23andme gets restrained while others run amok

By now almost everyone in the Paleosphere has heard that the FDA has "censured" 23andme, that organization that provides provided genetic testing along with analyses of risk of certain diseases.  (see this.)

So here's the recap:  The FDA doesn't like that 23andme is providing data that in their minds at least, could be used to treat, diagnose yada yada yada.... some disease.  See, the FDA wants jursidiction over all these activities, supposedly so they can assure the effectiveness of such treatments, preventatives, etc.

But OOPS!  It looks like some other "medical devices" circulating over the internet have been allowed to roam free WITHOUT government censure or comment, even though their treatments and recommendations seem to also fall within the confines of section 201(h) of the FD&C guidelines.

But there is a difference  between the two "devices".  23andme data used to come with recommendations to "take a look at", "consider", that sort of thing.  The other "medical device" comes with stronger exhortative statements.  Check out this link to what is known as the "statin calculator".  Note that this document and attending excel spreadsheet are supplied with the intent to estimate disease risk and to recommend treatment.

Interestingly, the guidelines admit that the calculator has flaws, but that the flaws are minor enough to initiate "lifestyle coaching".  I don't know exactly what that entails, but really, I haven't heard too many stories on the internet about doctors firing their patients who chose to ignore their 23andme results.  (OK, maybe Jack Kruse.)   But, I have heard stories of patients who were fired by their doctors when they chose to ignore their cholesterol or age panel and refused statin treatment after having that Very Important Discussion.

I actually did try out the online calculator (see the link above) and discovered that despite my stellar risk factors, by the time I am in my 70's or so, I would have to either be on statins or out of compliance with my medical professional's recommendations.  Just because I would be old and still alive.  For shame!

(Now gotta admit here that my PC physician isn't a big fan of statins.  He was even a heart specialist in the mother country.  He's not a fan of lots of drugs.  With that in mind though, he finally did prescribe a statin to a buddy of mine, and several months later my buddy got cataracts so bad he couldn't drive.  After two cataract surgeries he still dropped dead of a massive heart attack from his low fat diet.)

Since the recommendations and new calculator came out 3 months ago, there have been so many complaints that it was hard for me to find the link to the calculator.  Perhaps others have been cajoled or shamed into removing their links.  I tried to find a link to the software validation study that they submitted, but no luck.  I did scroll through all the FDA warning letters since the 23andme letter was released, and I could not find a letter addressed to the American College of Cardiology and/or the American Heart Association addressing the deficiencies of their medical device.  (Hmmm, looks like DNA genetek was busted, too.)

OK, now where was I?  Oh yea, the medical device.  In the industry, we have special technical names for such software.  POS, hokkered, bone-headed, lol-what-were-they-thinking,....POS, more lols for everybody.  The use of an Excel spreadsheet for a medical device is absolutely lol.

A Trip down Memory Lane

I love to troll the free bin at the library.  Lots of good, really old stuff to be discovered, or re-discovered.  A certain person has been decluttering their library of all diet and recipe books, and several low carb favorites or classics have shown up.

A recent find is "The Steak Lovers' Diet" by Melvin Anchell, MD. 

The foreword by Dr. William Campbell Douglass is worth a read.  He is sort of an obscure alternative medicine author, and despite the foreword having been printed in 1998, it contains lots of information that has been popularized by paleo authors over just the past few years.  You know, stuff like Weston Price and how we don't need all that Vitamin C and how vegetarians are wrong and there's just too many of them, and how the American Heart Association sucks.

I checked out another of Douglass' books, "Into the Light", and it is a fascinating read, if not a bit out of date.  Some of the chapters read just like you might have found them in Jack Kruse's blog.  All that quantum stuff, and light.  Maybe that is where he got his stuff.   It is too bad that the dominante alternative medicine folks didn't feature him more, perhaps because he wasn't a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyway, where was I?  Oh, the Steak book.  This diet is apparently a rehash of the Pennington diet.  You know, THAT Pennington who has a research center full of obesity researchers that we all love to make fun of.  The original Pennington diet was rather low carb compared to today's standards.  Apparently, Pennington didn't think people needed to eat lots of carbs for their brain.  His patients lost weight on the diet by starting a meal of all types of meat, cooked in all sorts of ways (except breaded and stuffed) and afterwards, they could have one serving of a "second course".

The second course could be:  white potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, watermelon, rice, grapefruit, banana, pear, raspberries or blueberries.

That's pretty much it.  Coffee, and a bit of lemon is OK, NO artificial sweeteners.  Notice that there is NO bread.

The original tater tots over there at DuPont lost a bunch of weight on this.  Of course, they were execs, so they were all men.  But, I am sure that "their women" as some paleo-writers like to phrase it, followed the diet, as they were frying, broiling and braising all the big game the men dragged home from their long day at the chemical plant, and probably got a bit envious of both the weight loss and the yummy food.

It is interesting to take a look at the carbs.  They are mostly foods that contain quite a bit of glucose and little fructose.  These are pretty much the foods that Dr. Rosedale says NOT to eat, presumably because of the high glucose content.  This diet would probably send the majority of the woo-fueled-jihaddists into a tailspin.

Dr. Anchell has an interesting section on the recommendations of the Drs. Wortman, and their financial involvement in a recalled weight loss drug that might have colored their approach to weight loss recommendations.  Never heard about that before.

My Year on the Leptin Reset

It has been a year since I did my second version of Jack Kruse's leptin reset.

This week, I found and read through a little notebook with notes on the reset.  At the time, I had planned several trips out of town, and so I wanted a compact format.  This was also at the time when I started having lots of trouble with those [redacted]people, so I was reluctant to rely upon either them or any other computerized tracking system.  After my trips, I abandoned the little notebook, so it was fun reading through it again.

I had started the leptin reset in the summer of 2011 when my lowish carb diet wasn't working well.  In May, I started a couple of days of strict low carb, and then Drs. Eades free Metabosol came in the mail.  I did the Metabosol throughout the first weeks in June, but after a few pizza meals, I was back to where I started, even up a couple of pounds, so I decided to abandon that plan and start the leptin reset in earnest in July.

By the beginning of that August, I had lost around 5 pounds on the leptin reset, was feeling much better and controlling carb cravings like never before.  But, the success was short-lived, and I resumed my difficulty with carbs and gained all the weight and then some by fall.

In January 2012, I did the leptin reset again, this time for about 6 weeks before starting back in with the exercise.  I lost more weight this time, and a total of around 15 pounds by the end of the "Paleo on 100 dollars a month challenge" in March.  By this time, I had also started CT.

Throughout the summer, I added in a few more carbs, and quit monitoring my food and weight so regularly.  The result was that I gained back the weight.  By the beginning of 2013 I was exactly the same weight as I was the year before, but with some differences.

No chronic cardio, no regular strength training.  I just live my regular active life, go on hikes here and there, and stretch if I feel un-stretchy.

Work like crazy to get wheat out of my diet.  I realize now how delicate my improvements are, and how easy it is to get completely out of balance.

Eliminated the need for sleep medication.  I started using progesterone, which has helped in so many ways.  Even though it has contributed to my weight gain, it has made me much more accommodating to all types of stresses, like from heat and exercise.  I also respond to carbohydrates differently, which can be alternatively a good thing and a dangerous thing.  I think I am much more careful with carbohydrates while on progesterone because, while I can take a few more hits, when things go south, they go south much more rapidly.

Better body proportions.  I weigh more but my clothing fits differently.  People say I look better, younger and my skin is much better.

CT around once or twice a week.  This usually involves going to the beach at least once a week and getting in the water for quite a long time, taking mostly cold showers and being in cold air some part of the day except for in the summer.

