This is officially the 200th blog post! And the timing couldn’t be better. 180 just had a MadMUHHH-makeover. A Muhhhkover?
I hope everyone likes the new look. Please leave your feedback and comments – particularly the negative kind so that I can address your problem, whether it be with font size, color, background color, readability, or what have you. I think it’s an improvement myself – without a doubt.
And since some of you recently expressed a desire to donate to 180DegreeHealth, here’s your chance…
I told MadMUHHH – Matthias Geselle (the fine young stallion that tweaked and tickled my template) that I wanted to make sure he received some compensation. One way or another, he’ll have a few bucks thrown his way. If you don’t donate, I’ll hook a brother up. The more you give him, the more you’re donating to me – as I won’t have to give him so much out of my own pockets. And for those of you that have really been pressing to see some design and format changes, and are really pleased with the makeover, please drop a few bucks his way. You can donate to him via paypal by sending money to his e-mail address:
Go to Paypal to do it now… www.paypal.com
He promised the following:
“I will make sure to invest it in something useful (food!).”
And if you know someone with a blog that needs help, tell ’em about madMUHHH!!!
Nice design all looks perfect except I feel the main font could be a tad bigger….. (and its not because I have bad eye's it would just make for more comfortable reading.
Will give a lil something something as a thanks!
Looks very nice. I agree with Chris though, bigger font would be a little nicer.
200th post? lolwut? According to your archive this is the 196th^^.
Thanks for the feedback. I personally wouldn't recommend increasing font size. The font says actually already is on the higher end for what would be considered standard for most content-heavy sites.
Of course, I could easily increase the font size if most people prefer it that way. Guess we should wait for a few more comments on that.
(And of course you could always press "Ctrl" and "+" simultaneously ;-) )
There have been a few deleted posts, so this is, I guess, the unofficial 200th post. Thanks for your feedback guys. The smaller font is shockingly-small after being used to the old size. I do think the small font makes for much quicker reading though.
Thanks for the new look. Overall it is far easier to read now.
The design is a vast improvement, much better overview and you don't have to scroll forever to reach the next blog post. Font size looks fine to me. Good work madMUHHH.
Matt, OT, I was wondering what your thoughts were on Cusicks progress? He fell off the ultra strict Evans & Strang diet a few weeks ago and is now eating less restrained, which I guess basically means adding enough fat to make the food appetizing.
The interesting thing is how his appetite never came down while he was on the HED, but after just a few days on the ultra low calorie diet his hunger dropped dramatically. Even more interesting, his appetite is still strongly suppressed even after going back to a more unrestricted diet. Like how after just having a few meatballs and a single slice of pizza, the thought of more food made him nauseous.
I was wondering, do you think this might have something to do with a temporary break from the overfeeding actually serving to improve leptin sensitivity? As I recall, leptin resistance has a lot to with elevated triglycerides. I think the HED, particularly if it's both high carb and high fat, will definitely elevate triglycerides, simply because you're loading your system with way more food. Now triglycerides will go down somewhat as your metabolism increases and triglycerides are cleared from the blood faster, but maybe even with an elevated metabolism, you wont be able to clear away triglycerides fast enough to drop them to optimal levels, as long as you're still overeating.
What if this E&S diet that Cusick was on for just shy of two weeks, was just what he needed to give his body some breathing room and allow his now greatly elevated metabolism to drop triglycerides to optimal levels and allow the return of optimal leptin sensitivity? And that is why he is now experiencing such a greatly reduced appetite, or as he put it, is now "aware" of how much he needs to eat.
I like the font size. Let those who wish to use the zoom-in feature all web browsers have, as MadMuhhh suggests. I can read the posts much more quickly and comfortably now.
I await the readership's wisdom regarding Colld?n's questions.
I like the smaller font too. It seems smaller than it really is. Just takes some getting used to.
