. Yet, I ruined my health trying to be healthy. I’m done with it.
Wishing you great success.
I don’t think the current guest writers add anything of value here, with the possible exception of Kaleo. People come here for your funny writing and unique perspective. I would love to see interviews, with your own thoughts sprinkled through them, but the guest posts are becoming a lot of low-information drivel. Those people all have their own blogs where I can go if I ever feel inclined (and there’s a reason why their traffic is not as high as yours.)
A forum could be interesting, if it were set up right.
I also enjoy the before/after stories quite a bit.
When guest authors post here, those posts certainly get more traffic than most of the ones I put up. I wouldn’t expect that someone who has followed me for a long time would like someone who is not me as much as me. But different people like different things, different styles, and different messages. There’s only so far a one-man show can go. And I just have too many other things I would like to do besides write a ton of blog posts to even attempt to do it as a one man wolfpack.
I understand, but you asked for opinions. I’d rather see less frequent posts of higher quality (ie written by Matt Stone) than more frequent posts of nothingness. I guess the right guest bloggers could be ok, but the current ones don’t do it for me. That is just my opinion. It’s entirely possible that I am just tired of reading about health and food, too.
Hi Matt!
I just finished Diet Recovery 2 and was blown away! In between that and my purchase of Eat for Heat, I logged on to this site. Having only been here for a week or so, I must say that the word “alternative” raised some caution for me. The ideas expressed here are very, very different from the Jillians and the Bobs and the Dolvetts oh my! and when I saw “alternative” it made me think of the ideas in more of a negative sense. I must admit, I was shell shocked by DR2 but in an awesome way – I fit the description for everything you mentioned and am happy to be resting and refeeding currently. I’m just shocked that in all my years of studying health and fitness, I have never ever ever read anything like what you have written. And I believe every word of it! I think more people should be exposed to this way of life and I don’t think it is an alternative. You pretty much have to be a moron to go on a diet after finding about all the abusive and violent effects on metabolism etc.
That said, I like reading from multiple authors – I think that strengthens your material – as well as having some people who disagree as long as it is supported with credibility. I’m looking forward to reading more stuff!
Thanks,
Jaymie
I try to avoid use of the word “alternative” for that very reason, and will be highlighting the word “independent” as much as possible. Just because something isn’t mainstream doesn’t make it “alternative.” I’d like to think it makes it better and more credible when info. has no commercial bias.
Tell us the truth about Morgellon’s disease and whether we should all want to go in to the Singularity, and whether this would be in our best interest or not. I am not finding help in any health writers/gurus at the moment, so would like to go ahead and skip on to the spooky stuff. I don’t think you will do it, because it reeks of tin foil hat conspiracy stuff. However, as long as the blog continues to feature material that is (somewhat) interesting, relevant, timely, and somewhat thought-provoking, I will continue to read. I only discovered your work in the last year, and find your voice refreshing, but understand that you have other things to do. I hope whatever you are working on turns out good.
Dude, You should also do video interview/discussions with your contributing authors occasionally! It would be so awesome to see you and Danny Roddy sit down and discuss Ray Peat, metabolism, and other health topics while sipping some mexi-cola;) lol. -It gives the writer a chance to have a more personal connection with your audience. Seriously though, I like your ideas with the direction of the site!
Hi Matt!
You totally rock:) Bought the penultimate platinum collection and not only is it informative it’s so funny as in funtertaining! Wow! If people can simply tune in to you instead of some stupid sitcom the world can become a better place. Thanks for creating and changing the existing paradigm.
I look forward to the vegan book. I’m a recovering raw foodist and just after reading your books, and put some much needed calories and carbs I’ve been craving wohoo! what a shift I had that my body temperature went up to 99.14 so I can claim my hot chick status;)
I’m off to the food planet of France this summer. This time will be a gustatory adventure in my new mantra Eat the Food dammit!
Keep those thought-provoking writers coming and your kick-ass posts and comments!
I hope I’m not too late for feedback on this article.
I really like the focus on non-dogmatism and getting to the basics of what matter in health and nutrition. This site has really helped me throw some dogmas aside and help recognize and overcome orthorexic eating patterns. Those in itself are invaluable. What I’ve noticed though is it seems to be a very uncertain and individual path. There are principles, yes, but that does not translate into a day to day. I think the 180 approach requires more self-insight and learning to get that back is the hard part. I don’t know if there’s a way to help people figure out the problems they’re facing and get more individualized feedback. A forum may help out a lot.
I have learned a lot of valuable pieces of information from this website (as well as some others). I suggest making a few major categories and organizing information into these categories. Suggestions would be: Why you should not diet. Why cholesterol and saturated fat are not bad for you. Why carbs are not the devil. How to incorporate junk food. Learning to tune into bio-feedback. Etc. The site (and your info) is still very inaccessible to non nutrition nerds. There are a lot of people who just want simple straightforward advice. Should I be drinking green juices or not? along with some good explanation to back it up. It would be good to easily reference articles that address all of these different issues simply and directly.