Moving back more towards a macrobiotic-but-grain-free diet consisting of more seafood, sea vegetables and seasonal food.  I was never on strict epi-paleo.  My carb and vegetable consumption is much higher.  Not as high as what Dr. Wahls recommends, but much higher than what Jack recommends.

Lab-free.  I haven't been sick, haven't been to the doctor for awhile, and I don't even know what my cholesterol levels are.  I have my blood pressure measured when I give blood, and it is at high-school level (110/70).

I know how to get back on track.  When the diet is hard to follow and I am craving carbs, I know I have moved from fat-burning territory back into carb-burning.  The best way I have found to get back is to use Metabosol for a few days and also some CT.

Here are the conclusions I have made about the leptin reset:

1.  The results are not permanent.  I need to continue to be vigilant about diet.  ANY higher-carb diet that I eat to satiety results in weight gain.

2.  CT does not work for weight loss.

In the coming months, I'll be eating a basic whole foods low carb diet, with seasonal fruits and vegetables. I plan on a lifestyle of "deep seasonality".  During the past months, while reading up on macrobiotics in prep for some blog posts, I really did see how much many similarities between where paleo is going and where macrobiotics already is.

During the past few weeks, I have also noticed that in the vegan, low carb, and Kruse-world communities, despite the advances in diet choices, lots of people are still mean and nasty.  I found the Optimal Health Cave, but I immediately started having problems with some very difficult people on both sides of the current argument over the validity of some of Jack's EMF theories.  So, I am trying to pull myself out of all that muck while I unfriend or "foe" certain people, and try my best not to be that way myself.

While I am not following the Leptin Reset to the letter anymore, I do think that while Dr. Kruse's understanding of physics and electronics seems atrocious, I think there is really something to the idea that EMF is polluting.  I will continue my research and experimentation on this subject, but mostly off-line.  I really agree with Jack, that there were some "askholes" on his site, and I am just not going to deal with their crap, so the best way to do that is to keep in touch with my IRL friends who know quite a bit about grounding and faraday cages.  But, I was extremely disappointed in Jack's responses to many other participants, who had deep and real questions and concerns that I think need to be dealt with.  Jack needs to understand that if his theories are so mind-blowing, groundbreaking, and life-changing, then why is he still a Jackhole?  Slamming people on minor technicalities alternating with the posting of pithy motivational phrases lifted from others indicates he still has some balance work to do.  It is true, people who insist that they have all the answers to the universe are held to a higher standard of behavior.

Recently, dealing with some of these people was like dealing with some of the Paleo/lc debates.  I am not into debate, I am into inquiry, discussion and exploration, and finding things that work.  Sooner or later, any fine discussion gets taken over by the high school debate teams, full of those pimply-faced nerds who couldn't even get on the "C" basketball team, which muck it up for every true seeker.  I think nothing is ever settled by debate, only things torn down.

That means I'll be reconnecting with that neighborhood nerdy kid who became an astrophysicist, that radio guy who builds faraday cages as a hobby, and others who effing love science. 

Slouching towards Macrobiotics - Who thought of it first? - Part 1

It seems like there is this common pattern.

Passionate guru/longevity-expert bursts on the scene, after some serious revelation, filling the world with his ideas for getting healthy, staying lean, and living the (real) high life.  Some aren't impressed, especially the food fascists like dietitians, who declare the recommended diet to be unhealthful because "it eliminates too many healthy foods", particularly fruits and vegetables and even dairy.

But soon, sick and forgotten groupies flock to the program, and they feel better for doing it, despite the sacrifices.  It is said to cure or eliminate cancer.

It is not just a diet, but it is a lifestyle.  In addition to the diet rules, which are based on a balance of cosmic and earth energies that science cannot seem to prove or disprove, participants are told that where they live matters in respect to their health, intelligence and reproductive fitness.  They follow an organic whole-foods seasonal diet, make fermented foods, enjoy plenty of the fruits of the sea, cook on a gas or wood stove (no microwave here, ma'am!).  They keep their homes simple, full of natural stone floors, simple furnishings, natural heating methods, natural lighting.  There is no room for plastic shoes, plastic take-out containers, plastic clothing, plastic anything, really.  Clocks, TV, other electrical appliances, well, not in the bedroom please, and no eating right before bed.  There should be fresh air and time spent outdoors every day, and of course, no fluorescent lights when indoors, and TV and computer use is strictly limited, because electro-magnetic radiation is unhealthy, unless of course, you're playing at an ocean beach.

It is weird.  The participants buy weird food, eat weird, dress weird, live weird.  Their families can be supportive, or not.  All the regular gurus are not supportive.  It is a dangerous fad.  This guy is nuts.  It is fake.  Don't do it.  Yes, you can eventually get down to two meals a day, but who cares?

The guru was fond of admonishing his followers for not following local, seasonal activities, but then his proclamations were made based upon his own locale.  Still, there was not alot of wiggle-room on the rules, no matter where participants lived.  Of course, abut the worst thing one could do is eat a banana in winter in Canada.  The second worst thing would be to eat a banana in the summer in Canada.

Some of the controversial conclusions of the guru involve the differences between men and women, and the differences (including intelligence) between people's living at different parts of the globe.  This belief results in the intention of the participants to move to different parts of the globe and to look down on other cultures as less in intelligence and certainly health.  Some lament, why can't it just be about a few diet rules?  Why do I have to remodel my whole house, re-do my cooking equipment, or move altogether?  And then there is all the accompanying woo-woo philosophy...Cosmic and earth energy raining down (and up?) on us, encouraged or discouraged by our food choices....syncretic adoption of Asian spirituality....dependence on mountaintop retreats and revelations...circles and spirals of improvement, just like the tides.....and that stupid idea that any participant/groupie had to run anything up the guru flagpole in order to find out if it was safe to eat, wear, whatever......it will all be revealed shortly.....

If you think I am talkin' about Jack Kruse, here, you'd be wrong.  It's about Michio Kushi, a popular choice for the founder of modern macrobiotics.  Hey, but what about the others?  Ever heard of  Dr. Hufeland?  I never heard of him either.  Michio is the guy who wrote some books about it more recently and started the expensive seminars.  I guess that is why he gets to be the guy who takes all the credit.  Certainly not Don Matesz.

P.S. as for the shameless title theft, thank you Dr. Feinman.  And, of course, This.

I hate censorship

I found a really great link on Jack Kruse's site the other day, only when I went back, it has seemed to disappear from where I thought it should be.  Maybe I just couldn't find it.

There was a small discussion on Paleohacks about Kruse's mitochondrial Rx.  As far as I know, the Rx hasn't been released publicly, but only to people with paid memberships or private paid consults.  But, by reading what others who have had the Rx "revealed" to them and what they were doing about it, I figured out it was similar to what another posted had shared in the comments section of Hyperlipid.

Over there at Hyperlipid, after a couple of folks asked Dr. K to elaborate on his "last 20 pounds" comment, another poster shot a piece over by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum that looked pretty interesting.  I took a few notes, but it was late, so when I returned the next day, the link had been removed.  I haven't been able to find it again.

This new link was posted on Jack's forum by a participant.  I didn't bookmark it either, but I was able to find it again this morning.  It is by Dr. Sinatra.  In addition to providing the link, the poster also expressed disappointment that Dr. Kruse didn't give credit where credit was due.  This morning, I could not find the post, but I did find this one.  I am putting it here.