Brock and Collden-
Overfeeding is short-term strategy. The more feedback I've gotten, the more I realize that it should be treated more like the milk diet. Full dedication for a shorter period of time – then you go back to eating more normal amounts of food. 180 is not about setting lifelong calorie consumption records. So the revised weight loss eBook has a lot more to do with how to approach weight loss AFTER your metabolism has been increased.
But the point is that Brock has increased his metabolism tremendously. He has gained lots of lean mass with the fat gain. Now he is satisfied on smaller meals, and losing weight without forcing himself to eat less than he desires. As long as you can follow that, and stay on top of your weight set point as your set point falls, then you don't conjure up the famine response typical of deprivation dieting. That's the basic idea. I'm experiencing the same. I've never been so satisfied on such small amounts of food, and all it took was shifting from trying to eat as much as I comofortably could to eating just enough to satisfy my appetite without force or willpower.
The outlook for Brock looks good. Only time will tell if he is able to lose all of his excess weight without triggering the famine response – which is a typical dieter's fate. But I'll place my bet that he'll make it.
I think it looks great. the font size is perfect, & easier on the eyes in the gray rather than stark white. is it possible to go one click (or whatever increment tones come in) lighter though? not stark white but maybe a hair lighter, & it will be easier to read. anyhow, i think overall it is a huge improvement…..
Love the design. Font size is fine. It was abnormally big before and as madmuhhh said, there's always "Control" "plus.' (Amazing how many peopld don't know about that trick…)
Looks good. Personally I've always had a hard time with white on black though. But for the most part I use my RSS reader, so it's not a big deal.
madMUHHH–Great design, definitely brought it up a notch (or two!). Looks like you have a future customer sitting right here. ;)
Huge improvement. Awesome!
Font size is too small for those of us over 40.
Anyone who doesn't like the design that much should just install a Firefox Add-on or Google Chrome Extension that allows them to fiddle with whatever variables they wish.
Good ones are Stylish and TinyRead for Firefox, or Font Size Increase for Google Chrome.
And if you're still using Internet Explorer, stop being silly.
Overall, I like the new design, though I'll confess that I read the RSS and haven't seen the old one in some time so making a comparison is difficult. Regarding the font, I think the size is fine (after all, Ctrl+'+' can reduce eyestrain superbly), but the right sidebar seems to have excessive visual weight. Also, in the header, if you have a background flip on hover, the user expects the whole field to be clickable, so adjusting the anchor size would be preferable.
Of course, content is the important part and you consistently publish engaging and highly informative posts. Keep up the good work!
I am not even going to read the comments , but it still ain't fuckin right! close though
sorry , I am drunk
Scott
payment sent! great work matthias!
I think the side bar is a tad too big… but big improvement… i couldn't have done it.
troy
It is much better, madmuhhh! Great work! My only suggestion is for links that I have previously clicked on to change color (they used to change from red to blue, now it's red to a different red). It makes it easier to remember what I've already looked at.
Matt, I have a question that I just can't figure out. Perhaps your ebook will answer it, but I'm impatient! You focus a lot on HED for losing weight and insulin resistance, but it's not just for that, right? I need to raise my temps, fix my thyroid, heal auto-immune issues, balance female hormones, all that good stuff. I don't need to lose or gain weight, and I also don't have any overt diabetic-type issues, I just need get healthy. I'm still waiting on Schwarzbein's and your books, so I'm kind of unclear. Is HED the way to go, do you think? Or do you recommend something different like the milk diet (which, at $20/gallon, is probably out of the question…).
@skeeter: I made the font a slight bit lighter on my test page and I think it does look better (don't know if you even notice the difference). It's really just a little lighter, because I think anything much lighter than that will be hard to read again.
@Sam R: About the hover: That's a valid concern and I agree tahat it'd be better to make the whole area clickable. I wasn't able to make that possible, because I didn't know the exact text Matt would put into the navigation. Also Blogger doesn't make things easy in that regard. If Matt would send me his current template however, I think i might be able to fix it very quickly.
