Well, it’s officially done, and was no small feat. 146 pages of good lovin’ – the new 180 Degree Metabolism: The Smart Strategy for Fat Loss. Why “strategy?” Well, cuz you don’t rush into the “fat loss phase.” You get “primed” first.
But ultimately I do believe that raising the body temperature first (restoring leptin sensitivity) will be the key. It will be what triggers the body to “allow” fat to be released without the typical famine response seen in every weight loss ward in which overweight and obesity has been studied.
Personally, I’m down 7.5 pounds on the year so far, all of it fat – and not only is my body not revolting to the weight loss, I actually seem to be picking up steam. Hunger is absent, and no signs of the metabolism slowing down have reared their head whatsoever. Energy up. Libido’s good. Mood stability is excellent (well, there were a few milk duds the other night and the next day was a little odd, but…).
Anyway, to make reading this beastly book irresistible, I have no choice but to cruelly present to you the 180DM QUIZ that concludes the book, but withhold the answers, which are locked away inside the book (the answers are pretty obvious though, and I’m sure there will be some “guesses” in the comments section).
By the way… CLICK HERE to go to the shopping cart where 180DM can be purchased. If you have already purchased the orginal version, or the 180 Collection, check your e-mail for the url to the new book. If you have purchased it either way in the past, and DIDN’T receive an e-mail, please let me know at sacredself@gmail.com
1) Vanessa has been dieting for 27 years and weighs 330 pounds. She should now try to:
a) Do Weight Watchers (again)
b) Try Atkins (again), but try harder
c) Order food from Nutrisystem because Dan Marino said so
d) Extend her middle finger to all of the above
2) Lindsay has been going back and forth between low-fat vegetarian blogs and low-carb Paleo blogs, and has become very confused about what she should eat for health. It seems both sides have very intriguing and well-supported claims. She should:
a) Take the best of both sides and eat lots of animals and plants
b) Never visit either site ever again, smashing her computer with a hammer if need be
c) Stop reading diet books (other than ones written by the almighty Matt Stone)
d) All of the above
3) Antoine’s mom has diabetes. His dad died of a heart attack at age 57. He REALLY wants to be healthy, and has read that consuming too much fructose can lead to health problems that he knows he is hereditarily disposed to get later in life, but he didn’t sleep well last night, has a headache, and can’t stop thinking about ice cream this morning. Antoine should:
a) Go on a 5-mile run
b) Follow Dr. Mercola’s advice and tap on his forehead until the craving passes
c) Eat the F%#@ out of some ice cream, eat balanced, nourishing meals throughout the rest of the day, and go to bed earlier
d) Eat only eggs for a week to bring his insulin levels down
4) Janet has taken her body temperature reading for 10 days. The average morning axillary temperature reading is 95.7 degrees F. To bring this up she should:
a) Panic and run to the pharmacy to have an old thyroid medication bottle refilled
b) Start taking Hydroxycut or other ‘thermogenic? weight loss supplement
c) Do the Master Cleanse (the lemonade diet thing)
d) Eat as much nutritious food as she can, get as much sleep as possible including naps, and quit going to the gym until her temperature has risen
5) The best indicator of how much food you need to eat in a day is best determined:
a) By your hunger levels
b) By your body temperature
c) By how you feel ? your energy levels and such
d) All of the above
True or False?
6) The Atkins diet, if you use all organic foods, is a guaranteed way to lose weight with no risk of slowing down your metabolism.
7) The hormones leptin and adiponectin are just scientific mumbo jumbo. People are fat because they are lazy, have ‘thrifty genes,? and have no self-control.
8) Eating less and exercising more, although it lowers blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin levels, and body weight in the short-term, causes a host of physiological changes to transpire that typically lead to higher blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin levels, and body fat long-term ? including negating the attempt to eat less and exercise more because doing so invokes an equal and opposite reaction from the body that makes most people want to eat more and exercise less afterward.
9) Matt Stone, the author of this book feels a little bromance towards Jon Gabriel and totally has a crush on Diana Schwarzbein, which is why he quotes and references their work so heavily.
10) After reading 180 Degree Metabolism, only an imbecile would eat a highly restricted diet, battle cravings, and try to consciously manipulate the calories in/calories out equation.
Bonus Question!!!
A certified personal trainer that advocates a low-calorie, low-fat, high-protein diet with no saturated fat and no dietary cholesterol and recommends that you wear a pedometer to keep track of your physical activity for purposes of estimating daily calorie burn is walking towards a pack of hungry lions. You should:
a) Warn him about the lions
b) Join him in trying to outrun the lions for a good cardio workout
c) Tell him to come over and give you some more advice on how to cut calories from your diet so that you can ?lose weight and feel great!
d) Excite him by waving his favorite 100-calorie soy-protein snack bar in the air, and then throw it in the general direction of the lions, shutting the door behind him
Is that you and your girlfriend on the cover, or just two random people?
Ha ha! Just two random-ass people. I didn't design it, just asked for it to be designed. You know how it goes.
He-eey!
I got the mail announcing the completion of the book, but no mail with no address to the ebook itself, what gives? Bought the old Metabolism book ages ago.
What a excellent start of the day! I’ve really been looking forward to read your new book. I loved the other ones. It seems each one is even better than the last. So I’m sure this is going to be an awesome read. (Wow, I just realized how much of a health/nutrition geek I really am. Well I’m in good company here right?)
Matt, and all the experienced HED / RRARF ? ers, I need some input here. I’m going to be upfront here, the story is going to end in veganism, but only because that seems to work best for me.
Look, at heart I’m a Weston A. Price fan. But is seems my body doesn’t agree. Just for a little bit of background. My journey into the maze of nutrition began about 10 years ago with getting some certifications based on orthomoleculair nutrition (aka supplements for breakfast, lunch and diner with some actual food on the side). Than I discovered WAPF, later on got into metabolic typing, functional medicine, etc. somewhere on the line my (never excellent) health crashed (adrenal fatigue, h. pylori, giardia, Epstein barr, etc.). I was ?researching? a lot already about health, but the crash really got me going. I believe that nutrition was the key, so that was my focus. I was checking out the low fat vegan (prisoner)camps, the raw ?food? gurus, the traditional diets, the paleo men and anything in between. Just trying to make sense of it all. (Like apparently everybody else on this blog). Eventually I got over these problems on a primarily plant based diet. When I say plant based I still mean quality real food though. Not soy based or anything.
When I (and my girlfriend for that matter) eat a RRARF vegan style (I’m sorry if that combination of words made you nauseous or anything) we thrive. It’s just that we have 2 problems with this, we freaking love animal food and we’re a bit worried for long term consequences of this. What I mean with RRARF vegan style is more or less in line with the ‘thrive diet? by Brendan Brazier. It’s high calories, high carb (starch and fruit), high fat (coconut, palm, olive, nuts no pufa’s in the form of oils), moderate protein, quality foods, lots of it raw or cooked on a low temperature. When we eat like that we have tons of energy, we feel happy, our sweat doesn’t smell, etc.). When we add animal foods in our diet our energy declines along with our zest for life. Especially when we wake up in the morning, there is a huge huge difference. On the plant based diet, I wake up, want to get up and just go do my thing. If I have eaten animal products (any kind), my eyes are extremely heavy, my nose stuffed, and my breath? Not fresh man, not fresh.
So? does anybody recognize this and has anybody overcome these problems by healing their metabolism? Cause if I can have the type of energy and ?clearness? I experience on a plant based diet with animal food in my diet, I would sign up for that.
(Besides we live in a Weston A Price heaven. Our hamburgers (partly muscle, partly organ like liver and heart) come from cows, grazing in forests getting a massage right before they are slaughtered, it’s a 15 minute drive to obtain demeter quality raw goats milk, a 20 minute drive for demeter quality raw cows milk and our other fresh organic food is delivered to our doorstep. And my body doesn’t want it?? What the fuck..
Input please?
Man oh man, I think I got all the questions right except for the first one. I'm sorry Matt but I'm a hardcore Dolphins fan and have been since I can remember so I'm having problems showing my middle finger to Dan Marino even if he has been bought.
Awesome glad this got released for the weekend gives me some reading to do. Feeling far better on the HED diet but I have a question about coconut oil that maybe someone could answer or has had experience with….
Recently I have been going a bit nuts on the stuff stirring it into everything (tea, oatmeal, mashed taters you name it) and have noticed palpitations and restlessness which leads to insomnia. I have put it down to the coconut oil in particular as I can eat coconut flakes and have coconut milk with no negative consequences. The coconut oil I have been using it Virgin Raw Oil not sure if this makes a difference….. Anyhow if anyone has noticed something similar or knows why this could be (I am thinkin hyperthyroid symptoms) then that would be cool….
Anyhow I have been using more butter and less coconut as a fat source recently and feel better for it.
I got the mail announcing the completion of the book, but no mail with no address to the ebook itself, what gives? Bought the old Metabolism book ages ago.
Same here, except that I didn't buy the metabolism eBook ages ago, in fact I didn't even really "buy" it. So will I have to buy the new one or what?
i'm happy and beyond excited to buy this e-book and sit the husband down with it! thanks so much matt!
but i thought i'd point out i didn't get an e-mail about it, even though i've been a long time member.
Sweet, I am excited to read the new ebook!
Hey Matt, I have a couple questions.