"Originally Posted by Zorica Vuletic

Pffft. Let's see about Jack:

He has super loads of money and is in position of power so that he can force his lifestyle (on others/his family) and be the one in control. He has oodles of resources etc. So for him what he does is different b/c basically he's a manic of sorts. For the rest of normal human beings who a. don't have all the resources like him and are b. not in control like he is....what do you do? Isolate yourself away from family in order to 'get all protocols right'? Or...stress about the impact of said isolation b/c it distances you away from family and friends?

Sorry to sound so bitter, but honestly it gets very ridiculous sometimes. Am frustrated to see also that so many people here are doing ALL THESE PROTOCOLS and supplements etc. and are still suffering so bad or that their health really is not improved. One aspect might have been improved only to have something else weird be uncovered...and for what? And for what of all the 'weirdness' and isolation we/you have to go through? I question that quite often. Like OK do I go out in the woods and live in a log cabin BY MYSELF just so that I can 'get all these things right'? *Btw that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea sometimes lol. But I don't have the eccentric gene in me...at least I don't think I do to that level. ....

 

[Dr. K's reply]

 

Pretty good time for me to chime in........Here is why some folks will never reach Optimal. Bad Thinking is your biggest obstacle. The mindset we are a collection of our past experiences.........That the past equals our future…….NEWS FLASH: Our biography is not our destiny, but our decisions however do 100% shape our destiny. Moreover, our decisions are what determines ultimate achievement and fulfillment in life. And Zorica this one is particularly just for you. Lack of resources do not limit us EVER, but our lack of resourcefulness is the the only issue behind our failures.

You don't know SH!T about me, or my history, but I love how you default to that belief. It tells me more about you and less about me. If you did, you might be awfully red in the face to see where I have come from. I promise you it far below your current situation. Your attitiude is your personal speed bump to Optimal.

No Rx, resource, money, situation can change that.


Only your resourcefulness can, and it is clear to me that you are saying loudly you may not have enough........if that is the case, cowboy up, and get some, before life passes you by.


I would be quite careful to tell others that they cant do something............focus on what you can do instead of what you can't. You really need to go somewhere and think about this post...........you need to stew in this for a while but I bet you get more pissed off then see the silver lining........and again that tells me how you see the world through your eyes. I hope this hits you squarely between the eyes, because you and I do not see life the same way and I think this is what really separates us and puts us in different paths in life. I am just glad their are others here that do not feel as you do...........they would rather create their life than wait for somebody to hand it to them.

Are you truthful with yourself? Do you keep promises you make yourself? Are you quick to forgive yourself? Do you accept responsibility for your actions? Are you consistent with your personal goals? Do you genuinely care and respect the life you have been given?

Integrity is the welcome mat at your front door......... Integrity is telling ourself the truth about our life. And honesty is telling the truth to other people when they may not see it. It's not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong; It's not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich, and not what we read but what we remember that makes us learn, and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.

[Jack's signature quote:]

Many people, especially the ignorant ones, want to punish you for speaking the truth for being correct, for being who you are. Never apologize for being who you are, for being light years ahead of your time. If you are right and you know it, speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth remains the truth. Live it!!!"

Unfortunately for all of us, it looks like Hyperlipid is now more moderated.  Jane left an antogonizing comment after Jack posted his comments regarding the pentose phosphate pathway and d-ribose.  I just couldn't let it go, so I responded.  My response never saw the light of day, but when I checked, Jane's nasty comment had also been removed.  I don't believe my comment was nasty, but it was an unnecessary comment to have there if Jane's wasn't there already.

Jane attacked Dr. K for something he said about iron.  She really ripped into him, and sarcastically asked if he had read what Kresser says about iron.  I found the comment terribly funny, almost laugh out loud funny except I didn't want to wake up the cat.  I responded by saying that I am sure that Jack doesn't run all this theories by Kresser before he puts it out there.  (I am still laughing about this.  I can just see that hilarious vision, that of a meek Jack, timidly walking up to the tall and commanding "real" Dr. K, having Jack meekly raise his hand and ask if it was OK to ask a question.  Then the "real" Dr. K would remind this Weak Jack of his stature in the Paleo community and allow him to proceed anyway.  Weak Jack would stammer and try to force out the ill-formed questions and uncertainties concerning the role of iron in our evolution and our metabolism.  OK, I am still laughing.)

Oh anyway, where was I?  Oh yea, a friend who have been asking me all sorts of questions about metabolism but is also receiving several books from an activist vegan.  She insisted that I was taking tons of supplements and that she could get everything from food.  'Course, the woman was probably 80 pounds overweight and was on statins and has pre-diabetes, along with other problems.  I say fine, get all the CoQ10 from your food.   She also insisted that her newer version of statin didn't have all the other problems of the older statin, so she was OK.  (Oh, did I mention that the activist vegan was also diabetic, takes statins, and is scheduling a couple of cataract surgeries for the spring?  Oh, and that statins were OK for him since he had already had a heart attack?  Oops, the cat woke up again...)

Anyway, that got me thinking about my supplement list and whether it is extreme.  I recently started taking additional supplements.  Here's my list:

Multivitamin
Time-release C (when I don't have lots of low-carb citrus)
choline-inositol ('cause the multi doesn't have it)
K2 (when I am not eating grass-fed butter)
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Ubiquinol
Acetyl L Carnitine
Magnesium glycinate/amino acid chelate in the day
Magnesium malate at night
D-ribose

I started taking many of these supplements after reading Dr. Rosedale.  After a supply disruption with magnesium, I experimented with all sorts of kinds before I found the brands and formulations I now use.  Dr. Eades' blog was very helpful for information on magnesium. After seeing the link to Dr. Teitelbaum's article, I have been taking some of those supplements as well.  Based on my notes, here is what he recommends for mitochondrial health:

Ribose 5 grams 3 x a day for 6 weeks, then 2x a day for 6 weeks
CoQ10 400 gm 6 weeks then 200 a day for 6 weeks
Magnesium 200 per day 12 weeks
B complex 50 mg
Acetyl L Carnitine 500 mg 2x pr day 6 weeks, then 1x per day 6 weeks

I also get outdoors every day, and to the beach at least once a week.  I "ground" not with wires sticking out of my bedroom window, but because I am barefoot outside in the garden when I can be.  I did all that before reading Dr. Kruse, but since reading, I do go to the beach more often and also do regular CT.  I had already been avoiding my family in the evening because I don't like the fluorescent lights and all the trashy TV they watch.  And, yes, I do like the yellow glasses in the evenings.  I have never purchased any type of webinar or live seminar, and I am grateful for ALL the folks who have made such helpful information available for free on the internet.

But, Wow!, Jack.  You know that old saying paraphrase, that you can take someone out of trailer park, but it is harder to remove the trailer trash outta their head.  I'd say from Jack's post re-printed here that despite being transported to a wonderful home with a man-cave, a lake and a wine cellar, he's still living in poverty.  I really am not up for trashing the flock for not meeting all the expectations, no matter where you came from.

I'll end this post with another little quote about integrity.  Oh, and another, though I don't think it is really from Gandhi.  Good advice anyway.  Think I'll take it.

My Answer to Woo - Part One

I commented on this blog post, but now want to comment additionally.  I'll do it over here, since it is long, something I had wanted to say for awhile, and BECAUSE I WANT TO LEVERAGE WOO'S POPULARITY AND DRIVE TRAFFIC TO MY BLOG!!!!  (Guess at least n=2 on that plan, judging by the other visitors there.)

First a little note about Dr. K and his battle against IF.  I have read him since the beginning, and even though it wasn't 5 years ago, he has always warned people about IF.  He says that people who are leptin resistant shouldnt IF.  He is the only person in the whole paleo cesspool who ever gave any kind of explanation for this, and then later Stephanie Ruper did a post where she outlined some of the problems with women doing IF.  Her explanations were insufficient (and she might reconsider renaming her blog to Paleo for young women).