About the sidebar: Yeah, maybe the sidebar could be a little smaller. Wouldn't be a problem to do that either. However I would need the source image of the header pic from Matt for that, as I don't have a version of it, that's wide enough right now.
@Matt's last comment: That's very interesting and in some ways different from what you recommended until now. Any chance we'll see a bit more about "short-term refeeding" and that stuff either as a blog post or in your upcoming eBook?
@Lorelei:
I've experimented around with the visited link colour quite a bit and personally I prefer that darker red. However I could also make the visited links italic, I've implemented that at my test page(linked in my comment above) and you can take a look and see if you like that better if you want.
Nope, I think I still like a different color better. Or maybe an even more obviously different shade of red. But it's not a deal breaker or anything! Thanks for doing this!
Matt
"180 is not about setting lifelong calorie consumption records"
Yeah I know, you've said so since the beginning. The question has always been HOW (and also when) to make the transition, because it seems you can't necessarily rely on a spontaneous reduction in appetite to terminate the overfeeding for you. Maybe it's just the force of habit, or maybe there's something about relentless overfeeding itself that prevents going that last step to optimal leptin sensitivity, but it still seems as if the HED is something you have to actively break out of somehow once you've restored the metabolism. So one way to do that could maybe be a temporary protein-sparing fast, I guess you will go more into various strategies in the ebook.
But another thing that needs more discussion as I said is when to break from the HED? Achieving optimal basal temperature is one sign, but is it the ultimate goal, or does the metabolic healing comprise more changes after having restored the basal temp? Personally, I achieved a basal armpit temp of 98.4F right after christmas, but I've still gained about 10 pounds of mostly lean body mass in the months following that milestone. The problems I've had with my shinbones aching when I walk didn't resolve completely until a few weeks ago, and I also have a chronic achilles tendon injury that I've had for more than 3 years, but which just a few weeks ago started to improve dramatically. As you know, my blood pressure was very high even a month after I had achieved 98.4F, and only dropped down to normal levels a few weeks ago. So should I attempt to put an end to the HED, or keep it up and see where it's going? Is it possible that both Cusick and I are mistaken, and that one truly would experience a spontaneous reduction in appetite without actively changing ones habits, if only one kept with the HED for a year, or maybe two years? Or is it more likely that these improvements that one continues to experience even after having reached optimal basal temps, are not contingent upon a continued high caloric intake?
Collden-
I think the benefits come from a prolonged high body temperature as much as anything. Although, if you are still gaining lean body mass, it would be hard to switch to lower calorie intakes prior to the completion of that lean growth.
But you can eat far fewer calories and still maintain your high body temp (I suspect, and hope). If you start to see any significant drop below ideal levels, you can always overfeed for a week to get it back. Who knows, as one paleo blogger recently wrote, perhaps "intermittent overfeeding" is something that anyone can follow. Perhaps RRARF/HED will morph into something that you do for a couple weeks a couple times per year to keep the metabolism blazing all year long.
I think what keeps people continually overfeeding without respite could be elevated insulin levels. However, one day of eating far less could be all it takes, with the improved insulin sensitivity, to lower insulin and release the body fat floodgates – satiating you on far less food. Those who have been forced to overfeed in the past probably thought overfeeding was unhealthy, and did this more spontaneously. It's all up in the air though. There are no set rules. You're definitely analyzing it all in an intelligent way though. We're just going to have to see where it leads.
Hawaii Girl-
I'm not a big fan of Nora Gedgaudas to put it lightly, but this quote of hers summarizes how I feel about secondary hormones:
?If you want to improve the functioning of your adrenals, thyroid or sex hormones, talk to leptin. Restoring healthy leptin functioning is the first major step toward ultimately restoring health endocrine balance, at any age, assuming your endocrine organs are intact and have not been destroyed or removed.
That is a flawless statement as far as I'm concerned. Overfeeding on regular food can be just as stimulating as the milk diet too I feel, if you were as dedicated to it as most are when they go on the milk diet.