First is about leptin. My understanding is that one of the goals of HED is to reduce leptin resistance. I'm reading a book right now called The Leptin Diet, and it says eating too much causes leptin resistance. Allow me to quote:
"Snacking flips on the insulin switch at the wrong time, which causes the consumed calories to head for fat storage. This is true even if a snack contains only fifty to a hundred calories. Anything that was a fatty acid headed for energy production is now repackaged as a triglyceride and stored: fat burning stops. This is why snacking and eating five to six meals a day is such a bad idea. Those prepetuating this way of eating as a means to stabilize blood sugar are actually fueling insulin resistance and leptin resistance. In reality, this significantly contributes to the societal epidemics of obesity and diabetes, inducing metabolism to function in a crippled manner. Snacking or eating too often confuses leptin, and sooner or later this catches up with an individual."
Granted it doesn't really say how this causes leptin resistance, so I'm not sure what I think of this yet. I intend to do a lot more reading. The daily caloric range recommended in the book seems low as well: 1200 to 1800 for women and 1600 to 2200 for men.
I'm also wondering about exercise. I've been really struggling with low energy… trouble getting out of bed, etc. I am trying to figure out a mind/body/diet approach that will break through this. I agree with you about as little stress as possible being restorative, especially for the adrenals, but practically every book I read stresses the importance of exercise. Even the book on adrenal fatigue I am reading stresses exercise, albeit in a more Schwarzbein like fashion: focus on balance and enjoyment and don't overdo it. I am wondering if some amount of physical activity is necessary to keep the body balanced.
Jay I may be off here but it could really be an acclamation issue. How long have you been a vegan? Do you know what the status of your adrenal fatigue is? How long of a period did you include animal products in your diet?
Try less "muscle" at first. Use eggs, cheese, stock, gelatin, fats (butter/tallow) etc.
Chris those MCFA can be burned up immediately by the body. When I first started incorporating coconut oil into my diet I had energy surges similar to eating too much sugar, of course without the crash. Try just using it in the morning and maybe afternoon. I still experience restless sleep on occasion if I make a dinner with lots of coconut oil or milk.
Oh yeah Matt can't wait to read the book man.
AaronF I am a huge proponent of really listening to your body. If you are feeling tired fatigued etc. then I would not recommend much if any exercise. Many many factors can contribute to fatigued and I don't think any of them can be corrected with exercise, only medicated.
Though some could give some pretty convincing evidence to the contrary.
Speaking from personal experience I have always seen more net gain by waiting until I feel like I need to move, walk, run, bike, lift heavy stuff off the ground before I do. The net gain didn't mean just muscularity/fat loose, I also mean energy, stamina, mood etc. I recover more quickly and end up exercising more often and the big clincher here is CONSISTENTLY.
Don't get me wrong Rosenfelt. I love Marino more than you can imagine. At age 6 I got my first set of Dolphins wristbands and a Marino jersey. #13 is the only Jersey I ever owned. Marino posters from SI – 80's style, with a side of Mark Clayton and super Duper. I guess seeing him in ads for Nutrisystem was kind of like when Metallica started writing love songs. I felt betrayed.
But focus on middle finger extension towards nutri-system, not Dan. I'm just saying that Dan saying so is not ample reason to pursue it. If Dan tells you to "go long" however, you do it!
Collden- Got you covered. You too Madmuhhh
Chris-
That does sound like some coconut-oil induced hyperthyroidism. For Christ's sake take it easy man! :)
Crazy Mama-
I didn't send out e-mails to members, just those who purchased the ebook or the Collection.
AaronF-
I do mention Byron in the new 180 Metabolism, and generally do discourage snacking during the "fat loss phase." But it's obvious that full leptin function is restored when you overfeed, hence the rise in body temperature. And there are misconceptions about overfeeding and insulin resistance as well. Overfeeding decreases it, assuming you are not fructose-binging.
Calories are important for restoring leptin sensitivity and getting the basal temperature into the all-cylinders range, but the idea in the eBook is that, when leptin sensitive and above the set point, even a low-calorie diet can be consumed and you can have tons of energy and a high body temperature. In other words, the body is not resisting weight loss and trying to stop it from occurring. I would agree with Byron that the more you get out of fewer calories, the better. But don't be too seduced by ol' Byron. He takes some major "scientific liberties" when it comes to understanding leptin resistance. In actuality, quite little is known about it, but Byron is on the right track with a lot of his information for sure, just not all of it.
As for exercise, it IS healthy and IS part of a well-balanced and sustainable healthy lifestyle. But RRARF or the milk diet are really specific strategies trying to accomplish a particular objective. They are temporary. They are more likely to allow exercise to be healthful because they improve the condition of your body.
Okay, now Jay-
Glad to have an open vegan around. One of the few out there for sure. Many human cultures ate almost a complete vegan diet most of the week, and then had some kind of meat feast once per week. That could be a great approach for you. Still, you know that I'm all about getting people to the point where they tolerate foods that they don't seem to tolerate better. I would think, if you don't seem to feel well day-to-day with meat and dairy, that you might be able to get the best of both worlds by sort of "cycling" your animal products – having a meat feast once a week or doing an occasional fast on milk.
But hey, some people seem to thrive without much animal stuff in their diets. The reason I issue warnings about it is that the odds aren't good, and many people ignore how they feel because of some ideological dogma or BS health propaganda attached to it. Because of that, it's risky business, just like VLC diets, which also have pitfalls. But I would try to incorporate animal products on occasion at the very least. Doesn't have to be every day.
Rami Nagel seems like a good source of info. for transitioning from vegan to a mixed diet with more animal fat and protein.
Jay –
dieting, lack of animal foods, hormonal circumstances from pregnancy or imbalances, certain cholesterol numbers, drugs and alcohol, etc all promote the formation of gall stones. babies can be born with them.
sometimes people have problems increasing protein and fat (eating animal foods) because their livers, gall bladders, various ducts and pancreas are not functioning at top notch due to stones and sludge slowing the release of bile for digestion
i think this is an important thing to be aware of. last august i ended up in the ER with extreme pain from a blocked bile duct, had a minor procedure to clear it, but fought the surgeon to keep my gall bladder.
it is entirely possible to improve gall bladder health although the modern medical community would have you believe otherwise. if eating animal foods makes you feel like crap it could be because your bile system is fugged up
I've certainly heard raw vegan gallbladder removal stories.
And I must admit, I was never smelly eating lots of meat until I went through a juice-fasting, vegetarian-ish phase. When I went into eating raw meats I was one stinky mofo. I'm much better now, and have noticed that eating carbohydrates with meat helps me with this problem the most.
Like I said, my goal is helping people heal themselves and increase the amount and type of foods they can consume without ill effect.
Matt, i mean no disrespect, but why should i buy your new e-book? As far as i can tell, you are a self-educated dude with no official credentials. I'm interested, but my wife (who needs to lose about 50 pounds) is a skeptic. We are Nina Planck/diana schwarzbein disciples, eat whole real food, aren't afraid of real fats and think low-carb ketogenic diets are basicly flawed, and guide our meals using the "schwarzbein square". So i think we are on the same page as you. But before i drop my hard-earned cash on your book, what say you? have you just cobbled your approach together from your reading, or can you back up what you say? BTW, loved the interview with Jimmy, listened to it twice.
Come on, Matt- talking smack on Mercola's fave, EFT? A shame, man. :-D
Otherwise, right on. Read through a bunch this morning, and I like it. I do see a bit of relevance to IF, and appreciate that you stay open to it.
It seems true that food cultures the world over have pretty set timing patterns, and that we evolved in equatorial climates with probably an abundance of food. The notion of forager abundance comes to mind here, especially thinking about Gabriel- we live in safety and abundance and so our bodies don't need to hold onto extra weight. That can exist alongside intermittent fasts, though- I'm thinking of ethnographic accounts of times where forager bands didn't find food for a while, but they also never ceased trusting in abundance, and the generosity of the land to support their every need.
Also- the more regimented food cultures so far as I can see, tend to be agrarian, and so after most of our evolutionary development. This may not be accurate across the board, but I distinctly remember reading that, aside from feasts when game came in and everyone tended to eat together, there was no set meal times among many forager groups, and people ate or didn't as they saw fit. This was part of the whole almost incomprehensible level of respect for people's self-direction, since any 'requirement' in terms of when to be present for eating represents some abrogation of autonomy.
All of that's not to say that people didn't love to gather round the hearth together and eat- they did and we all still do. And that's not to say there might not be some benefit to eating at regular intervals today, especially for those of us with injured metabolisms. But I have to agree that plausibly, eating at 8am, 1pm and 6pm, or some schedule like that probably was not inherent in our evolution. (And that doesn't even take into account the varying notions of time among indigenous cultures from our own, such that having concepts of our demarcations like that might make little to no sense, and for that reason too might not reliably describe their eating patterns).
Anyway- really enjoying this, and i like your writing, Matt. Looking forward to getting through the rest of the book.
Cheers, amigo.
i love tests where you can get the answers right without reading the question!
"As far as i can tell, you are a self-educated dude with no official credentials."
I think this is some dangerous thinking. While official credentials or titles might offer a good guideline, I think too many people put too much blind trust in that.
I am not saying you should rush out and buy Matt's book immediately, I just think people should stop paying so much attention to official credentials and start judging people and the stuff they put out on what exactly it is they write/say and how they back it up. Gary Taubes was no doctor either.
Hey Matt,
I got the e-book and I'm reading it now, good stuff. Quick question, in phase one can I use an oral temperature and just adjust the 97.8 to 98.3? I think I remember you saying that is the difference between the two. It would just be a lot easier I think. Also, I know you wrote it in the book but do you see a problem with eating a lot of natural fruit for carbs and not as much starch? Not sure if your position on fructose has changed. I'm trying to mostly eat foods with a lot of nutrients/minerals.