MY blogpost about it is here, of course with confounding factors.  My take-home clif-note version for my own situation is that I used to do IF and it worked, and then after menopause, along with a typical calorie-reduction plan recommended by [redacted]people, IF was a disaster.

This came up a few times on Paleohacks, with first a tepid response, and then a full-scale, jihhadist, lemming-like, mass-downvoting extravaganza by all the Wolf-pack and their extremely disrespectful zealot brofriend WOD-podners.  ("Oh, we can't let her get away with posting that HERE, now that the top dog in the Wolf-pack even put IF in the TITLE OF HIS BLOG!!")

Maybe Dr. K's explanation is wrong, too, but he was the only one at the time honoring the anecdote.  And, despite his posing, his revisionism, and his insane current marketing plan, I have never seen him waver on the IF prescription.   And that is, "NEVER NEVER NEVER until leptin sensitive."  BTW, you do not have to purchase any supplements or webinars to get the information about Kruse's leptin reset. 

At good time to add, I guess, that Dr. Rosedale also has a plan for making one leptin sensitive again.  And, despite what many tater-eatin' carbbists say, you do not have to eat any expensive supplements in order to do it.  In his book, he clearly explains uses of the supplements, and how to do it on a budget.  None are essential.  I got his book for free at the library.

Extremely Disrespectful Zealot - Is it really n=1?

Dr. Guyenet has really become unglued on his blog site lately, and the purpose of this post is to clear some things up and set the record straight.

Dr. G said on one of his posts that there are many examples of folks gaining weight on a low carb diet.  Now, I know plenty of people who have lost lots of weight on a low carb diet, and plenty of people who gradually gained a few pounds of that weight when they went into maintenance mode.  My theory, if you will, is that that so-called maintenance mode the low carb diet authors promote is unworkable for many.  That maintenance mode includes, surprise, more carbs!

For the record, I NEVER GAINED WEIGHT ON A LOW CARB DIET.  I ONLY GAIN WEIGHT WHEN I ADD IN MORE CARBS.  (OK, now for the inside voice.)  I seem to lose the low carb magic after about three days of eating a typical carb-laden whole foods diet, and it is especially worse if that diet includes wheat or corn.  If I go back on a low carb diet, I can usually lose the added weight quickly, but this seems to be harder in the winter and summer.  It works better in spring and fall.  For me, at least, I seem to leave my ability to burn fat very quickly.

I am annoyed at Dr. G's current attempt to discredit and belittle anyone who has data points that do not correspond with his theories.  Despite his insistence that he removes "extremely disrespectful" posts from his blog, I have only seen him do this with people who disagree with him.  Not with all the other "extremely disrespectful" posters that populate the paleo cesspool.

This issue came up for me well before the famous G-T dust-up at AHS11.  There were some particularly "disrespectful zealots" that IMHO were so bad that I called out by name here on my blog.  One gained the title through her continual bashing of anyone interested in Jack Kruse and an award for the most creative use of moderatorship, and the other gained the title through his constant and creepy support of Dr. G on various websites.  You can read about it here and here and here. Note that both the zealots came by, and instead of offering an apology, continued with more denial and lies.  Go read the comments for yourself lol.  It was during the comments section of Dr. G's blog where I first read Woo.  I have continued to read her blog because despite the wackiness and mis-placed passion, she continues to supply good information in an entertaining fashion.

And just a shout-out to the other zealots.  Carbsane has never gone after me, anywhere, as far as I can tell, so, like Woo, she gets a free hall pass.  But, Jack!  Quit hatin' on Jimmy and his struggles with weight.

Well, Gee....

I am still reading Dr. Kruse's latest blog post, but this one has been bugging me so I'll discuss it now.

Jack says that the 4G phones are so bad because of all that high frequency stuff.

The "G" in the phone is not gigaherz, or even grounding, gravity, goose liver.  It's GENERATION.

A long long time ago, back when electronics was all analog, different folks were allocated various amounts of bandwidth to do all their fun radio and cosmic ray stuff.  The voice radio we all know and love has a fairly wide band, to make sure that voice quality is adequate.

As radios became more sophisticated and bandwidth availability became tight, it became easier to design phones and other devices with faster less-error-prone data transfer while keeping the bandwidth as small as possible.  Back in the old ham radio days, everyone knew that you could transer Morse code messages much farther distances with the same power than a full voice, because they were basically just clicks.

Later and later generations of cell phone data protocols went from a digital/analog combo to full digital, with increasing improvements in speed.  The way this was done was to go from full voice to just a bunch of really fast clicks.  Along with the explosion in the use of wireless devices, additional bandwidth at higher frequencies was allocated, but again, the overall power of the devices was minimized compared to the earlier models.  Every time the changes were great enough, a new Generation was named.

Oh, heck, what do I know?  I don't have a cell phone.  I have a land-line with a handset with a real cord with power supplied from the phone company.  Why you ask?  OK, this home is a geekdom, we have all sorts of phones and wireless devices, and of course that wirefull phone we use during an earthquake when the regular power is down and we want to call mom and tell her we are still alive.

The Answer to the Universe - Why I am not a Webinarian

Jack Kruse posted his epic ("I promise") blog post today.

I'll admit that after scanning it I was unimpressed, but after sleeping on it, I decided to give it a good read-through before I blast it to pieces.  What I can say about it now is, "Jack! Get an editor!!!"  And gee, get a physicist.

OK, I have lots to say on this topic, and in case you were wondering, as a "Known Follower Of Jack Kruse" I do still read him and pay attention to lots of what he says.  He always makes more sense when he is talking over when you are reading him.

This post is more of a place-holder than anything, but I will leave my careful readers with a little story.  A buddy of mine used to have a high-powered job.  Lots of money.  Lots of deadlines.  Lots of frequent flyer miles.  You get the picture.

Eventually the stress and circadian disruption affected his sleep to the point he was unable to sleep at all.  And I know you are thinking, this can't be good, and it wasn't.

Pressured by his friends and business associates to take a break, he planned a visit to an exciting, bustling mega-city.  At the last minute, he cancelled his trip to go to some unnamed solitary place.  When a friend suggested Arizona, he agreed that it might be a good choice.

Arizona is the home of many beautiful places, and after visiting a few places, he headed to Sedona.  After a day at Sedona, he cancelled the rest of his trip.  He had the most amazing night of sleep, and longed to go back to the place that allowed him to start to regain his health.

After the trip to Sedona, my friend changed his whole way of life in exchange for his health.  It seemed like a good trade-off at the time.  Later on, as opportunities to re-enter his former crazy life appeared, he resisted.

Since that time, I have followed my friend's lead.  I have changed my whole way of life, too.  Every once in awhile I think it wouldn't be so bad to have another crazy job and make a ton of money.  But I have been able to rearrange my career so that I have the flexibility to wake up with the sun, go to bed with the sunset, visit the beach on a whim if the waves are right, and remove myself from "neo-lithic agents of disease" like cell-phones, TPS reports, high-heeled shoes, traffic jams, cube farms and fluorescent lighting.  Is all the extra money worth it?

Following my path has also meant a change in finances.  I just had to laugh when Jack said that the original cost of his webinar was about the same as a theater ticket.  Does he have any idea the size of my infotainment budget?  (I do get to the theater from time to time through trade, barter, freebies and other generosities from random and assorted people.)  My choice of lifestyle enables me to get to the beach and put my toes in the water, but I haven't a clue what my Pg/E2 ratio is.  I am one of the unwashed masses who "did not take the initiative" to become a member of one of the precious metals klubz along with thousands of dollars of quarterly testing.  I am afraid I can only afford the aluminum klub membership.  My cholesterol report does not even include the fluffy kind.