There’s a flip-side to the above as well. I can point out to someone that the scientific evidence doesn’t actually some behavior or other, but that always leaves the question “what should I be doing?” and especially for women “how will you ensure I don’t get fat?”. These are generally show stoppers, nevermind the diet/exercise mentality is so deeply ingrained. A section of the website dedicated to a systematic breakdown of this mentality with lots of external links would be good.
As for continuing to explore new ideas and inviting new writers and new perspectives, I highly support this… as long as you’re doing it to genuinely challenge and round out your beliefs and not simply to hear other viewpoints. The site should stay committed to quality. These type of discussions will detract from the simple, straightforward information you want to provide to new readers and non-health-nerds, so some kind of split is implied here. Maybe the main site is more static and slowly evolving and then us regulars go to the blog where all the discussion is happening.
As for affiliate marketing, this is a thornier issue. On the one-hand, if you really believe in what Amber Rogers is doing, I don’t see a problem in getting a referral commission because you are enthusiastic about Go Kaleo and naturally promoting it. On the other hand, that type of monetary connection was very evident in research projects when I was at University and it was very slimy. Accepting commission for products you promote will always jeopardize the integrity of your reviews. Go with your own gut on this one.
Finally, I agree with others that a success stories section would be really helpful. The more detail we know about how individuals got out of there own situations, the better. Eventually we may be able to extrapolate general principles out of that and improve the quality of feedback/advice.
I continue to be concerned about the lack of information about autoimmune disease related to hypothyroidism on this site. A substantial amount of hypothyroidism is caused by Hashimoto’s (I last saw 80% quoted), yet it is never talked about here (though I did see the one old article threatening to talk about it in the future). Encouraging people with genetic gluten intolerance to just eat the food when a gluten free diet is the one thing demonstrated to cool the Hashimoto fire, as well as not addressing the role of leaky gut seems irresponsible to me.
Where has it been demonstrated that a gluten-free diet cools “the Hashimoto fire”?
I will agree though that “Leaky Butt Syndrome” seems to be on the rise, and I am equally pissed off that nobody seems to be talking about leprosy on this board.
So sorry, I thought this was a place for civil discourse. My mistake.
I’d love to see more testimonials. Has anyone actually lost weight using your method, or are we doomed to be fat but yet healthy? It’s hard for me to move forward on all your advice, not knowing what is in store for me. Anecdotal or not, it would be nice to know if i even have a shot at fitting in my pre-pregnancy jeans or not.
1.) You need to write the majority of the posts because you’re funny. Other people aren’t funny. Funny=money
2.) You need to get people involved some way. If they feel like they’re a part, then you’ve got em. Contests, promotions, video subsimmissions, wet t-shirt contests, etc. Give away some ebooks or something if they win, whoopte-freakin-do, it didnt cost you a dime.
3.) You need to supply more simple, delicious recipes for people to make. Most people have jobs, families and responsibilities (I’ll tell you what those are one day) and need recipes that are quick n easy w/ little time commitment.
4.) You need a mother stinkin’ forum. There’s one thing that people love to do more than read your posts, and that’s to tell you and everyone else about themselves. Let em do it.
5.) Hire me. It doesn’t matter what for because I’m good at everything and everything I touch turns to gold.
^ ^ this is the best comment!
I would love to see a forum!! It would be a great way to chat with others who are RRARFing, it would be great to talk to other people about the changes they’ve made and how they are feeling. Thanks!
Well, yes, I’m scared the blog will lose its touch. It doesn’t feel right that there’s so much people now on the Site author’s page.
I really really liked it when it was Matt, Rob (and Julia). I think a lot will be lost in all the different opinions and that it will not longer be a search of truth, but a way to promote other less known health-writers.
I think that what made this site great was that we could watch closely the development of an intelligent person (Matt) through his independent research journey.
Now, with all those site authors, I really don’t know what it will be like.. Newcomers will definitely get lost and scared and won’t get the 180HD message.
“Do you think this would work or would it create information diarrhea ? a place where eating disordered people would become so confused and overloaded that it would merely fuel dietary neuroticism?” YES
Well, that’s my opinion. Good luck :)
Wow, there’s a lot of feedback on this page. I’ll write my two cents anyway :-)Matt, I would love to see a forum based on metabolism rehab, you know, for all us “Stoners,” lol. I’d also like to see you offer guest posts to people who’ve applied your techniques and have seen results from time to time. One more thing: I would be thrilled if you could write a short rendition of your methods geared to teenagers, maybe one for girls and one for boys? Thanks!