Matt, sorry to post off topic, but I noticed this nugget of wisdom in your Derma Dharma post:
Eat Raw Fats ? Fats contain protective fat soluble vitamins and other components that protect the skin. Fats hydrate and lubricate all body tissues and cells, including the skin. Oxidized and heat-damaged fats (particularly vegetable oils) are the oils that cause acne when flushed out through the skin. Oily skin is associated with acne because vegetable oils are the most widely consumed oils on earth, but oils in the skin formed from utilizable raw fats from unheated dairy, coconut, raw meats, avocado, olives, etc. won’t cause problems. They achieve the opposite effect.
In my experience this seems to be true, that bad fats cause skin issues. I'm curious what lead you to that conclusion? How do oils get "flushed" through the skin? Know any good sources on this topic? I'm having a hard time finding any.
Thanks In, that is certainly a blast from the past.
Based on my more current beliefs, fats in vegetable oils in particular lead to inflamed skin via excess omega 6 load as well as the fact that these oils are highly oxidized. You'll find several commentors who noticed an instant improvement in skin health after reducing omega 6 to pretty low levels, myself included.
Overall, I think it's really the sugar/omega 6 combo. that is most irritating to the skin. Sugar seems to increase the oiliness of the skin, and if inflammation and oxidized oils are present, it's the perfect dermatological storm.
A good example of people with not a single observed case of acne at any age are the Kitavans. Their diet doesn't contain any refined vegetable oils, and they eat one of the lowest polyunsaturated fat diets in the world (~2% of calories).
I hate the white on black! It HURTS my eyes. Please, please, please change it.
And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the pic at the top used to be bigger? I like that pic…a lot. (A lot.)
Making the header only cover the main section was something I had to do because I didn't have a bigger header-image (or was too stupid to ask Matt for one). I kinda like the way the header aligns with the navigation right now, but then again I never even tried getting the header full-width (because I couldn't, as I said).
I guess it's time to shoot Matt a mail!
Oh and you know, you could have also given me all that feedback while that design still was a real work-in-progress. ;-)
sorry madmuhhh… your not going to go Richard N. on my ass are you!!!
troy
You're gonna regret the day you were born my boy. I'm gonna drop f-bombs on you like it's nobody's business.
:-P
Damn Lulu. Sorry.
What do you guys think? I know most of us like the white on black, but some just can't stand it. Is it worth changing it to accommodate everyone?
Madmuhh-
I like the tabs on top. Like 'em a lot actually.
Actually, it probably weren't much of a deal to implement a button which would allow a quick change of text/backround colour if it weren't for blogger. Idk if it's that easy to pull off via blogger, haven't delved deep enough into it.
It's very easy to change. The question is, should I? Some seem to really love the background and text – others despise it and claim it makes their eyes go f'n crazy.
I personally like the tabs on the top as well. It really makes a difference. As for the white on black, I can read it, but it is a little funky for me, and I have great eyesight so I can imagine how it might be an issue for others. One idea might be to keep everything the same except change the actual post area to black on white instead–preserving the overall theme but making it more readable.
I like the white on black. Really helps differentiate from other stuff on the web, I find it easier on the eyes. For all those wanting easy reading on the eyes try this http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/
These guys foregot to mention that if you eat a whole lot of calories you can also get fat. You're not active enough to build that high a level of lean body mass for a higher body weight in the 200-300 pound range you'll become obese. It's that simple. There's a set point to the lean body mass you accumulate and the rest gets stored as fat unless you doing intense activity.
Bears will eat extra calories to fatten up before it's time for them to hibernate during the winter. They didn't do any yoyo dieting to suppress their metabolism. Humans can be the same way too.
Hibernation is a yo-yo diet. Not eating for many months of the year physiologically gives them a reason to eat more than they need to. I argue that dieting causes the body to try and employ the same physiological response in humans.