Jack may know all about quantum biology and all that stuff, but he seems to have hit a snag on seeing the difference between not having any money and living in poverty.  I think that while many in the paleo cesspool have re-thought that old idea that all fat people are lazy and stupid, I don't think all of us have extended that same line of thought to poor people.  Are all people who don't buy the webinars lazy, stupid and unmotivated?

I was encouraged by Jack's recent decision to offer the leptin reset to all levels of membership.  This is a wonderful start.

How to reset your leptin - part 1

Hi folks, yes, I AM reading. 

Recently I saw a commenter wanting to know of other ways to do a leptin reset.  Both Drs. Rosedale and Kruse feel that they have the answers to this.  Their plans are quite similar.  Both call for a low carb paleo/style diet, limiting feedlot meats, cow's milk, and fake foods.  Both limit snacking after dinner and don't recommend lots of exercise.  Both would agree that a can of sardines is the most ideal meal/snack, although it looks like Kruse would rather you have them raw, with the heads on, and in the blender.

They differ in the amount of protein.  Rosedale's protein recommendation is quite low compared to Kruse's.  Their passionate arguments are on Paleohacks, if you even dare to go over there, but here's the gist.  Rosedale thinks protein should be kept low to limit gluconeogenesis, and that doing so can also reduce the risk of cancer.  Kruse says that doesn't matter, because the diet already reduces the risk of cancers.

To me, the Kruse argument is a little bit of "if you do what I say, and get so-and-so into balance, then it is not a problem".  I think he might be putting the cart before the horse.  It doesn't really address the transition phase.  Rosedale's plan also limits fat in the early weeks.  He said that he is a big fan of coconut oil, but did not put that in his book due to the editor/publisher pressure.

Kruse is trying to elicit certain outcomes by limiting food during certain intervals.  In order to keep from being hungry during that time, he front-loads with plenty of protein at breakfast.  Rosedale says not only is that not necessary, it is detrimental, since it encourages gluconeogenesis.  He feels people would be better off if they ate when they were hungry and that snacking is not a problem as long as there aren't many carbs in the snacks.  I think he might be putting the cart before the horse, too.  When people get adapted to the lower-protein, low carb approach, they are fine with fat-burning, they lose their hunger and then it is easy to not constantly snack or to constantly be snacking on protein.  The first few days can be really tough for people.

Rosedale's book came out in the 90's, and to me at least, it is the first "paleo" diet book out there.  He is working on two new books, but seriously, Rosedale, you need to finish them.

My personal experience with both diets I will cover in another post.  But I'll add here that I follow a modified Rosedale plan now.  I did well on the leptin reset, but after awhile I gained all the weight back.  I found that Kruse's leptin reset plan elicited many positive changes for me, but lots of weight loss wasn't one of them.  Restricting my protein has been more helpful.

If you want to learn more about the two protein approaches, read Jimmy Moore's posts about his n=1 experiment with the ketone blood monitor, and also his recent ATLCE podcast featuring Dr. Layman.  Dr. Layman is an expert in protein.

Revelation without Inclusion leads to Deletion

Recently I decluttered my bloglist.  Unfortunately, I am feeling like its the Tibetan Book of the Dead, where you have that little visualization where you remove your job, your stuff, your relationships, and what is left after all the noise and light and the dancing and everything goes away?
I am sure it is not factor X.  Gosh, where would I be if I wasn't surfing, linking or blogging?  If things keep up, I might have to find out.
It was another interesting week in the paleodome, with more Kruse-bashing, back-stabbing, double-crossing and mob behavior.
Yes, Robb, you have been piling on Kruse Sai Baba, since it looks like now the craziness will be cutting into your moneymaking opportunities?  I don't know.  Paleo elitists and the commoners were free to trash anyone and anything they saw fit for a long long long time now.  They voted early and often, and well before Jack Kruised in and became the keynote speaker for just about everything, and now you want to pin the paleo-train-wreck all on him?  If you are going to pull that money stunt, Robb, I might have to break up with you.

And I say, Paleo's, look within for your own rot before looking for a scapegoat.  What's up with bashing everyone who enjoys the Kruse Kruise?  I can see people's fascination with going after the luminaries, but is it really necessary to tar and feather every fan, to insult them repeatedly, invoke the C word, to follow them around on the internet and then make fun of them on Paleohacks and on @SKS?  Yes, luminaries, that's very illuminating when I see you do that. (And if you are a luminary who used to be on my blog list, there is a very high probability that you are no longer on my bloglist because I saw your posts with @SKS before it was removed by the authorities.  Yes, all good fun, right, everybody knew that didn't they?)

On The Other Hand.  Jack, Jack, Jack......Don't you know that Revelation without Inclusion leads to Deletion?  For those careful readers of my blog who haven't delved into the Kruse's esoteric writings or have already been kicked off his website, the bigger problem started when Jack went to a paid-webinar system to reveal his revelations.  All good fun for a time, until some of the "webinarians" entertained the idea of separate meet-ups for the enlightened ones who had purchased the "factor X" webinar and the cold, dark, miserable worms who had not.

And, being the cold, dark, miserable worm that I am, I don't like the way people are telling me that if I attend a meet-up, well, they just might be able to talk about Factor X with me if they get permission from the Good Doctor, otherwise we might just have to schedule a second meet-up just for the worms.  Wow!, I am thinking this isn't a really good way to encourage meeting-up, and I am thinking, this is "How to Create a Cult -101" and not liking being a part of it.

Jack chimed in somewhere else, noting that going to a play costs 100 dollars.  Dang, there goes my monthly food bill again.  I guess if I wanted to be truly enlightened, I could be a webinarian and eliminate my need for real food altogether.

An Uneasy Emulsion - Mixing Food and Science

Once again, Jack Kruse and his detractors are at center stage this week.  Food fight anyone?

Here's an interesting blog post about Jack and others before him who did "stupid" medical experiments on their own.  It's worth a read, and worth the time to translate.  (I know, your languages are probably rusty, so use Google translator or something....)

And now I'll leave you with another wonderful personal story, an account of my first introduction to adult-level unbridled nutritional idiocy and stupid group-think games.

When I was winding up undergrad studies, I took some time to visit the library to browse through some magazines.  In one magazine, I think Discovery or Omni, I found a small article about a theory of the cause of stomach ulcers, that they were caused by bacteria.

Now, this was of interest to me, since I grew up with people who suffered with ulcers, despite doing everything the doctors said.  And, one of my dorm mates suffered terribly from ulcers.  We shared many dinners together at the downstairs cafeteria, so I got to hear plenty about her continuing misery.  She always included two glasses of milk with her meal, and it didn't seem to help.  Well, I didn't have an ulcer, but I knew how drinking just a bit of milk made me feel, and that it conventional wisdom never worked for my family members either.  I suggested that she try something else to ease her pain, maybe drinking less milk, or eating or eliminating other foods.

After I read the ulcer article, the subject came up at the dinner table.  I suggested that the ulcer wasn't due to stress or some sort of milk deficiency.  My friend was upset about the discussion, and as she downed another whole glass of milk, she blamed me for all her pain.  We dropped the subject.

A few weeks later, I was called into the RA's room.  Since the RA was also a good friend of mine, I didn't think much of it until I entered the room and there were all my dinner mates, sitting there with straight faces.