Thanks
Rob A. – Excellent response my friend. Regimented meal times are certainly not a mandatory requirement of some kind predicated on early man's eating behavior. Instead, just think of that kind of thing as a specific rehabilitative strategy for a sick, modern person needing to lose weight. At least that's how I tend to look at nutrition in the modern world. A sea of strategies to regain health and balance – all with their own unique applications.
Anonymous-
You don't have to buy my book. I'm not a hard seller. But to think that I needed justification to read the 200 or so books I've read on health is silly. I read those books, purchasing most of them, because I wanted to hear what people said and why. Each type of experience and study has its own pros and cons. The fact that I don't possess mainstream credentials means that I have not been brainwashed by a stubborn and outdated belief system on health and nutrition. I have the freedom to explore the topic from a clean slate, with an open mind – not a closed one already chock full of preconceptions.
Planck is great. She has no credentials though, and her knowledge of nutrition, although excellent, doesn't even come close to encompassing the breadth and variety of my own research.
Schwarzbein was out of medical school before leptin and adiponectin were even discovered. She had no training in nutrition, no knowledge of PUFA or fructose or anything in depth. Leptin gives greater context to and understanding and insight to all of endocrinology. Much of endocrinology actually becomes obselete now that we are starting to understand leptin. I mean, Schwarzbein actually believed that spiking insulin by eating too many carbohydrates is the cause of insulin resistance. It doesn't work that way at all.
And her credentials are that she departed from conventional wisdom and explored the topic of health, diet, and hormones in a new way. I have done the same.
My greatest credential for buying my book is that I'm a professional writer. Based on that, you should buy my book – and have Schwarzbein as your doctor :)
But there are many "uncredentialed" experts and contributors to health information out there. I mean, come on. Sally Fallon, Melvin Page, Weston A. Price, Jon Gabriel, Gary Taubes, Jack Challem, Russ Farris. Even Suzanne Somers be tryin' to get a piece baby! Think of what we would all miss by refusing to read any of those based on a person's credentials.
I appreciate your apprehension though. I'm a big fan of apprehension, caution when it comes to investigating health information (and all information), and so on.
If you do read it, I hope you like it, and that it is useful.
Mark-
Like I said, I welcome your experimentation in the starch/sugar ratio area. I still feel much more confident in starch, due to its much higher satiation index and 'thermogenic' potential via its impact on leptin (it causes leptin to rise and increases leptin sensitivity – fructose does neither).
Matt,
thanks for taking the time to reply, an EXCELLENT answer!! I'm sold – although i'm at work so I have to wait to order it from home.
I have one question – if one has a "healed metabolism" and is rock-steady at an ideal weight (me, I believe), do you see any problem in a couple of pieces of fruit daily, in addition to the meal carbs?
Good point. I forgot about that. So in phase one we can have discretion with food combinations as long as we avoid excess sugars and omega-6 oils? So one person could do high carb/low fat and another could do the opposite? If this is giving too much away and you would rather me just e-mail you, please let me know. Thanks
hey,
http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100256851>1=31036
troy
Matt, huge changes and progress from your first ebook on metabolism. Really well put together and logical. was strange to read you talking about fat loss strategies after HED.:) :) I got Gabriel's book just before you blogged about it and though i don't agree on his take on Omega 3s I thought it was ?ber insightful about becoming fat and thin, so was glad to see you quoted him quite a bit. You continue to make me laugh too :)
Matt,
Just had a quick skim through, and congrats, looks really, really good.
For your "critics" out there, this should shut them up. You are ever evolving with your ideas while sticking to that core belief about healing the metabolism and nourishing oneself with as much good food as possible.
I do not have to agree with everything you put out, so what. For example, IF to me is flavor of the month stuff. But, it works for some I guess, good on them. I just will not blindly follow it. Right now, life is good, this HED, now up to 5K calories a day (although addicted to buttery mashed potatoes, my "crack" so to speak!), is getting to be effortless quite frankly. 6 weeks in and my basal temp is now 97.7 (just this morning), so am almost there. Weight is up from 237 to 244, but much of that is water/glycogen in the muscles. Has to be. Pants are getting tighter, true, but in a moment of pure vanity flexed in front of a mirror and was surprised at how big my arms are looking…(OK, those assisted one arm pullups I am doing have something to do with it as well!)
Am looking forward to when the appetite drops off and the fat starts dropping off…:)
Ready it carefully. You'll see no such endorsement for IF. I mention that it is one thing I'm interested to explore more of, but in general I show great hesitation and reluctance in encrouaging anyone to explore any of those techniques. I talk about the fact that IF and other fitness-guru gimmicks may have a "dark side."
Thanks Matt.
Oh for sure, I will read it carefully. Like I said, only time for a quick review, so have not got too much into the detail yet.
Gimmick, that is the proper word. Hence my flavor of the month comment. You will go to these blogs, in particular low carb ones, and it is now oh so fashionable to throw in IF into the mix.
I just purchased your collection; between you and the Schwarzbein books that finally came in, I've got my weekend set!
Thanks Matt for all you do!
The new book is excellent. I've only read about half so far, but this is way more than an update to the old one – there's lots of new material.
Thank you for putting all this health and nutrition information into such an enjoyable and easy-to-read format.
What's the "dark side" of IF?
The most prolific fitness-gurus that are advocating IF have clients and testimonials to back up the method. Martin Berkhan comes to mind.
You on the other hand have nothing?
I think Matt is suggesting that if you are severely metabolically f-up'd, fasting will only add to the matters and make things much worse.
Matt,
I apologize for this being off topic but I have a general health related question. I was wondering if you could comment on the impact of carbohydrates on cholesterol profiles (e.g. lowering HDL while increasing dense LDL). Do you think this is a cause of concern? Thanks.
Mitch
Matt, the 2 people from the cover of your book didn’t achieve their ripped bodies by eating HED.
If you are looking to be like that, you should do other things.
I agree that many people, just by eating natural foods freely can lose weight, but they can’t expect to look like the guys from the cover.
And I am not implying either that having a six pack is necessarily healthier than eating 180 style.
My point is that by trying to emulate the image of the persons from the cover, many have become seriously damaged because of restricting calories and/or certain foods, and that’s what 180 degree is all about, right? Eating lots of real food and avoid dieting like the plague.
Max
@Anonymous (Max)
Well said.
We know what Matt is about. Finding something sustainable, enjoyable while still looking pretty good overall. I have no doubt that 99% of the population can become relatively lean and fat free (Venuto mentions 10-14% for males, 16-20% for females), just by following in general what Matt talks about (or a Jon Gabriel for that matter). Low carb, low fat, experiment till you find your sweet spot within the whole 180 degree mindset.
About a year or so ago, I invested in a little education. Cost me 60 bucks, I took out a so called "platinum membership" on a fitness site for two months that is no holds bar pro AAS (roids to the general public). Heck, the free content was revealing enough, but the pay stuff, mind boggling. Fitness models, figure competitors, Men's Health cover boys, competitive bb'ers discussing their drug cycles, ones they had to revert to when, well you know, the cutting calories and doing 2 hours of cardio per day just was not cutting it (pun fully intended) any more. Just confirmed in my mind what a book like "The Adonis Complex" and a movie like "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" tells us. 95% of these ripped people are not 100% natural.
There is a better way.
Dear Matt Stone,
Your killer combination of nutritional prowess and rollicking sense of humor have me laughing to the point of tears while simultaneously raising my basal body temperature. Thank you for both your wit and wisdom. I am forever a follower. So excited to read the new 180 Metabolism.
Mitch – Just last night I was wondering the same thing, i.e., has anyone doing HED had their lipid panels done lately? When I was doing low-carb my lipid panels were excellent, but I ended up in that death spiral of being unable to control my weight, adding more and more exercise, further restricting carbs, and obsessing about food, etc., etc.
Now I'm not doing HED per se, more like SED (Some of Everything Diet), and I feel great, my weight is down, and more importantly I don't have to exercise all the time and no more food obsessions. However, I have not had my lipid panels re-done.
Matt,
I agree with some of the previous remarks. You should change the cover of the book, as I think it completely misrepresents your content. To maintain a physique like that would require serious calorie reduction, tons of exercise, and probably drugs for many.
^^ Yeah agreed IMO using those cover models strikes me as very odd (or just greedy as in trying to attract buyers…) considering the message you are trying to spread.
I don't think the cover is unrealistic–although I wouldn't picture a 180 degree health cover like that…anyway, I know many high everything eaters who are leaner and more muscular than the cover model, including me–and I guess my sister, comparing her to the girl. A good metabolism will trump [almost] everything else…
Guys give Matt a break on the e-book cover. I actually know plenty of people with a healthy metabolism who have bodies like that without doing excess cardio or obsessive eating and just lifting weights… So it is not unattainable for some.
Just finished reading the e-book and it is amazing, certainly not a redux of the original it is a totally different beast. Well done for churning this out and keeping the sense of humor and fluid writing style throughout.
Jon Gabriel is at least as lean as the people on the cover, and his philosophy is very close to Matts.
Just finished the book and it's a great read, particularly liked the second half of the book since it covers more new ground. And very good introduction.
I'm personally going to try a milk diet for a few weeks now (using not raw milk, since it's outlawed and practically impossible to obtain in Sweden, but low-pasteurized non-homogenized whole fat milk, I hope it will be at least a workable substitute), and then probably put an end to the HED with a week or two of E&S diet (with some added fat probably) . I haven't gained an ounce in six weeks now, so I reckon I might be ready.