And once the peak level of lean body mass has been stored via overfeeding, it takes hardcore discipline to continue overeating beyond that point. But even obese people will have 2.5% lean gains if forced to increase their body weight by 10%
For what it's worth, I love the white text on black. As someone mentioned, a white background is like staring at a lightbulb. That bothers me more than the text does.
Here's a stupid question – how do you know you're gaining lean muscle mass and not fat? Y'all are throwing that around, but besides the old pinch test, how do you know? Is there something I'm missing?
@Lorelei:
If you notice that you got stronger that is certainly a sign that you got lean mass. Now this is probably something that only can be "measured" over a longer timespan, but several people in these comment boards have already reported that thay got stronger without doing much exercise or weightlifting.
I don't know if you will actually be able to "see" lean mass gains as one will probably also increase fat mass and probably at a higher ratio.
I concur with madMUHHH. Without some super-precise body mass measuring technique we can't "prove" that we've grown in lean body mass with numbers and stuff. But I feel stronger, more energetic, and my clothes fit better than the couple pounds lost can explain. That says to me "lean body mass".
The other thing I've noticed is that my posture has improved a good deal (both sitting and walking). That tells me that my core muscles (that support the hips and spine) have strengthened relative to my weight. I don't know if that happens to everyone, but it's another sign to me of LBM gains.
I will back up Cusick and madMUHHH as well, hard to tell but sure seems like LBM gains for me.
I am at 6 months of RRARF this week, I still pound 4 mixed meals per day. I am not sure of calorie counts, but more food per day then I have eaten in a long long time probably since my teens. I have stalled at 10lbs weight gain, and I believe I gained that 10lbs in the first 2 months. I have noticed that my core is much much thicker and harder, something that I wanted dead-lifts and squats to do, but they never did. My posture is improving as well, the core build up seems to move the shoulders back and the chest out. I don't notice any significant LBM gains in my legs, glutes or arms yet, but there is no loss of what I have. I also wonder is my core is larger and thicker to support growing internal organs, I am sure that they were wasting away with all the SAD, LC, fasting and exercise shit I was doing.
I'm not even 3 months in and I don't even think that my diet really is a high-calorie one. I just always tried to eat to satisfaction and sometimes even more while getting a good amount of every macronutrient (less protein of course).
So far it's kind of a mixed picture. I definitely gained some lean mass, I can feel that and to some degree see that, although it isn't too much.
I've also gained quite some fat which I mainly store at my lower body which is both nice (because it's not so obvious) and a bit weird-looking at the same time.
Weight gain seems to have stalled for the most part and right now I think if I focused on keeping fat calories low, I'd probably even lose some, or at least it seemed that I actually lost a bit when I was going lower fat the last two weeks or so. Can't really tell however, the scale is a stranger to me.
Thanks guys! That helps me understand the lean mass thing.
So, here's an idea. A lot of people (myself included, of course!) are interested in the stories of people who have been following Matt's plan. Perhaps we could have a "stories" link – and any regulars(Madmuhhh, JT, Elizabeth of milk diet fame, Nathan, Vida, Troy, etc…)could have your own progress report section. With where you started from, physically speaking, your "program", and progress. What you were hoping to heal, and what has actually changed. And monthly updates. Or something along those lines.
Whaddya think?
And I meant to say, it would be like a mini anecdotal type study for the effectiveness of HED/RRARF.
This comment has nothing to do with your latest post, sorry! I just read an interesting article on Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2248754/pagenum/2) that included this "a meta-analysis published in PLoS Medicine this month reports that the substitution of polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat can cut heart disease risk." WTF! Have you seen this report? Thanks!
my god… i could post my license i was issued in california last year when i was low carbing/ paleo eating… compared to the one i was just issued in colorado… my friends can't believe how healthier i look when i show them both.. i am glowing in the new one… the old one, i look puffy, glucose intolerant… etc. etc….. its amazing!! really, fuck dieting… i am never ever doing it again!!!!