The RA tentatively started because nobody else would.  Wow!  This was an intervention!  I had seen them on TV.  One by one, these 5 women recounted examples of my harmful and inappropriate behavior.  The RA told me that some of my "friends" were so upset by my behavior that they went to their priest about it.  And, with oh!-such-a-heavy-heart, they discussed together, at multiple meetings, and fretted about what to do about me.  And, oh!, they didn't really want to do this, but it was necessary for my redemption or something like that, cause you know, they valued my friendship.

This priest, (who probably had like a year of psychology), suggested the intervention, and even told them how to do it.  After that nice warm intro by the RA, Ulcer Lady started in.  She said that she spoke to her doctor about me and that he said I caused her ulcer.  She was supposed to have a calm and relaxing dinner, so I wasn't allowed to talk about nutrition or science at dinner.

They tried to go around in a circle, each person in the lynch mob group explaining another thing I did that they didn't like that I must stop immediately.  One woman refused to say anything, and the RA timidly reiterated her concern that my roommate brought up.

OK, here's my roommate's beef.  I had this boyfriend.  (OK, they had boyfriends too, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time, but my boyfriend and I were a long-term relationship.)  Actually, he was my fiance.  He lived across the country and though I seldom saw him, we were on the phone frequently.  The problem for my friends is that I talked about him.  They insisted that since they hadn't met him, he wasn't real, that I was just lying and made him up.  Yep.  After a year of talking to this guy on the phone, flying across the country to see him and lining up job interviews, "you can't talk about him because he isn't real because we don't know him."

By now, you are probably figuring out what happened.  I had had enough, and calmly walked out, never to have another real conversation with them again.  The woman who refused to speak told me they had coerced her to attend, but she did not think I did anything wrong.  She disagreed with all of this.  The RA mentioned that she was extremely uncomfortable as well, and that she was unprepared and disappointed in the disaster that followed.  Yet, they all got together in a group and did it anyway.

And you probably already know by now that the Nobel prize-winning Dr. Barry Marshall is credited with the discovery of the bacteria that causes most stomach ulcers, and that he actually ingested some of the bacteria himself to prove his wild theory.

And unlike Ulcer Lady's doctor, threatened by an early-adopter for everything and assisted in voting her off the island, my doctor tested me for H. pylori when I came to him for stomach issues.  My, how times change, and also when it comes to schoolyard games, some things never change.

So here I am, sitting in a cold tub, taking turns using up all the cold water with my very real former boyfriend who also enjoys the very real benefits from the leptin reset and CT.  I have jettisoned most of my old paleo haunts, yet I am sure that while I am away from Paleohacks, the minions are still doing all their downvoting in their pack when Ulcer Lady yells "fire".

Kruse Kontrol on the Cruise?

Looks like our newest "low carb guru" got to walk the gangplank recently, which is even worse than being voted off the island.  I'll admit, I have never had my stateroom trashed and all my electronics confiscated, but I wonder what is worse, having to leave your fans at the dock, or being labeled by the media as "low carb"?  Kiss of death either way, or is it? 

I haven't heard too much about Krusegate from the low carbers, probably because they were on a wonderful cruise together, but I wonder why I haven't heard from many of the paleo luminaries about the type of behavior that has been going on for quite awhile.  I have heard it from Robb Wolf, and rumors that it was discussed at paleof(x), but I find it interesting that you can go all over the paleoweb and hear people trash Kruse, but you have to buy a whole set of expensive DVD's to hear some luminaries say, "Hey, this isn't right!"

I'll leave y'all with a little personal story.  Recently I started taking an exercise class at a local community center.  Then I found out there was a little knitting group that met near the same time.  Soon I started going to all of this Tuesday knitting session and I eventually ditched the exercise class (hip hip hooray for all that movnatty stuff anyway..)

We started having a fine ole' time in the knitting group, talking about all sorts of crafts, and lots about nutrition, and cause I am just a fine darn knitter, the ladies told me about a couple of other groups that meet on other days.    Sounds fine, right?, so I decided to go to the other meetings and start knitting for charity.

The Wednesday group was fine after a couple of awkward first moments.  When they asked about my skill level I said I could knit pretty much anything.  They were skeptical, but put a bunch of yarn and needles in front of me and after a couple of weeks, that was all ironed out.  They realized that yes, I could knit anything, and people started coming to the class specifically to take advantage of my free expertise.

The Monday group was not fine.  I had even been warned about this group by some of the other ladies and members of the local community.  When I sat down, one of the ladies told me I was sitting in someone else's seat and I needed to move.  'Course, that someone else wasn't there, and never did show up, and I am thinking that if they wanted a reserved seat they should buy a ticket online in advance.  Oh well, anyway, I moved down at the end of the table, and they told me that now I was sitting in someone else's seat.

This went on for a couple of weeks, with the ladies alternating between telling me to move and telling me, "oh, it really shouldn't be like this," but none of them were willing to stand up to the lady I call the "Alpha Bitch".  Not as a reference to her behavior, but more a reference to the dog-pack that she rules.

There was a change the third week.  I got there early, and sat next to the only other person there, but it turns out I was sitting in Alpha Bitch's seat.  (Forgive me if I hadn't memorized all the seat positions yet.)  This caused quite a ruckus when Alpha Bitch strolled in later, as she proceeded to make fun of me right in front of me for the next three hours.  One lady even told me I had my stuff spread out too far.  As I examined my workspace and pulled out my tape measure to measure the amount of space, she quickly grabbed her ball of yarn as she realized she was taking more space than I.  And I am thinking, wow! what is this, high school?  No, they just a bunch of old ladies.

Finally, something interesting happened.  Another lady, I'll call her Irene (cause, you know, they are all called Irene or Vera or Ann or Doreen at this age) asked me if I wanted to join her table to play Querko.  I accepted the invitation.  During the next few weeks, I quit trying to sit on Alpha Bitch's table, and joined Irene on our own table where we organized yarn or played games.  As most of the other ladies filed in and took their assigned seats, they all said hello to each other but would refuse to say hello or talk to me.  I noticed that some of the other ladies would talk to me only when Alpha Bitch left for the day.  They would also invite me to the BIG TABLE at that time, though I politely declined.

Now Irene, she's an interesting lady, always inviting me into her circle of friends, saying encouraging words.  Seems like she had been in the same situation earlier, until the rec center gave her the key to the yarn cabinet.  See, in addition to organizing and doling out the yarn, this table is for the ladies to drop off any yarn donations and finished projects.  It's a big table.  But wouldn't you know that, no matter where I sat on that table, the other ladies would come over and dump their stuff right on top of mine.  Just like dogs peeing all over their territory.  Not satisfied with kicking me off the kool kids table, that made sure to claim the second space too.  And Irene just smiles and rolls her eyes, and clears off another part of the table for me.

So, the question to the people in Paleoland is, do you want to be an Irene, or do you want to be an Alpha Bitch?  Do you really want to be like the Monday group?  We're watching and waiting for your answer.  Oh, and the FBI is watching, and the CIA, and CNN, and B B King, and Doris Day.  Can you dig it?

Everything I want to do is Illegal - War stories from the Cold Thermogenesis Front

Hello Loyal Reader!!!  Sorry I haven't posted lately, but I am still trying to recover from my back-to-back spring break events, and not finding the time for blogging.

I'll admit that I had been taking in a bit more me-time in the cold thermogenesis department this week.  I tried to cut down so that I could clean the guest bathroom before my guests arrived, but then we got a really great rainstorm and I felt compelled to spend at least a little part of it on the patio in my underwear.  It took me forever to warm up, but later on I felt GREAT!!  It rained some after my guests arrived, so I left them to unpack and fend for themselves, which is fine because they were tired from all the travel and didn't miss me at all.