About IF, it has a very clearly hunger-suppressive and energizing effect. Back when I started it 2 years ago, I was on a restricted diet of about 1700 kcal a day, and even though I didn't change my daily caloric intake or types of food, IF'ing made all the difference between near constant miserable hunger – and actually being quite comfortable with a low calorie diet. I personally think this has more to do with increased adrenaline output than leptin, but I guess studies on the latter are pretty lacking.
I don't know if intermittently fasting is metabolically harmful in itself. I suspect it isn't, but only time will tell if lifelong IF'ers like Martin Berkhan eventually will run into problems or not. What I do know is that, much like caffeine and other "tricks" to make fat loss easier, IF makes it alot easier to sustain an unhealthy habit like chronic dieting and overexercising. My body was right to protest when I deliberately starved myself, and the fact that going on IF completely silenced these protests is what eventually began to worry me, much like how a low-carb diet can almost completely shut off hunger feelings, even as an extremely lean male on 1500 kcals a day.
Besides, the months before I finally quit IF'ing, I began to notice some signs of increasing adrenaline dependance. When you do IF, you usually have great energy until your first meal, and from that point on during your feeding period there is a massive shutdown of the sympathetic nervous system and you become very tired and sluggish. What I had noticed in the final months of IF was that this onset of tiredness became ever more marked, it got to the point where I could barely follow an afternoon lecture because I felt so hazy after lunch.
So to counter this I started experimenting with increasing the fasting period to delay the onset of tiredness, moving past Berkhans 16/8 split, first by just eating everything in the evening right before bedtime, then into more like Every-other-day fasting, and finally it got the point where I would fast for almost 40 hours. I didn't really feel bad doing any of this, I just got freaked out by where I was going with my ever more extreme attempts to prolong the adrenaline rush of fasting, and about that time is when I stumbled upon 180 Degree Health and abandoned IF.
Admittedly, the core problem in all of this was probably a low caloric intake, not fasting itself, the danger of IF is that it easily permits a dangerously low caloric intake in the first place. So as long as you have a healthy metabolism and make sure you eat enough food when you do eat, there probably is no great harm to it if it should suit your lifestyle better to fast for most of the day.
Great job on the book, Matt! You just keep getting better and better.
Anonymous and anyone else deciding what Matt has to offer: I work in a place FULL of diet books, I own tons of them and nothing (nothing!) comes close to being as helpful, well-written, logical and scientifically sound as Matt's books. (Gabriel is a close 2nd for me. But I’m a sucker for the woo-woo stuff.)
Consider 180 Kitchen as your next purchase – it's awesome.
John, You know many people who follow the HED and are leaner and more muscular than the cover models?! This is absolutely amazing and almost unbelievable. Either they have great genetics or they are taking drugs. I am also pretty sure that those models dieted for the photoshoot.
Collden, Gabriel is not as lean and muscular as those cover models.
Matt,
Just so you know…I am (quasi)breaking a New Year's Resolution to buy your book. I pledged to not buy any diet books this year. And am glad I made that resolution because it has helped me deprogram a bit before I found your work. It has made all the sense in the world.
Ok, off to Paypal.
JT
I didn't say anything about muscularity, he is certainly leaner though, just look at his ribs.
Can anyone tell me if this is cheating? I've always slept with a heater going in my room to make the air more comfortable, but is it possible that that is skewing my morning temps? Today the armpit showed up as 97.9, and I'd hate to think that I'm actually lower than that.
Please, some feedback would be nice!
Don’t get me wrong, leaving the cover from the book aside, Matt Stone is one of the best authours about health and nutrition I have ever read.
Thanks to Matt’s work I have found the way to make a slight calorie deficit work long term. And that is simply by checking my body temperature first thing in the morning. As long as it is high I am doing things right and I am not hungry. If it drops too low, it means that I am begining to transit in the danger zone of metabolic slowdown and rebound hyperphagia.
So, in my experience, to achieve a ripped body you don’t need to do ‘starvation? like Matt said. You have to find a way of creating a slight calorie deficit sustainable in time. And thanks to Matt I have found it.
Max
Katerina, it shouldn't effect the temp too much, but to be sure try it with it off for a few days and see if it makes a difference.
On IF…I did IF for about 3 years over the course of 5 years. Started with the Warrior Diet, lost weight, got to almost 10% bodyfat and I started gaining fat after about a year eating the same way.
I decided to re-visit IF again about a year and a half later and, following my hunger, my caloric intake fell to about 1500 calories a day, then I started gaining fat again (on 1500 calories a day…while going to grad school…while working out 6 or 7 days a week [high volume bodybuilding]…etc.). When I started gaining fat at that low calorie level, I noticed I started losing some of my eyebrows, I was cold ALL the time, could not stay awake for an entire day. I guess you could say that I'm not a big fan of IF anymore.
JT,
I don't want to get into an argument in the comments sections, but "excuses" like that must stem from jealously/low self-esteem and are incorrect.
If anything, Jon Gabriel may be a tad too thin. He is 185 pounds or so, but what I have seen of him through videos and whatnot, he is a tall fellow, I'm guessing 6'3" or 6'4". Call it a BMI of 23-24.
I say he is lean and muscular enough. He certainly is not skinny fat, look at how angular his face is (we all have friends I am sure who are "skinny fat", and I always notice the roundness of their faces). I call him 11-12% BF, which means in the whole great wide world out there, he would be described as, and we have all heard this expression, "he doesn't have an ounce of fat on his body".
Just ordered his book and am looking forward to reading it.
John,
what excuses are you talking about? I maintain a good physique, but I freely admit that it takes a lot of effort. I have had to work very hard and go hungry quite a bit to get to this point. Matt's dietary philosophy is the exact opposite of this and the goal is to be healthy not develop a physique like the cover models. I think matt is putting out a product that could help people get out of the diet trap, but he will make it worse by giving the wrong expectations and unhealthy body image.
Also, I know very well what goes on in the physique and modeling industry as I have been around the scene for quite a while now. Drugs and extreme dieting are a major part of what goes on. If you think otherwise you are extremely naive and have fallen for the marketing that this business pushes.
Jay Quasters,
I am very interested in you story. I have found lately that I am doing better on a higher carb diet, but don't know if I could ever go completely vegan for the longterm. You said that you were involved with metabolic typing, did this have anything to do with you switching to vegan? Which type of metabolic typing are you involved with?
JT:
If you could stop by my blog, I would like to get your ideas on a few topics on diet and training.
Dont want to clutter up Matt's section
Wouldn't the girl in the book cover have thicker arms? She appears too skinny to be a 180 dieter.
yeah, those arms are creepy. actually the 2 models are both creepy. i find the cover photo to be way to fitness-book typical – as in NOT 180 at all as compared to the usual diet book cover. plus, when guy's pants are so low like that (like right above pubic hair) it creeps me out. gross. pull yer dam pants up, for gods sake! or it makes me think they shave down there for the low rider look, which is even grosser. so, i guess i just think 180 diet ideas should have a 180 style cover, not the usual drek.
The girl is slearly pulling in her stomach, she's not that thin (although the arms are weird, I agree).
JT, if you are going hungry, maybe you're messing up your metabolism, too…
Hey, thanks for the feedback on the book cover. LOL big time.
I told the guys designing it specifically that I didn't want some cheesy ripped person photo on the front. Because what they put out was not so in-yo-face retarded, like something you might see on one of Lyle McDonald's books, I felt okay with it – but a little reserved overall.
But I do hope to help everyone become healthy and heal their metabolisms (step 1), and also be able to provide some stellar guidance in becoming lean without running into the endless pifalls (like what da boyz above describe as far as IF for example – and yes, that's what I mean by dark side, serious adrenal effing).
Yes, you can become very lean by starving yourself and going hungry. I have been far leaner than the guy on the cover of that eBook, and it was without question the most harmful thing I've ever done to myself. I don't expect to ever be that lean again, although it did make it much easier to count all my vertebrae.
But I expect, with the right approach preceeded by getting the metaoblism in tip-top shape via RRARF/HED, the milk diet, or a combination – could get people to the destination of leanness and health. Being healthy and fat is never going to be good enough for most people. I hope to deliver both, and WE will certainly be exploring that, along with further refining the powerful tool of overfeeding in the coming years at 180D.
Thanks on all the kudos from everyone that has read or is reading the book. I hope I can continue the rate of progress in the improvement in my writing and depth of material as I've seen since writing 180 Metabolism Uno in November/December of 2008. I just can't wait to see where we're at in 5 years. We're just now dipping our toes into the pool right now. Thanks to all for following along. As burnt out as I may be from pumping out that book over the last 5 weeks, I'm super pumped. I'm liking where we're headed. Certainly breaking some new ground I'd say.
Anonymous, are you joking? Just because you are hungry doesn't mean you are ruining your metabolism. But, if you desire to reach abnormal levels of muscularity and leanness, sometimes you will be hungry. If anyone tells you something else they are lying. Of course, if you have elite genetics, what I am saying doesn't apply to you. Matt doesn't preach what you are saying either.
Does this book have any relevance for people in their seventies? Most of the comments seem to come from another planet. Presumably the book does too!
Some people already have serious thyroid issues, such as not having any thyroid gland. Will they get any realistic help from the book?
Ha ha! Thanks Nilla.
The book is certainly educational on many fronts. It has relevance for everyone. If you have a damaged or truly dysfunctional (extremely low thyroid panels – very rare) thyroid gland, you won't necessarily get full usefulness out of it.