troy
Pamela-
Yes I saw it. Stephan Guyenet did a good response to it. 10% vs. 15% is apples and oranges compared to something like the Kitavan diet 2% and 15%
Hawaii girl-
Typical lean mass gains (average among all overfeeding subjects) is about 25% lean gains, 75% fat gains. But this is using powdered carbohydrate and protein blended into a corn oil base – and the calorie increase is very significant. When I did Schwarzbein in 2007 my lean gains were huge with no gain in body fat at all – but I did that, not by overfeeding, but just by eating to appetite and avoiding hunger like the plague. This was a short-term benefit though that required a true RRARF approach to overcome health consequences of it. But in general, you will either gain weight without your waistline becoming tighter, or have your pants fit more loosely without losing weight. These are the 2 best indicators I've noticed.
And as for the "stories," we'll have lots of that in the forum when it comes out in the summer.
Hey Matt and Madmuhh,
First off, nice job Mad. I notice you put a lot of input into these comment sections and sometimes don't get the feedback you deserve and are treated like the naive kid of the group sometimes. You're a smart kid, and I'm glad you're so young and can possibly save yourself the years of frustration and bullshit that a lot of us have been through.
Sorry I didn't participate in this while it was going on. But here's my input from all my internet marketing experience.
I've tested various fonts and font sizes. The font and size that pulls best is Arial 12 pt. I and other internet marketers have come to this conclusion, and like I said it was all through testing to see what would get the best response, as is all of what I am about to share.
I know a lot of the current readers like the current font size but they will read it regardless. This is for the new readers you are trying to attract and you want to make sure they have an easy time reading your content.
As for the font color. White can still be a bit bright for some people. You could try this color and see how it reads.
{CC,99,33}
A few high traffic sites use it as opposed to the white on black.
It's a gold color and still easy to read but less harsh on the eyes.
Next, the header at the top. Its very hard to read the Price quote on the picture. I think this could be changed to better reflect the overall message you want to portray about the blog or the 180 lifestyle. Like a headline of some sort.
I would also take the 180 degree health out of the picture and move it up and out to the top left corner of the table. This may not make sense, so ask if you need clarification.
The picture itself is also too big. It doesn't have a real purpose besides being a really cool photo. When people come to your blog, you want them to see your headline telling them what the blog is about, and then you want them to see your current blog post title. The less distractions the better.
This is just a start, and I know you're busy. We will go over more of this when you come visit.
Hope I don't piss anyone off wondering who I am and why I think I have the right to say all this.
Sorry, if I did, but great work madmuhh. Hope you get more respect around here now.
@Dermatend:
Thanks for your comments and the nic words! Also, your feedback is very much appreciated, since your viewing this from a marketing/user friendliness research perspective there's probably a lot of validity to what you say and I also believe that sometimes marketing knows better than the user him/herself.
About the font: Your probably right about Arial being the most user-friendly choice, however even high-traffic sites don't all use Arial. If you want to create a good size, there are definitely only very few fonts you should use, but I still think that within that "range" the designer should roll with whatever he likes the most, even if it's just for the sake of variety. I think the current font is readable and simple enough and does not need to be changes.
About the color: I'm working on a slight revision of the current theme and the already darkened down the font a little. However, it's not even close to the gold you suggested. I'm gonna look into that and see which I like better.
About the Price quote: I agree and the reason the quote looks so weird is partially Matt's fault. I already got a good idea how to change that.
About the headline: I understand what you mean (even though this design doesn't use tables^^).Gonna see what I can do and whether I like it.
About the photo size: Many people complained about it being too small^^ So, I think it will stay rather big.
Lorelei,
For now I am tracking my progress at my blog, you can find through my ID, if you are curious.
Just put up my 6 month RRARF post, once the 180forum arrives, I will track progress there as well.
The design looks really good. One thing I think also needs some TLC is the main 180degreehealth site … namely that there is no top header link to the blog. You can get to the blog if you choose a top header page like 'About' but you can't get there from a second level (and more content filled) link like 'Health Problems.'