The paleosphere has been annoying this week, with continued talk about how cold thermogenesis will kill me.  I get so annoyed when they do that.  What do they know?  I think they are full of it.  I don't think CT will hurt me that much, and nothing the bitchy, ego-laden, self-appointed CT-czars-who-talk-about-their-MCAT-scores say will sway me.  (OK, I guess I have been feeling a little guilty about neglecting my unscrubbed bathroom for a bit of the deep freeze.)

This morning (after a wonderful night of sleep due to CT-I think I started to pass out at about 8:30...) I was lying in bed thinking about topping off the soaking tub and going for a soak as soon as I finish my pastured bacon and eggs, coffee and turmeric.  I want to get out there before it gets too hot.

I do seem to be getting used to the cold.  Now I have to stay in the cold for a much longer time before I start to shiver.  But, alas!, warm weather has arrived and I am not sure I will be able to stay cold adapted as my patio gets to 100 degrees in the shade and the ocean temps get into the 70's.    I guess I will just have to keep it up, and maybe some extra ice, or maybe a freezer, so I can keep doing this all year around.  I started out with 10 minutes in the cold air, but yesterday I was out there for a half hour and I didn't really feel all that cold.  What's next, 40 minutes, an hour?  I have gone from doing the CT a few times a week to CT a few times a day.  I start with a round of outdoor activity, then continue with localized soaks, and then have a cold shower.

This week, I also tried exercise and portion control to try and shave off those last ten pounds, but I always find myself coming back to the CT, because it doesn't make me starve, trash my ligaments, or make my foot sore.  And, I don't have to wear sweaty, stinky running shoes, or hurt my bare feet on dog poop someone left on the sidewalk.

Now I know that Dr. Moderation et al are concerned about my ignorance, stupidity, my health, my gullibility, and whether I have been irretrievably snatched by the Kruse Kult.  They need not worry.  His webinar featuring information on "deep CT" costs $38 dollars.  That is like four days worth of ice, or several pounds of grass-fed beef, and I would rather get the beef.  More power to him, though.  It looks like he is charging doctor-rates.  I wonder how much more per hour he is pulling in compared to when some random person clicks on the Drs. Moderation's posts on Psychology Today.  We'll see if people will really pay more for the Ferrari than the Porsche.

(Oh, BTW, I found a really great blogpost this week.  I googled dihydrogen monoxide and found lots of stuff about CT.  Check this out, and be sure to click the link to the paper.  Mr. Stanton, I am afraid your blog will soon be banned.  Reading it is just too much fun.  And sorry, Dr. Salatin, I stole the title of your book.)

Paleo on $100 a month - day 7 - I'm bored

I want to go out and buy that big block of 99% chocolate that Dr. Kruse recommends, throw a couple of grass-fed ribeye's airlifted from the Midwest on the grill for an afternoon snack (wait!  I don't even have a grill!) and eat ten pounds of shrimp and crab from a trash bag in the living room and let the dog clean up the shells (wait!  I don't even have a dog!)

Then again, maybe I am just sick of chicken.  I bought it again, for $1.98, with an avocado for 50 cents and a tiny tiny bag of slivered almonds for 65 cents.  I really wanted to get some chicken before the sale was over, but I am totally ready to move on from chicken and over to the sale shrimp this week.  Hopefully it won't kill me or make me sick this time.

A favorite store has a huge sale on frozen foods and I am sort of bummed that I can't walk out with a whole bag of frozen bison, elk, venison, etc. for 20 percent off.  I might be able to get a package by the end of the week if I am careful.  But, I don't want to be that careful.  I saw the sale shrimp and I want it!  If I can't find a way to swing it by the end of the week, I am going to buy a bunch for the house and enjoy it on April 1.  Not because I am a fool, necessarily, but because it will be the end of the challenge.

For breakfast I had the pork with greens and sauerkraut and some orange juice from traders Patty and William.

For lunch I had cheese and coffee from traders Debby and Gordon, a package of really awful protein powder from trader Debby and garden bits and pieces.  One strawberry.  Two pea pods from trader Joyce.  One radish.  Two nasturtium flowers.  That is how real hunter-gathering goes.  As usual, I could have eaten about 30 snails, but I chose not to at this time.  I ate most of the avocado.

For dinner I enjoyed a large amount of ground beef with extra tallow, some trail mix from trader Valerie, a kumquat from trader Chris, pea pods from trader Joyce and my own vegetables in coconut oil.

94 cents left in the cash jar, and I am going in the wrong direction if I want to get some real meat.

Hey Paleo Guy, do you think we are stupid?

Usually I like that paleo guy, but seriously, after this latest post, I think I might have to break up with him.

I haven't gotten around to writing all the planned posts of what bugs me about paleo, but this great example just dropped into my in-box today.  (I know I know, this is the international-paleo-low-carb-and-Jack-Kruse-bashing-campaign week and I still haven't read all of the posts.)

His post is another version of:

"If you don't get the "right" results, "Buttercup", then you're an idiot.  You are either doing it wrong, or lying on your food logs."

Hey Mr. Paleo Guy, here's the thing.  Some day, if you have been really good, or really evolved, you will die and come back as a woman.  If you have been really good, you as a woman will live long enough to become an old woman.  Once you are there, you will regret making bone-headed comments about "the vogue hormone of the week" in your past life.  You see, Mr. Paleo Guy, you are not a member of the vogue-hormone-of-the-week club for a reason, because you don't have complicated hormones.  And you cannot be my paleo guy if you do not respect my hormones.

I don't know how the Jack Kruse culties got dragged into TPG's discussion.  If he had read even just a little bit into the MDA monster thread, he would see immediately that the Kruse followers are not like that paleo guy's over-exerciser who was "doing it wrong".  The Kruse-culties usually aren't exercising all that much.  They have all those made-up diseases like adrenal fatigue and gut dysbiosis and safe-starch deficit disorder that keep them from all the chronic cardio.  Kruse's cold-therapy is for the folks who have tried his 8-week leptin reset and still haven't lost all the weight they want to lose.  Typically, these resetters had already been on primal/paleo for a period of time before going on the reset, and they have been unsuccessful on straight paleo.

Seriously, we don't need your thumbscrews.  We need you to respect the fact that the paleo plan does not work in the same way for all people.  Dr. Kruse is not a stupid man.  He was a fat-ass, and now he's not.  If people have a problem with his theories, they should go after them, not after his personality or his followers.

New Year, New Me

I have started the leptin reset today, this time, as strict as possible, including the elimination of all potentially inflammatory foods and better care with respect to light pollution in the evening.

Food logs and details are boring for some, but if you NEED to see this sort of stuff, here's a link.  The food logs are viewable, and I'll have more detail on the one blogpost per day over there.

Keeping out of the blue light means I'll be on the computer less.  How ever will I keep up with all the blogging.  Not sure how this will work yet, but I already have a pair of amber sunglasses on.  This will be a challenge since they are also polarizing.

Wish me luck!!!

Back in the Saddle Again

This has been my most reasonable Christmas season food-wise ever.  Due to to overwhelming busy-ness, my neighbor did not organize the neighborhood cookie party, so I didn't make cookies.  I also did not make any high-carb ethnic Christmas goodies for my husband.  The only treat this year was paleo chocolate bark, and I gave most of it away.  Sis didn't even have pie for Christmas dinner.  She did serve gingerbread, which has sparked me into figuring out how to make a tasty wheat-free low-sugar paleo version.

On Christmas eve, we went for a long hike near the ocean, and while we were waiting for others to return to the car, we listened on the radio to a wonderful story by Melinda Lee, all about the history of gingerbread.  Maybe that is why it tasted so good.  Or maybe it was because of over two hours of hiking.