JT-
I certainly feel like hunger is anti-metabolic, and that weight loss pursued by using willpower against hunger is a dead end at best, and very harmful if taken to extremes. But people can certainly lose vast quantities of weight without ever-increasing hunger if they do it via lowering their set point instead of forcing their weight off and dropping below the set point, which will trigger the famine response.
Day 2 of the milk diet, it feels really good so far. Apart from the obvious simplicity of just sipping on a glass of milk all day rather than waste 2 hours on cooking, it gives really nice blood sugar control and a comfortable satiety throughout the day. No bloating, no stomach discomfort, no gas, and very nice stools (hardly need toilet paper now, which I definitely went through a lot of on the regular HED), so I guess my digestion is just fine.
I'm drinking about 5 litres of non-homogenized low-pasteurixed whole fat milk per day (about 3300 kcal), so I also stay satiated a far fewer calories. Despite this I'm sweating a lot more than on the regular HED.
So so far, doing the milk diet on pasteurized milk is certainly no disaster.
Matt, my experience is the exact opposite of what you are saying. I went with extreme hunger for a long period of time and my metabolism improved as I lost fat and gained muscle. At this time my thyroid also improved, which would not have happened if the metabolism was slowing down. Of course I was training in a manner to stimulate my metabolism. Now I am to the point where I can eat as much as I want and I am not gaining any fat as long as I keep my fat low. This would not have happened if I had damaged my metabolism and set myself up for a fat rebound. I also know many other people that are in my situation.
Actually, when your metabolism is really going high you are always hungry no matter how much you eat. So, hunger could be viewed as a sign that metabolism is improving as long as it is in the right context.
The biggest problem is people don't know how to properly monitor their biofeedback and adjust diet and exercise accordingly.
"The biggest problem is people don't know how to properly monitor their biofeedback and adjust diet and exercise accordingly."
Amen JT. Your approach using the advice of Abel is much more advanced than the typical dieter. The use of re-feeds with a two steps forward, one-step back approach has great potential no doubt. I speak pretty highly of Abel in the book even though I have my doubts that a very overweight person could really get the same effect that his professional athlete and fitness competitor clientele get.
I'm also open to ways in which the metabolism can be healed without overfeeding, but have not found a reliable means of achieving that without some major burnout potential (like what might be seen with amphetamine use).
Collden-
You might consider a little bit of citrus fruit with the pasteurized milk diet per the recommendation of Bernarr MacFadden on the use of pasteurized milk.
I read this article http://tinyurl.com/ya2l63c earlier today and thought it maybe of interest to 180 readers who have been ducked by fiets… Especially the female following. A load of it rang true to me anyway. basically dieting of any kind feels good at first then comes back with a vengeance once your body starts resisting…
@Matt: Why exactly are citrus foods recommended when using pasteurized milk? Do they contain some digestive enzymes or what?
@Colld?n: You could also try adding in some kefir just to see whether it makes a difference, but that suggestion is just based on my "intuition" and if you don't have any kefir grains at hand that suggestion probably won't be of any use to you anyways.
Oh, and Matt, you still got some work to do! ;-)
madMuhhh, I think he suggests citrus for the lost Vitamin C and probably helps to digest the milk through the acid curdling the milk
Matt,I wanna believe in the eat everything diet,I really do.But I get some severe hypoglycemia from it.I feel amazing on Optimal diet though.But I have noticed that I can feel bad on Optimal also.
What I feel is happening is that its all about calories.You have to admit many people look and feel marvelous on low carb.Why is this?Well from what I gather it seems that the ones who feel great AND get to their goal and maintain are the ones that really put the LC food down.One female eating 3500cal per day with no weight gain opens up this idea.She eats so much LC food that it makes me sick thinking about it.But while she won't admit that this is not everyday occurence I believe that some days she just can't stomach whole racks of ribs etc…
Yrs back I was suggesting people fat cycle on the LC forums.It never took off but I always have felt that this could be a great way to keep the metabolism humming for the LC'ers out there.
I will tell you of me eating Optimal diet and slamming pints of heavy cream per day on top of my two 1000cal meals per day.I didn't lose weight but when I cut out the pint of heavy cream the fat just poured off me.Then I hit hypothyroidism.This is super obvious for me.Weightloss stops but more important and obvious is that my forehead starts peeling.I get severe dry skin whenever my weightloss slows and so a great indicator of me causing metabolic havoc.
The only thing that sucks is that I read the Gabriel Method from your advice.I started running up stairs and on LC I just can't run.Last week I ate 30gms carbs every hour for 8 hrs and the next day I ran at the fastest speed I have ever run up 6 flights of stairs.Its sad that carbs make me so much better performance wise
So what do those of us who don't have a naturally functioning thyroid do? I had Grave's Disease about 10 years ago and had a radioactive iodine ablation which subsequently destroyed my thyroid to where it no longer functions. I take about 185 mcg of synthroid every day. Is there any help for someone like me? Sarah
Hey guys,
I created my first "milk diet" video and I uploaded it on youtube but for some reason the audio and video were off. Don't really know how to fix it so instead I uploaded the video on http://www.blip.tv which is basically like youtube just not as famous.
I hope that doesn't turn out to be much of a problem since I will post all of my video updates through the course of the milk diet there.
Anyways, here is the link to my video and I welcome any comments, criticism, suggestions etc…
http://blip.tv/file/3471651
Screw it!!!! I just had some veal Parmigian w/spaghetti.And now a pint of Hagen Daz Vanilla!!I am gonna give this another week trial run.Still haven't tested my temperature so buying one manana is on my list.Crazy but I feel like working out and haven't worked out in months.
Rosenfelt, just watched your video…your skin looks pretty good to me.
I just wanna say that I too tried Bee's Candida diet. I just couldn't stomach all that coconut oil and fat without having something to put it on though. I mean, 2 T coconut oil, 1 T butter, 2 raw egg smoothie every morning. All the supplements and butt treatments she recommends is a little crazy too. Plus, no grains, starches, sweeter veggies, no fruit…and worst of all, no dairy at all. Bee also makes it very clear that you will pretty much have to eat like that forever to keep the candida in check, so it doesn't really cure anything.
I don't even know if I have a candida problem. I just assumed I did since I'm fat and have some redness on my cheeks and chest.
The diet was too hard to continue, it just didn't feel right. I did lose several pounds from it, but I think that is only because I spent the entire time on the toilet. I was scared to leave my house…it was pretty horrible. I can't imagine anyone doing that for long term.
rosenfeltc,
its going to be fun hearing about your progress. I want to try it for fun… i will probably wait and try it when i move to nicaragua someday… chill in a beach hut, drink raw milk all day, swim, and surf all day, while lying in the sun.
troy
JT,
Interesting comment about being "always hungry" when you have a high metabolism–I feel this describes me, but I am not sure as to whether this is due to "faulty biofeedback" (hormonal?) or actually needing the food to prevent weight loss.
Not sure if you read ramblings of a carnivore, but the most recent post explores the relationship between constant hunger and inefficient fat oxidation.
@rosenfeltc Thanks for the name drop! Watched part 1 and 2, awesome work. I can't believe how similar how stories are from crappy diets in youth, antibiotics, following Bee's diet (I did it for 9months… been regretting that choice, but it did lead me to 180, with all the research I was doing), etc… only major difference I see is; I had high PUFA's/Omega6 throughout my youth and adulthood.
I hear you on the skin front, mine is doing better, but no where near where I would like it to be, I think in time it will get better on RRARF but a kick in the ass from Dair-oids might be the way to go. My temps are responding on RRARF, but climbing very slowly, about 0.5 to 0.6 over the last 6months, to ~97.4 this month
Anyway after watching I am sold, going to talk to my farm supply this week and get on the milk diet, hopefully they can handle a bigger order.
Questions:
We are pretty much the same height and weight, how much per day are you going to drink? I will need to convert that to liters.
Is 6weeks the normal time frame?
I will be able to track basal, and weight as well. I should be able to start next Monday, due to my milk being delivered weekly. I won't be on bedrest, that would be nice, but I will only do occasional walks for exercise.
Question for Elizabeth, do you have to pee all day long? I read about your bowels issues, anything to report on urinating? Thanks
LOL!
I would never have thought that so many people here were on Bee's candida diet. Same here, only for 1 or 2 minths, but still.
To anyone curious about adding citrus to the milk diet: From what I understand the citrus fruits are very stimulating to the digestive system, and will help the body produce what it needs to digest the milk more efficiently. (I'm sure kefir would probably do something similar, madMUHHH.)
undertow – Yes, I did have to go to the bathroom more than usual drinking all that milk. It's 80% water so that's a lot of fluid intake. Good luck trying out the milk diet! :)
I looked into Bee's candida diet too, but the idea of cutting out all those foods was really unappealing to me. Now I'm glad I didn't bother!
Matt – I agree with you on the hunger thing. I really detest the "no pain, no gain" mantra. When I was a heavy dieter I loved being hungry because I could just feel my body eating away at all that fat. Of course, little did I know at the time it was eating at my muscles, bones and organs, too. Telling people that hunger is a good thing is a slippery slope in my opinion. It pretty much sounds like all the other advice out there: starve yourself and get going on the treadmill!
I have to say, even though I'm of course urinating a lot more during the day on the milk diet, I haven't yet had to get up for a pee in the middle of the night, like I still had to do some nights on the HED, but just sleep 7-8 hours straight. Funny how that works.
Trying the citrus right now, it doesn't detract as much from the taste as I'd thought.
@rosenfeltc: When you talk about temperatures you mention numbers like 182 and 190 or something. What kind of unit is that? Certainly not Fahrenheit and definitely not Celsius either.
@madMUHHH and rosenfeltc – I forgot to ask that as well, is that in kelvin?
@undertow: unlikely. 180?F are -135.67K. (It's "K" and not "?K", isn't it?)
Ugh, mixed up Kelvin and Fahrenheit 180K are -135,67 ?F.
Thanks for your comments on the Milk Diet without raw milk, Collden. That's what I'm planning on doing: lightly pasteurized, non-homogenized, grass fed milk. I can actually get that delivered right to my door at home and at work. I'm kind of waiting to see how it works for you and if you have the same big spike in temps that Liz had with raw. Hope you don't mind being my guinea pig!
I'm looking forward to getting the new ebook. The cover is generic, I think people are over-reacting to it. I like Matt's pictures of himself on the website which say more about a real person. I actually agree with JT for once (don't faint, man), but I think fitness models go through all sorts of crazy f'd up stuff to look that way. Not that you can't get lean on 180 but there's a difference between being lean and being like that.
Strange experience this week, I finally broke through my sugar cravings and was able to go 6 days without any fructose whatsoever. I didn't have cravings at all until yesterday after a moderately strenuous bike ride, when all I could think of was carbs, carbs, carbs and especially bananas, bread and orange juice.
I wonder if Kombucha would have the same effect as citrus for someone doing milk cure on pasteurized milk…I'm Kombucha Ka-razy lately. It's the only thing that kills my beer/booze cravings.
@madMUHHH I went and looked up a converter and realized definitely not kelvin, unless he is frozen in carbonite!
Sarah-
The best resource online for someone with a truly bum thyroid is Janie Bowthorpe's http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
She'll have you convinced in no time that desiccated thyroid is better than Synthroid, and I tend to agree based on what I've come across.
Madmuhh-
Riles answered your question on citrus perfectly.
Wolf-
Typical feedback my friend. Here's the deal –
A low metabolism causes you to have hypoglycemia when you eat carbs, so you have 2 choices:
1) Don't eat carbs
2) Raise the metabolism
The sad thing is that 19 out of 20 nutrition-oriented sites would identify your problem and recommend avoiding the carbs, since they aggravate your condition.
Oops!
If you just eat a little carbohdyrate while otherwise on Kwasniewski (no, I will not call it the Optimal diet), you won't get the stimulation you need. Your "screw it" approach will get you to the carb tolerance destination much more quickly.
Best of luck. I have no doubt you're making a good decision by ditching Kwaz. I had poor tolerance when eating Kwazzy too. Just eating a banana would make me tear up like a little girl the next day and break out. Going overboard on fat can certainly interfere with carbohydrate metabolism.
In fact, you might be better off following a similar regimen as Riles – the potato king.
BTW Riles, you should call your diet the Uber Tuber Diet.
matt-
great job on the e-book! glad to have it. my husband read it non-stop all weekend: YES! i think he's gonna try some recomposition…. :)
Jenny
You're welcome. I haven't measured my basal temp yet, but I certainly feel warmer than on the HED, and my temp was 98.2F already then.
Colld?n, How much milk per day are you drinking? My calculation seem to work out to 6liters per day. So approx 6 quarts a day when I start.
That is following the guideline in Dr. Porters book;
"You drink 5 to 7 ounces of raw milk every half hour from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm."
undertow
I just sip on a glass of milk pretty much continually throughout the day, works out to about 5-6 liters a day.
Logistically it's a bit of a hassle to bring home on average 6 liters of milk every day (I have no car and a small fridge), but it sure beats spending hours cooking meals.
Great advice Matt.I can not believe how good I felt today.Had a coffee with sugar and hit the gym at 5am and had an amazing workout.I asked the clerk when I was leaving how many days its been since I last visited the gym and he said 48days.Thats 48 days where I just did not wanna work out.I eat alot of calories night before and bam my enthusiasm goes way up.
A funny thing happened to me on my vacation a few weeks back.I was drinking alot and eating alot and just trying to make a tropical oasis out of NYC.Now one would think that I would start to look unhealthy doing this but the exact opposite happened.I started to glow by the end of the week.This has happened to me many times in past and I always attributed it to being on vacation and sometimes wondered if it was the alcohol that made me glow,feel great and just look healthy.I know that seems weird and I always feel that way also.It dawned on me what is actually happening is my body is upshifting from the excess calories.
So I am now officially on HED.After my workout I hit eggs and potatoes hard with alot of butter for around 1000cal.I felt amazing at work and actually pushed a handtruck up a block long ramp with freight on it at full speed.This is the way to live…..fueled and hyper metabolic!!
Lunch was subway footlong meatball hero and dinner was BigMac value meal w/diet coke.Not the best but for now I just wanna bump my calories from the measly 1500 to 3000 and see how I feel after a week.
Thanks again Matt and keep it coming brother.:)
Oh and BTW I had one measly little hypo attack today.I need to drop the sugar down further and get away from the PUFA's next!
Matt just wanted to say great work on the Metabolism ebook.
Wolf… you might as well just drink a regular coke than the diet one if you want a coke. The chemicals in the diet soda are way worse than HFCS…. but better yet, get an iced tea and add sucrose… I really think getting the PUFA out is the biggie.
troy
Hey Jenny,
K-tea rocks!
After about a year of drinking Kombucha, I totally kicked my Pinot habit. I would crave a glass (or 2 or a bottle) of wine every night after work and get lit about once a month. When I started drinking kombucha, I stopped craving the wine.
Then fter a year of drinking & looooving the kombucha every day, I suddenly stopped craving it too. It was like somebody just flipped a switch.
When I started K – and ever since – I can order a glass of wine, enjoy it, finish it if I want or not. Before K, if I started drinking it was just hard to stop.
Best of luck with your kombucha kraze.
Troy,Iced tea and dextrose even better.Dextrose is available in health food stores and is pure glucose.I used to make PWO shakes with it.Your right that I need to get rid of the diet cokes.That was the only one I had today compared to 6 or seven usually.
Its a shame we do not have a definite answer as to which is worse,fructose or PUFA's.
Still hungry and just had a dbl cheese burger and a small hagen daz.LOL
I just want all of you to know that I got my saliva test results back, and I have very low levels of cortisol/dhea, so my naturopath put me on Isocort and I am immediately noticing a change for the better in my energy levels! I'm so happy!
Effects of Low Cortisol Levels
An insufficient amount of cortisol disrupts metabolism, resulting in low blood sugar and a lack of glycogen, which is stored in the liver and can be rapidly converted into the glucose required for energy. Lack of cortisol also causes a drop in blood pressure, which decreases cardiac output. A discoloration of the skin called hyperpigmentation can occur as a decrease in cortisol stimulates an increase in other hormones that activate the melanocyte cells responsible for skin pigmentation. The overall effect of low cortisol is weakness, dehydration and diminished ability to fight infection, trauma and stress. These issues are often first noticed during periods of extreme stress or trauma.
I was having SUCH A HORRIBLE time with hyperpigmentation, and I had no clue it was linked to all of this. I'll let you all know how things progress temperature and energy level wise!
Ah, I'm beaming right now. Hah.
Anyways… :D
John,
People that really get their metabolism going into overdrive can have a constant sensation of hunger, but it is not normal hunger, it is like being bottomless pit. Lack of appetite is a sign that the metabolism is slowing down. Matt needs to change his advice about hunger being a signal that metabolic damage is going on, it is not true.
I read the ramblings of a carnivore, but I have already wasted too many years of my life being a low carb paleo carnivore. It destroyed my metabolism and made me look like a concentration camp victim. Don't be convinced by the arguments and theorizing of others, go with what works for you.
Wolf,
Your feedback suggests that you may be a more low carb type of person. Some people do better on low carbs, some low fat, and some a mixed approach. Find out what works for you. I am definitely a high carb person, but I almost killed myself listening to the gurus who told me low carb is better for everyone. Do some research on metabolic typing.
You might be better off using sucrose instead of dextrose, to keep your blood sugar more stable. Dextrose is also from GM cornwich could have other problems.
PUFAs are worse than fructose.
Katerina,
Glad you discovered your problem. I also had severely low cosrtisol level. My adrenal insufficency was the worse that my doctors had ever seen. The cause was many years on a low carb/ paleo diet. Cortisol is necessary for life, without you will die, and low cortisol levels can be worse than high. People don't know what they are talking about most of the time when they say they are trying to decrease their levels.
THe low cortisol levels will cause hypoglycemia so you will probably need to stay on a schwarzbein type of diet with plenty of fat and protein along with the isocort to keep blood sugar stabilized.
It took me about a year to get better.
Rosenfeltc,
I checked out your video on the milk diet. You did a good job giving a detailed history and you seem good at being aware of how food effects you as an individual. This is very important, and something that most people are unable to do.
Our stories with low carb are very similar. I also used large quantities of raw milk to rebuild. My only advice is be sure not to drink the milk too cold, and drink it slowly, I did both of these things and ended up with big problems.
Matt,
I agree with you on your general approach of using refeeds as a means to heal the metabolism. I just think you need to teach your followers how individualize their approach in accordance with their individual condition. It is the one size fits all diet and exercise programs that create these metabolic problems in the first place.
Hey JT, or Matt… I am wondering if anybody has a reference for low carb causing burnt adrenals.
I was low-carbing for over 2 years and ultimately ended up with what I can only call a bad case of adrenal fatigue.
Granted there were other factors: being in a tense relationship, consuming too much alcohol, not handling stress properly, taking sleep meds.