Today I am getting back on track.  I weigh a bit less than I did at Halloween, and my goal is to weigh LESS at the end of the holidays than when they started.

At the beginning of the year, I plan to restart another round of leptin reset.  This time, I will be removing all foods that could possibly be inflammatory.  While my CRP is in the normal to low range, it is still higher than what Dr. Kruse recommends, so I am going to try to beat it back to nearly zero.  I have already restarted the diet portion of the reset, but I know for sure that I won't be complying with the recommended evening sleep and light schedules during the New Year celebrations.

Merry Christmas!!

Pillar Envy - Part II

I think the two new pillars are going to be Rosedale and Kruse, and I am happy to see them contributing on their own blogs and facebook pages.

The main thing I like about Kruse is that he has an explanation of what is going on with people like me.

Now, according to people like Harris, people like me get fat cause we just can't control eating all that junk.  Apparently before he wrote such comments, he did not check my anecdote first, here.  Seems that right around menopause, I must have started getting lazy and eating tons of junk food that I forgot to include in my food logs because of the early-onset Alzheimer's, I guess.  Lazy, undisciplined slob who somehow managed to grow her own business, make her own office furniture and spin her own yarn to weave her own clothing, actually program in Mark-IV, but once she stops having periods, gosh, she's just never gonna  face the facts and quit drinking all that soda and eating all those fast-food fries. (Oh wait, I wasn't eating that stuff....)

According to people like Guyenet, people like me get fat cause my food is too tasty.  The tastiness of my food pretty much coincided with menopause, so isn't it amazing that as soon as I crossed over to the other side, all the farmers changed to genetically-modified food designed on purpose to make me fat and want more of it.  All the sudden, no matter what I ate, I wanted to eat more of it.  The fruit got sweeter, and the wheat got shorter.  Apparently before he wrote such comments, Guyenet did not check my anecdote, here.  (For those reading this far, but too lazy to click on the second link, the short story is that for the past several years, I ate clean and local, and grew much of my own food, no weight loss!  And don't blame Monsanto's sugar beet fiasco either.  I breed and grow all my own beet seeds so they're probably still "clean" since all that pollen would have to blow pretty far from Oregon to here.)

Now, here's why I can't fully embrace either Rosedale or Kruse yet.  I blogged about what happened to me, and how I lost a ton of weight, I didn't really get into what happened after that.  Last fall/winter I decided to try a low carb diet.  After a few days on the diet, I went off for a weekend camping trip full of "healthy" mostly-vegetarian food.  There was stress, lack of sleep, carby food, etc.  By the end of the weekend I had lost the magic.  My libido crashed, I started getting sore from my daily walk and couldn't recover, then I slipped and slid down a hill and stopped walking until I recovered.  My cravings became more intense.  Every pound lost was a battle.  I eventually lost over 10 more pounds eating both lower and higher carb, but it took several months to do it.  After that, I added back some carbs, immediately gained back a few more pounds, and have been sitting pretty much the same place ever since.  I never got back to that place I was before.  I tried all the low carb plans, then higher carb, then Schwarzbein, Protein power, Rosedale, Primal, Paleo, the leptin reset (16 weeks and counting for the reset, and the plateau is as flat as ever.)  As I switched from plan to plan, I did notice when I was descending into slugsville, and noticed which programs resulted in the gain in lots of flab, despite what the scale said.  It really isn't true that people get fat because they are lazy and eat too much.  I can tell when changes are a-comin', when all I want to do is eat and lie around.  It is surely not due to the type of food that is being overeaten!  Guyenet is dead wrong, dangerously wrong!

When my doctor prescribed trazodone, the weight poured off, my energy and libido soared, exercise was easy.  Then when I made a few changes, all the success evaporated.  Kruse would have an explanation for some of this:  lipoprotein lipase doesn't work the same for post-menopausal women, or it's the hypocretin neurons, to be solved by nipple massage.....or maybe it was the coming of winter and a lack of vitamin D, or pregnenolone steal....  I'm not buying all what he says because I know there must be a way to do this without spending thousands of dollars every quarter on testing and supplements.  I'm not buying all of Rosedale either.  See, I lost all that weight on a higher-carb diet than what he recommends.  I know weight loss works on a higher-carb diet because I did it!  I lost 30 pounds very rapidly eating 100-150 grams carb and now can't lose even a few pounds on 20 grams carb.  I think Kruse needs to address the issues that many women posting on Mark's Daily Apple with the adrenals and depression.  Maybe there is still some tinkering that needs to happen to his plan.

But I applaud both these guys building their plans to include anecdotes such as mine.  I really think they both really honor real people's experiences and know that there is a whole lot more to weight than gluttony and sloth.

Pillar Envy

There sure has been a bunch of fighting in the paleodome this week.  Before, I was just bored with the Paleo's.  Now I am pretty much disgusted.  I had some time to think things over, and here's what I think is going on.

Jimmy Moore posted answers to his question concerning Jaminet's "safe starch" concept and all hell broke loose.  Either I can't remember where things are posted, or things have been seriously scrubbed.
Here are some links
Jimmy's post.
Posts on Paleohacks.
Jaminet's overview and response.

So, for background, Jaminet recommends "safe starches", and these are foods like potatoes and rice, foods that contain starches but don't negatively affect the gut like gluten-containing grains.  Other Paleo "experts" jumped on this concept and started trashing the people who have been the most successful on a low carb diet.  Of course, this behavior was a concern to the low-carb fans, so Jimmy's post attempted to bring more of the controversy out into the open.  To many low-carbers, there is no such thing as a "safe starch".
Jaminet pointed out in his overview blog that at least some people are able to keep a sense of humor throughout it all.  Some people haven't.  It seems like several of the luminaries lost it.

Now Jaminet, though I disagree with him on a number of points, is always polite about things and tries to keep the focus on the topics.  I like that.  Even though he did mention the quip about "pillar envy" I am afraid that many of Jaminet's most fervent readers will mis-interpret the comment.

Though I can no longer find the post, Harris really went after Kruse, posting that "they're" all snickering about him in their e-mails back and forth to each other and then tried to mop it up with an "honestly, I don't understand the infighting"-type message.  On the Paleohacks board, there have been many nasty sniping-like comments by Melissa (of hunt, gather, b*tch).  First it was trashing the low carbers.  Then it was going after Dr. Kruse, and commenting that Dr. Rosedale wasn't a real researcher and his studies showing the benefits of a low-carb diet weren't real studies.  She is really starting to sound more and more like Coach [redacted] at [redacted]people.com.  Arrogant.  Entitled.  Privy to esoteric knowledge the little people can't understand.  Coach [redacted]'s "One must be reading the correct research," comment comes to mind.

I think she was just mad that Jimmy didn't ask her.  You see, she fancies herself as heir to the paleo throne, and any official comments she may have had were not included.  She envies the pillar.  Now that the low-carb pillars have been toppled, she is ready for the inheritance.   Cordain's leadership status has fallen, Taubes has been discredited, Eades has been shunned as a has-been and off to the appliance section, Hahn and Kruse are just puffy and red-faced, Rosedale isn't a "real" doctor, etc. etc.  the new queen of paleo, claiming full backing by all those other real university researchers who use lots of fake people (lab rats) and real statistics can enter her court in her full regalia.  I think that Melissa has already picked out the new upholstery for the throne cushions and now she's irked when people like Kruse, Rosedale, Feinman, Su and others say "hey, wait a minute!"

It is stuff like this that decides what blogs I recommend, what blogs I merely follow and what blogs I generally avoid.  I originally started this blog for my fat buddies who were trying to lose weight.  In my next post, I'll discuss why I would place my bets on Rosedale and Kruse.  You can read it here.