I was getting really bad sleep at the time too. I'd frequently wake up feeling like crap and know the only chance of feeling better was the next night's sleep, which was harder on a bad day due to the raw/frayed nerve feeling. I thought the frazzled feeling was due to sleep deprivation but now think it might actually have been adrenal fatigue. I think I read something about this in Wilson's book "Adrenal Fatigue", but damned if I can find the reference again.
Usually once I get some space I can bounce back from a tense situation really quick, but the relationship's been over for 7 months and I'm still climbing back. I'm wondering how much low carb and other factors played into this. I stopped Lunesta 4 months ago. Heavy alcohol (2 to 3 per night) and heavy chocolate consumption (often enough bittersweet chips to equal a cup of coffee or more in the evening) stopped spontaneously 2 months ago, when I started HED.
Anyway, came across the quote in the new ebook: "One advantage to Jay [Robb]’s program is that you don’t stay on a low-carb diet so long that you develop low-carb-related health problems ? the greatest of which is fried adrenals, a low body
temperature, and heightened insulin resistance." Then I came here to post the question and saw your comment JT.
I did some digging online and found this: http://www.tvernonlac.com/adrenal-fatigue-diet.html, which says the opposite (low carb supports the adrenals).
But after reading some of Wilson's book, I doubt I believe that. If I understand Wilson correctly, it's cortisol's job to maintain blood sugars in between meals. If cortisol is low, the body starts to get hypoglycemic, and this further stresses the adrenals. Presumably, over a long period of time, that would tend to wear them out.
Aaron,
My story is very similar to yours. I am convinced that very low carb diets are a big part of adrenal fatigue. My doctor who specializes in this area says he has seen it many times as well. If you are a carb type who stays on this diet too long, you will have chronically high cortisol and adrenaline which causes a lot of stress and then you cant sleep which causes even more stress and then it gets to the point where your body just cant take it anymore.
Low carb can support the adrenals for some. There are people out there who do better on low carb, but the majority probably don't. If you are a protein/fat type and you are eating too many carbs and not enough fat and protein this could cause hypoglycemia.
Low carb will keep cortisol levels high, so it can keep blood sugar levels stable. Most people can have hypoglycemia because they have fried their adrenals and have a hard time when they ingest sugars because the sugars can relax the adrenal glands and make the cortisol levels even lower. When my adrenals were really bad I could not ingest any sugar or fruit without getting hypoglycemic. Now I can down a bag of sugar without problems.
Damn JT, you sure went on a comment rampage, now if only you had some sort of studies or some kind of proof to back up all your statements.
Rosenfeltc,
You are right about the comments. Which statements are you questioning specifically?
heehaheehaheehaheehaheeha'heeha'heehaheeha!!!!!!!!
troy
RAW MILK DIGESTION PROBLEMS:
Are you supposed to get used to raw milk after drinking it for a while?
Did you guys initially feel bloaty when you had raw milk?
I'm trying to get used to raw milk, according to the ray peat protocol (drinking it for a while will make your body produce lactose digesting enzyme), however, after 2 weeks of drinking plenty of raw, 100% grassfed, fresh milk I still have the following problems:
I am cold, Bloated, digestion is bad, I have diarrhea, stomach aches and cramps, tiredness, painful cough, hyperactivity…
I eat other foods too, like potatoes, tubers, fatty meats, cheese, few fruits, etc…
Please, someone, help me out here.
Should I continue to force feed myself this milk (it is really starting to feel addictive), even tho I have aall these issues with it? Did anyone here who is doing well on milk/raw milk have bloating when they first drank milk?
I Can't imagine myself ever being free from the bloating..!
I've also tried goat milk, side effects are less, but they are still there. Kefirs don't bloat me, but still make me cold, hyperactive, etc. Which I know is weird, since milk products should do the opposite (make you warm, speed up metabolism) right?
p.s. makes no difference if I drink it at room temperature and with raw honey
Anonymous,
Bernard Macfadden would tell you straight up that you are NOT doing the milk diet because as you said you are eating other types of food with milk which is NOT recommended and in fact is NOT the milk diet, so it's hard to say if your problems are due to not tolerating the milk or just not following the protocol.
JT,
I'm not saying your wrong on everything, in fact I do believe you probably have some useful advice from your experience that could help out a bunch of 180ers but that being said, you can't just state some stuff and hope that we just take your word for it without really backing it up. Examples of this are:
"Lack of appetite is a sign that the metabolism is slowing down."
Really? Cause when I was eating HED, basically coconut oil/butter with lots of potatoes and red meat, I would eat a lot during my meal and then not be hungry for 6-8 hours, so I ended up eating only 3 meals a day (however avg calories of 4500) but you make it sound that my metabolism was indeed slowing down because I wasn't hungry all the time. Any proof, references, studies or anything beside your personal experience to back that up?
Also, I know you're into the whole Metabolic typing thing but It's not like Metabolic typing is an exact science and is very accurate. In fact, I did one metabolic typing test and it pretty much told me that I was a protein person that should eat more fat and be lower carbs and I already tried that and it did NOT work.
One last thing you said "Now I can down a bag of sugar without problems." Are you still talking about unrefined sugar? Cause if you are could I bother you into asking that you write unrefined before the word sugar each time if that is the case? It may just be that unrefined and refined sugar are two completely different things cause I never tried unrefined sugar but I can tell you that refined sugar is what screwed me up!
Rosenfeltc,
Good points, some of my statements weren't clear.
The reason I said lack of appetite may be a sign of a slow metabolism was in response to the people here who are scared that if they get hungry they are doing metabolic damage. When I was low carb I was NEVER hungry, and this is when I did the most severe metabolic damage. When I switched to the plan that I healed myself on I was always hungry. The guys on the cycle diet who are in a supermetabolic state are always hungry as well.
I am not saying that just because you are not hungry you are metabolically damaged. Someone like you that is eating alot of calories of good healthy food should not feel hungry. You are giving your body what it needs, so it is satisfied. Over time as your metabolism goes up you may eat those 4500 calories a day and still feel hungry. Some people intentionally raise their calorie requirements so that they need much more calories to maintain their body mass. They do this so that they can diet down for shows without going too low in calories.
You are right metabolic typing is not an exact science. That is why I say experiment on yourself to see what works for you instead of going off of some guru's advice or test. Constantly be aware of how things affect you, because it might change over time.
Regarding the sugar, my point was that I don't have the hypoglycemia from sugars anymore now that I have healed my adrenals. I don't eat refined white sugar, I eat unrefined sugar.
JT,
That's interesting what you say about sugar relaxing the adrenals. One of the things I would do in the mornings (while on low carb) was have waffles with maple syrup and melted chocolate. Waffles were pretty low carb and had plenty of butter and whipped cream. I'd notice that blood sugars could stay pretty low on this. If sugar was relaxing stressed adrenals, that could explain that.
I was always primarily focused on blood sugar values a la Jenny's "Blood Sugar 101" website. Intuitively I knew a lot of the stuff I was doing was bad for me but I was justifying a lot of behaviors based on the "science". I know many of the pitfalls of that style of low carb now. So many things can slip in, and since they don't affect blood sugar levels, they're perceived as "not a problem". Just goes to show the kinds of problems that can appear when you focus on some number instead of listening to your body.
Interesting point about hunger as well. I can't say for sure, but I have the sense low carb impedes hunger. I was a very lean: about 142 lbs. at 5'11". That's a very low BMI. I was doing a lot of cardio and weight training on top of it. Interesting thing is, when I stopped all the intense exercise and switched to HED, my appetite skyrocketed. It's come more in line now, but for a few weeks it was massive.
Attempted to buy the book yesterday. Still a fail with the checkout. it takes me all the way through my paypal, but doesnt' charge me and doesn't give me the email confirming my purchase. If you only knew how many times I've tried to give you money Matt, you'd probably cry.
So I bought Jon Gabriel's book instead. it's an audio book, so I can listen to it in the kitchen which is my favorite part about it. Not sure I'm down with the woo woo 9a lot of it is similar to stuff that Venuto preaches in BFFM, which I've mocked quite a bit). Yet, it seems to make sense, so I'm giving it a go for a while. What can it hurt I figure. And for relieving stress on a minute to minute basis there's nothing like a little positive thinking. Today I was running late for work, so instead of walking faster, I ran like a tiger was chasing me. I'm not sure it worked, but hey, it was amusing to watch.
This is appropo of nothing, except perhaps body temp, but in the last 6 months I've been successfully fighting viruses and infections by taking very short, very hot baths. The effect triggers my fight or flight response (like sitting in a sauna does) and my heart rate goes up and I have to kind of force myself to stay in the bath. I stay in the hottest water I can stand, submerging my forearms, for five full minutes. I sweat, I freak out a little and then I get out and cool off by drinking a glass of water and not getting dressed right away. (Again kind of similar to a proper sauna). I've been able to eliminate sore throats, stuffy nose, even yeast and bladder infections this way, especially if I take the bath when I first notice the symptoms. Anyone else ever try this? Any thoughts on it?
Oh, and for all you white on black haters out there. There's now two neat little buttons at the top right of each posts to change the colour scheme to black on white.
;-)
Jennythenipper: That's an interesting idea. In the past several months I've gotten sick 2-3 times, but only with a 24-36 hour bug, so to speak. I'll just suddenly feel awful, sick to my stomach, feverish, headache, stuffy nose. But it passes within a day. Seems allergenic but I can't really link it to anything I'm eating/doing. I wonder if your sauna/bath treatment would help that sort of thing go away even more quickly…
madMUHHH: I like the switchy button. I think I'll use it just for fun. But when I choose black on white, the outer background turns some kind of pale orange. Looks odd, not sure if that's intentional or not.
MadMUHHH – I like the new colorscheme, too. I can switch it up when my eyes need a change. Thanks!
The "orange" is supposed to be there (actually it's supposed to be a light sandy brown). Had to find another background colour as a white text aread with a black background would have looked ugly. I found that brown quite nice so I went with it.
Liz my guess is that with your new 180 Hotty status you will be getting a lot fewer of those 24 hour bugs. With eating better and using my bath technique I've gone all of cold and flu season without a sick day. I've taken days to look after my sick kid and my husband has been sick quite a few times. This is really rare for me. I'm usually the first one to get sick and I usually get it again on its way out of the house.
haha Matt, I like the name "Uber Tuber Diet". I might just have to use that.
Having too low of cortisol can inhibit lipolysis making it difficult to use fatty acids as fuel.
I'm gonna have to agree that the 'faster' my metabolism gets, the hungrier I feel. It is not necessarily a regular stomach growling hunger, but more of a slight gnawing hunger, kind of like the situation when when you eat a meal that was a bit smaller than you usually eat.
@ Jenny: Hot baths definitely kill of viruses. As do showers, when I was in university I would without fail take a hot (and I mean HOT) shower at night before going to bed, not once did I get ill and we are talking a load of alcohol and junk fuelled nights out and a pretty depleted immune system.
Nutella 8grams of PUFA, 21 grams of sugar,–it may be the single most unhealthy food on the planet, and yet I find myself craving it from time to time. There's a big jar of it in our break room and it's tempting.
Chris: I can't stand super hot showers, personally. Ouch. Also, I think the body temp goes up faster if you can keep your forearms submerged. But it's the same principal, I suppose. I've read that showers help the body eliminate toxins from drinking so that may be why it was helpful to you at University.
Clarification-
I say to obey your hunger, not notice that it's there and use willpower to not eat. That will slow down your metabolism.
No doubt that low-carb and IF too both have hunger-lowering effects that can cause metabolic harm even though you're not hungry.
Aaron-
Some authors such as Schwarzbein and Sears talk about low-carb raping the adrenals like it's common knowledge. There's no doubt that my adrenals work overtime on low-carb. My pulse rate is higher, blood pressure is higher, I can't sleep for very long, I'm much more hostile and aggressive, and so on. I can see how some would call this "supporting" the adrenals. Low-carb, for me, is definitely like jr. amphetamine. Good at first, then in creeps the burnout.
Thanks for those color switcher buttons Madmuhhh. They are indeed sheer awesomeness.
Matt,
Congratulations on completing the new book! I devoured the chapter on fat loss straight away – good stuff. I think using body temp to determine the transition to the fat loss phase is a great insight, and clearly a step beyond Schwarzbein.
Couple of questions: once a person reaches a healthy temperature, do you still think they should spend some time at that temperature to stabilize their healed metabolism before attempting the fat loss phase? I thought you might have mentioned in a comment to Brock that people tend to automatically lose their appetite after a couple months at a healthy temperature. Seems like the book says go for it without delay, but monitor very carefully.
Also, for people who want to gain some muscle as well as lose fat, I wonder if a "HED with exercise" phase might not be useful before the fat loss phase, but after reaching a healthy temperature w/o exercise. Kind of like weight lifters bulking up before cutting. I'd worry about adding a lot of new exercise during the fat loss phase (with its minimal protein intake) for fear of cannibalizing organ tissue to build muscle.
I enjoyed your e-book. It reminded me of the need to eat appropriate quantities of food, which I feel I have been neglecting for years.
Thinking back, one of the times I felt best was when I was eating three good-sized meals a day, even though they included lots of flour and unhealthy fats, along with a giant ice cream cone every night. Not that this is the best overall diet, but compared with my usual diet my body was quite happy.
@Jenny
I binged on Nutella today. Does 1/3rd or more of a jar count as a binge? It's just been sitting there in my cupboard at work since I started HED. It was one of my "low-carb" foods. I sat there looking up what "modified palm oil" is, going "hmm, that's interesting, I wonder how bad that is for you". Then I just sort of observed myself. Was I going to clean out the whole jar like I'd done so many times in the past with chocolate chips? Would I stop at some point, enforce some willpower, and stick the jar back in the cupboard only to sneak occasional tastes? Or would I simply tire of it? And the answer… ?? I grew tired of it. Yes, anticlimatic, I know. Maybe sometime this week I'll finish it off. Then I won't have to look at it anymore.
Oh my goodness! Matt, you are getting your ass handed to you again on Nikoley's blog. One guy said you should be called 'Fat Stone.' Now Richard is claiming that our temperatures might be rising because of the inflammatory response to all of the grains we are eating. What should I do?!
Scott
Hey Swede, talking diet, or way of eating, with many people is like talking religion. If the way you are eating is working for you long-term (it seems that almost any dietary change shows improvement in the short-term) then stick with it. I don't argue with anyone anymore…it's just not worth it. Hypothyroid is usually accompanied by low body temps, so if they want to rationalize that higher temps are bad for some reason, do they prefer to keep their body temps in the hypothyroid range for some reason? Just doesn't make sense. Attacking the messenger instead of the message is a strategy people use when they don't have a good counter-argument (referring to Matt as 'Fat Stone', and coming up with a counter-theory about bringing body temps out of the hypothyroid range because of an inflammatory response is COMPLETE conjecture). No need to argue…just do what's best for you.
Hey Aaron, I'm glad you tired of nutella. The jar in our breakroom at work is bigger than my head. It's insane. I don't think I could come anywhere near clearing it out before tiring of it. I used to practically live on that stuff when I was backpacking/hitchhiking around in Scotland and Ireland. It was cheap, portable and fairly satisfying. I was definitely tired of it after that. I think the remains of my jar actually ossified. Now I find myself flirting with it again, just because it's there in the breakroom. Weird. Anyway, I've been listening to my cravings lately, even the bad ones and ate two chocolate chip cookies (made with butter) yesterday. And I had honey in some yogurt this morning. I'm going to try Matt's strategy of going low in PUFAs as possible in order to allow some fructose back in.
"Oh my goodness! Matt, you are getting your ass handed to you again on Nikoley's blog. One guy said you should be called 'Fat Stone.' Now Richard is claiming that our temperatures might be rising because of the inflammatory response to all of the grains we are eating. What should I do?!"
That's hilarious since the vast majority of us are not getting most of carbs from grains. I'm very careful about grains–eating mostly either whole wheat bread from fresh ground wheat or sprouted grains. I'm the Ezekial queen lately. And isn't a high basal body temp evidence of an anti-inflammatory condition in the body.
What should you do? Eat one of Matt's Potacho's and meditate on the upcoming A-team movie. I'm sure that's what Matt would do. "Fat Stone." That's pretty witty. Not.
Great ideas Jim. As you know, we are sort of exploring a new frontier here. I don't know what would work best, the timing, etc. I suspect your idea of doing some exercise and weight training while the temperature is peaking might be a great idea.
Overall, I would think that doing things slowly, and having MORE patience rather than less as it pertains to weight loss, is probably the best overall approach.
As we know, trying to lose weight often has negative recourse. The less we try the better I imagine.
Swede-
More "Fat Stone" action huh? That's awesome. Of course, the fact that my metabolism is higher and I'm losing weight slowly and surely isn't really factored into that genius assertion. Nikoley's going to feel like a dumbass when I get really lean later in the year, write his name across my chest, and put it on youtube. Patience my good man. Don't feel like you have to go apeshit over there in my defense.
He's just pissed that I said he was hypothyroid when I went to Diana Hsieh's blog (who became hypothyroid from doing low-carb Paleo) in an attempt to help her understand what was going on. She needs help. I keep trying to reach out, but she is a brick wall.
Upcoming A-team movie? I need to return to civilization. That's news to me, and damn GOOD news.
Oooh, I can't wait for the upcoming A-team movie! That was my favorite show back in the day, and I think it looks like it was cast fairly well. Liam Neeson – he's pretty smooth. The best though is Quenton 'Rampage' Jackson as BA Baracus. He's hilarious in real life, and has the actual ass-kicking ability to play the part (he was the UFC heavyweight champ for awhile). Nothing like eating and then sitting on your ass for a few hours.
Scott
Re, The A-Team: Dude, I can't believe yo didn't know about this. it's coming out in like two months. (Just in time for drive-in season!) Liam Neeson is gonna be Hannibal. I love it when a plan comes together.
My dream is that the Clash of the Titans remake and the A team will be on a Liam Neeson-y double bill at the drive-in and it will be the greatest thing since that Vin Diesel double bill back in the early oughts….
I think it's hilarious that the worst insult you can throw down on nutirtion blogs is the accusation that someone is hypothyroid. "No, man You're hypothyroid." "I know you are, but what am I?" "I know YOU are!" "Nuh uh." "Uh huh." "You are hypothyroid to infinity. No back answers."
I know this indirectly already is about Nikoley's recent blog post so I think I might also directly adress it.
Is there anyone else here thinking that his current "Metabolism & Digestion" series is completely random? When I read the first post I just was like "Dude, what the fuck do you want to tell me here?" Perhaps I just lack a deeper understanding of this or my poor English failed me at that point, but to me it all seemed like some random 180 bashing (with some random 180 praising thrown into the mix) and it kinda lacks context. I mean, I actually know to some degree what he is talking about, but how are people who are not as faimiliar with the whole Nikoley/Stone issue gonna be able to get what those posts are about. I'm a bit weirded out, but maybe I just have to read it a second time.